How to test new headphones

Let me walk you through my process of how I judge a new set of IEMs or headphones (very loosely based on Cambridge audio's speaker testing process):

Test your speakers like a Cambridge Audio Engineer | Cambridge Audio US

Whether you’re new to the speaker game or been living and breathing Hi-Fi since inside the womb, you don’t buy a new audio product without putting it through its paces. So what are the best songs to test your speakers with? There’s no definitive answer, but we can let you in on what our engineers use for the seismically important final tuning of our products.

Cambridge Audio US

Before we get started

These are tracks that work for me, because I know these tracks through and through. I've listened to them on a bunch of different headphones, setups, moods, versions (remasters, vinyl/cd/streaming/radio/toaster/while shopping/...) so I know what to listen for in these records.

You should pick songs that you know, that you like and use those to figure out what you're looking for in a set of headphones. Curate your own 'Speaker testing' playlist, with a varied selection of songs that query different things as mentioned above: highs, lows, vocals, soundstage, etc.

And finally, have fun listening! I sure had fun writing this article, it's been years in the making, researching headphones and growing my music collection and listening to music, learning something new about music and my preference in music every so often. Sometimes I listen to nothing new for a couple months, then I discover something completely new and I submerge myself in this new genre for a couple weeks/months and become an expert in it, then I completely forget about it for years, but my love for music stays around! It's been around since my teenager years! And I hope it'll stay that way until I either die or become deaf.

Warming up

Let's warm up with the following two sublimely mixed tracks. These tracks will sound great on just about everything, from the most expensive stereo system to your grandmother's toaster. They've been mixed by the best in the industry, with so much love and care and they just sound perfect.

While normally everything in the audiophile/music hobby is subjective, you can't dismiss the fact that these tracks sound good, so if your new set of headphones/IEMs don't make these tracks sound good, it's time to send them back and order something else. These headphones aren't anywhere near 'audiophile'.

Classics

Ok, we've made it to the next part. We'll listen to some classics that we've listened to a 1000 times, we know how these are supposed to sound like, and we know that these artists cared a lot about the quality of their recording, so we should care about faithfully reproducing their sound.

Bass

What would music be without the low end of the spectrum? Let's hear some bass! Let's get low, low, low!

Soundstage

After we get low, we go wide! Let's check out the soundstage! Does the music appear to come from inside our head? Or from around us? In front of us? Left, right, behind us? Above/below? I know that 'Lorde' is a weird artist to place here, but I've found that the recording engineer did a great job of toying around with the placement of the vocals/chorus here. It sounds great with a pair of open back headphones! See if you can spot it as well!

Dynamic Range

Finally it's time for some dynamic range tests. These tracks have it all: high/low, quiet/loud, a lot of different things at the same time, a true test for your ears and headphones, but oh boy are these beautiful!

Classical Music

Classical music, or music with an orchestra has huge dynamic range and a lot of details going on. Also, I know the tracks below like the back of my hand: very well. I'm able to pick up on any unwanted hiss/crackles/... instantly.

Monsters

And then finally we throw some monstrosities at the headphones. If they can make these tracks sound good, then we have a pair of winners!