The best over-ear headphones make everything sound better and keep the extraneous world at bay. Whether you're mad about music, prefer podcasts or like to immerse yourself in audiobooks, these headphones will present your chosen content at its very best thanks to their large, powerful drivers, detailed sound, and impressively large soundstages.

They're comfortable for long periods, and many models boast additional features such as active noise cancellation and integrated voice assistants for carefree travels and effortless operation.

As much as we love some of the best earbuds, you can't fight the laws of physics. Sound is all about pushing air, and over-ears' bigger drivers mean they push more air than any earbud can even dream of doing. If you're listening to hi-res audio files and don't have a pair of the best headphones over your ears, you're missing out on some of the sheer musical joy they deliver.

Over-ear headphones can also help protect your hearing. They can be better for your hearing health compared to in-ear headphones because they're not sitting in your ear canal right up by your delicate eardrums. And because their padded ear cups block out a lot of ambient noise you can hear more clearly without having to turn the volume up so high. Some earbuds try to solve this with noise cancelling technology, but even the best noise cancelling has a noticeable effect on the sound quality. That's not to say noise cancelling isn't worth having – it's incredibly valuable when you're travelling – but for the ultimate audio experience, over-ears are far and away the most musical performers.