Grit

Cheapest closest best would be Apevoix Grit Otherwise next year down will have in your budget - Kiwi Ears Aether, or may be Divine as well (even better than both, but hard to find, check used, s12 2024 - not ultra or pro)

Audio-Technica ATH-R50x from over ears Apevoix Grit on sale from IEMs but also like for $90 Letshouer S08 is great all around \~$70 Kefine Delci AE if you only worry about gaming(not as good as Grit even for gaming but better than S08 and cheaper)

for gaming they are about same, both rly good, but for music apevoix grit is better they are 199 now on apevoix website on linsoul when it's sale they go for 180-190 [https://www.apevoix.com/products/apevoix-kiwi-ears-cadenza-10mm-beryllium-dynamic-driver-iem-4-core-braided-copper-cable-with-a-3-5mm-single-ended-termination](https://www.apevoix.com/products/apevoix-kiwi-ears-cadenza-10mm-beryllium-dynamic-driver-iem-4-core-braided-copper-cable-with-a-3-5mm-single-ended-termination)

"gaming headphones" are with the sole exception of the audeze Maxwell, a scam. They all sound like shit and are just taking advantage of gamers who tend to be less critical thinking about purchases for some reason. Closed back, there aren't a lot of good affordable options. I'd look into iems. Something like the truthear zero blue 2 for about 65 bucks. Cost to performance will destroy any closed back under 200. If you drop 220 on some aprvoix grit iems you get headphones that compete up in the $800 range. They're kinda god tier gaming headphones (and ultra top tier music as well) Open back, you get more choice. I love gaming on my cheap grados. There are affordable options from Beyrdynamic, fiio, kiwiears, and sennheiser too. And you absolutely, positively, must be using a basic cheap dongle dac and not your pc front audio jack. $18 on the jcally jm6 will handle almost any iem out there and most every headphone. But pc audio amplifiers are hot dogshit. If you can swing 300, the audeze Maxwell is a good choice. I found the dongle to make it surprisingly versatile, I keep them Bluetooth tied to my phone for music and the dongle for my pc, steam deck, laptop and retro handheld. They sound genuinely great, but they are a bit heavy. I felt they were a little anemic so I switched to a bass boost EQ profile and they suddenly got that "huge planar magnetic" sound I love in 90-100mm planar drivers. But if you're home and don't game in a shared space, I would recommend open backs. And for long game sessions, I actually would recommend the iems.

Nope, bone conduction was my main curiosity so I bought a lot! I've got Kb02, Kiwi Ears Etude, Apevoix Grit (the Anvil's sister), Penon Fan 3s, BGVP DMA. I've not tried the KB03- I have been tempted but reviews seem to be all over the place! My point is definitely not to put you off, because each of these IEMs is brilliant for their price (apart from the Fan 3s) It's more a warning not to expect a huge difference, and better implementation usually means subtlety. My personal recommendation to experience BC would be the Etude- because it's a great sounding IEM on its own, and the vibration is obvious at high volume.

There's so many! Ones I can personally recommend: Planars- Artti T10 - my first "holy shit, IEMs are great" best $50 I ever spent. KZ PRX is a good, even cheaper alternative. TRN Shell- Great value everything, even the accessories are great. CCA Hydro- A taste of what a $500+ hybrid can be. 2DDs, 8BAs. KZ Decet- 5 DDs. Very bassy boy- it should be a muddy mess, but it's so impressive for the price and super fun. Kiwi Ears Etude- It sounds great, but also vibrates. It's weird. It's gloriously unique, some may hate it, but I love it. Apevoix Grit- Bone conduction, can be subtle, but on the right tracks (especially live recordings) it's awesome. Punch Audio Martilo - Only had it for a few hours. so far on most tracks it's an excellent, comfortable all rounder, but put on bassy songs and it shows what it can do. Similar to the Decet, but more details. You have to decide if that's worth 4x the price though. Instead of one $100, it may be worth buying 2 pairs eg the T10 and the Decet- Planars sound very different to 5DDs, it's fun to swap. I always hoped I'd be able to just have 1 IEM that did everything, but it turns out I really love swapping between them.

Bone conduction is VOODOO that sometimes does nothing and sometimes does everything. Mini reviews- 1) Kb02 Most days- "This sounds pretty bad, and I hear no bone conduction". Random days "WTF why do I hear bone conduction really strong with Oasis, this is fun" 2) Kiwi Ears Etude - "This actually has really strong vibration, it's so fun... But... Why is it doing it only on snare drums and not the bass?" 3) Apevoix Grit - A great IEM, but the BC is usually fairly mild, but occasionally, wild. 4) Penon Fan 3s - "Why can I feel and hear it vibrate really strongly in my hand, but it changes nothing to the sound?" (I returned this one- it just wasn't very good. But may have been broken) 5) Bqeyz Wind- Didn't get very long with these but no obvious BC to me. 6) BGVP DMA- "Everything else used cheap BC. I bet if I buy one with Sonion BC, it will be great!" It was not great. It's a really great IEM, but it has the LEAST obvious bone conduction effect. 7) QoA Martini - Borrowed it... I loooove this IEM. BC is good, and always noticeable, huuuuuge soundstage and seperation.

I have the XS and a bunch of sub $250 IEMs- it's a completely different experience. I don't think there's an equivalent (At least that I've tried) For live music with real instruments, the XS soundstage is a whole different league to IEMs. By far the best I have heard. But... Put on hip hop or DnB, and they lose the magic. Bassy IEMs are better for that. I have the Apevoix Grit, with bone conduction, and that does definitely increase the soundstage compared to other IEMs, but still not close to the XS.