Headphone recommendation

[HunSolo]

I'm looking for new headphones for around 20-30K HUF (about 60-80 USD). I mostly use it to game and rarely to listen to music. I'm fine with both wired and wireless, preferably over-ear. Could you recommend me some? If there is any other info you need I'll happily provide it.

[FeiROG]

6 minutes ago, HunSolo said:

I'm looking for new headphones for around 20-30K HUF (about 60-80 USD). I mostly use it to game and rarely to listen to music. I'm fine with both wired and wireless, preferably over-ear. Could you recommend me some? If there is any other info you need I'll happily provide it.

something with 7.1 surround would be good, I had positive experience with Hyper-X cloud 2

[podkall]

30 minutes ago, FeiROG said:

something with 7.1 surround would be good, I had positive experience with Hyper-X cloud 2

no need for 7.1, it's not a true 7.1 and you're better off getting high quality headphones, rather than looking for those with 7.1 surround

 

 

[Tan3l6]

ISK HF2010 are both quite comfortable and decent quality for a low price. Available in Aliexpress for example.

Or even better, HiFiMan HE400SE - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003890797222.html

[saintlouisbagels]

37 minutes ago, FeiROG said:

something with 7.1 surround would be good

absolutely not. Good stereo is better than fake, gimmicky virtual surround sound.

 

46 minutes ago, HunSolo said:

I'm looking for new headphones for around 20-30K HUF (about 60-80 USD).

You need to tell us what retailers you can use.
If you can use Amazon, tell us which subsite (e.g.. .com, .ca)

 

46 minutes ago, HunSolo said:

preferably over-ear.

Is it a dealbreaker if it's an IEM ?

The world of ChiFi in recent years have been absolutely amazing with $20 earbuds rivaling headphones that are 10x more expensive. The same thing hasn't really trickled into over-ear headphones which makes sense since IEMs are much smaller for manufacturing and shipping whereas over-ears have more moving parts and would incur much larger packaging and shipping costs.

[podkall]

2 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

ChiFi

lmao

[saintlouisbagels]

Just now, podkall said:

lmao

I mean laugh all you want at the world leader in manufacturing, the specs speak for themself.

Here's one of many ~$20 IEMs performing amazingly well.

My $200 Shure IEMs from ~2012 wish they were half as good as this.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/moondrop-chu-ii-iem-review.55179/

[podkall]

4 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

I mean laugh all you want at the world leader in manufacturing, the specs speak for themself.

Here's one of many ~$20 IEMs performing amazingly well.

My $200 Shure IEMs from ~2012 wish they were half as good as this.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/moondrop-chu-ii-iem-review.55179/

do they have to be Chineese specifically tho?

[saintlouisbagels]

5 minutes ago, podkall said:

do they have to be Chineese specifically tho?

Kind of depends on what you're trying to get at.

If we're talking about kitchen knives, there is a huge difference between European and Japanese knives, so you should really specify.

For all of the recent HiFi, they are very much Chinese manufacturers releasing high quality IEMs at rock bottom prices that makes everyone else look like a bad deal.

 

If this is one of those situations of "I went to the Black doctor today"
Everyone would definitely say "why did you have to point out that they're Black?"

[podkall]

4 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Kind of depends on what you're trying to get at.

If we're talking about kitchen knives, there is a huge difference between European and Japanese knives, so you should really specify.

For all of the recent HiFi, they are very much Chinese manufacturers releasing high quality IEMs at rock bottom prices that makes everyone else look like a bad deal.

 

If this is one of those situations of "I went to the Black doctor today"
Everyone would definitely say "why did you have to point out that they're Black?"

I get it, what are IEMs again?

[saintlouisbagels]

3 minutes ago, podkall said:

I get it, what are IEMs again?

In-Ear Monitors, so the earbud style that goes into your ear usually with a silicone, rubber, or foam tip.

Earbuds are essentially synonymous with IEMs now, but it's still worth specifically saying IEM because there are people like me who still really like the outer-ear style earbuds like AirPods/EarPods.

[podkall]

2 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Inner Ear Monitor, so the earbud style that goes into your ear usually with a silicone, rubber, or foam tip.

Earbuds are essentially synonymous with IEMs now, but it's still worth specifically saying IEM because there are people like me who still really like the outer-ear style earbuds like AirPods/EarPods.

I mean I did have 2 dirt cheap inner ear buds so far, they aren't anything special, but they are specifically dirt cheap which is not much to ask for and they sound decent, not great but also not terrible

[HunSolo]

19 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

You need to tell us what retailers you can use.

Mostly local tech stores. Shipping is usually too expensive if it's from out of country. But anything that can be found here is fine: https://www.arukereso.hu/

21 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Is it a dealbreaker if it's an IEM

No, I'm fine with those as well

[saintlouisbagels]

2 minutes ago, HunSolo said:

Mostly local tech stores. Shipping is usually too expensive if it's from out of country. But anything that can be found here is fine: https://www.arukereso.hu/

No, I'm fine with those as well

I clicked on one of the ads near the bottom and it brought me to a different site carrying the Moondrop Chu II  

https://www.emag.hu/moondrop-chu-ii-fejhallgato-dinamikus-meghajto-10-mm-iem-cink-otvozet-fekete-dt-294/pd/D7ZSDTYBM/

[HunSolo]

Thank you I'll take a look into them 

2 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

brought me to a different site

It's supposed to. It's a collection of all the tech stores to compare prices easily.

[saintlouisbagels]

12 minutes ago, podkall said:

I mean I did have 2 dirt cheap inner ear buds so far, they aren't anything special, but they are specifically dirt cheap which is not much to ask for and they sound decent, not great but also not terrible

That's why it's perfect to say ChiFi in this situation.

 

$15-$25 random Wal-Mart, Target, Sony, etc. headphones are in no way comparable to something like the $20-$25 7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2

https://www.amazon.com/Linsoul-7Hz-Crinacle-Zero-Earphones/dp/B0CMZVZPCF/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/7hz-x-crinacle-zero-2-iem-review.50534/

I own them and I can vouch that they sound better than any other sub-$200 earbuds I've ever owned.

I specify sub-$200 because I have the 7Hz Timeless and they sound f*cking amazing.

[podkall]

7 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

That's why it's perfect to say ChiFi in this situation.

 

$15-$25 random Wal-Mart, Target, Sony, etc. headphones are in no way comparable to something like the 7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2

https://www.amazon.com/Linsoul-7Hz-Crinacle-Zero-Earphones/dp/B0CMZVZPCF/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/7hz-x-crinacle-zero-2-iem-review.50534/

I own them and I can vouch that they sound better than any other sub-$200 earbuds I've ever owned.

I specify sub-$200 because I have the 7Hz Timeless and they sound f*cking amazing.

what would you say about these? I know these could be pretty decent if you choose the right model (that's more expensive)

 

https://www.arukereso.hu/fulhallgato-fejhallgato-c3109/steelseries/arctis-nova-3-61631-p849486702/

 

https://www.arukereso.hu/fulhallgato-fejhallgato-c3109/steelseries/arctis-7-61470-p724727400/

[NinJake]

The best way to think of "chi-fi" and how the pricing vs quality compares to "hi-fi" products, especially in-ear monitors:

 

-You have a "big name" company, whether it's Sony or Bose or FIIO, they all have premium IEM's sold for let's say $300. Where do they manufacture these IEM's? Some factory in China.

-You have a "chi-fi" company, this company is based out of? China. Actually, it "may" be the same factory that manufactures those $300 premium IEM's for the "big name" companies. All this "chi-fi" company has to do is utilize the tools already available to them and tweak a few things outside of "normal working hours" or under the table and BOOM, you now have incredible sounding IEM's that perform just as good as the $300 premium brands, for a fraction of the cost.

 

Is it shady? Yes.

 

You have to pick the lesser of two evils: 1 company is "reputable" but sets the MSRP value of something 50x the actual cost, where as the other company may borrow things that aren't necessarily theirs but makes them affordable.

 

This is my personal speculation as to how and why "chi-fi" products are so good at such a low cost, but I have not personally seen this first hand.

[Cocococo]

7 hours ago, NinJake said:

The best way to think of "chi-fi" and how the pricing vs quality compares to "hi-fi" products, especially in-ear monitors:

 

-You have a "big name" company, whether it's Sony or Bose or FIIO, they all have premium IEM's sold for let's say $300. Where do they manufacture these IEM's? Some factory in China.

-You have a "chi-fi" company, this company is based out of? China. Actually, it "may" be the same factory that manufactures those $300 premium IEM's for the "big name" companies. All this "chi-fi" company has to do is utilize the tools already available to them and tweak a few things outside of "normal working hours" or under the table and BOOM, you now have incredible sounding IEM's that perform just as good as the $300 premium brands, for a fraction of the cost.

 

Is it shady? Yes.

 

You have to pick the lesser of two evils: 1 company is "reputable" but sets the MSRP value of something 50x the actual cost, where as the other company may borrow things that aren't necessarily theirs but makes them affordable.

 

This is my personal speculation as to how and why "chi-fi" products are so good at such a low cost, but I have not personally seen this first hand.

That isn't how it works at all, the only IEM manufacturer who you can 100% point at and say "this is exactly what they did" is KZ and no KZ recommendations are worth listening to (mainly because their IEM's sound terrible) and they completely copied a custom mould IEM companies base design chassis (that's why KZ's always felt so nice in the ears compared to what was popular at the time, they literally copied a super expensive chassis) 

 

Most modern chifi iem's got started when Moondrop was aggressively undercutting their own products, Rather than spend $500 on the flagship at the time, Moondrop managed to release an IEM with almost identical sound for $250, then after a year or so they undercut their own products again andagain, going from the Kato to Aria (around $80 at the time and the Aria is IMMENSELY popular) 

 

Then Moondrop released the Chu, nothing around $20 came close for ages, the only upgrades came when Crinacle collabed with Salnote, and when Truthear launched their wave of unreal good IEM's, Hola being the absolute $20 king until they were discontinued (the new Gate is basically just the Hola again) 

 

This all happened within the space of roughly 4 years (2017-2021) and nowadays the modern IEM market is packed with companies trying to release the best sound as cheaply as possible, Truthear is probably the best example of this, the Hola and now the Gate are IEM's that perform so far above their price bracket that you almost wonder if Truthear makes money on them. Then you try Truthear's higher end products and you somehow get a big upgrade (if the Truthear Nova released in 2019 it would have been competitively priced at $1,000 minimum) all of this is awesome for consumers, not so awesome for big brands like sennheiser who slapped their logo onto whatever the cheapest, moderately okay IEM was at the time and charged double msrp.