LCD-GX

Stop reading this thread. Look into Audeze LCD-GX. There is no better wired headset, I tried all the wireless options for the best money. Few examples from Steelseries, Maxwell, Razer, Turtlebeach X Logitech collab. None can beat the wire, some are downright a joke in terms of sound quality. edit. Just read your comment wanting to spend 200 bucks. Thats not money for "the best". You can get some decent audio but be upfront about your budget when making threads.

I think your right for wireless but I do prefer wired options. I prefer the Audeze LCD-GX if we consider pure 'gaming headsets' and there are a lot of other wired sets you can add a mic to.

Never had a single one of these issues in the 2 years I've owned them. Incredible budget headphones and I wear them 5 hours a day, no issue. Hilarious you thinking they're expensive. They're not. These are extremely budget for Audeze. Also, not even the best gaming headphones from Audeze. That would be the Audeze LCD-GX. They're about mid-range overall for Audeze but the best for gaming anywhere. All those others headphones you mentioned won't match the Maxwell. Not even close. I recently refunded my FiiO FT1 because they're absolutely muddy garbage compared to my Maxwell

Omg if I had an award I’d give it to you. You served and then some with that reply. Thanks man! The comfort and not having that “inside voice” is what I was hoping for. Sad to hear that they’re the worst sounding for you though, but maybe that makes sense given the type of earbuds they are. TBH I ordered them a week or so ago, they haven’t shipped though, so I was curious if I should still keep the order or cancel. I’m kind of a snob sound wise (not that things have to sound perfect, just that I have preferences), and have way too many headsets/headphones, but none like these, so I thought of giving them a try. Again, thanks!

Hi there. I actually have! I’ve used them a few times for gaming, music and audiobooks. And amusingly enough I also saw on eBay a cheap open box offer for the Sony Inzone, so I bought them, and can share a few early thoughts: - they sound good. Maybe not great. For open ears, their “phantom bass” does magic in bringing some “thump” on the lower end, which is otherwise very lacking (though that’s expected). - they’re really comfortable to wear. But ymmv. My gf can’t tolerate them. It will depend on the size of your ears and how the earbuds sit over your ear canal due to it. - sound quality is highly dependent on how they align over your ear canal. Which again, makes sense for the type of buds they are. - for audiobooks they’re perfect. Being open also helps not feeling too isolated from your surroundings, which is helpful if you have pets or otherwise have to keep some awareness of your surroundings. - for music they’re surprisingly good for what they are. They’re not better than a good over-ear headphone, but they might be just as good as some other earbuds. I don’t necessarily miss my AirPods Pro. They fit differently, and feel different. But not necessarily worse or better. -for gaming is where I was a bit underwhelmed. Somehow the imaging was almost non-existent. Even on the integrated tool to test the left-right-center channels, the left and right channels sounded almost the same, but somehow the center was clearly distinct. I don’t know if something in my settings could’ve been messing it up, but it was certainly an initial disappointment. And now to compare them with the Sony Inzone buds. The Cetra Opens are overall much better. The Inzone is indeed really weird/bad for music, it just doesn’t sound great, even after equalizing. And for gaming, the Inzone app also lets you virtualize surround sound, which somehow magically does something, but it’s super inaccurate. As in, I do get cues that the audio is coming from a point, but the point is wrong. I don’t know how to explain it. It sounds really fun, but it’s actually just distracting and bad in the end, because you think you hear audio coming from behind you on the left, but in reality it was above you. Maybe it was also just the way it worked with Marathon (where I tested them) but I thought it’s worth mentioning. I notably did not have that problem with the Cetra, but then with the Cetra I also got almost no information in that regard. It wasn’t distracting, but it also wasn’t giving any cues. So, overall, I think the Inzone earbuds are a fine, cheaper pair of earbuds, that if you disable the surround virtualization are totally fine for gaming, but definitely not for music. The Cetra Open are pretty good, well rounded over-ear earbuds. They sound good, even maybe great, for music, are comfortable to wear, let you avoid that “isolated” feel of in-ear earbuds, while still having some noise-canceling when enabling that option (they’re good at reducing fan noise). For gaming they’re good, but I still have to figure out what’s going on with the sound imaging, and if it’s really a problem or not on them. Oh, and the mic on them is totally fine, but I haven’t tested them other than “it records my voice and it doesn’t sound bad”.

lol. I have a headphone problem. Over the years I had the Penrose, sold them, got the Maxwells. And also got the Sennheiser HD 800s, LCD-GX, the B&O Beoplay Portal, Razer Kraken v4 Pro (they’re silly and fun), and most recently bought these and the ZiiGaat Arcanis. Honestly, I mostly game with the LCD-GX, since I find myself more frequently playing in the living room instead of my office (where I use the HD 800s, or the Kraken V4 Pro for fun). The LCD-GX sound great and are super comfortable (if maybe they do get hot on the earpads). Otherwise I used to play with the Maxwells, but my friends always said the mic sounded bad. And yes, they’re heavy, but if you get a better headband/headband pad they can be really comfortable. I just don’t like that when I’m in the living room I can’t hear around me (but admittedly, that’s the point of them being closed back). For that reason I prefer the LCD-GX, plus, they sound better (to me) but they are stupid expensive (which is why I got them used), so maybe it’s a moot point. If you’re used to the Maxwells, the Cetra Open are going to sound very different, and objectively worse, but you should expect that, it’s a very different source. It’s a compromise. I can see myself traveling with the Cetra to have FaceTime calls and game with from a hotel room. All that said, if you’re used to the Maxwells, but want something lighter, the B&O Beoplay Portal sound really good with Dolby Atmos enabled, are incredibly lightweight, and you can find them for cheap if you look around. Their battery sucks, but if you use them plugged in with the USB cable that is a non issue.

The answer to the simplest question: my ears are average-to-large (not large, but maybe slightly larger than average). If ears came in sizes 1-4, I’d say a 3 lol. And on the topic of them being better for music than for gaming, perhaps is due to a matter of expectations. I had low expectations on these for music, but I had high expectations for gaming. So, I was surprised for how relatively good they sounded with music, but was disappointed by the sound imaging when gaming. That said, I wouldn’t pick these over other headphones or earbuds for music, just that they were perfectly serviceable for that, when I didn’t expect them to. As for gaming, maybe the problem, as I mentioned, could be in my settings (bad stereo imaging even on the ASUS software), or the specific game I’ve tried them on so far (Marathon, where I couldn’t tell sound direction at all [which is really good on my daily headset], but otherwise they sounded good and fun). I’ll play with them some more this week and see if I can figure out what could be going on, because that lack of stereo imaging was really strange and disappointing.

Yes, they can be used separately, so that should work for your use case :) Also, I just figured out my problem with the imaging. It was the toggle in Gear Link that activates Virtual Surround. That was completely muddling the separation across the channels. Deactivating that, and activating Dolby Atmos works as I'm used to and expect it (without Dolby Atmos the stereo imaging is as expected now as well). It's pretty great! I've tested it now with proper sources to see if I can distinguish between left/right and front/back and can confirm that it does work.

i've used open backs for gaming for a while and yeah, you'll definitely hear your pc fans when there's quiet moments in games. the thing is, during intense action with loud audio, game sounds usually mask it pretty well. between your two picks, the [Audeze LCD-GX](https://metadoraffi-eng.github.io/shopit?Audeze+LCD-GX+gaming+headphones) has fantastic imaging for competitive play but it's quite heavy - i'd recommend looking at the [Sennheiser HD 560S](https://metadoraffi-eng.github.io/shopit?Sennheiser+HD+560S+gaming) as a lighter alternative that still has great positional audio. if fan noise really bothers you, semi-open options like the [Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X](https://metadoraffi-eng.github.io/shopit?Beyerdynamic+DT+900+Pro+X) offer a good middle ground with slightly better isolation. honestly though, after a few sessions your brain kinda filters out the constant fan noise anyway.

i actually swapped to open-backs last year and worried about this too. with the [Audeze LCD-GX](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=audeze+lcd+gx&language=en_US&tag=bestdeals202f-20&ref=as_li_ss_tl) i can hear my PC fans if the room is dead silent and nothing is playing, but once a game starts the fans disappear completely. the soundstage is worth the tiny bit of ambient bleed. you get way better spatial awareness in games. fans wont compete with explosions or footsteps at all. its more like leaving a window cracked than having a tv on in the background.

I’m not sure audiophile grade headsets are a thing, maybe something like the [Audeze LCD GX](https://us.amazon.com/Audeze-LCD-GX-Gaming-Headset-Wired-All-Analog/dp/B07TLNYMRM)? Not trying to be pedantic but I wouldn’t call a pair of 100 dollar Bluetooth headphones ‘audiophile’ grade. I think you wouldn’t notice much of a difference between the options you listed, however, the mic would probably sound a lot better. I went from a HyperX Cloud II to an iBasso SR2 and the difference is huge, but those are more than 100 bucks.

Audeze LCD-GX. I totally believe in the brand and quality of Audeze. If you don’t mind a wired connection that’s one of the best options.