We start this new blog with the wisdom of the crowds. We take a look at the top 50 best rated headphones at Amazon.com based on customer reviews. The ranking is provided by Amazon using their proprietary algorithms that balance the number of reviews with the review rating. For example, a headphone with three 5-star reviews will not be ahead of a headphone with 1200 reviews and a 4.7 rating. Historically 1200 reviews are more credible than 3 reviews, so it can filter out review shenanigans and over-ear fanboys/fangirls!
The different colors and options of an individual product typically have their own individual Amazon product pages. Most of the time they often share the same pool of reviews. So the reviews of the red, green, or blue color of a headphone will go to the same review pool. However, in some other cases, each option may have its own review pool. This is how the listings are set up by Amazon, and it is beyond my control.
For the purposes of this list, we group together all the colors/options that share the same review pool (for example, three different V-Moda Crossface M-100 colors or two variations of the V6 (with and without Beyerdynamic pads)). Color/options that don’t share the same review pool are presented as separate entries in the Top 50 (for example, the ATH-M50 and ATH-M50WH).
The “Review Score” column is like this: “4.7 with 1229” means the headphone in question got a rating of 4.7 out of 5, out of a total of 1229 customer reviews.
The data in the table below is a snapshot of Amazon.com as of June 12 in 2013. The table is not intended to be updated over time. It is a historic snapshot in time.
| Rank | Headphone | Review Score | Comments |
| 1 | Audio Technica ATH-M50 | 4.7 with 1229 | Over Ear, Closed back, Studio Monitors, coil, 45mm, recommendation meme |
| 2 | V-Moda Crossfade M-100 | 4.8 with 184 | Over Ear, Closed back, 50mm, interchangeable shields, has market momentum |
| 3 | Audio Technica ATH-M50WH | 4.7 with 170 | white version, separate reviews |
| 4 | Sony MDR-V6 | 4.6 with 1189 | closed, monitors, stood the test of time |
| 5 | Sony MDR-7506 | 4.7 with 659 | Closed, monitors, 40mm |
| 6 | Sony MDR-XB500 Extra Bass | 4.6 with 688 | Over Ear, closed, basshead | 7 | Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic LE | 4.7 with 248 | active NC, Over Ear, discontinued, AAA battery |
| 8 | Sennheiser HD598 (burl wood) | 4.7 with 280 | first Open in Top 50, Over Ear, 50omh |
| 9 | V-Moda Crossfade LP | 4.5 with 1080 | Over Ear, closed, 50mm, many colors |
| 10 | Beyerdynamic DT700 Pro | 4.7 with 146 | 32, 80, 250 omh share review pool. Closed |
| 11 | Bass Effect Audio IV | 4.8 with 60 | on-ear, bass |
| 12 | V-Moda Crossfade LP2 LE | 4.6 with 144 | Over Ear, Closed |
| 13 | AKG Q 701 Quincy | 4.6 with 142 | Open, Over Ear, Quincy Jones |
| 14 | Audio Technica ATH-AD700 | 4.4 with 393 | Open, Over Ear, 53mm, 32omh, unusual color |
| 15 | Panasonic RP-HTF600 | 4.5 with 176 | Open, Over Ear, 50mm, 56omh |
| 16 | Bose® QuietComfort 15 Acoustic NC | 4.4 with 979 | active NC, Over Ear, AAA |
| 17 | Beyerdynamic DT880 Premium | 4.7 with 112 | semi-open, Over Ear, four omh models share review pool |
| 18 | Sony MDR-V55 | 4.5 with 158 | DJ style, Closed, 40mm |
| 19 | Monoprice 8323 DJ Style Pro | 4.5 with 180 | Over Ear, recommendation meme | 20 | Koss PortaPro | 4.5 with 1592 | Open, recommendation meme |
| 21 | Sony Wireless Headset for PS3 | 4.4 with 1035 | official PS3 headset | 22 | Sennheiser HD 558 | 4.6 with 118 | Open, Over Ear, 32omhs, for mobile devices |
| 23 | Panasonic RPH-JE120 | 4.4 with 5012 | first in-ear/earbud in Top 50. Many colors, around $6 |
| 24 | JVC HAS-160 Flats | 4.5 with 172 | On Ear, lightweight, foldable |
| 25 | Sennheiser HD 650 | 4.6 with 163 | Open, Over Ear, Audiophile |
| 26 | Razer RZ04 Gaming | 4.5 with 165 | gaming headset |
| 27 | Sennheiser PC 360 Headset | 4.5 with 175 | gaming headset |
| 28 | JVC HAF-150 Gumy | 4.6 with 73 | $7 earbuds |
| 29 | Soul by Ludracis SL150 | 4.4 with 191 | On-Ear, Closed, NC |
| 30 | Soundsoul S-018 | 4.7 with 58 | in-ear, ebony/wood/metal fusion |
| 31 | JVC HAR-X700 | 4.4 with 306 | Over Ear, Closed? |
| 32 | Shure SRH840 | 4.7 with 116 | first Shure in Top 50, Over Ear, Monitors |
| 33 | V-Moda Crossface M-80 | 4.5 with 223 | On Ear, Closed, includes True Blood version |
| 34 | Sennheiser HD 518 | 4.6 with 84 | Open, Over Ear, Bass |
| 35 | Maxell AMP-Y | 4.5 with 92 | heavy bass, mild Top 50 surprise |
| 36 | Sennheiser HD 280 | 4.3 with 991 | Over, Closed, recommendation meme |
| 37 | Sennheiser RS170 | 4.3 with 382 | Over Ear, Closed, Kleer, AAA NiMH |
| 38 | Sol Republic Tracks HD | 4.4 with 200 | modular, on-ear, momentum |
| 39 | SoundMAGIC E10 in-ear | 4.4 with 101 | in-ear |
| 40 | JVC HAR-X900 | 4.5 with 156 | Over Ear, Semi-Open, 50mm |
| 41 | Sony MDR-EX58V | 4.3 with 289 | in-ear, many colors |
| 42 | Creative Aurvana Live | 4.5 with 104 | Over Ear, Closed |
| 43 | Sennheiser HD 380 Pro | 4.5 with 110 | Monitors, Over Ear, collapsible |
| 44 | Nuforce NE-600X in-ear | 4.5 with 89 | in-ear |
| 45 | Munitio Call of Duty | 4.4 with 106 | in-ear, COD MW3 Special Edition |
| 46 | Thinksound ts02+mic | 4.4 with 154 | in-ear, wood |
| 47 | Panasonic RP-HT21 | 4.3 with 1077 | $5 lightweight with XBS |
| 48 | Sennheiser HD25-1 II | 4.5 with 95 | On-Ear, Closed, momentum |
| 49 | Sony MDR-ZX100 | 4.3 with 1667 | $15 value frontier |
| 50 | Sony MDR-XB60EX | 4.4 with 74 | in-ear, Extra Bass |
| 51 | AKG K 240 | 4.4 with 206 | Over Ear, Semi Open, Studio |
| 52 | Grado SR60i | 4.4 with 460 | On-Ear, Open |
| 53 | Bose IE2 earphones | 4.3 with 1018 | in-ear/earbud cross with StayHear tips |
| 54 | Pioneer STEEZ 808 SE-MJ751I | 4.4 with 80 | On-Ear, Bass |
| 55 | Beyerdynamic DT990 Premium | 4.5 with 135 | Open, Over Ear, three versions |
| 56 | Gradio SR80i | 4.4 with 509 | Open, On-Ear |
More Notes
This is based on the best rated Amazon.com page. If any headphones were accidentally not included in Amazon’s category, they are also not included in the list. Also, miscategorized items (eg waterproof iPod with headphones) and kids headphones were not included in the list above.
If this is a Top 50 why list 56 models? Well, look at all the all-stars just outside the Top 50! I couldn’t leave them out 🙂 Plus, if you believe some categories should not have been included (gaming headsets, in-ear or earbuds), pretend those don’t exist, and move the ones outside the Top 50 into the Top 50. We are flexible like that 🙂
There is always a possibility that I made errors. This is a list hand-created with HTML, not computer-generated.