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The common thinking is if someone is really into something, it makes present-buying much easier. However, in reality it can mean you get saddled with, say, duck-themed gifts for a decade. And, in the case of audiophiles and major music lovers, it can just make the present pitfalls all the deeper.
Trying to buy an audio fan a pair of headphones? You'd better make peace with the idea there's a good 75% chance you'll see disappointment on their face when they rip off that wrapping paper. Well, unless you take our advice and stick to some of our top audiophile presents below.
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In this guide, we've selected 21 of the most thoughtful and fit for purpose gifts that we think will impress even the most fussy audiophiles.
We've made sure to include a range of prices and a range of ideas to suit different styles and preferences. However, if you're a music lover and we've missed something you'd like for your birthday this year, then let us know what it is in the comments below.
Best gifts for music lovers
at bit.lyIt can be tricky knowing which record to buy for an audiophile. Far better, then, to leave it with the experts at Vinyl Me, Please. Every month they ship a carefully selected, lovingly pressed and exquisitely packaged LP to their subscribers, with coloured vinyl, exclusive artwork or custom lyric books included to further sweeten an already tooth-achingly sweet deal. Choose from 3, 6 or 12-month subscriptions and then sit back to await your favourite audiophile’s tears of gratitude. It’s worth checking if they ship to your country but if they do, then sign up now!
at AmazonIn our tests, it was achingly simple to set up and there are a number of full-proof features which will help with making sure recordings sound as good as they can. Top of this list is the very useful Smartgain mode. This can be found on the EVO 4 and it levels out all mics, ridding recordings of distortion. The software included, Audient ARC, is intuitive too and direct recording to a computer also means that this is ideal for streamers and podcasters, too.
at John LewisIf you are into 70s chic as much as we are, then the Ruark Audio R410 is for you. Its beautiful retro design comes in either Walnut or Soft Grey. While its looks hark back to a simpler time, it's innards are packed out with the latest tech. A whole host of streaming services are built-in, with TIDAL, Deezer, BBC Sounds, Spotify Connect, Apple Airplay 2 and Chromecast all on board.Couple this with DAB/DAB+/FM & Internet radio plus aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity, HDMI with eARC and high-res audio support and what you have is something of a dream machine.
at AmazonWe have always been big fans of Grado’s open-back headphone experience, which is why we were very excited to get our ears on the audio company’s improved Bluetooth headphones. The Grado GW100x wireless headphones do not disappoint, with 46-hour battery life from a two-hour charge, redesigned fourth generation X Drivers and a great look. These are open back, so those around the listener will hear music but leakage has been improved, as has sound.
£495 at AmazonThis long-standing Shortlist favourite simply makes your tunes sound divine. It’s a DAC and headphone amplifier, which basically handles all the sonic legwork in turning the digital file you’re listening to into the sound signal that reaches your speakers or headphones. It sounds transparent and balanced, and adds a sense of musicality to the listening experience that often won’t be there when you listen straight through a phone. It also looks damn cool, with multi-colour light-up bubbles that show battery life and the past of the interface you are currently in.
at AmazonNothing is pretty much the coolest tech brand around right now, managing with just a handful of products to give the likes of Apple a run for their money. The Nothing Ear (2) are now our go-to noise cancelling ear phones. They look fantastic with their see-through innards and the sound clarity has improved from Nothing's first iteration. Pair them with the new-ish Nothing Phone (2) and you won't be disappointed.
at AmazonWhen it comes to over-ear headphones, there are so many decent pairs to choose from right now. One of the most surprising - and best sounding - we've tested are the SIVGA Robin over ears. Surprising, because we weren't that familiar with the brand but the quality on show here is exceptional, making SIVGA a real hidden gem in the audio market.Let's start with build quality: the wood-shell design is made from rosewood and looks beautiful. This is complemented with the leather of the ear pads and the strap. Then there's the sound quality: this is way beyond the £150 / $150 price point, mainly down to SIVGA fitting a 50mm drivers into each ear cup. It may not be high-res audio, but the quality on show here is simply incredible.
at tidal.comSeveral streaming services offer awesome music quality these days, including Apple Music. However, TIDAL was one of the OGs of the ultra-high-quality streaming concept. Even the basic sub offers 44.1KHz, 16-bit streaming, which is CD quality. The HiFI Plus subscription bumps this up to Hi-Res streaming at up to 24-bit. A handful of cutting-edge standards are included too, such as MQA, Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio. It’s still probably the audiophile’s first choice among streamers for its balance of quality and library breadth.
at AmazonSennheiser may have drastically changed the design of its top-range Momentums but these are gorgeous headphones which look fantastic. They're also some of the most comfortable over-ears around and have some jaw-dropping ANC tech inside. Couple this with a superb 60-hour battery life and these are a great buy and a fantastic gift. We'd especially recommend these if you're buying a present for someone who needs top quality audio or often listens to music while they travel – the noise-cancelling is ideal for drowning out train, plane and automobile sounds.
at gak.co.ukSure, if you’re thinking about buying someone a lovely pair of headphones, you should consider Sony, Bose, Sennheiser and, if you’re really spending big, Apple. But not enough people also take a look at audiophile brand Shure. It makes a lot of pro-audio kit, including the legendary SM58 mic, and its headphones and earphones are fab too. They have been for more than a decade. The Aonic 50 Gen 2 are Shure’s latest full-size set. It’s rarely first off the mark with the latest tech, thanks to the company's sound focus, but these have it all: spatial audio, noice cancelling and fantastic 45-hour battery life.
at Sonos EuropeThe second full-size portable Sonos speaker has arrived. You can use it as a classic multi-room home Sonos speaker if you like, and then switch to Bluetooth when completely out of range of your home broadband. The battery lasts a up to a whopping 24 hours, and IP56 water resistance means it can handle a sorts of weather. Just don’t drop it in the swimming pool. Unlike the first-ten model this one has full stereo sound, and can be used with non-wireless sources with the help of a Sonos adapter. Good news for record player fans, which typically don’t have wireless in most cases.
at AmazonRitual is part of the appeal of owning records in an era where owning physical media at all is somewhat quaint. A record brush like this one both leans into that tactile factor, and keeps dust off your precious discs. This is a quality carbon fibre brush, and Audioquest says the gold contacts in the handle help channel static away from the record itself. Yes, it’s also just a brush. But it’s a darn classy one and well worth the investment for someone who is proper into their records.
at VictrolaIf you’re looking to buy someone a record player, and they care a lot about sound, it’s a solid rule of thumb to avoid ones with built-in speakers. Sure, there’s a place for these but they never sound good. And when shopping with a limited budget money spent on those speakers is money wasted. The Victoria Hi-Res Onyx is an all-round more sensible option. If, OK, a bit pricey for some budgets at £399. This is a quality entry-level turntable that looks smart, has a built-in pre-amp and has “hi-res” wireless streaming if you only have a wireless speaker rather than a classic hifi. It uses Bluetooth so there’s a level of compression involved, but with aptX-HD and aptX Adaptive standards on-board, streaming to a good wireless unit should still sound marvellous.
at AmazonIf your beloved audiophile is also a frequent gig-goer, the kindest present your can give them is one that protects their hearing. No-one wants premature hearing loss, and no-one enjoys tinnitus. While basic foam earplugs can do the job, the Loops Experience Plus are more comfortable and let the wearer hear basically what the concert should sound like, but quieter. Less advanced earplugs, even ones designed for music, often kill all the higher-frequency energy, making music sound dull. This pair is also available in a bunch of colours including gold and pink. And, sure, more low-key black and silver.
at AmazonTeenage Engineering is one of the coolest tech brands. It makes a stack of these Pocket Operators, which look like old-school calculators but are actually music machines. Each has a different job. And if we were to pick one, it would probably be the PO-33 K.O. This is a sampler. It chops up audio fed into it, or heard through its built-in microphone. You can then arrange these samples into songs using just those buttons on the Pocket Operator. Check out what this thing is capable of over on YouTube: amazing stuff.
at AmazonCould this be the ultimate music coffee table book? It features, just as the title suggests, 1000 vinyl album covers. The selection spans the heyday of the format (not including its resurrection), from the 1960s to the 1990s. It’s 176 pages long. And it also acts as a neat way to discover a random old album and possibly a classic, to which you have never listened before. Just flick to a page, stick it on Spotify. Because, let’s be honest, most of us don’t have room for 1000 records at home these days.
at AmazonYou’ll find plenty of light and simple music games online. There are trivia ones, “guess that track” games that connect to Spotify, like Hitster and Spot the Intro. Lacrimosa is, well, a bit more ambitious. It’s a fully involved board game, the kind actual board game fans might be drawn into. It sees you recreate one of master composer Mozart’s unfinished works, commissioning other composers to work on the Lacrimosa movement of the Opus Requiem. It’s a wild concept, and worth a look if your beloved audiophile is really intro classical music. Not so keen? Maybe stick to those “guess the intro” games.
£279 at AmazonThere's so much competition when it comes to true wireless earbuds these days, but if you're thinking of buying a pair of buds for someone who really loves their music then we recommend the Bose QuietComfort 2. These buds offer a small and comfortable design and great sound. However, it's the noise-cancelling tech that really shines here, drowning out all annoying sounds so the focus is only on the music. They're not cheap, but they'd be a major treat for the music lover in your life.
£23.14 at AmazonYou may well know this book from when it was first released but now it has been given a huge update, to take in the likes of EDM and re-jig some of the earlier chapters. There is so much new information in this book, that even if you have read the original release cover to cover you will find something new. Last Night A DJ Saved My Life really is the definitive read on all things dance music, from those who have been deep in the industry for years.
at Apple UKIf you want to sing when you are winning then get someone an Apple Music subscription. While it is hard to differentiate the myriad music streamers right now, we think Apple has got a great USP with its Apple Music 1 radio show - Zane Lowe’s show is a must listen - and the brand-new Apple Music Sing. This is Apple showing off its karaoke side, with a feature that allows users to sing along to their favourite songs with adjustable vocals and real-time lyrics.
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Additional words: Andrew Williams
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Content Director
As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.
