Podcast monitoring sits somewhere between studio tracking and live broadcast, so the right pair looks a lot more like what lives on a broadcast truck than whatever your favorite hi-fi reviewer is raving about this month.
From 2022 to 2024 I was the A1 on Google's global events and live broadcasts, and it hammered home something I already believed. Anywhere there's a live mic, closed-back reference cans beat fancy open-backs. A closed pair keeps your monitoring out of the mic, an honest tuning catches problems before they're baked into the file, and a tough build matters when the same pair gets passed around all week. The Sony MDR-7506 is on every truck I've worked out of and the Audio-Technica M50x has been in my own kit, so those two come from my side of the desk. For the rest I'm leaning on RTINGS, SoundGuys and Sound On Sound.
Creators need things from headphones that consumer reviews skip right past. A podcast host has to hear a guest clearly across a 90-minute conversation without their ears getting tired. A Twitch streamer is juggling game audio, chat alerts and a Discord call, and none of it can leak into the mic. Someone cutting a YouTube voiceover needs to catch every mouth click and breath before it lands in the final edit.
So this list comes down to three things, isolation so the mic doesn't hear your headphones, comfort for long sessions and an honest sound so you catch problems while you're recording instead of at midnight in the edit. I dropped the Shure SRH440A this round (more on that in the FAQ), and prices are as of October 29.
What creators really need from a pair of headphones
Closed-back comes first, no ifs, ands or buts, for anyone talking into a microphone. An open pair spills sound that the mic happily picks up, and you get that echoey, doubled "you can hear what they're listening to" effect that makes a show sound homemade in the worst way. Every pick here is fully closed.
Isolation is the flip side. A good pair keeps the world out, so your keyboard clacks, the PC's hum, the traffic outside and the dog next door all fade back. Pleather pads and a decent clamp usually isolate better than breathable cloth.
Then there's comfort. A 90-minute episode plus half an hour of editing is two hours on your head, and a four-hour stream is four hours straight. A pair that starts to ache at the half-hour mark will drag down your delivery and your judgment, so light builds, deep pads and a gentle clamp are all worth paying attention to.
You also want a fairly neutral tuning. A bass-heavy consumer pair makes your voice sound rich and warm in your ears, and then you play it back on cheap laptop speakers and find out you actually sound thin and harsh. An honest pair shows you the problem while there's still time to fix it.
Cables matter more than you'd think. Creator headphone cords get yanked, stepped on and run over by office chairs more than almost any others, and a detachable one turns that into a cheap fix and not a new pair. Coiled cords like the Sony's stay out of the way at a desk.
Last, think about what you're plugging into. Most podcasters run a USB interface like a Focusrite Scarlett or Universal Audio Volt, or a mixer like the RODECaster Pro II or Zoom PodTrak P4, and a lot of streamers use a GoXLR. Those all have proper headphone outputs, and every pick here is easy to drive from them.
Wired or wireless? Wired, every time
I'll give it to you straight. Use wired headphones for podcasting and streaming, period.
Bluetooth adds a delay. For everyday listening you'll never notice it, but when you're hearing your own voice through the mic in real time, it's maddening. You hear yourself a beat late, and most people either slow down without meaning to, which sounds odd, or quit monitoring altogether, which defeats the whole point.
Wireless has its place between sessions, like listening back while you tidy up or taking a call in the kitchen. For the recording itself, plug in. That's why every pair on this list has a cable, and I go into the bigger trade-offs in my piece on wired vs wireless headphones.
My five picks for podcasters and streamers
Photo: Ashley Pomeroy, CC BY 4.0
Sony MDR-7506
The pair your guests already know from radio and podcast studios
Walk into a radio or podcast studio and odds are there's a pair of these on the desk, and there's one on every truck I've worked out of. The bright tuning makes mouth clicks and sibilance hard to miss while you're still recording, which beats finding them at the edit. It gets loud off any podcast mixer, and your guests already know how it sounds and fits, so nobody's fussing with their cans when you're ready to roll. It's not a $100 headphone anymore, mind you, it's about $113 now. RTINGS rates the isolation poor and the comfort just fair, the pads flake after a while and the coiled cable is stuck on there for good. For matching pairs across a table, I still wouldn't overthink it.
Photo: Audio-Technica press image
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x
One pair for the show, the stream and the playlist after
This is Sweetwater's most popular headphone, and it's one I've had in my own working kit. It comes with three detachable cables, and the coiled one is just right for a desk. The sound is fuller than the Sony's, which makes it a lot more fun for music and gaming between recordings. That bass lift cuts both ways, though. It flatters voices, so I'd double-check your edits on speakers or a pair of earbuds before you hit publish. The pleather pads get warm over a long stream, and RTINGS found weak isolation in the lows and mids, so you'll hear more of a rumbling PC fan or the air conditioner. It's about $158 on Amazon right now.
Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X
Memory-foam velour you can wear through a three-hour interview
Memory-foam velour pads, a light clamp and parts you can replace make this a pair you can wear for hours on end. SoundGuys liked the plush fit and the isolation, and Sound On Sound rated the performance of Beyerdynamic's PRO X pair as outstanding. At 48 ohms it runs happily off a RODECaster or a plain USB interface, no extra amp needed. The downsides come down to weight and money. It's on the heavy side, and at about $280 (list is $320) it's a lot to spend on podcasting when a 7506 costs well under half that. For a daily show, though, I think your ears are worth it.
Podcasting, streaming or a bit of both?
Tell the matcher about your setup and your budget, and it'll narrow things down to a few pairs worth a look.
Try the matcher →RODE NTH-100
RODE's own headphone, with gel pads that keep your ears cool
RODE built this one with content creators in mind, and Sound On Sound called the gel CoolTech pads and the FitLok headband real ergonomic breakthroughs. The same review says it keeps your ears cool, sounds rich with neutral mids and treble and is easy to drive from anything you plug it into. The cable can attach on either side, which is handy when your mic arm comes in from the left. It's about $135 on Amazon (RODE launched it at $149). Now the gripes. It doesn't fold and there's no hard case, so it's a desk pair, and RTINGS noticed some leakage at high volume plus bass that shifts depending on how it sits on your head.
Sennheiser HD 280 PRO
A plain-sounding pair that shuts out a noisy apartment
Sennheiser rates this for up to 32 dB of passive attenuation, which keeps a noisy apartment and your clacky keyboard out of your ears and your monitoring out of the mic. It's about $90 on Amazon and Sennheiser's most-reviewed studio model at Sweetwater, so plenty of people have put miles on it. You pay for all that quiet in comfort. The clamp is firm, the cable is fixed and the sound is about as plain as toast. For a guest pair you hand out once a week, I don't think that matters much.
Setup tips that save you a headache
A few mistakes come up again and again, and they're all easy to fix.
Monitor your voice through your interface, not through your computer. Most podcast interfaces, the Focusrite Scarlett and Universal Audio Volt included, have a direct monitor switch or knob that sends your mic straight to your headphones with no delay. Routing it through the computer adds a small lag that makes your voice feel weirdly detached from your mouth. Find that knob and turn it on.
Set your headphone level before you hit record and leave it alone. When people crank it mid-show to hear something better, they start talking quieter to make up for it without realizing, and the levels wander all over the place. Pick a comfortable level up front and fix anything else in the edit.
Watch where your headphone cable goes. A cord swinging into a desktop mic stand makes little thumps in the recording that take forever to edit out. Run it down behind you, clip it to your collar or hang it off the boom arm.
How to pick the right pair
Find the line that sounds like your setup.
Questions podcasters and streamers ask about headphones
Can I use AirPods or AirPods Pro for podcasting?
Not for recording, no. Bluetooth lag makes hearing your own voice a frustrating mess, and AirPods leak enough that your mic can pick them up. They're fine for listening back between sessions, but the minute you're on mic, plug in a wired pair.
Should I use the same pair for recording and editing?
You can, though it's not ideal. Closed pairs like everything on this page are perfect for recording, and they keep bleed out of the mic. For the final edit and mix, an open pair shows you the stereo picture and tonal balance more honestly, and I've rounded up the open-backs I'd mix and master on. If you're only buying one pair, start with a closed one from this list.
Do I need a headphone amplifier?
No. Every pick here runs fine off a modern USB interface like a Focusrite Scarlett or Universal Audio Volt, or a podcast mixer like the RODECaster or Zoom PodTrak. I deliberately left out pairs like the 250-ohm DT 770 Pro, which really does want an amp of its own.
How are these different from gaming headsets?
A gaming headset, think HyperX Cloud or SteelSeries Arctis, bolts a boom mic onto a pair of headphones. That's handy for casual streams, but the built-in mic is no match for even a starter podcast mic like the RODE PodMic or Samson Q2U. For serious content I'd split the jobs, a closed pair from this list plus a real microphone, and your audio takes a big jump. If you'd still like the all-in-one route, I've got a separate list of headphones with the best built-in mics.
Is there a version of the NTH-100 with a mic?
Yes, the RODE NTH-100M adds a boom mic. RTINGS rated its recording quality excellent but found it weak at handling background noise, so I'd only go that way if your room is already quiet.
How do I keep my ears from sweating on long streams?
Two things help. Pick breathable pads, like the DT 700 PRO X's velour or the NTH-100's cooling gel, which run cooler than standard pleather. Then take a five-minute break every hour or so. Even the best pair will heat up over a long session, and nothing fixes that completely.
What happened to the Shure SRH440A?
It's still listed on Amazon, but I couldn't confirm a current US price or whether it's actually in stock. The HD 280 PRO does the same hundred-dollar isolating job with a lot more evidence behind it, so I swapped it in.
My bottom line
For most podcasters and streamers, the Sony MDR-7506 at about $113 is the easy first pick, and it's what you'll find on broadcast desks for good reason. Step up to the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x if you stream for hours and want cables you can swap. Save the Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X for when daily three-hour sessions make the price worth it.
Whichever you pick, spend the hundred-odd bucks on a proper closed pair, and you'll catch that lip smack while you're still recording instead of three edits later.