I’m quite curious about the experience in gaming with an IEM, and I want to know which IEM could be the ultimate best for competitive FPS. Is there a “HD800s” in the IEM/earphones world too? Could the IER-Z1R be the king even in gaming? I want to know some opinion about high-end earphones/IEMs that work well with gaming(FPS mostly). Thanks.
While I hate being the bearer of bad news here, there is no ultimate best for competitive fps… IEMS don’t stand up to open back headphones whatsoever when it comes to soundstage and imaging. You can get some with good results but they are quite expensive and not worth it in comparison considering the price tag… these particular IEMS would be like Final Audio IEMS, Etymotic IEMS which share a signature like the hd800S, and maybe something like an IE800… Regardless, I have tried quite a few and none of these compete well against headphones whatsoever.
IEMS started getting used in gaming for those who prefer that level of comfort or for the true reason that in tournaments its used for isolation purposes only… as you use an in ear iem with a closed back aviation headset over them to fully isolate yourself from everything around you.
I am sure theres others here with much more IEM experience than me, but from my experience personally… just trying to meet up with something like a DT 880 just isn’t happening
No IEM will ever be “king” in gaming. That one also is a V signature with quite a bit of bass on it… not recommended for competitive play
As a big IEM guy and competitive FPS player, headphones will always beat IEMs in soundstage, but not necessarily in imaging. IEMs can image incredibly well and are easy to pinpoint where enemies are. I have used the DT1990 and Focal Elex quite a bit for competitive games and found a couple of my current IEMs (Legend X and Andromeda 2020) to perform just as well in games as in I can also pin point enemies just as easily with them.
With all that said, I can’t imagine any audio gear outside of summit-fi headphones to beat the HD800s in terms of best competitive gaming experience due to its sound stage and imaging capabilities. Even as good as an competitive gaming experience the HD800s, I don’t believe a player will play better in the grand scheme of things with an HD800s rather than something solid like the DT1990 or IEMs that image really well like the MEST and Andromeda 2020 (or even something way cheaper). It just might make the experience of playing a bit better.
Agree with this as someone who had the IER-Z1R although I would consider the warmth of it to play a bigger toll than the V-shape. For example, the Legend X is considered V-shaped (I think of it as L-shaped), but I perform really well in competitive games due the uniqueness of implementation of their bass drivers and how good it is at imaging.
I will agree they image well but I was stacking imaging with soundstage… IEM can image just fine… but it absolutely will depend on the game I am sure we can agree on that… there is a big difference in demands from the IEM or headphone going from something such as say… Warzone and CSGO all the way to Escape from Tarkov.
pretty much yeah, those headphones are in a class of their own… granted you don’t really need them as most games can’t even use all those qualities lol.
I have sat with these vs the arya and clears denons and some others… There was a noticeable improvement from my ability to place sounds with the 800S arya and clear over the 1990… especially in the case of the clear over there… as the imaging on that one is very good… however only the 800s and arya really had that noticeable change in tarkov… mainly from the staging though. All changes above teh 1990 regardless were rather marginal and is why I state no reason to go above the $500 price point… Theres like zero reason for it… if your going into casual gaming or music oh absolutely… go above… plenty to gain there… but competitive not really
Forgot about those actually, theres quite a few IEM that image very very well but in terms in soundstage and verticality I think is where the IEM falls short by a big margin
well it images fine, but again… bass is not a good idea in competitives… it just clouds things up and leads to issues. It’s nice a big problem of the z1r but it is noticeable
Oh yeah good point, I can definitely agree on that.
Also makes sense to me, I agree with all of this
Anyone tried an A8000 when gaming?
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For versatility and just all-around in my opinion would be the Starfields for me. I have used it for gaming, music and video editing and to me they get the job done.
Love my GoldPlanar GL20’s for gaming!
They have very fast turned into my only used headphone/IEM.
Wondering whether anyone tried MMR’s Thummim for gaming.
Incredibly open sounding IEM.