ATH-AD700X

Headphone comfort isn't really that complicated, but it does depend a lot on how big your ears are and how tolerant you are to pressure on top of your head. In general, the softer the foam and the lighter the clamp force, the more comfortable they will be. Clamping force depends on headphone weight and design. Headphones with support on top - be it wings like Audio Technica, foam like Beyer Dynamic/Sony, or a strap like some other brands have - tend to mean lower clamping force since less weight is carried by the cups and so less friction (aka clamping force) is required. Open headphones tend to be both lighter and have softer foam with lower clamping force, since closer tend to prioritise sound isolation (which needs mass) and denser foam (to block noise). The absolute most comfortable headphones I've ever worn (and I've worn a lot) were Audio Technica AD700X. I often forgot I was even wearing them, which caused issues when I would jump up to answer the door or check the stove. They are sadly not built for getting yanked off heads at running pace and falling to hardwood floors. I've never met anyone who found higher clamping forces more comfortable. It can be useful if you move around a lot, get sweaty with leather pads, or otherwise have stability issues, but comfortable... No. Firmer pads are mostly for people with sensitive areas around their ears, so the bony regions take more of the weight, or for people with ears that poke out a lot because it stops their ears touching the cups. tl;dr if you want to maximise comfort get the lightest ones that fit your needs and have the largest diameter cups. If possible, also consider ones with active weight supporting elements on top of the head, and tread Audio Technica AD--- as a good recommendation.

My PC audio setup is a wild ride. I use the onboard audio to drive a headphone jack I attached to my desk. When I don't want to wear my large open back headphones I plug a set of Faaeal flat head earbuds. I don't like the isolation feeling from rubber tipped earbuds and they are super comfortable and I can wear them for hours. I use the optical out from my onboard audio to drive a pretty good LG sound bar and I use this when I'm home alone and want to game at my PC but with good audio without headphones I use a Soundblaster Z to drive a set of audio Technica ATH-700x open back headphones, these are amazing value headphones with a fantastic sound stage and positional sound imaging for FPS games. Finally my PC is also directly around the corner from my TV and home theater sound system so I have my TV connected as a second monitor via my Sony 5.1 home theatre amp which allows me to have HD home theatre audio over HDMI from my 9070xt when I want to play games sitting on the couch like a console on my big TV and home theatre level surround. I also the mic from my Wii Guitar Hero game on a boom arm. It's actually a pretty good quality USB Logitech mic and it works amazingly for comms.

2 main reasons, I originally thought I would need the amp to drive them but I have since learned that they are actually really easy to power and don't need lots of power like some audiophile headphones to sound good. Also on my previous motherboard I had a little bit of electrical noise bleed when I used them with the onboard audio but with a discrete card the sound is clean. They are really sensitive which is why I think you could hear it in them but not my earbuds. The reason I didn't start just using the onboard audio for them after I upgraded is kind of just because I didn't want to have too many connectors between them and the audio jack. I modded them to have a removable cable when the factory wire broke so using the desk plug would mean 3 separate connections that could get worn or dirty to cause noise between them and the source so I just kept the sound blaster since I already had it. I originally wanted to use the pod that comes with the Soundblaster as my mic and the ports on it so that I could have a volume knob but the mic really wasn't great so I don't use the pod.

The Phillips headphones aren't great, listened to them at a bud's home. His $20 iems sounded better. My suggestion is that you go over to r/AVexchange and buy the highest quality pair of headphones or iems that fit within your budget. If I were you, I'd buy me some used ATH-AD700x's off of ebay or another website, I've seen them listed online for $30-50 frequently. They're very nice, comfortable, and lightweight open back headphones that I can swear by. IEM vs Headphones is completely preference. As for spatial awareness, etc, don't worry about that sort of stuff. The pros often use sponsored equipment which has worse audio performance than studio grade stuff that they could easily afford. It's all in the EQ, you can just alter your iems/headphones to focus more on footsteps if that's what you really wanted. Buy for media consumption rather than gaming, because any headphone/iem that's not complete trash will do you right. Mechanical aim and utility usage matter far more in Valorant. Keep in mind that IEMs may potentially be damaging for your hearing as they're inserted into your ear canal. That's why I don't like them as much.

AD700X. That was the first time I could actually hear the midrange. Before them I only used V-shaped headphones.

I would recommend getting him studio headphones and a microphone separately, rather than these gaming headsets. What is your budget? I imagine it's around \~$150-200 judging by the price of some of these? Shame you didn't ask before Prime Day... The 560S would have been on sale in that range. You could go with the **Sennheiser HD 599** for $116. A good option. **Audio-Technica ATHAD700X** for $120 is another good one. (My only issue with the Audio Technicas are, I have to use a large-ish hair tie on the headband to wear these comfortably. Otherwise it's too loose. But I still love these headphones.) Beyerdynamics headphones sometimes go on sale for $130, but I'm not seeing any right now that low. They also can be harder to drive, so that's probably ok to avoid for now. I didn't for the 990's in Val, but maybe that was just me. And for a microphone. I own quite a few, but one of the best one you can buy right now without spending a $100+ is the **EPOS Gaming B20** for $23. I consider it a premium sounding mic, but its discontinued so it's been super cheap. Punches way above it's pirce. I use it over my Blue Yeti, but not over my Wave3... both $100+ mics. So that in total ballparks around $150 for something I'd consider better than gaming accessories.

I really like my ATH-ad700x from Audio technica. Just remember that open back headphones bleed sound. So you will most likely have to mess with your mic settings to limit the headphones picking up the mic

I honestly don’t know to be completely honest. I just really like them. Edit: I like that they’re very crisp and clear as well as don’t really have bass boost. Which you don’t want for footstep audio. They’re not reference, but they’re close. Also they have a really wide sound stage

I forgot the wing thing. I have a big ole noodle, so yeah I didn’t even think about that. My bad 🤣

The Audio Technica ATH700X are the best thing I've heard for accurate footsteps and all other audio cues in Battlefield 2042 & 6. Amazing. Need a modmic to turn them into a headset, but then one is golden indeed.