The 6 Biggest Headphone Myths, Debunked by a DJ

For anyone who doesn't spend their days reading headphone reviews, shopping for a new pair can feel like navigating a wall of technical jargon. It's easy to come away believing myths that sound plausible but aren't necessarily true—and finding a straightforward explanation can be surprisingly difficult.

Fortunately, the reality is much simpler. As Good Housekeeping’s resident DJ and music producer, I’ve been testing headphones at the Institute’s Tech & Engineering Lab for over four years, so I know a thing or two about headphones. At the Good Housekeeping Institute, it’s my job to take that knowledge and translate it into actionable advice for our readers. So, as the holiday season approaches and the best headphones are about to go on sale, let me clear the air on some of the myths I hear most often.

Myth: More expensive headphones have better sound

This is one of the most common misconceptions I hear. I think part of it is rooted in reality: the $10 pair of earbuds you can get at the gas station are very unlikely to sound as good as a pair of $200 over-ear headphones. That said, the increase in price has diminishing returns on sound quality in my testing experience, and there are many pairs that have performed better in our Lab evaluations and everyday use that cost a fraction of the price of highly coveted flagship models.

Oftentimes, when you’re buying a very expensive set of headphones (barring professional grade studio equipment) what you’re paying for are the accessory features: design, battery life, branding, and so on. In my experience, once you get beyond roughly the $300 mark, improvements in sound quality become much smaller, and you may even see manufacturers prioritizing premium materials, styling, and extra features instead.

Myth: Wired headphones have better sound than wireless ones

I get where people are coming from when they say this—it can be true. There are too many other factors that go into this though, such that it’s not a useful heuristic. A wired connection can transmit more data than Bluetooth, but that doesn't automatically mean you'll hear better sound. The quality of the recording, your streaming settings and—most importantly—the headphones themselves usually have a much bigger impact.

Wireless audio has improved dramatically in recent years, with modern Bluetooth codecs preserving far more detail than older standards. For most listeners, the difference between a high-quality Bluetooth connection and a wired one is difficult to notice. Wired headphones offer lower latency, but Bluetooth latencies are generally very short and completely unnoticeable outside of professional contexts, especially given modern compensation technologies. There are other reasons why wired headphones can be desirable (price, being harder to lose, etc.), but for most people the difference is miniscule.

Myth: Spatial audio makes music sound better

There’s a large marketing push around headphones that support spatial audio technology like Dolby Atmos. At its core, spatial audio uses processing techniques to create the illusion that sounds are coming from around you instead of simply from your left and right ears. This is in contrast with stereo sound, wherein audio is mixed with two channels: left and right.

The problem with this myth is that most music today is still mixed in stereo. So when activating spatial sound features on a track that was mixed in stereo, frequently what you’ll get is awkward panning that feels unnatural to the record, and may not reflect how the music was intended to be heard. If the music you listen to is mixed with Dolby Atmos, or you’re watching a movie or playing video game that supports spatial sound it can certainly help with the immersion factor. That said, beyond these niche applications spatial sound doesn’t do much to enhance a stereo or mono signal.

Myth: Noise cancelling headphones block all noise

This is an easy assumption to make given the name of the technology, but headphones that feature active noise cancellation (ANC) have a limit to what they can silence. When it comes to constant, low-pitched sounds like the hum of a plane’s engine, ANC can work remarkably well at reducing the sound significantly. The crying baby on that same flight? While ANC might help muffle it, you won’t get total sound isolation from it.

This is primarily due to the way noise cancelling headphones work. ANC relies on tiny microphones on the headphones to listen for the sounds around you and play back sound waves that interfere with those signals. Because humming or droning noises are steady and predictable, the headphones can generate an opposing sound wave that cancels much of that noise. Sudden or constantly changing sounds—like speech, barking dogs, or a crying baby—are much harder to predict, so they tend to get through more easily.

Myth: Sweat can’t hurt your headphones

While most headphones can survive the occasional sweaty commute, regular workouts put them under much more stress. A key consideration is the headphone’s ingress protection (IP) rating. This rating tells you how resistant an electronic device is to dust and water. When you work out, you expose your headphones to sweat and run the risk of spilling water on them. Making sure your headphones have an IP rating of at least IPX4 (meaning they’re resistant to splashes of water from all directions—the "X" simply means the product wasn't officially rated for dust resistance) before your next trip to the gym can save you an expensive replacement.

Beyond water protection, there’s are other longevity issues to keep in mind. Sweat is corrosive, and using over-ear headphones with ear pads while working up a sweat can cause them to fall apart, become smelly, or discolor over time. When looking for headphones for working out, consider earbuds or open-ear models with hard plastic housings. They generally hold up better to repeated exposure to sweat than over-ear headphones with cushioned ear pads.

Myth: More bass means better sound

Bass-heavy headphones have been popular for years, helped along by brands that marketed powerful low-end as a sign of premium sound quality. But louder bass doesn't automatically mean better sound. The reality is much more nuanced, however. Bass is just one part of the sound you hear. Whether more of it sounds "better" depends on your personal preferences and the music you're listening to.

Many songs that feature little or no bass, like acoustic genres or classical music, don’t benefit from louder bass—too much of it may muddle the other instruments and vocals that occupy the mid and high frequencies. Even genres like dance and electronic music where bass is frequently prominent don’t always benefit from a bass boosted listening experience. Many companies intentionally tune their headphones with extra bass because it tends to make music sound more exciting during a quick listen in a store. That doesn't necessarily make it more accurate—or more enjoyable over long listening sessions. If you're not sure what sound signature you like, it’s often better to opt for headphones that let you customize the equalizer (EQ) yourself, such that you can decide the exact frequency response you want to hear as you stream the tracks you like.