When it comes to over-ear headphones, you want to make sure how they look compliments your style just as much as your music compliments your day. The New York headphones from Urbanista seriously look the part: available in either Dark Clown (that’s black to you and me) and Moon Walk, which is a white and grey combination.

As much as we moan about the kids of today being glued to screens, to be honest it can be a life saver keeping them entertained in awkward moments, long car journeys, queuing for anything and boring family functions. What isn’t as helpful is having to listening to the game/kid’s show/god awful pop band on repeat. Headphones are an excellent choice to alleviate the assault on your ears, however you don’t want them to wind up with hearing problems before they have had a chance to destroy them at various metal gigs when they are older.

New on the scene is the Marshall Kilburn II - the updated version of Marshall Headphones best selling classic speaker with all new features and a tougher body to withstand all the parties and travels you throw at it. There are very few times when I open a package (and we get a lot) and my heart beats a little faster but that was the reaction the Kilburn II invoked, it truly is a thing of beauty.

The KitSound BoomBar 2+ is self-described as “retro inspired design meets modern innovation”, meant to look like an 80’s boombox, personally, I think the design looks rather modern and not very retro or 80’s – it’s lacking all the knobs, defined edges and bare bone design of 80’s boombox so does this mean the sound quality is equivalent to a 30year old machine?

As vinyl continually elbows its way back into popularity, people have been beginning to unleash their inner DJ and play around with mixing and scratching. The Mixfader ProLink is a tiny battery-powered device that will allow you to explore the different ways to scratch on portable turntables, promising the sharpest cuts, ultra-precision and lossless audio quality.

The E10BT (super catchy name by the way) from SoundMAGIC are Bluetooth wireless connecting headphones which can provide you with up to 12 hours play time. The pack includes the SoundMAGIC E10BT wireless earphones, USB charging cable, semi-rigid carry case, three pairs domed silicone eartips (S/M/L), three pairs bowl silicone eartips (S/M/L), four pairs vented silicone eartips (XS/S/M/L) and one pair of double flange silicone eartips (M) so you can find the perfect fit that stays secure in your ear even when running or working out.

If you always like to have your music close to hand (or close to ear), the Milan from Urbanista could be your ideal earbuds, with a wearable neck back it means you can enjoy the freedom of wireless music without the risk of losing your earbuds when you take them out for one of those unfortunately necessary human interactions that social media and self-service checkouts have yet to eliminate.

The latest addition to the Headway Music Audio collection of Acoustic Pickups and Pre-amps is the EDB-2. Following from the success of the ‘EDB-1 Equaliser Direct Blend Pre-Amp’, Headway have made some improvements, including refined class “A” inputs and Pro Audio IC Components, an easy to read Pro-Audio design layout, as well as a new strong metal body.

Rightly so, vinyl has been making a comeback as people rebel against the convenience and low cost of mp3’s in favour of better sound quality, even if it does mean giving up a large part of your home to your collection. If you aren’t sure what format to commit to, the Superior LP from Ion has got you covered with this 7 in 1 unit you can play 7”, 10” and 12” records, CDs, Tapes (remember them?), connect devices via Aux or Bluetooth and if all that fails simply listen to the AM/FM radio.

Founded in 1946 by Walter Stanton, the inventor of the easily replaceable phonograph stylus, Stanton Magnetics is still an industry leader in audio gear for clubs, DJs and turntablists. With 70 years behind them, Stanton have managed to stay ahead of the trends, and are a go-to name for DJs that want a product they can trust. We received the ST.150 M2 super high torque turntable, and we couldn’t wait to give it a spin!