It's the most I've spent on headphones. All the ones I had before were about $100, but they're definitely worth the bump up in price from those cheaper models.
I have these headphones that are also OSHA-approved hearing protection I use when I'm doing yard-work, and when you're playing music of even moderate volume through them you can't really hear much else. When I used to travel for work I'd bring them on flights. They also have a 2.5mm jack instead of an integrated cable, so if/when the cable wears out I just buy another male/male cable and everything's good as new.
I'm happy with my Hyperx core 2 wireless headset far as for gaming goes, they have another wireless option with some absurd battery life too if that is your thing.
If you just want to chill and listen to music/movies/etc i'd look into speakers such as a pair of powered bookshelf ones (personally have been using the Edifier R1280T's for about 5 years now of heavy use and still kicking and sound great).
Coming in seriously late with this, but I wholeheartedly endorse a nice set of Sony MDR7506 headphones. Comfortable even for my oversized cranium, large ear-pieces, and it'll handle a decade of daily abuse, easily.
It's also what a number of professionals use in radio work and the like. Take that for what you will.
They're just, ah, not wireless. But I've never been a fan of wireless anyways.
If you're willing to go wired the "chi-fi" in ear monitors are actually pretty good for the money. You can get KZ earbuds for 30 bucks that sound way better than Skullcandy
I got the chance to try them out at the store years ago and they were the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn in my life. They just stay on your head and don't sag or get uncomfortable from wearing them too long. Just the absolute most comfy experience. The fact that the audio quality is really good is just a nice bonus, but I'd pay extortionist prices for the form factor alone.
I can't speak to what's a good speaker system though, so I'll be lurking to see what others have to say on that matter.
The Sennheiser headsets last 4-5 times as long as any other option, for me. I scoffed at the price when someone recommended them, but they tend to be more durable in my own experience.
I really liked Plantronics Rig which came with a USB mixer, you could flip the audio over to a cell phone to make a phone call. But the damn headset broke every year like clockwork.
Been using the same set of Senn HD598 for a decade on my gaming setup. I find semi-open back cans amazing for gaming. Aside from not being completely cut off from hearing around you, your ears don't feel so disgusting after a long session.
Can recommend Sennheiser headphones in general - the $150~300 range is a good spot on the price/performance curve for wired (add like $30-50 for the convenience of wireless w/ same sound quality)
I got a hell of a lot of mileage out of a Logitech Z623. Outstanding performance for the price during lean times. Probably got like four thousand good listening hours out of them before the tweeters and sub were noticeably washed out. I'd consider getting another set just to hear how they sound right out of the box at that phenomenal price.
When I was able to finally blow a fat wad on something fairly nice, I went with a pair of Yamaha HS8s and the matching HSB, paired with a Schiit Jotunheim Mk.I with their DAC (which, I hear their DACs aren't actually that great, but this one's been serviceable for my taste).
Edit: My general advice for anyone is to just stay away from wasting $$ on consoomer branding a la Bose or Apple or Beats by De®p, etc...
get wired sennheisers. hd 599 when they're on sale will beat everything in terms of comfort and sound quality in that price range. also get a decent usb dac for your phone/pc. something with a CX31993 chip will be fine, like https://a.co/d/9Me3wEY. you will be blown away by the quality if you've only used "gaming headsets" in the past.
I keep mixing them up, I won't buy from the people who did that bully hunters shit lol.
That was SteelSeries that sponsored that.
SteelSeries also backtracked after that disaster of a livestream, but the fact they endorsed such an idea in the first place means I’m never going to buy any of their products. There are plenty of other options.
Different companies. Razer products tend to be pretty low quality for the price you pay. I don't recall Corsair being involved with bully hunters, but can't hurt to double check.
I used to have a VOID RGB Elite, but recently switched to an HS80. The mic quality is noticeably better on the latter, but they're both solid. I don't think the HS80 is worth the price increase from the VOID Elite if audio quality is your primary concern.
Had a pair for Vengeance 2100 headphones that must have lasted me 7+ years of daily use at this point.
Had to do a pair of structural repairs on the rotating joints when started to crack when the plastic got brittle with age. Literally just a little black tape pulled taut to keep them snug. But the fact that they still sound as good as when I got them and I can still get 4+ hours battery life out of them is insane longevity for a midrange headset that still sounds pretty good.
My Corsair HS70s are OK, but the battery shit out within a couple years. Had to buy a third party battery and repair it myself. This is a well documented problem.
I have a set of Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max that I quite like: they sound pretty good, have good battery life, and I like the flip-up-to-mute mic boom. The name is goofy, but I'm happy with them.
I like speakers for gaming. Have a decent 5.1 setup that generally plays nice with games, even better for movies. But I don't game at a desk. It really doesn't matter if it's at night or not, I have a house I don't need to be excessively quiet.
I only use headphones if I'm playing with friends that I want to talk to on voice chat, so I really don't care. I currently have some crappy Logitech wireless one I don't like.
For other headphones, I have Sony WH1000XM4, I like them, at least for bluetooth ones. I'd really rather have a headphone jack back on a phone.
Can't say much about headsets. I have a 7.1 headset and the only thing I can say for sure is that headsets in general suck for longer periods of time and surround is utterly pointless.
I've got the T40 and they do ok. Still not as good as back in the days when I had a dedicated subwoofer though, but they're perfectly fine for an all in one package.
Others already mentioned the price/performance of beyer DT 770s. Didn't want to make a redundant post since I've been leaning on those as a headphone for 5+ years.
Last Christmas, though, I took a punt on a set of in-ear earphones, despite never liking earbuds up until that point (and earbuds being all that exist in this tier any more). What I ordered was a pair of FiiO-FH3 earphones which come with multiple earbuds of varying size and material. They've basically replaced the beyers for me, especially the sponge buds which create a nice bassy seal. Gambly purchase for me yet I Can Recommend.
Denon a/v receiver, 5.1 B&W speaker setup. The speakers are about 20 years old and still excellent because they're made out of kevlar. I upgraded my receiver in 2020 because I finally got tired of having a separate HDMI switcher since my old one could only do component, composite, and S-video.
Don't have space for a 7.1 setup to make any sense.
I'm using beyerdynamic DT 770's and they're pretty nice because of just how big they are. I have large ears and it totally covers them.
A man of taste and culture, who also understands value.
It's the most I've spent on headphones. All the ones I had before were about $100, but they're definitely worth the bump up in price from those cheaper models.
Same ones here, good sound quality overall. I switched from shitty headset to mic+good headphones and never looked back.
I swear by wires.
I have these headphones that are also OSHA-approved hearing protection I use when I'm doing yard-work, and when you're playing music of even moderate volume through them you can't really hear much else. When I used to travel for work I'd bring them on flights. They also have a 2.5mm jack instead of an integrated cable, so if/when the cable wears out I just buy another male/male cable and everything's good as new.
Love those things.
I'm happy with my Hyperx core 2 wireless headset far as for gaming goes, they have another wireless option with some absurd battery life too if that is your thing.
If you just want to chill and listen to music/movies/etc i'd look into speakers such as a pair of powered bookshelf ones (personally have been using the Edifier R1280T's for about 5 years now of heavy use and still kicking and sound great).
Coming in seriously late with this, but I wholeheartedly endorse a nice set of Sony MDR7506 headphones. Comfortable even for my oversized cranium, large ear-pieces, and it'll handle a decade of daily abuse, easily.
It's also what a number of professionals use in radio work and the like. Take that for what you will.
They're just, ah, not wireless. But I've never been a fan of wireless anyways.
I buy the $30 Skull Candy at Walmart because they last about a year and a half and come with a 2 year warranty.
I at one time "Invested" in Sennheiser earbuds and they lasted about a year before the batteries gave out.
If you're willing to go wired the "chi-fi" in ear monitors are actually pretty good for the money. You can get KZ earbuds for 30 bucks that sound way better than Skullcandy
I swear by Blue Lola headphones.
I got the chance to try them out at the store years ago and they were the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn in my life. They just stay on your head and don't sag or get uncomfortable from wearing them too long. Just the absolute most comfy experience. The fact that the audio quality is really good is just a nice bonus, but I'd pay extortionist prices for the form factor alone.
I can't speak to what's a good speaker system though, so I'll be lurking to see what others have to say on that matter.
The Sennheiser headsets last 4-5 times as long as any other option, for me. I scoffed at the price when someone recommended them, but they tend to be more durable in my own experience.
I really liked Plantronics Rig which came with a USB mixer, you could flip the audio over to a cell phone to make a phone call. But the damn headset broke every year like clockwork.
Been using the same set of Senn HD598 for a decade on my gaming setup. I find semi-open back cans amazing for gaming. Aside from not being completely cut off from hearing around you, your ears don't feel so disgusting after a long session.
Can recommend Sennheiser headphones in general - the $150~300 range is a good spot on the price/performance curve for wired (add like $30-50 for the convenience of wireless w/ same sound quality)
I got a hell of a lot of mileage out of a Logitech Z623. Outstanding performance for the price during lean times. Probably got like four thousand good listening hours out of them before the tweeters and sub were noticeably washed out. I'd consider getting another set just to hear how they sound right out of the box at that phenomenal price.
When I was able to finally blow a fat wad on something fairly nice, I went with a pair of Yamaha HS8s and the matching HSB, paired with a Schiit Jotunheim Mk.I with their DAC (which, I hear their DACs aren't actually that great, but this one's been serviceable for my taste).
Edit: My general advice for anyone is to just stay away from wasting $$ on consoomer branding a la Bose or Apple or Beats by De®p, etc...
get wired sennheisers. hd 599 when they're on sale will beat everything in terms of comfort and sound quality in that price range. also get a decent usb dac for your phone/pc. something with a CX31993 chip will be fine, like https://a.co/d/9Me3wEY. you will be blown away by the quality if you've only used "gaming headsets" in the past.
Go with Corsairs if you don't want to spring for Sennheisers. Logitech headphones are meh.
That was SteelSeries that sponsored that.
SteelSeries also backtracked after that disaster of a livestream, but the fact they endorsed such an idea in the first place means I’m never going to buy any of their products. There are plenty of other options.
Different companies. Razer products tend to be pretty low quality for the price you pay. I don't recall Corsair being involved with bully hunters, but can't hurt to double check.
I used to have a VOID RGB Elite, but recently switched to an HS80. The mic quality is noticeably better on the latter, but they're both solid. I don't think the HS80 is worth the price increase from the VOID Elite if audio quality is your primary concern.
Had a pair for Vengeance 2100 headphones that must have lasted me 7+ years of daily use at this point.
Had to do a pair of structural repairs on the rotating joints when started to crack when the plastic got brittle with age. Literally just a little black tape pulled taut to keep them snug. But the fact that they still sound as good as when I got them and I can still get 4+ hours battery life out of them is insane longevity for a midrange headset that still sounds pretty good.
My Corsair HS70s are OK, but the battery shit out within a couple years. Had to buy a third party battery and repair it myself. This is a well documented problem.
I have a set of Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max that I quite like: they sound pretty good, have good battery life, and I like the flip-up-to-mute mic boom. The name is goofy, but I'm happy with them.
I like speakers for gaming. Have a decent 5.1 setup that generally plays nice with games, even better for movies. But I don't game at a desk. It really doesn't matter if it's at night or not, I have a house I don't need to be excessively quiet.
I only use headphones if I'm playing with friends that I want to talk to on voice chat, so I really don't care. I currently have some crappy Logitech wireless one I don't like.
For other headphones, I have Sony WH1000XM4, I like them, at least for bluetooth ones. I'd really rather have a headphone jack back on a phone.
I've been using these speakers for a few months now (gaming, watching videos, listening to music): https://en.creative.com/p/speakers/gigaworks-t20-series-ii
They are nicely compact, sound great, good build quality and are powerful enough to replace my old giant 90s Sony hi-fi system.
They come in a bigger version (https://en.creative.com/p/speakers/gigaworks-t40-series-ii) but you can't really max the T20 out as computer speakers or they'll blow your ears out. Maybe if you want to listen to music in a big room.
Can't say much about headsets. I have a 7.1 headset and the only thing I can say for sure is that headsets in general suck for longer periods of time and surround is utterly pointless.
I've got the T40 and they do ok. Still not as good as back in the days when I had a dedicated subwoofer though, but they're perfectly fine for an all in one package.
I can personally recommend the sony xm5 if you want noise cancelling.
Others already mentioned the price/performance of beyer DT 770s. Didn't want to make a redundant post since I've been leaning on those as a headphone for 5+ years.
Last Christmas, though, I took a punt on a set of in-ear earphones, despite never liking earbuds up until that point (and earbuds being all that exist in this tier any more). What I ordered was a pair of FiiO-FH3 earphones which come with multiple earbuds of varying size and material. They've basically replaced the beyers for me, especially the sponge buds which create a nice bassy seal. Gambly purchase for me yet I Can Recommend.
Denon a/v receiver, 5.1 B&W speaker setup. The speakers are about 20 years old and still excellent because they're made out of kevlar. I upgraded my receiver in 2020 because I finally got tired of having a separate HDMI switcher since my old one could only do component, composite, and S-video.
Don't have space for a 7.1 setup to make any sense.