Buyer’s Guide: Best Gaming Headphones of 2021
Crinacle’s guide to the best headphones for gaming.
September 17, 2021
Reviews
February 2, 2019
11 Comments
Technical Breakdown
64 Audio N8: Technical Breakdown
Introduction The N8 is the first hybrid that 64 Audio offers exclusively in custom form and retails for $1,700. It
February 23, 2019
10 Comments
Cliffnotes
[Crinnotes] Etymotic EVO: Canned Bread
A quick mini-review of Etymotic’s newest entry into the multi-driver space: the EVO.
August 11, 2021
23 Comments
Graph Database Updates
In-Ear Fidelity’s IEM Neutral Target Gets an Update (+ Database Updates)
The old “Crinacle Target” gets a small tweak.
October 5, 2020
2 Comments
Ranking List Updates
The Almost-Thousand Update
78 new IEMs enter the fray, bring the total number of IEMs ranked at 993.
November 23, 2021
41 Comments
Graph Database Updates
Graph Database Update (24/02/21)
Measurements of Alclair, Aure, various chifi, and the Focal Celestee.
February 24, 2021
1 Comment
8 thoughts on “A Buyer’s Guide for “Gaming” is now out!”
how would k612 pro would fare in comparison to k702 for stated purpose? as luck would have it both of those models are almost identical in price where I live.
I almost thought that this was some sort of ranking list for crin’s favorite games (something like the chicken burger list). Didn’t know it was one for “gaming headphones”. Nice one, crin, as always.
Hi Crinacle,
Could you come up with a list of feasible interface recommendations? Maybe not the E1DA Cosmos ADC for practicality reasons, but things like the Schiit Hel v1/2 for headsets and the Motu M2 for dedicated headphone and microphone set ups for example.
Would be interesting to have an IEM list as well- some of them actually perform quite impressively for gaming. They have the advantages of tip (and for some, filter) rolling for minor tuning optimisations, isolate well in general and are more comfortable to use than headphones in hot/humid environments (like Singapore lol unless you use AC), and also for people with spectacles/glasses and certain hairstyles
Some recent feedback from my friend who swapped to an optimised Moondrop Aria from the PC37X was blown away by how immersive they were while being even more revealing of enemy positions, after he has adjusted to how IEMs sound (they are his first pair). He also mentioned that the Aria scales way better with better sources and equipment
Oh yeah, another advantage is the prices of IEMs. Decent sounding sets can actually be obtained at very low cost, at least in comparison to headphones of a similar calibre. Added advantage of being able to get a dragon’s den’s worth of valuable information on IEMs from this very site alone :p
PS: Yeah for mics there are many considerations, including equipment requirements vs what is owned, environmental conduciveness and individual vocal signature. It’s always best to at least hear some popular models personally through a decent, preferably close to neutral-sounding audio setup before using online demos as a basis for comparison
*personally i.e. recording or direct monitoring of own voice
Which DT880 are you talking about here? The 250ohm one or the 32ohm?
I suspect for busy FPS games, low THD+N also should be considered. When there’s a bunch of shit blowing up at the time time, it’s really hard to hear quieter sound cues (e.g. footsteps, but there are others game depending). Just like when everyone uses ultimates in Overwatch at once the screen becomes a multi-colored mess, so does the sound environment. I think this is where the Koss won’t do as well (but will be perfectly fine for most of the time when the sound environment isn’t so congested). I’ve found the Sundara to be excellent for gaming and the HD800S certainly better (after EQ or you use it long enough to adapt to the wonky tuning). Arya and L700Mk2 also are great but absurdly overkill.