You Should Try Out IEMs for Gaming

You really shouldn't underestimate earphones and IEMs for gaming.

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[clearskyy]

I honestly can't thank you enough for this video, I'm just getting into IEMs and I was a little lost, this has brought some much needed clarity and direction, thank you very much!

[rojcproductions]

liked how you showed what's needed in an IEM gaming setup. switching from a gaming headphone to an IEM was a day and night difference for me in terms of comfort and sound quality while playing valorant, but the one thing that's really missing is good mic quality. hope the detachable boom mic becomes a common feature for budget IEMs in the future

[RueBritanna]

I use an IEM mic cable from Null Audio. It was designed to be paired with a pair of Kingfisher IEMs, but you can buy the IEM mic cable separately. The cable is compatible with any 2pin IEMs. The mic quality is better than in-line mics and it has good noise rejection. Anecdotally, I had a fan pointing at the back of my head and my friends couldn’t hear the fan but could hear me normally. It’s expensive but it’s a nice feeing cable and it’s been going solid for almost 2 years for me.

[fatmouth]

IEMs are decent for gaming, especially if you're coming from a non-audiophile setup. Where IEMs are really lacking is in soundstage; I have Moondrop Arias as well, and properly gauging distance and where things are happening spatially in your game can get really tricky in comparison to my HD600 headphones.

[nightismonochrome]

Been using IEMs for some time after switching from headsets, mainly due to comfort. Seeing the different frequency responses makes me want to try some new ones out.

Another thing, I've never really had a problem with the sound isolation and prefer it rather. Personally I don't have this issue, but I noticed that if someone was going to start speaking loudly, they'll speak loudly regardless of whether or not they can hear themselves so I wouldn't worry about getting open backs for that purpose. I've had my ears torn several times in one sitting even after asking teammates to please speak at a level volume/quieter. The usual, turn up their volume, they start screaming, turn down the volume, turn it back up because their mic volume is low by default...

[xXJogratXx]

More contents like this, please. As a casual gamer/PC user, it's really easy to buy unnecessary stuff or miss out on good audio products. I appreciate this kind of video that showcases good value audio products.

I'm personally using an IEM and I don't know if I should get an audio interface or a DAC/AMP device. I really don't know the difference or if there is another option.

I would also like a video discussing stuff like monitor arms, microphone arm, and microphone. I'm planning to buy these things so having your guidance or review would be very helpful.

[adameaszy]

Got some low-mid tier IEMs (shure se215) for gaming a couple months ago, hands down best purchase I’ve made for gaming. Way way more comfortable, better sound, cleaner set up. I would definitely turn on bass boost in Windows so you can hear the thump of footsteps you’re gaming with those IEMs.

[dollardinho]

Great video! Especially for gaming, I am very interested in IEMs with detachable boom mics that have some decent quality. the NSMO models seem like a really good option. I've done a quick search for them on the web and only found delivery options from the US which would include shipping costs that exceed the actual price of the product (I live in Austria). Do you by chance know of any other ways of getting them cheaper? :D

[SianaGearz]

I got first IEMs a couple years ago and now i have a growing collection. I tune them myself with nozzle rebuilds, would like to build some from scratch eventually with more acoustic impedance tuning possibilities to have a few more articulation points to shape the response, i actually found some suppliers which do just parts for scratch builds, it's going to be fun. I was actually surprised how even surprisingly cheap ones perform, they are promising right out of the box even when they don't sound quite right, like how the hell are they getting so much displacement linearity out of these things and so much range, simple in-ears like we're used to since Ergofits and such, while not terribly tuned, could NEVER perform like this before.

My recommendation for those willing to experiment is TRN MT1, a 1DD IEM for $6. The first batch came reasonably tuned, with a tight nozzle mesh covered by a showerhead grill. In later revisions, they have spared the grill and ruined the tuning, so you'll need to add at least some light acoustic foam or something as nozzle impedance, for sure. The original ones benefit from a tiny carefully trimmed roll of acoustic polyester wool in the nozzle as well, but it's not quite as critical. I reassemble the nozzle grill with B7000 glue or similar. Without extra nozzle impedance, the response around the presence region is peaky and shouty, especially in the reissue, but the more impedance you add, the more bass boost you get, and at some point the midbass emphasis will just be too much. But very worth experimenting with. The unusual bit about these is that they aren't really as strongly V-shape prone as others, they have a good amount of midrange power. A tune which leans into V or bathtub too heavily just sounds louder than it is (Fletcher Munson's fault), which after a while gives you an uncomfortable impression that it's always shouting in your ear, no matter the volume, so it's fun but not so well suited to spend a longer session in. Another pro i found with these is an unexpectedly high level of comfort with small ears. Shell finishing and assembly is visibly terrible though.

Stock TRN cable isn't uncomfortable or super noisy, so it could have been worse (thinking of KZ and QKZ ones), but at 3 Ohm resistance, not quite ideal either. JCAlly 8-core cables are nice and better in every regard.

I heard the opinion that QKZ VK4 might be the best tuned 1dd cheap plastic things out of the box. Haven't heard them, but from the look of tuning openings, i have a vague idea of how they might sound like, and i expect them to be somewhat too V-shaped to my liking. Above that price there's many interesting options.

Honestly gaming headsets are kind of an unfair competition as a category, because... well it's difficult to find a piece of garbage that doesn't beat most of them. Against even cheap IEMs, it's not a fight, it's a slaughter.

I've even found $3 IEMs which surprised me... though that's price without the cable, these need MMCX. They didn't have so much amplitude linearity so not as low distortion as the bigger ones, nor as efficient, but the tune was spot on and the comfort of those was insane. Unbranded, plain packaging some DIY group or other, using shells similar to early revisions of mee m6 pro. Some construction quality issues though.

[jetcat]

I was really impressed when you showed that you do your own measurements for frequency response. Keep up the great content!

[Divinity_vA]

I primarily used IEM's on my phone just like anyone else and haven't tough much about using them on PC since it felt weird and somewhat claustrophobic, especially coming from open-back headphones along with the sore/numb initial feel in your ears if you're not used to wearing IEMs for longer periods, also if you don't have external audio source placed near you, the cable is way too short. Once i gave my ears a week of getting used to wearing IEMs for prolonged time my neck was very-very grateful. No more neck strain or headache from the headband while still offering excellent audio quality. I couldn't be happier about making the transition.

As for sound, i've used wide variety of audio gear across games and came to the conclusion that to me it simply doesn't matter and it doesn't affect my gameplay/performance whatsoever as far as i can hear the enemy. I'd rather spend my money on a good quality audio that fits my genre taste and makes listening to music and media a pleasure rather than hunting what works best for "X game".

[shirookane]

switched long time ago.
i'm also more comfortable with the silicone buds instead of the foam seal.

vshape or flat with boost base is better, cause you can hear the footsteps and explosions better and where it is

[majuseo]

I use the KZ ZSN Pro which I originally bought purely for music but since I had problems with my Razer Hammerhead because it was summer, I started using it for gaming and never changed it ever since. I highly recommend it!

Edit: It was a Razer Kraken X, not a Hammerhead. I mixed it up because I have both and I had a hard time choosing what to use 😅

[XDJDudeXD]

I have the ZS10 Pro. I play valorant ranked all the time as well battle royales. I don’t have a problem with the sound signature when listening for footsteps and gunshots. I also use FX sound along with the headset which might be what helps

[KM-klwu]

Love your content bro its relaxing and im a monitor enthusiasts aswell thats why im subscribed

[LottiCS]

Great video, never imagined that some iems could be good for gaming, always though that they lack of soundstage, maby will have good pin point where steps/shots are coming from but will lack that feel of distance it coming from...

And now I'm love Fiio FD5 iems for music and gaming, that I own for about 3 months, especially in summer

And saying this as owner of Asus stx II modded with op-amps:
2x Burson Audio Vivid v6 L/R & 1x Burson Audio Classic v6
And headphones:
Beyers 770/990, Sennheiser HD555/595/560s/600/660s/700

[boyicy]

I genuinely find you extremely underrated man, you really deserve more views!

[PhoKingNick]

For IEM gaming, which is what I do primarily, I plug it directly into a USB mic that has zero latency monitoring. I used the Samson Go mic and Samson Q2u for a while and they worked great, but I've since upgraded to the Elgato Wave 3 which has a surprisingly clean dac/amp that also lets me adjust my game volume and mic volume separately with a knob on the mic itself. Easiest setup for me, since I just use the 7hz Dioko with the Wave 3, and no additional need for an audio interface or a dedicated amp.

[nzed]

Finally someone who speaks about this. I have always been a supporter of IEMs for gaming but people were always screaming at me like if I was trying to spread fake magic.

Anyway, considering that you have the measurement of the NSMO JR, and that you don't like the extremely bassy signature, we can always try EQing them by compensating to Diffuse Field or Harman Target and then using the EQ values as AutoEQ on EqualizerAPO.
I think that would save the signature.

[lohgock]

Try the Hörluchs "Headset Cable 2-Pin". It's a Cable w/ mic you can use on almost any iem, including the moondrop aria snow.