Headphones are the easiest Black Friday purchase an editor can make, and the easiest one to get wrong. Easy because the same three or four studio models go on sale every November and the cuts are real. Wrong because the deals pages will point you at noise-cancelling consumer cans you can’t mix on, and because the model you want has a cheaper sibling with the same name and a different impedance. This page is the watch list from our best headphones for video editing guide, with the September price next to each pair and the number that should make you buy.
Every link goes to a listing sold by Amazon or Best Buy themselves, or by the manufacturer’s own Amazon storefront, and we say which. From November 20 through Cyber Monday we re-check every line on the live page and update it here; until then the September numbers are the baseline. The rest of the categories are on the Black Friday deals for video editors page.
Last updated: October 2026. Some links below are affiliate links. Buy through them and it helps keep the site running, at no extra cost to you. Baseline prices were read on the live Amazon and Best Buy listings on September 13, 2026. Deal prices land here the week of November 20.
TLDR
Three numbers. The Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohm, our best overall, was $179.99 in September; under $150 it’s the buy. The Sony MDR-7506, the budget pick and the most common headphone in professional video, was $113 on Amazon; under $90 is the number, and it gets there most years. And the Sony MDR-M1, the 7506’s long-overdue successor, was $268 at Best Buy; under $220 it stops being a step-up and becomes the default.
The watch list
Best overall: Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (80 ohm)
September price: $179.99 on Amazon, sold by Beyerdynamic’s own storefront. Target: under $150. The DT 770 Pro has been the default closed-back in edit bays for two decades, and the instruction that comes with it is the whole reason to read this entry before the price: buy the 80 ohm version. Beyerdynamic sells this headphone in 32, 80, and 250 ohm versions, they all go on sale, and the 250 ohm needs a proper headphone amp to reach level. The Black Friday listings mix them freely, so check the ohm number before the cart. A $130 deal on the 250 is not a deal for a laptop editor.
Best on a budget: Sony MDR-7506
September price: $113 on Amazon, sold by Amazon. Target: under $90. The 7506 has been in production since 1991 and hangs in every broadcast truck and edit lab in the country. When you cut on one, you hear roughly what the mixer down the line will hear. It’s bright, the pads flake after a couple of years, and none of that has ever mattered to the people who keep buying it. There’s no version confusion here; the only trap is the marketplace listings at inflated prices when the retailer stock runs out, which happens every deal week.
The step-up: Sony MDR-M1
September price: $268 at Best Buy, sold by Best Buy. Target: under $220. The MDR-M1 is what thirty years of 7506 feedback looks like when Sony finally acts on it: a detachable cable, deeper pads, and treble smoothed from forensic to listenable. It’s the closed-back we’d hand a working editor who can spend more than $100, and because it’s a newer model it hasn’t built a Black Friday track record yet. Best Buy is the retailer to watch for it; the headphones category is one they discount hard.
Best for long sessions: Rode NTH-100
September price: $134 on Amazon, from a third-party seller with 17 units left. Target: under $120, from Amazon or Rode itself. The NTH-100 wins on the spec nobody prints: comfort at hour six, with cooling gel in the pads and a clamp that stays light. Rode’s US stock has been patchy this year, which is why the Amazon listing was a reseller in September; a Black Friday restock from Amazon itself would be the real news here.
For the quiet mix room: Sennheiser HD 490 Pro
September price: $349.04 on Amazon, sold by Amazon. Target: under $300. The HD 490 Pro is the one open-back pair on this list, for the editor with a private, quiet room who makes real mix decisions in it. Sennheiser’s pro line does go on sale in this window, and the 490 Pro launched at a price that has already drifted down, so a sub-$300 number is realistic.
The cheap closed-back: Sennheiser HD 280 Pro
September price: $85.49 on Amazon, sold by Amazon. Target: under $70. The HD 280 Pro is the 7506’s rival for the “hangs on a hook in the machine room” job, with more isolation and a coiled cable. If the 7506 is out of retailer stock in deal week, which happens, this is the same money and the same idea.
The wireless question: Sony WH-1000XM6
September price: $458 at Best Buy, sold by Best Buy. Target: under $350. The WH-1000XM6 is on this page for two jobs only: scrubbing and assembling on a plane, and reviewing a client’s notes without the office in your ears. You can’t mix on it, and our headphone guide explains why: Bluetooth latency puts the audio behind your cursor, and noise-cancelling processing is tuned to be pleasant, not truthful. Black Friday is the one week Sony’s flagship gets a real cut, and if you want one for the plane, this is when to buy it. Don’t let the deal talk you into mixing on it.
Side by side
| Headphones | Type | September price | Buy at | Deal-week price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohm | Closed | $179.99 (Amazon, Beyerdynamic store) | Under $150 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Sony MDR-7506 | Closed | $113 (Amazon) | Under $90 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Sony MDR-M1 | Closed | $268 (Best Buy) | Under $220 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Rode NTH-100 | Closed | $134 (Amazon, third-party) | Under $120 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Sennheiser HD 490 Pro | Open | $349.04 (Amazon) | Under $300 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Sennheiser HD 280 Pro | Closed | $85.49 (Amazon) | Under $70 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Sony WH-1000XM6 | Wireless ANC | $458 (Best Buy) | Under $350 | Checked from Nov 20 |
How to shop a headphone deal
Read the impedance. DT 770 Pro 80 ohm, not 250, unless you own a headphone amp. This is the single most common Black Friday headphone mistake, and the listings do not make it easy.
Retailer stock or nothing. The 7506 and the DT 770 both attract marketplace sellers who relist at $30 over when the retailer runs out. If the seller line isn’t Amazon, Best Buy, or the manufacturer’s own store, wait for a restock.
Closed-back for a shared room, open-back for a private one. A deal on the wrong type is a pair you’ll resent. The headphone guide has the full argument, and the studio monitor guide is where to go if what you need is speakers.
Skip the “gaming” and “wireless studio” listings. Black Friday headphone pages are dominated by them. Nothing on this list has a microphone boom or a Bluetooth chip except the one pair we told you not to mix on.
FAQ
Do studio headphones go on sale for Black Friday?
Yes, and more predictably than most editing gear. The DT 770 Pro, the MDR-7506, and Sennheiser’s HD line have all had November cuts in past years, and Best Buy runs its headphone promotions across the whole week rather than one day.
Are noise-cancelling headphones good for video editing?
For assembling and reviewing, fine. For mixing, no: Bluetooth latency and the processing that makes them pleasant both get in the way of a truthful mix. Buy the XM6 on sale for travel and keep a wired closed-back on the desk.
Which is better on Black Friday, the MDR-7506 or the DT 770 Pro?
Whichever hits its target first. They do the same job; the DT 770 is more comfortable and the 7506 is what the rest of the industry is wearing. Under $90 for the Sony or under $150 for the Beyerdynamic is the buy, and there’s no reason to wait for the other.
And that’s it. From November 20 this page gets a fresh read every morning of deal week; the baseline prices are what we read on September 13, 2026. The rest of the categories are on the Black Friday deals for video editors page, and the full set of buyer’s guides lives on the Gear Guides page. Spot a price we haven’t posted? Leave a comment.
