JT7

I bought the new Jade Audio JT7 planar magnetic and they go great with it! They come with 2 sets of cables and sound amazing for ~$100! Best value out there if you ask me.

I've tried a couple of the ones on here and I think the jt3s absolutely bulldoze everything else up until the ft1 and even then I could see the jt3s taking it in certain conditions. I'm less excited about the jt7 but they are still solid, same for the jt1s.

You’re not gonna get wide soundstage on a closed back without some sort of audio manipulation like Ifi’s XSpace button. Even then it isn’t the same. You have to prioritize, closed back for isolation and more detail or open back for soundstage and better spatial awareness. For what it’s worth my room is noisy too (fans) but once my game starts I don’t even notice it. TBF I only do single player, non-competitive gaming. I can’t stand isolation either, I have tinnitus.  With all that said, if you opt closed back Fiio makes some great budget cans. The JT1 is a closed back around $60. I use Jade JT7 open backs with a ifi hip dac amp and the sound is stellar. $100 planar magnetic headphones is just crazy value, I highly recommend if you opt for open back and can stretch your budget to $100-$120. Good luck! Cheers

Unless you absolutely prioritize isolation for use in public spaces or monster bass open backs are the way. There’s a reason 90% of “audiophile” sets are open. They prioritize soundstage, accuracy and separation.  If you ever wanna dabble, check out a set of Hifiman Edition XS for around $200. Tool is my fave band and with those it sounds like I’m sitting criss cross applesauce right in front of the kick drums, it’s incredible. Whatever you get, enjoy!

Jade JT7s and buy a 3.5mm boom mic cord to make it a “gaming headset”.

Better to just buy some real headphones and a stand alone mic. Can get a Fiio JT7 and a Blue Yeti mic for less for example. Gaming headphones have been a scam for a long time imo. They are good at a couple things but nearly always made to break within a couple years. Most headset mics sound terrible. The last gaming headset I bought was years ago Logitech Pro X in 2020. Headset piece on the right side snapped after just taking it off my head. Never again. HiFiman does make good headphones. Arya Stealth and Organics are top tier imo but are more expensive.

I prefer the build quality and sound quality of real headphones and mics instead of gamer headsets. That also includes for games. My headsets and iems do great for gaming by being more immersive than your typical gamer headset. Especially for games like Resident Evil series, Elden Ring, etc. Big cinematic moments sound better. You will also be able to hear footsteps and player actions just fine. That said, the build quality does look good imo for the Kithara, but for the price it's not worth it imo since the mic is bad. The JT7 I recommend is $120. Bet it sounds just as good or better than the Kithara. Can buy an actual mic for another ~$100 so you don't sound like a tin man when talking.

King of Value is koss for sure. The KSC75 with a headband or a kph40 would be the best bang for your buck. In the same vein, the moondrop old fashioned would be really good as well. Very mid forward, great for on the go listening. All three of course with yaxi/soulwit pads. If you want over ear, options get a bit more limited, a used sennheiser hd599 is a really great choice, as well as a 560s as they have low impedence good for a disc player. Also the fiio JT1 kor JT7 would be good options with planar drivers.

No that's a fair question. Stock koss pads aren't exactly the most comfortable, so yaxi, and soulwit by extension, make replacement pads that's are thicker, fluffier, and are more comfortable. Koss uses universal sizes for pads, and clips on the backs of the drivers so you can mix and match various headbands and earclips that fit that size. If there's a headband "made for the KSC75" it'll also fit any other koss on ear headphones. The issue with a thicker pad is that it reduces bass as the driver is further from your ear, and it may increase treble depending on frankly a lot of factors, but koss in particular punch well well above their price range and are known as the titan in the value headphone world. Some find them uncomfortable but the pads and band being swappable remove that issue almost entirely, some people just don't like on ear headphones.

A review of the FiiO Jade/Audio JT7 ( the very cheap planar from FiiO Subbrand) - also takes to pad swaps very well and IMO more comfortable than the FT1 Pro.

yeah but 5-10 years ago even 300 dollar iems sucked compared to modern stuff. You have to keep in mind all products change and improve either in quality or value. For example, currently Hifiman has the Edition XV that is a new set for 400 dollars, it'll get hit with a price cut in a year, for context their 500 dollar edition xs is like 230-300 now. And for something that is new, the FiiO FT1 Pro is an excellent contender nowadays and the FiiO JT7 is a cheaper version of it at 130 dollars that is slightly worse, like the Tanchjim Fission and Origin are to each other. I auditioned the Edition XV and people say the XV and FT1 Pro are similar in terms of tech, so basing off that assumption i'd say these are really close to my Moondrop x Crinacle DUSK. It's like a 5% improvement on the DUSK in terms of detail/dynamics compared to the XV but that's it. The soundstage of the FT1 Pro/XV is not their strongest suite but due to being an open back they're still better than an iem. Due to their drivers, they have a response down to 20 hz, so no bass issues unlike the HD600 stuff. Sound is subjective only for the tuning, that's completely up to taste but the quality of the sound/the technicalities can be heard or at least felt by most. For example a 20 dollar iem vs a 300 dollar one.

hmmm not quite, imo the DUSK is still a 7/10 overall in terms of sound and although imo iems dont get above 8.5/10 cus of the staging, there's still a decent gap, just not worth it. I'd take a 600 dollar arya stealth over a kilobuck iem any day of the week for example but that's only hifiman, no one else is really able to put out such good value. Moondrop is trying but still slightly behind in technicalities at the same price points. Technically speaking, at least based on what I've tried, the Arya Organic, a 900 dollar headphone, is an 8.5/10 in terms of sound. That's endgame quality imo and im not buying any other headphone after my HE1K Stealth (which i got cus of its metal build despite the sound quality being the same as the Arya Organic). I don't think a true 10/10 exists for headphones, the LCD-5 has everything but slam, the Focal Utopia has slam but suffers in other spots, i've only heard the LCD-5 and i'd give it a 9.5/10. So yeah based on this one guy's weird ahh rating system i hope you can get an idea of what black magic Hifiman is doing in the headphone space with their price cuts. And dang lol the HE400Se is a bit old, it's not gonna be bad but you're in for a disappointment if you're gonna compare it to iems. Until 200 dollars iems ROCK. After that headphones and iems start to become similar in quality until around the 400 to 600 dollar range where the Moondrop Para 1/2 and the Hifiman Arya Stealth come in, IEMs just dont stand a chance for me. And i'd take my 320 dollar Adam T5V speakers over the LCD-5 lol