Hey! You! Yeah, you, the one listening to music on headphones you found in the box when you bought your phone. Those crummy earbuds make every song sound like it’s playing through a muddy soup can, and they leak so much sound I can sing along from half a subway car away. Oh, you think they’re good enough, who cares? You’re wrong. You need something better.

A good pair of headphones makes your music sound better, of course. But they can also dull the din of the world, making trains and jackhammers and open offices more bearable....