Drop + EPOS / Sennheiser - PC38X

For a all in one you can get the DROP + EPOSPC 38X or you can get a good mic and a good headset. Either a external mic that stands on your desk, I got the HyperX Quad Cast. Or you can get the Antlion Mic mod that let's you attach it to any headset and detach it when you don't want the mic there.

Yikes: that's a bummer about difficulties in Brazil with taxes and import duties... As for the KZ EDX... yeah I have the KZ EDX Pro's, and I did not like them at all. Very shrill and just overall kind of muddy. The thing I like about the KZ Castors by comparison is that, first of all, they just sound good, but also, they are the only IEM that I have tried with the ability to adjust the sound profile. There are little tiny sliders/switches on them so you can bump highs, mids, and lows up or down. It's kind of a neat feature if you want to try to taylor the sound a little bit to your liking. And you shouldn't need a DAC for any of the ones I mentioned. It's not bad to have one, but you don't need one to drive most of these entry level IEM's. You can also grab the Apple USBC to 3.5mm audio adapter: to my knowledge that's about the best DAC you can get for the money as they are cheap and easy to find, and I can confirm as I have one: they work and sound great plugged into my Windows 11 PC or iPhone. But again, you don't NEED one. I have used iems plugged directly into my PC's audio port, I have used them plugged into the monitor out on my audio interface, and I have used them on the headphone out on USB mics. I have also used them plugged into an Xbox controller when playing on my Series X so you shouldn't have any issues to be honest. But yeah, the microphone is the hardest part. A lot of people buy different cables for their iem's because the ones that come stock aren't always good, and you can buy some with a built-in mic. I can't really speak to how well these work though since I am using a dedicated XLR mic into my audio interface that I use for recording music. I also have some friends that squad up with us sometimes that just use the wired earbuds that came with their phones and they seem happy with that as well. Good luck: I hope you find something that works for you!

!thanks This was the most helpful comment here for me and helped me decide on the PC38X. It also helped that there was a deal, but not by much!

To be fair, I've had the PC38X for probably well over 2 years and have really enjoyed them. It is open back, a plus if you still need to listen to the outside world or don't want to not hear your surroundings a little easier, although there is still a good amount of volume at max. Would definitely get them again.

if you cant get the 330 or 300, pc38x is still a pretty good headphone, especially for his use case, that shorter cable will be less of a hassle

Yes I have these in silver and pair it with an a40 mixamp and man I've never had better sound in my life. I tried the pc38x from Senheisser but they just can't compare.

my pick would be the mmx 330, 300 pro, or the pc38x, ps5 controller can easily drive these headphones, keep in mind the 330 pro and pc38x are open back headphones ( allows air and sound to come through them, he will hear everything around him, people near him can sometimes hear his headphones) 300 pros are closed, but those are around $300, but you could find them on sale, pc38x is a popular choice doesnt have a cable as long as the 330 and 300 pros,

Drop PC38X [https://drop.com/buy/drop-pc38x-gaming-headset](https://drop.com/buy/drop-pc38x-gaming-headset) These were originally a Sennheiser & Drop collaboration, which started with the Drop + Sennheiser PC37X, which was based on the Sennheiser EPOS Game One headset. The PC38X was an update to the PC37X and was originally called the Drop + EPOS PC38X, and are the same headset but using the drivers from an HD598. The one downside to the PC38X, as well as virtually all open back headsets, the low bass is a bit quiet. But in terms of clarity for gaming it's virtually unmatched. As a lifelong open back Sennheiser user, the reduced bass doesn't bother me that much as I find it's much more comfortable to wear all day long than closed back headsets or heavy bass. With Sennheiser selling off their consumer and gaming audio divisions, the EPOS brand is now only a call center headset company, and the only Sennheiser headphones with a mic are Bluetooth ones designed for mobile phones, so they have extremely high latency making them unusable for PC gaming. Since Sennheiser no longer owns the EPOS brand name, and are no longer interested in making gaming headsets in general, the Drop PC38X remains the only Sennheiser designed gaming headset still being made. edit: Other replies mentioned the HD560S and HD600. They're both audiophile headsets with no mic. The HD560S are very similar to the PC38X in audio quality, but the HD560S are more expensive. The HD600 (and DROP HD6XX) are some of the best audiophile headphones on the market in their price range, and generally have better bass response than the PC38X and HD560S, but still no where near as good as closed back headsets. There are newer versions like the HD650, HD660S, and HD660S2, but weirdly these are all worse headsets than the HD600 and HD6XX while also being more expensive. The HD6XX are currently $179 while the HD600 are $300, and the rest I listed are over $450. Haven't used the HD600 before, I prefer the PC38X and HD598 (which I also own) over them due to the fact the HD600 generally require an external amp to get the best out of them, where as the PC38X sounds perfectly fine plugged directly into the front panel audio of a PC or a gamepad.

Depends on your budget. Beyerdynamic DT 990s are often recommended for competitive gaming because their treble is tuned to make details, like the crunch of glass, pop. At the same time though that makes them pretty tiring to listen to casually. The Sennheiser HD 560 is a better balanced headphone for about the same price. There's also the PC38X which is a headset but fairly competitively priced with headphones and I personally prefer it over the 560 but they are pretty comparable. If you can find a used AKG K712 those are great. New they're stupidly overpriced, like $4-500 CAD, but used you can get them for $150. They're a solid step up from the HD 560 and DT 990. Then one more step up would be the Hifiman Edition XS. They have a crap warranty and crap comfort and have crap quality control they have the best performance of any headphone in their price range. You can get them new for $375-400 CAD.

Audeze Maxwell - Considered one of the best wireless gaming headsets. Popular with music creators as well as for gaming. Mic is reasonably good, though can clip a little. Comes with leather earpads, but they can be replaced easily. Drop + EPOS PC38X - One of the best wired gaming headsets for sound clarity and mic quality. Bass reproduction is a bit muted, which is common for older style EPOS / Sennheiser headsets, and common with open back headphones in general. The mic is essentially the best of any consumer headset you can buy. Generally can only be bought directly from Drop's site. Comes with both cloth and velour earpads. [https://drop.com/buy/drop-epos-pc38x-gaming-headset](https://drop.com/buy/drop-epos-pc38x-gaming-headset) Steel Series Arctis headsets are generally a decent middle ground in terms of decent bass and mic quality. The overall audio quality isn't as good as either the Maxwell or PC38X, but they're closed back so their bass response is more like the Maxwell. And the mic quality is generally better than the Maxwell, but no where near as good as the PC38X. Most (maybe all?) use cloth earpads. Nova Pro Wireless and Nova 9 are both quite good, with the Nova 9 being slightly better in terms of audio clarity and mic quality, but the Pro Wireless has better bass and noise cancelling.

this headset sucks, I see everyone everywhere glazing it but I bought one and the mic quality sucks, the sound quality sucks, and the "breathability" of the earmuffs just means that the audio from the headset travels to the mic, so you constantly echo

Yeah, mine does that for specific points of the volume knob. Since I don't use that to adjust volume though, it's not big deal for me.

Beyerdynamic MMX 300 (Gen 2), goes for roughly 180 Euros. It's a closed-back headset developed by an actual reputable audio equipment company, not by a bullshit gaming headset brand. https://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/p/mmx-300 Or if you're set on open-back headsets only, then the PC38X. Goes anywhere from 100 to 170 euros, the price fluctuates. Same as before, made by an actual reputable company. https://drop.com/buy/drop-epos-pc38x-gaming-headset

I have this, it's great. Falls into the rare niche of having legitimately good audio and a microphone that's good enough that no-one will ever complain that you're using it, without having to screw around with buying separate headphones/microphones. Note that it's an open-back headset, which is very unusual, and means you're still completely exposed to the background noise of the room when wearing it. It's a very different experience to closed-back headphones. I think the Tygr 300 from Beyerdynamic is the only equivalent option, and I don't really know anything about that.

MMX 100's or 300 Pro's if you got the $ are good if you NEED the attached microphone. Otherwise, like everyone else is saying... headphones and separate microphone. I had the PC38X, and while they're good, it's just no comparison once you go to a decent pair of studio headphones. Whatever headphones you end up going with, USB microphones are actually good now and there's condenser mics available that won't require you to use a boom arm. That's what held me back for so long, I didn't want some cumbersome fugly arm on my desk. Ended up going with the Elgato Wave 3 USB microphone, using Wave Link software I've tuned it to where I can leave it on my desk and it doesn't pick up any background noise or even my mechanical keyboard. It's amazing.

pc38x has terrible mic quality. Barely works half the time.

You're welcome to DM and I can link you a spreadsheet I manage with plenty of headphones. Most gaming headsets are very overpriced for their sound quality but there are a few that are good value if you buy used or wait for a sale. The Corsair Virtuoso Pro or PC38X come to mind and both eq really well for music. For standard headphones I'd take a look at the Sennheiser HD 560 or 599. The AKG K7 series are also good for gaming and fairly affordable second hand, not so much new. Then if you want a closed back option there's the DT 770 Pro X. It has excellent imaging and is built like a tank. As far as a dac/amp goes, you need a DAC if you're hearing any noise or distortion in your sound, if it's not clear. You need an amp if you're headphones aren't getting a good amount louder than your preferred listening level. There's pretty cheap and good dongle options out there.

What reviews did you find? Because every review I've seen of it are effusive in how good it is. They're also what I've been using for the last few years, along with Sennheiser headphones for decades. The only 5/10 I can think of is the RTINGS review which shows a 5/10 on Google's summary, but that's because Google doesn't know how to handle their reviews. It's one of their top headsets for gaming and sound accuracy, and is on many of their recommendation lists. The issue is it's not good for travel, working out, or office work, because they don't fold, aren't wireless, and are open back so they leak audio. Which is all things don't matter for gaming, but Google's summary doesn't know how to deal with that. If you like heavy bass, you won't like Sennheiser headphones in general. And for some genres of music they aren't great because of that.

The PC38X, and it's not even a competition. Trust, it goes way beyond any regular consumer headset. https://drop.com/buy/drop-pc38x-gaming-headset

Drop PC38x. Wired so not great for working out, but also one of the best mics on any headset you can buy. Very neutral sound profile and extremely comfortable.

This is my daily headset. I like it.