The Headphone Show's Best of 2025 Awards!
We discuss our picks for the best headphones, IEMs, and source gear from 2025!
As 2025 comes to a close, the Headphone Show team—Resolve, listener, GoldenSound, and Fc-Construct—sat down to reflect on the year’s standout audio products, from headphones and IEMs to DAC/amps, along with the industry’s biggest disappointments and where we hope the market goes from here.
Individual Product Picks
listener's picks:
Honorable Mention
HEDD Audio HEDDphone D1
Runner Up
HiFiMAN Edition XV
Winner
listener's Product of the Year Award goes to the Prisma Lumen—which they praised as the first genuinely neutral IEM they've heard, a top-to-bottom reference that stands apart in a crowded, immature IEM market.
GoldenSound's Picks:
Honorable Mention
CrinEar Protocol Max
Runner Up
HEDD Audio HEDDphone D1
Winner
Cameron's Product of the Year award goes to the Hifiman Edition XV, its price-to-performance ratio and improved tuning direction are simply too hard to argue with.
Fc-Construct's Picks:
Honorable Mention
Audio-Technica ADX7000
Runner Up
Truthear Pure and CrinEar Daybreak
Winner
Caleb's Product of the Year pick is the Sennheiser HDB 630, not for absolute sound quality, but for what it represents in terms of user control.Resolve's Picks:
Honorable Mention
Bose QC Ultra Gen 2
Runner Up
HEDD Audio HEDDphone D1
Winner
Resolve chooses the Sennheiser HDB 630 as his Product of the Year due to its integration of parametric EQ and what that means for the future of the audiophile ANC headphone market.Disappointments of the Year
Despite a strong year overall and us all having fairly different tastes, we unanimously agree on the biggest letdown: Apple AirPods Pro 3. While improvements in ANC and transparency mode are legitimately fantastic, the new, more V-shaped tuning, the comfort changes, and unmet expectations relative to the previous (incredibly competent) generation made AirPods Pro 3 the clearest disappointment.
Consensus Awards
DAC/Amp of the Year
CrinEar Protocol Max — delivering exceptional power and flexibility at an extremely reasonable price makes this the most important DAC/Amp of 2025.
CrinEar Protocol Max
Back-orders will ship as soon as we receive them.
Regular price
$89.99
Sale price
$89.99
Regular price
$89.99
Unit price
per
IEM of the Year
CrinEar Daybreak — chosen for its balanced tuning, comfort, accessibility, and ability to demonstrate what modern IEMs can do at its price, in a year basically defined entirely by worse, more expensive versions of this tuning, Daybreak is a pretty easy choice.
CrinEar Daybreak In-Ear Headphones
Back-orders will ship as soon as we receive them.
Regular price
$169.99
Sale price
$169.99
Regular price
$169.99
Unit price
per
Wireless Headphone of the Year
Sennheiser HDB 630 — its parametric EQ, and the broader implications it has for the future of wireless headphones, is something we're deeply excited about.
Sennheiser HDB 630 Wireless Headphones
Back-orders will ship as soon as we receive them.
Regular price
$499.95
Sale price
$499.95
Regular price
$499.95
Unit price
per
Headphone of the Year
HiFiMAN Edition XV — Edition XV edges out other very, very strong competitors thanks to its comfort, extended bass, approachable tuning, and standout value.
Hifiman Edition XV Headphones
Pre-order now and your order will ship as soon as it is in stock.
Regular price
$399
Sale price
$399
Regular price
$399.00
Unit price
per
Looking Ahead to 2026
We have cautious optimism for the year ahead. We want more DSP-driven wireless designs—particularly open-back and gaming-oriented products—as well as a desire for the trend of more “normal-sounding” headphones and IEMs to continue.
We think our 2025 picks reflect a year defined less by flashy experimentation and more by refinement, usability, and a growing alignment between sound quality, value, and real-world listening needs.
CrinEar Protocol Max
Back-orders will ship as soon as we receive them.
Regular price
$89.99
Sale price
$89.99
Regular price
$89.99
Unit price
per
Truthear Pure In-Ear Headphones
Pre-order now and your order will ship as soon as it is in stock.
Regular price
$89.99
Sale price
$89.99
Regular price
$89.99
Unit price
per
CrinEar Daybreak In-Ear Headphones
Back-orders will ship as soon as we receive them.
Regular price
$169.99
Sale price
$169.99
Regular price
$169.99
Unit price
per
Hifiman Edition XV Headphones
Pre-order now and your order will ship as soon as it is in stock.
Regular price
$399
Sale price
$399
Regular price
$399.00
Unit price
per
Sennheiser HDB 630 Wireless Headphones
Back-orders will ship as soon as we receive them.
Regular price
$499.95
Sale price
$499.95
Regular price
$499.95
Unit price
per
HEDD Audio HEDDphone D1 Headphones
Back-orders will ship as soon as we receive them.
Regular price
$799
Sale price
$799
Regular price
$799.00
Unit price
per
