Two pairs of excellent over-ears have smashed down the door to our best headphones guide

Getting onto our list of the best headphones, is, in many ways, the ultimate accolade. Our mammoth rundown includes cans of all types and from all backgrounds – wired and wireless, open and closed-back, earbuds and over-ears – making gaining entry a serious achievement.

The two new entries to the list are very different headphone types with poles-apart price tags. They have each bowled us over with the respective performances they produce.

The five-star Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X are our top pick for the best headphones for home use, thanks to a combination of excellent comfort for long hours of listening, and solid sound quality. This wired model has an open-backed design, so they are unsuited to being taken out in public due to leaking sound everywhere.

Their inclusion to our guide is mainly, however, because they sound truly outstanding for their £189 / $199 / AU$399 price tag.

Acting as the successors to the excellent DT 900 Pro X, the new open-backed cans are a sonic delight, elevating almost all key performance metrics while retaining the plush comfort and usability we have long admired from Beyerdynamic's wired over-ears.

If you're seeking a pair of wired headphones for home use with your hi-fi and you don't mind a little sonic leakage, the DT 990 Pro X are now our number one pick. Beyerdynamic bills them as a 'studio' set, but for our money, they are just as happy delighting you with your favourite disco classics as they are digging deep into the details of a tricky DJ mix.

What if you want to go wireless but don't fancy sacrificing on sound? Well, then it's imperative, yes imperative, that you seek out the Focal Bathys Mg as a matter of priority.

They are, inevitably, a lot more expensive than the Beyerdynamics (and most other headphones) at £999 / $1299 / AU$2300. That's why we've dubbed them the best high-end wireless headphones in our guide; but boy are they talented.

This really is exclusive territory in which the Bathys Mg are operating, occupied by established big-money performers such as the ageing Mark Levinson No.5909 (£749 / $799) or the T+A Solitaire T (tested at £1200 / $1600 / AU$2160).

We didn't before have a place in this list for cans that expensive, but we have decided to include the Focals, because we believe they genuinely push the boundaries of wireless performance. And, while wires remain king, the Bathys Mg is one of the best indications we've heard that wireless could, one day, close the gap. If you're willing to pay, of course.

Beyerdynamic handles sound like a Pro

We make absolutely no assumptions about our readers' current financial situation, but let's start with the headphones that are probably in a more… realistic price bracket for the average buyer.

There are, of course, better headphones out there at higher prices, but you could pick up a pair of DT 990 Pro X for £189 / $199 / AU$399 and rarely feel as though you weren't getting enough sound for your pounds.

Thanks to their signature Stellar.45 drivers employing Beyerdynamic's layered Polyether Ether Ketone (‘PEEK’)’ thermoplastic polymer diaphragm alongside a Neodymium motor system, the DT 990 Pro X have the audio chops to put most price-comparable cans in the shade.

These are some of the most detailed and clear-sounding headphones we have heard at this level. They offer exceptional detail resolution paired with far more clarity and openness than the outgoing DT 900 Pro X.

No matter the source devices or material they are tasked with tackling, Beyerdynamic's mid-range cans have the talent to bring out your music's best thanks to their even-handed balance and informative yet entertaining approach.

Entertaining is the word. The DT 990 Pro X handle dynamics superbly as they tease out low-level variations with ease. That's paired with a rich, full midrange which gives instruments and voices real bite, all anchored by a bass response that feels well-judged, agile and appropriately taut.

It's not as though they're tough to live with, either. We do love those earpads, while the headband's weight distribution and the cans' balanced weight distribution make for an easy experience. The wired over-ears come with a detachable 2m cable with a locking mini-XLR connector, with a 3.5mm jack is fitted as standard and an included 6.3mm adapter.

Blending comfort and sonic class in one stellar package as they do, it's going to take something special to dethrone the DT 990 Pro X any time soon. They come, as you'll have gathered, highly recommended.

The Bathys Mg push wireless boundaries

We were so impressed with the Focal Bathys Mg that we decided to create a whole new entry slot for them as our ‘best high-end wireless headphones’. When wireless sounds this good, you're more than happy to move things around to make sure it is properly recognised.

There are aspects of the noise-cancelling Bathys Mg that you might not get along with. This is quite a bulky pair of cans, weighing in at 350g, and their bold, almost brassy design can draw attention when you're out in public. There are no touch controls, and there's not even any wear detection, either. In this day and age? Unbelievable.

The Focal cans make their way onto our list because of how they sound, of course. Even when you account for their monster price, this is a beautifully balanced and neutral pair of over-ears, delivering music with a pleasingly straight bat and avoiding the pitfalls of artificially boosted bass.

For home listening, you can go from wired to wireless, either using the 3.5mm jack or by using Focal’s own built-in DAC, which supports sample rates all the way up to 24-bit/192kHz.

However you listen, detail levels are superb, as is the clarity and spaciousness on display, offering up a layered performance that feels elegant, nimble and beautifully arranged. The Bathys Mg offer outstanding balance and refinement, yet they have the soul and verve to make music sound entertaining and cinematic rather than overly clinical or analytical.

As we say in our review: “We would implore you to take the time to listen to the Focal Bathys Mg. The original Bathys showed Focal could make the jump from wired to wireless successfully, and the changes made for this version push the envelope even further.”

If you're lucky enough to have the cash to splash, you could do a lot worse than spending it on the boundary-pushing Focal Bathys Mg. A special pair of headphones.

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