Headphones are the easiest Black Friday purchase an editor can make, and the easiest one to get wrong. They’re easy because the same three or four studio models go on sale every November and the cuts are real. They go 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. Below 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 where the seller is Amazon or Best Buy themselves, or the manufacturer’s own Amazon storefront. The exception is the Rode NTH-100, where the only Amazon listing in September was from a marketplace seller. From November 20 through Cyber Monday we update every line here; until then the September numbers are the baseline. The rest of the categories are on the Black Friday deals for video editors page.
Some links below are affiliate links. Buy through them and it helps keep the site running, at no extra cost to you. Deal prices land here the week of November 20.
TLDR
The Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohm, our best overall, was $179.99 in September, so buy it under $150. The Sony MDR-7506 is the budget pick and the most common headphone in professional video. It was $113 on Amazon, and it gets under $90 most years, which is the price to buy at. The Sony MDR-M1, the 7506’s long-overdue successor, was $268 at Best Buy, and under $220 it becomes the default buy.
The watch list
Best overall: Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (80 ohm)
September price: $179.99 on Amazon. Target: under $150. The DT 770 Pro has been the default closed-back in edit bays for two decades, but one instruction comes before the price: buy the 80 ohm version. Beyerdynamic sells this headphone in 32, 80, and 250 ohm versions, and they all go on sale. 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, because 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. Target: under $90. The 7506 has been in production since 1991 and hangs in every broadcast truck and edit lab in the country, so 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 7506 against the ATH-M50x has its own page: Sony MDR-7506 vs ATH-M50x.
The step-up: Sony MDR-M1
September price: $268 at 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. As a newer model it hasn’t built a Black Friday track record yet. Best Buy is the retailer to watch for it, because the headphones category is one they discount hard.
Best for long sessions: Rode NTH-100
September price: $134 on Amazon, from a marketplace seller. Target: under $120, from Amazon or Rode itself. Nobody prints a spec for comfort at hour six, and the NTH-100 wins there, 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 in September came from a marketplace seller. 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. 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 that target is realistic.
The cheap closed-back: Sennheiser HD 280 Pro
September price: $85.49 on Amazon. Target: under $70. For the “hangs on a hook in the machine room” job, the HD 280 Pro is the 7506’s rival, 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. Target: under $350. The WH-1000XM6 is here 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 the noise-cancelling processing colors everything you hear through it. Black Friday is the one week Sony’s flagship gets a real cut, so if you want one for the plane, this is when to buy 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 before anything else. Buy the DT 770 Pro in 80 ohm, not 250, unless you own a headphone amp. Picking the wrong version is the single most common Black Friday headphone mistake, and the listings do not make it easy.
Buy from retailer stock or wait. 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. The NTH-100 is the one pair above where September left no retailer listing to link, which is why its target names Amazon or Rode.
Buy closed-back for a shared room and open-back for a private one, because 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 that dominate Black Friday headphone pages. 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. Buy the Sony under $90 or the Beyerdynamic under $150, and there’s no reason to wait for the other.
And that’s it. From November 20 the prices here get a fresh read every morning of deal week. 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.
