Review Of The Best Full Size Headphones

Full size headphones are designed primarily for listening at home, in the office or at the studio.  Featuring fully over the ear pads for comfort and/or sound isolation.

Depending on the application, full size headphones are available in open back or closed back designs. Open back generally gives a more natural character to the sound, whereas closed back helps keep noise out and your music in.

This article is a review of the best headphones in the full size category.

Why Full Size?

Comfort and sound quality are the major reasons for choosing full size headphones.

If you're going to spend many hours listening to headphones then comfort is obviously a key factor to consider.  Over ear designs are the most comfortable, but also look at the way the headband works.  Some headphone headbands have a clamping effect that can cause fatigue after some time, whereas others have a very light grip on the head.

Full size headphones generally offer the best sound quality of any class of headphone.  The fact that the sound can travel naturally into your ears means that full size headphones can sound more realistic than in-ear earphones. Also the size of the drivers helps give a better sense of scale with recordings that demand it.

Full Size Headphone ReviewS

Below is our review of the best full size headphones available - reviews are in price order from LOWEST to HIGHEST:

Grado SR80i

The Grado SR80i is an great first step into high quality Hi-Fi headphones. Choosing the best Grado headphone is a little tricky as they are all excellent, but the sensibly priced Grado SR80i headphone is a worthy contender for best mid-priced on ear Hi-Fi headphone (RRP is £120).

The SR80i is a energetic sounding headphone, with excellent clarity through the mids/highs, highly detailed resolution and a solid bass kick. Grado's have a very up-front sound that can bring music to life.  The SR80i is an on-ear headphone, so they can require a bit of re-adjusting after some use to get them comfortable again.

Unlike some audiophile class headphones the Grado SR80i's are sensitive enough to give good response without any dedicated amplification, as they are rated at a very efficient 32 ohms.

All of the Grado range are fully open back, which means sound can leak in and out of the ear cup. If this isn't a problem then the SR80i is a very solid choice for a home listening Hi-Fi headphone.

HiFi Headphones Verdict:

Delivery superb sound quality for the price.  If the open back design is no problem then you should definitely consider this headphone.

Audio-Technica ATH-AD700

The full size headphone market if often dominated by Sennheiser with it's HD range, but there are other options. A solid performer in the full size headphone category are the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 open back headphone, which have a very open and natural character to their sound and come highly recommended (RRP is £139).  The equally good closed back model, the Audio-Technica ATH-A700 is also well worth considering.

Audio-Technica are the number one headphone brand in Japan, and for good reason. The AD700's are very well engineered and offer a very detailed, neutral sound. With full over the ear cups and velvet pads the AD700 is a very comfortable headphone for long term listening sessions.

The soundstage is truly immense on the AD700, i.e. you are able to discern instruments all around outside (and inside) your head.  The AD700's give good depth to bass notes, without being overpowering, and are particularly detailed in the upper midrange. This is a superb pair home listening headphones that compares well with many much more expensive 'cans'.

HiFi Headphones Verdict:

Particular strengths in mid-range detail and clarity, with good positional accuracy and comfortable over-ear design, which makes the AD700 a popular choice for movies and gaming.

Beyerdynamic DT770

Featuring a fully sealed (closed back) design and extremely robust build quality, the Beyerdynamic DT770 is a real workhorse of a headphone that is suitable for daily use and abuse.

With a pedigree in studio and live recording, Beyerdynamic is the number one choice at the BBC - check out photos on the BBC Radio 1 website and you will see most guests wearing the DT770.

Bass response is powerful and positional accuracy is excellent, making this a firm favourite for gaming and movies.  However, the DT770 is a versatile headphone and is great for long music listening sessions also.

The DT770 is available in an easy to drive 80 Ohm version (suitable for home and even mobile listening) and also a much harder to drive 250 Ohm version that is designed to be plugged into a high output power mixing desk or dedicated headphone amp.

HiFi Headphones Verdict:

Robustly built and with superb sound quality, if you are looking for a closed back headphone with a big sound then the DT770 should be high on your list.

Sennheiser HD650

Probably the most often recommended pair of full size Hi-Fi headphones on the planet are the extremely refined and well made Sennheiser HD650. The HD650's have an excellent reputation among audio enthusiasts for good reason. Providing a beautiful silky smooth response across the entire audio range the HD650's really do make your music come to life, with every last detail present.

The HD650 is very well made with all parts replaceable, meaning you can expect to keep these headphones for a very long time.

We often recommend a dedicated headphone amplifier with the Sennheiser HD650's as portable devices, such as the iPod, and even many Hi-Fi integrated amps will have trouble driving these 300 ohm headphones with any authority.  Without a headphone amp the HD650 can sound veiled and a little distant, but driven with a good headphone amp (we recommend one of the Graham Slee desktop amps) they sound dynamic and lively.

HiFi Headphones Verdict:

Well built and with superb clarity of sound, the HD650 is the reference that other headphones are measured against.

Grado SR325is

It's easy to spend a fortune on headphones, but like all high end Hi-Fi equipment it can become a case of diminishing returns.  We feel the Grado SR325is hits a sweet spot in the Grado headphone range and offers a good price versus performance ratio.

The SR325is is a truly excellent sounding headphone with lots of lovely midrange detail and a punchy bottom end.  Some may find the sound a little on the bright side. It's at this point that headphones start to rival high end speaker systems that cost thousands of pounds.

The on-ear design does attract criticism from some as it's not as comfortable as a full over-ear design, but we don't have a problem with it.  In our experience you simply have to re-adjust the headphones every so often to get them comfortable again.

As the SR325is is efficient and low impedance a dedicated headphone amplifier is not required, but you will see sonic improvements with the addition of a good amp.

HiFi Headphones Verdict:

Superb sound quality with excellent detail resolution and punchy bass response.  On-ear design does attract criticism from those who prefer a fully over ear design.

More Information

Browse our complete selection of Full Size Headphones.