Open back headphones under $60 are pretty limited unless you shop used. Most are actually semi-open and don’t sound or perform as well as budget IEMs (in-ear monitors)
The only real options are:
* **AKG K240 Studio ($56)** neutral “studio” sound but weak bass
* **Samson SR850 ($50)** bright and a bit fatiguing
* **Superlux HD 681 / HD 681B ($37)** also bright, 681B has less bass
Honestly, I’d consider IEMs instead. They sound better for the price, isolate noise, stay cool, and work both indoors and out. Any of these would be a great pick:
* **Truthear Gate**, **Moondrop Chu 2**, or **7Hz Zero2** **($22)** Budget kings
* **7HZ G1($31)** Fun V-shape with tons of bass
* **Moondrop Lan** (**$46)** Clean vocals, all metal build
* **Moondrop Moca ($60) / Space Travel 2 ($38)** Neutral true wireless buds with average ANC. These probably being the closest thing that match your needs.
Have my superlux hd 681 for like 4 or 5 years, and they are awesome, using them for music and with the threaded extension I can use them for my guitar amp too, top tier and dirt cheap.
i dont own iems but i dont have a problem with the soundstage, its super easy to locate the enemy even in vertical aspect. At first i wasnt even aware how much of a difference they make over some ss arctis in that matter.
Isolation obviously is bad because they are open backs, at first it was weird that i heard background noise like my pc running, my keyboard clicks but i get used to it after few days. I always heard them at some level with closed backs so it was just matter of getting used to. When any sound is playing in your headphones its not an issue at all in my opinion.
Personaly these headphones are my endgame. I play at quite high level and they are better compared to my other headphones like Superlux hd681, Beyerdynamics DT990 Pro or Arctis 7.
Superlux HD681 and Samson SR850, but with velvet/suede earpads. Eh with stock shitty leather. 100-200$ sound with velvet pads.
KSC75 if you don't mind the hooks. Moondrop Old Fashioned is really nice as well, sounds pretty similar to KSC75.
golden_numbers
