Picking the right headphones means finding a model that matches your preferred sound, intended use case, budget and most importantly: your head. Before you start browsing the purchase assistant have a look at the different kinds of headphones and what they do best. You can learn more about the different major sound signature here.
There are four types of headphones that can be easily distinguished by the way they are "coupled" with your head.
also called full size headphones or circum aural headphones. These headphones have ear pads that lay around the ear to create a seal between the headphone and the head.
also called supra aural headphones. Models that fall into this category rest on your ears when you wear them and rely on strong clamping pressure and dense ear pad material to create a seal with your ear and isolate you from the outside world.
sit directly in the ear canal, and an ear-tip (usually silicone) creates an airtight seal between the headphone driver and the ear canal.
only sit in the outer ear, or just inside the ear canal, but are not designed to create a seal between the headphone and the ear.
Not every headphone is created equal and several models mentioned in the purchase assistant make use of a different technology to produce sound than others. The two Inner Fidelity articles below explain in full detail what sets them apart and which advantages and disadvantages come with each driver technology.