Get wired: the best wired earbuds, headphones and hi-fi gifts

OK, so they've gone all-in on the retro music trend — at least, you think they have?

Tells include (but are not limited to) shunning Spotify in favor of rifling through thrift store CD and cassette tape piles, re-watching Stranger Things to see what 80s audio gear Max was actually wearing when she fought Vecna, spending Sunday afternoons at an independent record store, or re-organising their room ready to accommodate a set of tower speakers, turntable and hi-fi stack.

Maybe they've expressed an interest in a set of wired earbuds? That is great! Why? Because as a gift, they're perfect — provided you know what they'll be plugging them in to. If the headphones (or earbuds) are going straight into their phone or tablet, you'll almost certainly want something that ends in a USB-C connection, such as the Bose Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds, the oh-so-business Sennheiser CX 80U or, for a more retro look, the delightfully 1979-esque Sony MDR-3R.

If, however, they want a DAC to get better quality audio from their phone — I've suggested the inexpensive and excellent iFi GO Link 2, which connects to your device via USB-C and sports a 3.5mm jack at the other end — you can select a set of headphones that terminates in good old 3.5mm. Here, you simply cannot go wrong with the Sennheiser IE 200 (Sennheiser's most affordable, modern classic IEMs) or the cheap-and-cheerful 1More Triple Driver earbuds, which even come with a USB-C adapter.

For visibility, I'll continue explaining my recommendations below the roundup. Scroll on down if you came here for players of speakers…

The best wired audio gifts of 2026

The three physical music players in this guide — the Maxell Wireless Cassette Player, the Gadhouse Miko (also a portable cassette spinner) and the Km5 Cp1 CD spinner — all accept 3.5mm wired headphones or earbuds, and wouldn't that look special?

Finally, let's briefly get into audiophile adjacent 'big present' territory, just in case. The Astell & Kern PD5 digital audio player is a step above (hi-res files only, mind — no discs or tapes here) that'll accept 3.5mm headphones/earbuds and balanced 4.4mm alternatives. Or, if they've got an elite player already, the best headphones I've heard all year are the HEDD Heddphone D1; they're open-backed, gloriously huge — and not at all cheap. Lastly, the Ruark Audio Talisman-R passive stereo speakers are among the best traditional hi-fi stereo towers for fledgling audiophiles. And they'll absolutely work in smaller apartments, too.

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