PC Gaming

Steelseries arctics 7

Reasonably comfortable, reasonably priced (if you catch a sale about $100usd), good mic with monitoring, wireless, but most importantly: they just work. I’ve had the same pair for 5ish years and have never had to troubleshoot.

I've been using a pair of Sennheiser HD210s for closer to 10 years. Light and comfy and decent audio quality for the price.

Sennheiser pc38x if you want a headset, I've just been using monoprice bt600ancs with a vmoda boom mic on it. They're fine, it's ye old v shape in terms of frequency response.

The pc38xs were nice. They are open back so if bleed is a concern, be mindful. (The pc38xs were my friend's headset, I just tried them when I visited)

I tried a bunch of different gaming headsets over the years but as I got older and gave up on online games, I grabbed a pair of AudioTechnica ATH-M50 and have probably had them at least a decade now. They're closed ear studio monitor headphones so they sound great and are comfortable with long use. I've replaced both the cushions and the cable and they still work great.

I think the current variant is the ATH-M50x.

AKG K371. Affordable (although it's gone up since the pandemic), comfortable, and follows the Harman curve closely so will be pleasing to most ears even without EQ.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned https://www.rtings.com/headphones

They specifically analyze headphones for comfort and audio quality among many other qualities.

They have a table view mode where you can filter down to exactly what kind of headphones you are interested in buying and then make a selection from the results set.

I just purchased a pair of these a few weeks ago, and I love them: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/philips/fidelio-x2hr

I specifically filtered down to headphones with a low latency wired connection by adding a column to the table view, and I didn't need an included microphone.

If you must have a microphone included, the best headphones you can buy currently that have a low latency wired connection are the Astro A40's, but they had less than stellar treble I believe. Check the detailed review.

I miss my Siberia Icemats. Those things were great.

I had a Plantronics RIG I won in a drawing I didn't even know I was entered in, but it wasn't that comfortable. One of those over the ear styles, but the cups were small so it just squeezed your ears instead of sit comfortably around them. But other than that, they were pretty amazing. Even came with a DAC.

Currently I have a Sony WH-XB910N but it's just headphones. It does technically have a mic for using handsfree with a phone, but even though it shows up on PC as an input device, it doesn't actually pick anything up so I can't use it as a headset when gaming 😮‍💨

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 DAC, then any decent studio headphones, I use a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-m50x’s. I use a separate mic connected with an xlr cable to the dac. I could never go back to a combined “gaming” headset.

KSC75 with yaxi pads and headband because it is light and comfortable even when it is hot. And it's cheap.

I've been running a pair of Sennhesiser PC 350's for something like 10 years now? Not sure. I used to game a lot more than I do now and eventually the ear cushions started falling apart. I was dreading replacing them though, and ended up getting some replacement cushions from Amazon or something. Was super easy to replace and they've been like new for the last year now. I'm a hardwire all of the things type person, and generally a cheapass so yeah, overall happy with this purchase!

I have a set of Hifiman HE1000s. A little overkill, but damn, Tetris Effect is so fun to play with these headphones.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the Koss KSC75 are a favourite since they're compact, comfy, and sound great. Also, $20. Can't go wrong. Great for pretty much anything with a headphone jack, like the portable audio players that everyone has in their pocket nowadays, haha! Yeah.

Astro A50, can wear it all day wireless and I barely even notice I wear them. Also easy to mute your mic when you want to. The sound quality also seems quite in order to me including the mic. Though please cross check that only with the true audiophiles. If this one ever breaks down I will definitely by another one.

I used Audeze Mobius for years until the yoke inevitably cracked. I exchanged it for a Maxwell which I've mostly left in the box since I also acquired a VZR Model One. It has a metal headband and is a passive, analog headset so very few digital parts to go wrong.

I've been using AKG Q701s for well over a decade. They're hard to drive, but extremely comfortable and the sound quality far surpasses anything under $500. I like that they're open-ear and breathable - I forget that I have them on. I've gotten to the point of buying several backup sets on Ebay any time a good deal pops up, just to make sure I'll be able to use this same model for the rest of my life in case something happens.

The Q701 model is technically no longer produced, but K702 is identical other than the headband style. They retail around $150.

i got the starfield xbox bluetooth headset. they work pretty well only complaint is having to charge it after a while

I've got seinheisser 598 that are quite good, but I understood seinheisser to have been bought and maybe quality went down. I also have byerdynamic 990s that I find uncomfortable for longer periods.

I also have hifiman sundara that are (except for the cable) far and above the best headphones I've ever had both in comfort and sound.

There's a person on the bapcsales Canada reddit called lifelongcaboose who seems to really know their headphones that recommended them

I recently got myself a Teufel Zola on a sale and am really satisfied with it. It has good audio (as far as I can tell), is comfortable and looks nice.