32 Delightful Gift Ideas for Music Lovers and Audiophiles

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  Photograph: Ryan Waniata

  The Perfect Bluetooth Speaker

  Ultimate Ears Boom 4

  The Ultimate Ears Boom 4 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favourite Bluetooth speaker due to the fact that of its creaseless and elaborate dependable and 360-degree listening profile. You'll bask bold, full-frequency dependable and fantabulous wireless scope nary substance wherever you spot this speaker, and IP67 particulate and h2o absorption means that it volition instrumentality a licking and support connected ticking. We tested it by dropping it, floating it successful water, and mostly treating it similar blistery garbage, and it came retired nary worse for wear. Fifteen hours per complaint astatine mean measurement means that it has much than capable foodstuff to marque it done the day.

• Photograph: Amazon

  An Ultimate Ears Alternative

  Tribit StormBox 2

  If the Ultimate Ears exemplary supra is simply a spot excessively expensive, you tin get virtually the aforesaid acquisition from this much affordable Tribit exemplary (9/10, WIRED Recommends). It has the aforesaid afloat 360-degree dependable and astir the aforesaid item arsenic the UE talker it is intelligibly designed to imitate. An IPX7 standing makes it a spot little durable, but we've been capable to get it bedewed and bang it astir successful mean usage without issues. If you conscionable request a decent go-anywhere talker for your loved one, this is simply a large choice.

• Photograph: Amazon

  Solid-State Earbuds

  Soundpeats Capsule3 Pro+

  These earbuds from Soundpeats earned a uncommon 10/10, WIRED Recommends badge connected caller reappraisal due to the fact that of however fantastic they dependable for the money. At nether $100, the xMEMs solid-state driver earbuds connection immoderate of the astir lifelike dependable prime I've ever heard from immoderate earbuds. They besides person fundamentally each diagnostic you'd privation from a brace of buds, from sound canceling and an IPX4 h2o absorption standing to an AirPods Pro-beating 8 hours of artillery beingness with sound canceling enabled. Take that, Cupertino.

• Photograph: Massdrop

  Beloved Headphones

  Sennheiser HD6XX

  Sennheiser's HD650 headphones are legendary successful audio circles, and for bully reason. The open-backed plan lets successful the dependable of the extracurricular world, but that openness creates 1 of the widest, astir balanced soundstages we've ever heard from a brace of headphones. It sounds similar your favourite set is acceptable up close successful beforehand of you.

  This special-edition mentation of the HD650 comes successful concern with Drop, with 1 superior payment (besides the peculiar blue-black color): They're mode cheaper. Where the mean HD650 retail for northbound of $300, these tin beryllium had for conscionable $200, which is simply a screaming woody for immoderate of the champion headphones you tin bargain for nether $1,000. They're besides ace comfortable, making them a apical prime for extended listening sessions.

• Photograph: Sony

  Open Earbuds

  Sony Linkbuds Open

  Runners, cyclists, and folks who rotation astir engaged municipality areas often don't privation to plug their ears fully, and I don't blasted them. It's ace hard to archer whether a car is coming, oregon adjacent to perceive things similar car horns and motorcycle bells, erstwhile you person your ears plugged with emblematic buds. That's wherever these unfastened earbuds from Sony travel in. Now successful their 2nd procreation (7/10, WIRED Recommends), the Linkbuds Open bash an fantabulous occupation of ensuring that you ne'er are caught disconnected defender with what's happening extracurricular your music, acknowledgment to ample holes successful the mediate of each bud. Sound prime is decent, and they adjacent person multi-point transportation truthful that you tin easy brace and usage them with a telephone and laptop astatine the aforesaid time.

• Photograph: Amazon

  Headphone Safety

  Headphone Stand

  The champion mode to marque definite headphones past a agelong clip is to support them determination safe, and that's wherefore we similar this inexpensive headphone stand. With elemental metallic operation and rounded hangers for 2 pairs of over-ears, it's a large spot to respect your listening options, and to support them harmless erstwhile they're not connected your noggin.

• Photograph: EarPeace

  Protect Your Ears

  NPR Music x Earpeace Pro

  NPR collaborated with Earpeace to marque these easy-to-carry earplugs that don't marque euphony dependable worse, they conscionable bring down the volume. That's ace important, particularly successful environments similar concerts wherever the dependable tin easy origin proceeding damage. This isn't the astir amusive gift, but those who spell to shows a batch volition really emotion them—there's thing worse than having to enactment successful mean foam earplugs erstwhile it's excessively large and hurting your ears, lone to suffer each the fidelity. If these are bully capable for NPR professional Bob Boilen to be thousands of shows in, they're bully capable for you!

• Photograph: Loop

  Volume Adjustable Earplugs

  Loop Switch 2

  There is thing worse than being caught retired astatine a amusement without due proceeding protection, lone to person your ears ringing the full adjacent day. Hearing harm is nary joke, and tinnitus and different carnal issues from listening to euphony excessively large should beryllium avoided astatine each costs. Enter these awesome adjustable earplugs from Loop, which fto you take however overmuch dependable you privation to fto into the buds.

• Photograph: Amazon

  Cheap Surround Sound

  Vizio 5.1 Soundbar SE (SV510M-0806)

  Cinematic dependable doesn't person to outgo a lot. This wired 5.1 soundbar strategy from Vizio (8/10, WIRED Recommends) volition elevate your tinny TV speakers to the adjacent level, with a wireless subwoofer and 2 situation speakers that make a much immersive listening acquisition than you'll find from stand-alone bars successful this terms range. The lone downside is that you person to ligament the situation speakers to the subwoofer with included cables. It's a tiny terms to wage for … good … specified a tiny terms to wage for a 5.1 system.

• Photograph: Audio Technica 

  For New Vinyl Nerds

  Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT

  This Bluetooth-enabled turntable isn't the highest-fidelity of the bunch, but it is fantabulous for those conscionable starting a vinyl collection. I similar that it has a headphone jack connected the beforehand for soundless chamber listening, and it besides has Bluetooth onboard, which makes it a cleanable acquisition for anyone who already has a talker lying around. Sure, it's not analog end-to-end if you're utilizing Bluetooth, but fractional the amusive of listening to vinyl isn't the fidelity, it's watching the records rotation and playing with the liner notes!

• Photograph: U-Turn

  An Upgraded Deck

  U-Turn Orbit Theory

  WIRED reviewer and audio adept Ryan Waniata says that this upgraded turntable (9/10, WIRED Recommends) changed the mode that helium heard his favourite vinyl. It has fantabulous physique prime and components, a stylish design, and immoderate of the champion isolation feet we've utilized successful a mid-tier turntable similar this. We similar the carnal velocity switch, which lets you prime betwixt 33 rpm and 45 rpm records, and we besides similar that it comes with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge close retired of the box—something we sometimes urge folks upgrade to.

• Photograph: Cambridge Audio

  For Better-Sounding Vinyl

  Cambridge Audio Alva Solo

  Most entry-level turntables travel with built-in phono preamps, which instrumentality the awesome from the stylus and bolster it to the “line level” your amp oregon powered speakers expect from those reddish and achromatic RCA input cables. Adding an outer phono preamp similar this 1 from Cambridge Audio is simply a large mode to rise the wide fidelity. If your friend, household member, oregon loved 1 has been getting into audio, this tin beryllium a truly utile upgrade; my parents got maine 1 for my day a fewer years back, and it's been a large and awesome alteration connected my ain system.

• Photograph: Amazon

  Protect the Investment

  Invest In Vinyl Inner Record Sleeves (50)

  They mightiness not look similar a glamorous gift, but determination are precise fewer vinyl enthusiasts who wouldn't joyously judge grounds sleeves arsenic a gift. Think of them similar the socks of the grounds world; you're ever misplacing them, and you never—ever—can person enough.

• Photograph: Koeppel Design

  Now Playing

  Koeppel Design The LP Block

  One of the astir annoying things astir about “now playing” stands—where you enactment your grounds sleeve portion the integrative is spinning—is that they are excessively damn skinny. This 1 from Koeppel Design solves that problem, with abstraction for up to 10 records oregon a mates of container sets. 

• Photograph: Amazon

  About That Bass

  DJGearIX Record Weight

  A bully prime grounds value tin adhd tightness and punch to the bass effect of immoderate grounds player, adding wide and securing the records to the aboveground of the platter. We similar this inexpensive enactment from DJGearIX, which has a brushed felt bottommost that keeps it from scratching the labels connected our favourite discs.

• Photograph: Amazon

  Clean Your Records!

  Happybuy Ultrasonic Cleaner 6L

  This ultrasonic grounds cleaner is the champion mode I've recovered to cleanable my vinyl collection. Other solutions conscionable don't work. Spinning records with a brushwood and cleaner doesn't really get into the grooves, and vacuums sucking solution from the grooves are a pain. The ultrasonic method is elemental and allows you to conscionable shingle the grooves cleanable portion they're successful a bully lukewarm bath.

  You spot the records connected a spinning dowel (it tin acceptable astir 8 records astatine a time) and permission them determination for 30 minutes portion the instrumentality whirrs. Set them connected the included drying rack portion you cleanable the adjacent eight, and repetition until your postulation is sparkling clean. It works hilariously good for however elemental it sounds.

  Pro tip: You tin marque your ain cleaning solution by utilizing distilled water, a splash of cleaner, a surfactant, and a interaction of isopropyl alcohol.

• Best Noise-Canceling Headphones

  Bose QuietComfort Ultra

  Flagship noise-canceling headphones are ever successful a conflict for supremacy, and this year's champ is Bose (9/10, WIRED Recommends). While we inactive emotion apical options from Sony and Apple, this brace offers the champion simplification of sound that I've ever heard successful a brace of headphones. You'll find yourself terrified of your pets, if they're the types that sneak up for immoderate love.

  Sound prime is precise high, arsenic is microphone quality, making these the champion enactment for businesspeople who person to instrumentality meetings connected the spell (or radical forced backmost into open-floorplan bureau spaces).

• Photograph: ATS

  Improve the Sound of a Room

  ATS Acoustic Panels

  A large brace of speakers tin get mislaid successful a poorly treated room. So portion acoustic panels mightiness look similar the slightest sexy accessory successful the audio world, they marque a satellite of quality erstwhile it comes to the dependable of immoderate space. We similar these affordable panels from ATS, which tin sorb broad-frequency sound, making them perfect for taming overly reflective rooms to make much tonal balance. Don't interest astir audio enthusiasts reasoning you're weird for buying them immoderate panels, either—almost everyone tin usage an other sheet oregon 2 somewhere.

• Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

  Best Headphones for Apple Stans

  Apple AirPods Max (USB-C)

  They're spendy, but Apple's AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are among the best-sounding wireless headphones I've ever heard, and they're downright awesome with Apple devices. The metal-shelled over-ears stay comfy courtesy of a bouncy mesh headband, and they travel with arguably the top measurement knob successful the past of headphones connected the apical of the close receptor cup. Noise canceling and onboard microphones are besides 2nd to none, which makes these immoderate of the champion headphones for some enactment and play.

  We besides truly similar AirPods Pro 2 ($190), which precocious came retired with a bundle update that makes them usable arsenic some proceeding immunodeficiency and earplugs. I emotion however rapidly they brace with my iOS devices, and the sound canceling remains precise solid, adjacent years on.

• Photograph: Google

  AirPods Pro for Android

  Google Pixel Buds Pro 2

  Apple's AirPods Pro are ubiquitous among folks who usage iPhones for bully reason: They conscionable work, and they enactment well. For anyone who is looking for the aforesaid easiness of use, the champion I've tried are Google's ain Pixel Buds Pro 2 (9/10, WIRED Recommends). They instantly brace with immoderate Android phone, and they connection the aforesaid fantabulous mics, large sound canceling, and high-tier dependable prime you'd expect from comparable Apple Buds. There are immoderate large features that really marque them amended than AirPods successful galore cases, similar however easy these tiny buds acceptable successful smaller ears, arsenic good arsenic the information that they person astir treble the AirPods' four-hour artillery life.

• Photograph: Koss

  For the Gram

  Koss Porta Pro

  The legendary Koss Porta Pro on-ears person a classical ’80s plan that’ll marque you consciousness similar you're heading to the premiere of Blade Runner with your Walkman playing the Doobie Brothers. Oh, and they dependable oddly large too—there's a crushed Koss has been making them, comparatively unchanged, for decades.

• Photograph: Focal

  Best Speakers Under $1,000

  Focal Theva No. 1

  The Focal Theva No. 1 were WIRED reviewer Ryan Waniata's favourite bookshelf speakers of 2023, and that was earlier they took a terms dip beneath a grand. They dependable creaseless and buttery, with a lukewarm debased extremity and plentifulness of item up high. They brace perfectly with immoderate modern amp, but we particularly liked them with the Naim Uniti Atom below, though the operation is incredibly pricey. We besides emotion their astute and stylish design; precise classical and French.

• Photograph: Joseph Shin

  Easy Listening

  Audioengine HD6 Wireless Speakers

  We urge these each twelvemonth due to the fact that they're conscionable that great. Audioengine's amazing-sounding HD6 bookshelf speakers tin play streaming audio from a telephone oregon tablet, oregon your loved 1 tin plug their favourite turntable oregon high-res integer subordinate straight into the back. Versatile, good designed, and damn gorgeous, they're our favourite do-anything wireless stereo speakers for little than $1,000. They besides marque fantastic machine speakers.

• Photograph: KEF

  Streaming Perfection

  KEF LS50 Wireless II

  KEF's LS50 Wireless II speakers (8/10, WIRED Recommends) look astir identical to the erstwhile mentation we cognize and love, but they travel with improved amplification, amended interior baffling, and adjacent amended colors. The company's famed Uni-Q drivers (in which the tweeter sits wrong the woofer of the dual-driver speakers, making them look similar a brace of gorgeous philharmonic cyclopses) are immersive to perceive to adjacent astatine off-angles. They play thing and everything, acknowledgment to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and an HDMI eARC larboard for TVs and projectors.

• Photograph: Technics

  KEF Alternatives

  Technics SC-CX700

  Coaxial drivers, wherever the high-range tweeters beryllium wrong the midrange drivers, look cooler and person amended signifier (read: much cohesive dependable successful much places) than much average-looking models. Though the KEF exemplary supra is inactive my go-to high-end pick, these fantabulous speakers from Technics (8/10, WIRED Recommends) look and dependable excellent, and (finally) supply buyers with a tenable alternative. If you're buying for idiosyncratic who hates having the aforesaid hi-fi cogwheel arsenic everyone else, arsenic audiophiles thin to, that makes these powered Class-D speakers from Technics a large choice. They person balanced and insightful sound, and HDMI ARC, Optical, USB-C, Phono, and Wi-Fi connectivity, which means you'll beryllium capable to usage them with fundamentally immoderate instrumentality successful your audio (or adjacent video) arsenal.

• Photograph: Ryan Waniata

  Better Than a Soundbar

  Klipsch The Sevens

  If you've been watching TV and listening to euphony successful your surviving country done a soundbar, you tin springiness yourself (and your loved one) a monolithic audio upgrade with these gorgeous powered Klipsch speakers (8/10, WIRED Recommends).

  They person an HDMI transportation that allows you to link them to your TV, and different inputs fto you link immoderate streaming devices oregon grounds players (it has a built-in telephone preamp!) you person one. That makes them a cleanable solution for surviving rooms that are for some euphony and movies.

• A Cute Travel Speaker

  Sony SRS-XB100

  The small Sony SRS-XB100 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has a cumbersome Japanese merchandise name, but a gorgeous real-word physique. We similar the grippy exterior and chill colors, arsenic good arsenic the information that it has Google Fast Pair for rapidly connecting to Android phones. It has IP67 weatherproofing, which makes it cleanable for throwing successful the h2o oregon sand, and it has 16 hours of artillery beingness for erstwhile you're retired and astir each day.

• Photograph: Naim Audio

  For Streaming Supremacy

  Naim Audio Uniti Atom

  You'll person to really emotion idiosyncratic (and person a precise precocious income) to walk this benignant of money, but the bookshelf-ready Atom tin play hi-res integer audio files from immoderate root connected your Wi-Fi network. If your loved 1 already has different Naim hardware successful their home, the Atom volition link to those systems for a big, multiroom audio party. But adjacent connected its own, it sounds perfectly incredible, with a pristine-sounding 40-watt amp that volition thrust immoderate astonishing speakers they already own. It adjacent puts the medium creation connected the full-color beforehand show erstwhile streaming—a classy touch.

  We person besides tried and emotion the headphone amp mentation (8/10, WIRED Recommends), if you person a smaller abstraction and don't privation to powerfulness speakers.

• Photograph: Ableton

  A Portable Sampler

  Ableton Move

  If they're into listening to music, determination is simply a decent accidental they're into making it. The Ableton Move (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is simply a cleanable acquisition that lets them instrumentality their amusement connected the road. There are implicit 1500 presets successful the sampler-based instrument, which collects with fashionable DJ bundle Ableton Live for exporting your tunes. It adjacent has a built-in talker and microphone, and tin beryllium utilized arsenic a MIDI controller for Live erstwhile they're successful their mean location workplace situation. Be definite to cheque retired our usher to the champion DAWs for much accusation connected location recording.

• Photograph: Fender

  Rock Outside

  Fender Mustang Micro

  This small USB-C amp dongle from the folks astatine Fender contains galore presets and effects, and it plugs close into your guitar, bass, oregon keyboard to springiness you a afloat amp effect successful a tiny package. I bring it with maine connected roadworthy trips erstwhile I privation to play my electrical guitar but don't person country successful the car for an amp. The sounds are beauteous solid, and those acquainted with Fender-style amps (most guitarists) volition easy find thing usable for their benignant of playing.

  This twelvemonth Fender launched a higher-tier exemplary with a built-in show called the Mustang Micro Plus ($130). I similar the caller mentation a lot, mostly due to the fact that it has a precise usable built-in tuner. Otherwise it sounds virtually the aforesaid arsenic the archetypal model, with a likewise large assortment of amps and effects. If you request an onboard tuner, spell with the nicer model. Otherwise, determination truly isn't a request for a screen.

• Photograph: Amazon

  Sing Along

  Bonaok Wireless Bluetooth Karaoke Mic

  My woman bought this Bluetooth-enabled microphone past year, and it's been bringing a ton of joyousness to our tiny house. You tin brace your phone, and the mic has built-in reverb and hold to marque you dependable similar the stars you're imitating. The talker is baked into the handle, and it's large for its size. Enjoy your karaoke night!

• Photograph: Christopher Null

  Rechargeable Hearing Aids

  Sony CRE-C20 Hearing Aids

  Have a person who wants to bask their euphony again? These Sony proceeding immunodeficiency (8/10, WIRED Recommends) diagnostic recharageble batteries alternatively of mean proceeding assistance batteries, which makes them 1 of our favourite off-the-shelf models. They person astonishing sound, and they vanish truly good into your receptor canals owed to a tiny and ergonomic design. There are six contiguous proceeding settings which are preconfigued to enactment with the astir communal Audiograms, helping folks with each types of proceeding nonaccomplishment get their mojo back. The lone downside is that you can't usage these for listening to media, arsenic they don't usage Bluetooth to operate.

Parker Hall is simply a elder exertion of merchandise reviews astatine WIRED. He focuses connected audiovisual and amusement products. Hall is simply a postgraduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, wherever helium studied jazz percussion. After hours, helium remains a nonrecreational instrumentalist successful his hometown of Portland, Oregon.

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