Are Headphones the Future of HiFi?

It’s a question I’ve been asked more than a few times over the last couple of years: “Are headphones REALLY the future of HiFi?” It’s also a question I’ve asked myself on numerous occasions over the last few years as shows, mags, and blogs increase their content to include headphones.

The short answer (for me) is yes, headphones are absolutely a part of HiFi’s future, and in many ways, they’re already a big part of the present, if we are to judge by the stats on headphone sales. But if I’m being honest, I still prefer a properly sorted pair of loudspeakers. Good speakers do scale and soundstage in a way that, to me, headphones simply can’t. They let the music escape into the room, conjure up an image you can almost step into, and they invite other people into the listening experience with you. Headphones, by their very nature, put you in a sonic isolationist bubble. That total immersion is exactly what some people love about them, and exactly why I tend to prefer loudspeakers. Personally, I get a bit freaked out by the isolating aspect of listening on cans, though, through necessity, I do use them at times.

That said, there are plenty of positives to the headphone experience. First off, they’re a lot more accessible and affordable, although we are seeing prices rise, and flagship products can cost thousands. A decent headphone setup (a good pair of cans, a decent DAC or headphone amp, maybe even just a dongle that attaches to your smartphone) can get you pretty amazing high-fidelity for a fraction of what a full loudspeaker system costs. They also (in many ways) fit better into modern life. Not everyone has the space, the tolerant neighbours, or the inclination to fill their home with big boxes and all the rest that a “proper” HiFi rig entails. With headphones, you can live in a flatshare, a student kip, or spend half your time on a train or in a café (stealing WiFi), and still carry serious sound with you – for some unknown reason, writing that line made me want to reach for some early eighties Cliff Richard…

Then there’s the detail they give you. With the drivers sitting millimetres from your ears, the room is taken completely out of the equation. There’s no need to obsess over speaker placement, damping, or domestic diplomacy. The line between you and the recording is direct, which can make them great for late-night listening, for mixing, or simply for hearing things in familiar tracks you didn’t know were there.

Headphones also have their own culture. It’s a world full of tinkering; swapping pads, trying different cables, playing with EQ profiles, or matching amps with different headphones. It’s playful, fast-moving, and that spirit of experimentation appeals to younger listeners. We were at the Hong Kong show and both commented that each brand seemed to have its own identity, with anime, folklore, and Dungeons and Dragons-type aesthetics being very popular in their branding. Pair all that with the way people are consuming more online audio than ever before (podcasts, streaming, short-form video on socials…) and it’s no wonder headphones have become the obvious listening tool of the age. The numbers back this up. Research in both the UK and the US shows that younger listeners are overwhelmingly tuning in via streaming platforms like Spotify, Qobuz, and Tidal, and most of that is happening on headphones or earbuds plugged into a phone. At Munich a few years ago, I gave a talk on the Future of HiFi, featuring, among others, Michael Fremer. Michael naturally declared that turntables would be the future of home audio, but I said then (and still maintain) that the ubiquitous smartphone would be the main source.

But for all of that, headphones still can’t do “room”. Some clever DSP gubbins can give you a sense of a wider stage, but the physical scale of a piano or a full band playing into a space remains the preserve of good loudspeakers in a sympathetic and well-treated room – or speakers with onboard DSP like the Kii SEVENS we recently got to play with. That’s where I still find the magic. The goosebump moments come when a pair of speakers vanish and the tunes materialise between them. That’s something headphones, however good, still can’t quite deliver – in my humble opinion.

They’re also antisocial, and I don’t mean that as an insult; it’s just the nature of the beast. A pair of loudspeakers is an invitation: friends on the sofa, a glass of wine (drink responsibly), track after track. Headphones pull you into your own private world. Perfect for a solitary listen, not so great for sharing music with others, though I do recall Lin and me in the early days of HiFi PiG sharing a pair of earbuds (one side each) so we could both listen to tunes whilst traveling. And then there’s the physicality. If you love bass that fills a room or the way a drum kit can push air into your chest, headphones simply don’t give you that. They can mimic it at your ears, and it can be wonderful in its own right, but it’s not the same sensation.

All that said, we can’t ignore the size of the headphone market. It’s huge, it’s growing, and it’s where a lot of the energy in the audio industry is right now. Walk down any street, or wander round any airport, and you’ll see wireless earbuds everywhere, clock active noise cancellation cans on commutes, and notice a constant turnover of new models aimed at younger listeners. And while that raises concerns (the World Health Organization has warned about unsafe listening habits and the risk of hearing loss from long, loud sessions), it also shows just how deeply headphones are embedded in the way people now consume music.

The question that interests me most is whether headphones are the “gateway drug” into HiFi proper. My experience says they often are – or might be. A good pair of headphones teaches you that quality matters, that not all amps sound the same, and that attention to detail changes the experience. From there, it’s not such a leap to wonder how a pair of decent standmount speakers might sound in your living room, or whether a better DAC might bring something extra to the party. So, perhaps they are actually a gateway drug to what I’ll call proper HiFi.

But really, who’s to say what counts as “proper” HiFi anyway? If a teenager spends their days discovering music through a £300 pair of headphones and a phone, I’d argue that’s as valid a start as any. Audiophilia (or whatever you want to call it) is a house with many entrances, and headphones happen to be the one most people are walking through at the moment. The important thing is that they get inside and feel comfortable once they do – I’ve covered some of that aspect of the hobby in previous Sunday Thoughts articles.

For me, headphones will never replace a well-set-up loudspeaker system, but they don’t need to. They can coexist. They’re the perfect bit of kit for private listening, for late nights, for travel, for living in the modern world. I believe some folk use them at something called “the gym”, though I’m guessing this “Gym” thing is one of those new words like delulu that’s only recently found its way into the dictionary. Loudspeakers, though, remain the preferred medium for presence, scale, and the joy of sharing music with others. Perhaps the healthiest answer to whether headphones are the future is not “yes” or “no” at all, but both “yes” AND “no”. Headphones bring people into the hobby, and loudspeakers show them just how far it can go. And if a generation comes into HiFi through headphones, and a few years later finds itself debating room nodes, toe-in, and whether a decent pair of standmounts can better a mediocre floorstander, then HiFi as a whole is in good hands…

…perhaps.

You can check out HiFi PiG’s headphone reviews here.

Stuart Smith

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