![The author holding aloft a pair of German Maestro GMP 8.35 Mobile Advanced headphones with velour pads.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WMUmqF1Th-VLYxaPWTk0wU4go0w=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71900151/236498_Maestro_Durable_headphones_CPerson_0009.0.jpg)
I hate buying something cheap. There is nothing worse than that sinking sensation when you open something up and know it’s not long for this world. I am also hard on my gear, which led me to buy these bulletproof headphones from an obscure company called German Maestro.
But in order to talk about these headphones, I need to talk about a different pair of headphones first: the Sony MDR-7506 (and its discontinued brother, the Sony MDR-V6).
I edit a lot of videos and do voiceover work. And if you have done any video work, you have almost certainly used a pair of Sony MDRs. They are iconic. You can spot the blue or red stripe and coiled cable from across a set. When you go to film school, you are basically issued a pair of MDRs like a…