Headphone and IEM brands

Guide

By Jeremy Screeton · Published October 20, 2026

There are a lot of headphone brands, and most "best headphones" lists change every few months. This page is different: it's the headphone and in-ear makers we've verified for the Audio-Atlas directory, with what each company says about itself and links to the sources. Use it to find makers worth researching, then go to reviews and measurements for specific models.

Over-ear and on-ear headphone makers

• Audeze (United States). Southern California headphone company built around proprietary planar-magnetic transducers, with separate audiophile, professional and gaming ranges. Its catalogue also includes electrostatic headphones, and the company says its planar-magnetic and electrostatic drivers are manufactured in Orange County.
• HIFIMAN (United States). HIFIMAN develops headphones, earphones, DACs and amplifiers, with planar-magnetic designs central to its product history. Its current range also includes wireless and streaming products, while named engineering areas include thin diaphragms, Stealth Magnets and HYMALAYA resistor-ladder conversion.
• Grado Labs (United States). Grado Labs is a family-owned American headphone and phono-cartridge company founded in 1953 and based in Brooklyn. Its current wired-headphone offering separates Classic and Signature families, while the cartridge range continues through Prestige, Timbre and Lineage series assembled in Brooklyn.
• Koss (United States). US headphone company whose founder John C. Koss introduced the SP/3, the world's first stereophone, in 1958. Its current range includes the KPH30 and CL3i headphones and USB headsets.
• Sennheiser (International). Sennheiser’s consumer-hearing site covers wired and wireless headphones, earphones, AMBEO soundbars and listening accessories. The consumer business is operated by Sonova under licence from Sennheiser, distinct from the Sennheiser company’s professional microphones, conferencing and monitoring operations.
• beyerdynamic (Germany). German audio company with a history spanning studio headphones, microphones and consumer listening products. The catalogue now also covers wireless headphones and gaming headsets, while selected headphones and microphones continue to be manufactured at its Heilbronn site.
• Audio-Technica (Japan). Japanese audio company whose origins in phono cartridges developed into headphones, turntables and microphones for home and professional use. Its history connects the dual-magnet VM cartridge family with later monitoring headphones and recording products, retaining a substantial analogue-playback focus.
• Focal (France). French acoustic-equipment company founded by Jacques Mahul in 1979, covering loudspeakers, headphones, studio monitors and installed audio. Its manufacturing identity includes Saint-Étienne production and Bourbon-Lancy cabinetry, while the range also extends into automotive and marine listening.
• Meze Audio (Romania). Romanian headphone and earphone company founded in 2011 by industrial designer Antonio Meze. It offers open-back, closed-back and in-ear listening products, with a stated design emphasis on comfort, replaceable parts and serviceable chassis rather than treating headphones as short-lived disposable accessories.
• Shure (United States). Shure supplies microphones, wireless systems, in-ear monitoring, headphones and earphones for performance, production and everyday listening. Its history begins with radio-parts wholesaling in 1925, while the current range also serves content creators, broadcasters and meeting-room audio installations.

In-ear monitor (IEM) specialists

• Campfire Audio (United States). Maker of in-ear monitors with more than 70 models and iterations over nearly a decade, including the Andromeda 10, the Astrolith dual-planar IEM and the nine-driver Chimera.
• 64 Audio (United States). Family-run in-ear monitor company that started in a spare bedroom and now makes universal and custom IEMs, including the Ocean model, with accessories and service support for musicians and listeners.
• Etymotic (United States). Engineering-driven research and manufacturing company founded to build hearing-assessment instruments, which invented insert earphones in 1984 and introduced noise-isolating balanced-armature in-ear earphones in 1991. It makes the ER4 in-ear monitors and hearing-protection products.
• Moondrop (China). MOONDROP is the brand of Chengdu Shuiyueyu Technology, founded in 2015, making IEMs, headphones, true-wireless earbuds, DAC/amps and related software. Its products include the COSMO flagship headphone and the DUSK collaboration with Crinacle.

Pairing matters too. If you're looking at demanding headphones, read Do I need a headphone amp? and headphone amp and DAC makers. More in the Headphones category.

Audio-Atlas is an informational directory; mentions are not endorsements. Check details with each manufacturer or business. See our editorial policy and affiliate disclosure.