why are almost all new headphones these days so trash?

[ShatteredPumpkin]

currently trying to find new headphones but what the hell happened? never could i remember headphones being so trash... currently have headphones that i bought arround 2017 and they only cost me 20€ so pretty cheap but now after using them for years they are starting to reach their end after being worn down and fu**ing hell i cant find any new good headphones ive tried about 6 different headphones now from cheap to expensive and all of them suck sound wise do all heaphones have awful sound quality these days? i literally bought a pair of headphones that is literally the same model as the one i currently have only difference being that the cable is 40cm shorter and wtf the sound is so bad compared to my current ones and as said its the same damn pair so whats going with headphones these days??? should i even bother getting headphones now? i might aswell just buy a good pair of speakers and some super expensive microphone so that my friends wont hear their own voices and my game sounds....

[primeinsurrection]

Because nobody knows how to buy things any more. You can make any head phone any price and people will buy them all the same. Some of the best stuff in the world is the least expensive. You cant go wrong with Sony, Bose, and Logitech.

[76561199389059995]

Hmm, it seemed you got issues. Maybe it was driver issue, or you didn't configure correctly.
What about drivers you installed on Windows? The main driver came with motherboard and some high-end headphones came with driver from their site.
Did you configured from Windows? Hardware and sound? Did you configured from Steam or Discord, web browser or audio from in-game setting?
Steam is making changes each months maybe something related to cyber threats?

[90054321564584560]

just use chinese ones. famous ones have the same tech but for cheaper the price in sometime has a better quality control than what we have here

[primeinsurrection]

Originally posted by 90054321564584560:

just use chinese ones. famous ones have the same tech but for cheaper the price in sometime has a better quality control than what we have here

Actually all tech and shop guys know typical Chinese stuff breaks really fast and they have zero quality control. The large companies actually make their stuff in China usually too, just at a higher quality, thats why they are the popular brands. USA actually has zero quality control by law for tech too but our retail stores are picky. They choose these brands because they test them.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Properly adjust the bit rate and depth in Sound Settings < Sound Control Panel < Properties, sometimes the Sound Enhancements are hit-or-miss as well.

[ˢᵈˣ FatCat]

I know a guy who know a guy, why Sennheiser losing the war of consumerism, the reason was : people who bought fancy stuff and people who bought working stuff stuff is always fewer, anc chinese always reverse engineering their product, so generally nobody build expensive stuff anymore, except for those GPU slave who always buys

[ShatteredPumpkin]

Originally posted by primeinsurrection:

Originally posted by 90054321564584560:

just use chinese ones. famous ones have the same tech but for cheaper the price in sometime has a better quality control than what we have here

Actually all tech and shop guys know typical Chinese stuff breaks really fast and they have zero quality control. The large companies actually make their stuff in China usually too, just at a higher quality, thats why they are the popular brands. USA actually has zero quality control by law for tech too but our retail stores are picky. They choose these brands because they test them.

cant be a driver issue if mine work fine af and the same ones that are new dont xD

[Guydodge]

i stopped buying upper tier headsets years ago i now buy a 30-50 dollar pair
with a Usb plug with out a wheel volume (they always go bad) and use 3rd party
EQ software (i bought Boom3D) gives me very decent sound.last pair i bought are the KLIM
mantis may 2020 and surprisingly are still working. windows EQ settings bite the
hairy one.

Boom3D has free trial.great EQ bought it years back on win 10 for 15.00 and
it was updated for win 11 no charge Sweet !!! one time buy
and can be used on entire system desktop speaks headphones ect..
and i always try for at least 40mm drivers in headset

[Talby]

If I would get a decent cheap setup would be:

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Play! 3 External USB Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac. Plug and Play (No Drivers Required). Upgrade to 24-Bit 96Khz Playback https://a.co/d/i9aF9HJ
For $18

Samson SR860 Over-Ear Professional Semi-Open Studio Reference Small Headphones Headset - for Mobile Music Mixing, Monitoring, Recording & Listening - Large 50mm Neodymium Drivers Noise Cancelling https://a.co/d/f2em8oU
For $30 (same as the venerable sr850 with red trim and cheaper)

And just pick whatever mic you like, I use a cheap $10 clip lapel mic sadly they are about $15 these days...

[smokerob79]

Originally posted by primeinsurrection:

Because nobody knows how to buy things any more. You can make any head phone any price and people will buy them all the same. Some of the best stuff in the world is the least expensive. You cant go wrong with Sony, Bose, and Logitech.

you went wrong buying all of them.....Bose is GARBAGE unless its the aviation sets no one out side of pilots should be using......logitech has never made good headphones and sony still has 2 real options both only have valid range for voice recordings......


the only maker that has not had any issues in the last 20 years is Grado.....and you still get one of the best set of cans ever made for around a 130 dollars US.......

[primeinsurrection]

Originally posted by smokerob79:

Originally posted by primeinsurrection:

Because nobody knows how to buy things any more. You can make any head phone any price and people will buy them all the same. Some of the best stuff in the world is the least expensive. You cant go wrong with Sony, Bose, and Logitech.

you went wrong buying all of them.....Bose is GARBAGE unless its the aviation sets no one out side of pilots should be using......logitech has never made good headphones and sony still has 2 real options both only have valid range for voice recordings......


the only maker that has not had any issues in the last 20 years is Grado.....and you still get one of the best set of cans ever made for around a 130 dollars US.......

Just ask google or chatGPT already before making up things. Literally every part they use is much better than generic chinese brands. Noone in the tech world would agree with that. lol

[Conejo]

Originally posted by primeinsurrection:

Because nobody knows how to buy things any more. You can make any head phone any price and people will buy them all the same. Some of the best stuff in the world is the least expensive. You cant go wrong with Sony, Bose, and Logitech.

Bose has been the biggest pos earbuds ive ever owned. The ANC is great but the ear buds have so many issues.

[r.linder]

They keep releasing crap because that's what most people are buying, since they don't know any better and just buy whatever they can afford that looks good. The rest buy overpriced garbage.

Very few actually scratch the surface of high quality audio gear.

[A&A]

When you go to the store and see headphones in boxes that you can't even try on, your only option is to buy some.
Someone has made a high-quality audio recording of a product. Oh well, good luck telling the difference by hearing it, you are limited to the audio equipment you have, and when it comes to analyzing waveforms, not many knows what to look for nor there are many graphs availble.
Their production is very cheap and has no expiration date, so they can abuse the market.

[AmaiAmai]

It's not just headphones, quality has gone down on everything. My monitor is 1 year old and is showing a flashing black line. I know what brand I am not buying next time...terrible brand and support.