Hello, I'm posting this for a friend.

His use case is work calls, music and gaming, MUST: wireless with good mic, good ANC is a plus.

I've recommended xm4s bc ive been using them for over 4 years but not so sure about their value in 2026.

Need some recommendations to look out for in time for black friday discounts, amazon/local stores thanks!

Heyo, my budget is around 550-650€ can go a little over if it's really good.

I'm planning to use the headphones mostly at home, (it's noisy because I have budgies), and they're mostly for gaming, listening to music on youtube etc. and watching movies.

I don't really know what type of soundstage I need or like, but I listen to everything from loud metal/rock music ala Doom, to Orchestral stuff like from the Final Fantasy Series.

I used to have a really old Steelseries Arctis 3, didn't really have any complaints to be honest.

I'm from germany and I don't really have many Music stores near me where I could test stuff out.

My PC desk is really cluttered, so any recommendations for a Microphone would really help, preferably attached or somehow attachable to the pair of headphones.

I wear glasses if that matters and I haven't had any experience with equalizing and all that stuff.

The only one I liked in recent memory were the Denon AH-D7200, but I only wore them briefly, didn't hear them.

The budget should include everything I need with the headphones, (Mic and whatever else).

Thank you for reading up to this point and I'm excited to see what you guys think I should get!

Hello all! This year marks the tenth anniversary of my love-hate relationship with Audio Technica's M40X. As a beginner with sound, I ignored its issues for a while, to the point where I just eventually kept them and tried to work my way around their limitations. Now the cans are starting to rattle at occasional frequencies, and I'm looking for an alternative in the similar price range.

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My main problems with M40Xs were: - too much clamping on my head, would sometimes get headaches - driver imbalance!!! my left ear would have stronger response on certain frequencies and it drove me mad

What I liked or in general I would like from my future pair: - Neutral and well balanced response - Detachable cable (not a must, I've heard Sony MDR-7506 are really hard to break even if they sport a fixed cable) - wired only - over-ear - no preference between open or closed backs, open to try anything you suggest

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My use case scenario is music, gaming and occasional music production (nothing fancy, I butcher togheter samples in renoise/milkytracker to have fun, but the aforementioned driver imbalance issues made me stress way too much about the process). Thanks anyone for the help!

P.S. I already have an audio interface, so driving headphones isn't a problem.

Hi. Recently got the HE1000 Stealth and I am wondering if there are some premium leather earpad recomendations , would love if they could make the sound warmer, bass and mids pronounced. Anything until 100€ would be fine.

And I am not complaining about any treble harshness, to my ears they seem balanced, just would like some more fullness to the sound if possible , without sacrificing that wonderful soundstage

Thanks

Looking for some help getting my boyfriend a new pair of headphones for his birthday! It’s a replacement for his gaming headset that’s falling apart. I can do either a full mic headset or headphones + separate mic if that isn’t too much extra cost. Budget is about $150, refurb is ok (we both do eBay/used gifts if it’s like new). They don’t necessarily need to be “gaming headphones,” but games will be the primary use.

I was looking at the Sennheiser HD 560s after reading old posts here, but some people were saying they’re not “fun” sounding headphones. He’s a big music + movie guy and not a huge competitive gamer anymore so I think he’d rather have fun immersive sound than precise footsteps. He’s been very excited about the sound design in the new Star Wars racing game if that tells you anything.

If anyone has some recs they can point me to, I’d appreciate it!

Put open back flair but I can do closed back too. I don’t think he’s ever had open back headphones.

So, my Topping DX5II just died on me for the second time, atp I’m done w them lmao

I’ve been looking into Schiit DACs and amps, and am torn between the Lyr 5 and Jot 3. I’m also undecided on which DAC to pair with either amp, though the new Bifrost 3 and Mimir look interesting!

My current headphones are the HE1000 Unveiled, and Sony MDR-Z1R.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!

im looking for a USB desktop DAC for sub $100-130 USD, i was looking at a fiio btr5 and e10k, what would yall recomend, i dont ever picture using headphone that are past 80-130 ohm, i preferably want a volume knob, and i know some people are gonna say it, no im not gonna get a apple dongle i want a knob and i want it to actually sit on the desk like a fiio r2r, i like a warm sound i listen to 70s rock and some 90s hip hop from time to time and also some jazz, whats yalls recommendations

Hello.

I have been going around in circles on the web trying to find a replacement for my cheap but nice sounding (to me) Eksa E900 headphones.

Googling produced a few interesting units: Sony MDR-7506, ATH-M40x, Sennheiser HD280, AKG K72. I eliminated the Sennheiser due to cable issues. The Sony looks like a winner so far.

Budget is around $100, I listen to rock music on my PC at home. Bass clarity and strength is important. This would be my first step up from cheaper gaming or business type phones.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Thank you.

My job requires either ear plugs or earbuds that function as ear plugs. Does anyone have any tips for these? I work in the US and I'm willing to spend up to a couple hundred dollars on these. I'm pretty happy with the sound of my air pods pro 2, so something with that sort of tonal balance is good with me. I listen to a little bit of everything. I will be using these for work and wires might get in the way but I would prefer decent sound over them being wireless. I imagine there aren't too many options in this category, so any advice is welcome!

Hello Guys,

I'm currently running hd660s2 with an smsl stack and i'm pretty happy with it as my daily driver.

But i recently got to demo some headphones like the hifiman aryas and organics - and i have to say the organics were great in everything except vocals (compared to my hd660s2). But they were very fun to listen to.

I also got to demo the clear mgs which i would say is very similar to the hd660s2 just slighty better in everything?

And since i got a bit of money to spend right now i was looking to maybe get a second pair/upgrade of my current headphones with my strongest contender being the arya organics - the only reason im hesitating is because i'm not sure if they can replace my hd660s2 as my daily drivers and i would just use them for fun listening sessions.

But maybe some of you have other headphone recommendations that i should try before pulling the trigger. I would say my budget is <700-1000€

Thanks a lot for your help :)

Looking for iems under $120 that are good for bands like 7 angels 7 plagues, I prefer accuracy and they will be used as daily wear. I’ve never had iems before, also located in southern USA.

itsaysineedtomakethislonger

Hi all!

I'm looking for a new pair of headphones for around 500$ CAD

I currently have the V-moda crossfade 2 wireless since they were released. Before that i had the crossfade m-100. But now the crossfade 2 is starting to show its age.

I like the sound signature but haven't really experienced anything else really. I also liked the cable switching on the m-100 and the wireless option on the crossfade 2.

I would mainly use this headphone sitting at a computer. But if possible would like to have a wireless option to allow listening to music while doing chores around the house.

So here are my requirements:

Wireless/wired:

So i would prefer wireless if possible but i could also resign myself to a wired option. Ideally, i would like something like my current V-Moda crossfade 2. I can use them wirelessly or i can plug a 3.5 into them if i want better audio or if the battery is dead. TLDR; wireless but with a wired option. Also better if the wired option is analog instead of digital. I guess more options for amps/dacs in the future.

Closed back/open back:

Would really prefer closed back since i don't want the noise bleed.

Purpose:

This would be used to do everything. I game at everything and listen to music (primarily edm/kpop/rock/rap). I do not currently have a DAC/Amp at the moment but willing to buy one if the recommended headphone needs one. ANC could be ommited because i won't use it. But i know rhat current wireless options all have it so... I also already have an external microphone so don't need one on it.

So i know I'm asking for an all-rounder here and that an all-rounder is kind of a master of none. But I'm hoping that at the 500-600$ CAD range i could find a good balance for everyday use.

Thank you for reading and looking forward to your recommendations!

I recently got a pair of AFUL P7s on the recommendation of another Redditor, and while they sound good, I am a little unimpressed.

That said, Deathcore listeners, what are your favorite IEMs?

Looking for the $250-600 price range.
Prefer clear sound with a wide open soundstage?
I'm new to HiFi so I'm not great at describing what I'm looking for sound wise. I love the sound of my HiFiMan Arya. The clarity of blast beats with them is top notch which is what I'm looking for in an in ear setup for more noise blocking and less disturbing my wife.

I live in the U.S. so Amazon, Best Buy, etc are all fair game.

Looking for a headset with over-ear earpieces, closed back, and one or more 3.5mm jacks. Mainly using it for casual gaming on a desktop computer at home.

Noise isolation, audio quality, and all those other bells and whistles are just gravy. The music I listen to is probably so compressed already that good quality headphones wouldn't make a meaningful difference. I don't play FPSes, so I don't need to hear ants fart from across the map.

My main concern is durability. This whole thing started because my HyperX Cloud Stinger 2s kicked the bucket today. Their audio quality is/was fine for my purposes, but the build quality is...Not Great. I didn't like how the "leather" in the ear cups would "shed" and get all over my ears and in my hair. I've actually had strangers think I had bugs in my ears because they saw the tiny black dots and freaked out. The attached mic arm fell off at one point. It was still attached via wire and I was able to just glue the plastic bit back on, but still.

I recognize that the Gamer Tax very much applies here, but frankly I'm having trouble justifying a separate mic just so I can make fart jokes in Discord voice chat. I am a simple woman who is easily swayed by the siren song of convenience.

I already have a set of decent earbuds (EarFun Free Pro 3s, if that's relevant), but those are more for being out and about. Having to recharge wireless headphones usually just bites me in the ass when I'm gaming for more than two hours at a time.

Help of any kind is appreciated

I am buying my first pair of nice headphones for gaming, music, work. I am looking to spend no more than $400. I play on PC & PS5 and regularly switch back and forth between them on a daily basis. I do not play any first person shooters, so spatial sound is not as high of a priority as a solid mic and sound. I have never owned an open back pair of headphones and currently own the Hyper X Cloud II headset. This headset has very solid sound quality (to me) but the mic is horrendous. Any recommendations? I stumbled across the Logitech Astro A50x, Steel Series Arctis Nova Pro(excellent price at $199) , and Senheisser HD 620S (with purchasable mic). I am not married to one of these, just looking for the best bang for my buck. TIA!

Hey all, lam a proud owner of the Meze Poet, and Empyrean 2 and wanted to ask for some insight on amps and dacs. For the better part of this hobby ive used all my previous headphones with the ifi zen can 3 and ifi zen dac 3 as my amp dac stack. I hear investing in stronger or better amps and dacs will bring out the true potential in my meze headphones.

Currently looking at the ifi idsd neo 3 and valkyrie as my next options. Im after a good amp/ dac which also looks attractive as itll be on my desk for the rest of its life. Say the idsd 3 is around £600 and the valkyrie is around £1100, which one is worth getting and being used by my headphones on the desk with the pc. If there are other amp dacs you might want to recommend please feel free to.

Basically as in title. I just bought Sony MDR-MV1 headphones and I think they sound pretty great, they are also lightweight but I think they might be just slightly too small for my ears, both wide and depth-wise, although only very slightly. How realistic it is to make them fully comfortable by making more space for ears by replacing them with custom pads? Or is it not really feasible and I should instead start looking for bigger headphones?

If the answer is yes, how to know which custom pads will be compatible with them?

Hi, i'm currently looking to introduce me into the Open backs world, My Main equipment is a simgot ew300 silver nozle ( i like this so much) and a 63mw 32ohm dongle dac.

Im looking for something with good soundstage and imaging, good texture in the lower shelf, and good clarity on the treble, looking A bit on planar drivers. Maybe a little v shaped?

Over ears because on ears hurt a little bit.

On the 150-250 budget

I know My power source is not powerful enough for some planar drivers, but i'm planing on get a aiyima a7 dac, wich is 1500mw 32 ohms,

I look into fiio jt9, akg k702, kiwi ears altruva

But i want to see what more options do i hace that meet My requeriments.

if You can help me ill be so Grateful to You, thanks😁

Hey all, I’ve always been hesitant to get into headphones as I wear glasses, and they’ve usually been uncomfortable in my experience, so I’m looking for a comfortable pair of over the ear headphones. I would mostly be using them for casual music listening, so while good sound quality is a plus, I don’t need absolute top-of-the-line. I don’t have a need for noise cancellation and I don’t like paying extra for features I won’t use, so I’m hoping to find a relatively affordable pair of wireless headphones. I would prefer something around $100, but I can go up to $200. I live in the United States.

hello ive been looking for headphones/headset for under 130ish USD and i looked at a lot of posts but i cant really find anything that is in my budget. if you could help me out i would appreciate it.

im looking for headphones/headset would prefer if it had a mic, i dont really know if i need a closed-back or not but my room is mostly quite except for fans in summer im currently rocking my 4 year old SteelSeries Arctis 1 wireless and it feels like its fine, the fans dont get annoying when im wearing those, also it would be nice if the headphone/headset could connect to my phone.

i've just been seeing a lot of posts how gaming headsets arent worth it and what not but everyone who is listing these alternatives headphones are like more than 250 usd most of the time the least expensive one i saw is 200, and u also need to pay like 100-200 more dollars for the mic and DAC mix or whatever they were saying.

i would appreciate the help 🖖

I recently got the b&w px7 3 they were ok but we're not working well so returned ,now I choosing between the bose qc ultra 2 or the Cambridge p100 SE I want great sound lossless don't have to be bass monster but good bass and all round music and sound these are the 2 and was think sennheiser m4 or 5 I listen to metal the most and hip hop so and use Spotify lossless most and Amazon music hd so and use poweramp eq plz help to pick what would work for me so I don't have to return again ty guys

I am looking to buy a portable dac/amp for my Fiio JT7. I have recently got them and been running them through a generic Cx31993 dac which costs 10$. I have noticed a few problems with it -

1) When plugged in my phone volume levels are abruptly going down for 10-20 seconds and back up again.

2) When plugged in a laptop sometimes the left channel crackles after some time when nothing is playing.

3) I am almost at 70% volume with these.

So after asking AI, it suggested looking for an amp which isn't mW limited at lower independence.

It suggested me Jcally x Crinacle Ap6 for it.

But I wanted to look at Snowsky melody or Trn Blackpearl as they have peq.

What Dac/Amp should I choose for this headphone which is under 50$ ?

Sennheiser HD 490 PRO vs. Focal Lensys

As far as I understand, Focal designed the Lensys to get as close as possible to the soundstage of an open-back headphone while retaining a closed-back design.

I mainly produce bass-heavy genres, and my room isn’t always quiet, so having at least some noise isolation would be nice. However, the Focal is considerably more expensive than the Sennheiser.

If you own or have tried both headphones, I’d really appreciate your thoughts on how they compare, especially for bass-heavy music production and mixing.

I’m not a professional, so I’m also wondering whether I’d be able to take full advantage of the Focal’s potential if it turns out to be the better headphone. Given the price difference, would the Lensys be worth the extra money for someone at my level?

I teach various high school media classes.

For the longest time I've had a set of Monoprice Premium Hi-Fi DJ Style Over-the-Ear Pro Headphone for the class. Unfortunately I can't get these anymore.

I'm looking for something:

1. Cheap
   1. that way I don't have to worry if a student breaks them.
2. Over the Ear
3. Wired
   1. Plus into the 3.5 mm port in a tower computer
4. Decent audio quality

What are some good options?