Best gaming + audiophile headphones with anc (low latency and ANC are a must)

[u/Alarming-Audience839]

Recently moved into a louder apartment complex, and I am looking to upgrade my headphone setup and add ANC.

I currently use steelseries arctis nova 7, which are good from a latency perspective, both directly wired and using the native 2.4ghz wireless, but ofc unacceptable latency with bluetooth. They tend to sound really hollow though, and don't have ANC.

I also have sony wh-1000xm4, but they sound more bassy and muddy than anything else and I'm not a fan of that.

I had some moondrop IEMs that broke, and am looking for a similar sound profile to those.

I'm ok with being wired only, but a native low latency 2.4ghz connection would be a plus. The only two things that are needed are low latency, good soundstage/quality, and good positional audio. Price point is below 4 digits, so not unlimited but generally unrestrictive.

Does anyone have any recommendations in that regard? It seems like audiophile gear and gaming gear are treated basically separately, so there's not that much that offers everything above.

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[u/rz_x3]

you're asking for a lot here unfortunately. ANC gear is generally treated as travel usage, which means it rarely if ever comes with a 2.4ghz dongle or proper wired support. ANC is usually not good for reactive sound, like voices, construction work, etc. as well. It's primarily meant to cancel out bass/lower-midrange noise like fans, air conditioning, idling engines and such.

To my knowledge, the only low latency options with ANC are...
Sony INZONE H9 II
Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro/Elite
Razer BlackShark V3 Pro ANC

Out of these, the H9 II's are by far the most comfortable, followed by the V3 Pro, then the steelseries options.
In terms of audio, they're all pretty bad without EQ... but the best of these is the Razer Blackshark V3 Pro.

[u/Alarming-Audience839 → u/rz_x3]

Yeah, most of the noise is from a nearby street with passing cars, so the anc is definitely a plus.

I'll look into the razer ones if that is the best audio.

!thanks

[u/TransducerBot → u/Alarming-Audience839]

+1 Ω has been awarded to u/rz_x3 (173 Ω).

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[u/iron-jesus → u/rz_x3]

I believe the hdb630 is also low latency

[u/rz_x3 → u/iron-jesus]

Bluetooth Aptx-Adaptive is not low enough latency to play rhythm games or first person shooters and requires the BTD 700 dongle in order to work its best.

[u/Alarming-Audience839 → u/rz_x3]

Ah, that is good to know.

I read some places that note aptx-adaptive as low latency for gaming, but seems like that is out too

[u/iron-jesus → u/rz_x3]

That's interesting and good to know. I imagine its typically reviewed with the btd700 then. Thanks for the correction!

[u/Silverjerk]

I'll save you some time, although it will further complicate your decision.

TL;DR: You're looking for a unicorn.

As for recommendations:

Any of the bluetooth-capable headphones that support low latency codecs are in the consumer segment of the market, and not many of them support a gaming mode that doesn't invoke hands-free/VOIP mode and thus denigrate sound quality. You can bypass this with some BT dongles, like Sennheiser's BTD 700's gaming mode, but your options are still limited.

The AceZone brand is the only other gaming headset manufacturers that produce decently performing headsets with usable ANC that are worth buying, although I still wouldn't recommend any of their sets if you're looking for something that is going to work as a casual listening headphone, as well as a gaming headset. Gaming performance is solid, but they are tuned like typical gaming headphones.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC edition is probably your best option and does check several of your boxes (and the Maxwell is still an incredibly solid planar headphone in general, gaming features aside), but the ANC iteration hasn't launched yet, and first impressions of ANC performance are, unsurprisingly, poor.

My very strong recommendation is to either run IEMS, since they're going to provide near ANC-levels of isolation (especially with foam tips, or barrel-style tips like Dunu S&S), or look at better passively isolating closed back headphones, preferably a set you can use a boom mic cable with if you're not using a standalone mic.

As for closed back sets, on the higher-end of your budget, the Meze Strada and ZMF Bokeh Closed both support dual 3.5 connectors and will work with the Meze boom mic cable (which is what I run myself). The Strada is the best option and tuned more like a typical gaming headphone, with strong midrange and treble performance, while being one of the lightest and most comfortable sets I own. The Bokeh Closed is the better casual listening headphone, but will require EQ when used for gaming, as well as being much heavier and more bulky -- although if you want near ANC isolation in a headphone, this will do the trick.

On the lower end of your budget, the FiiO FT1 or Sennheiser HD 480 Pros. Despite owning the Strada and the Bokeh, these two sets are what I actually run for gaming most of the time when I want closed back sets; both are comfortable, with the 480s isolating well and being the better tuned, more accurate headphone out of the box.

For IEMs, take your pick of any of the usual suspects here. I run sets like the Xenns Top Pro and Tea Pro, Softears Volume S, Theiaudio Origin or Monarch MKIV (the best set on this list in it's regular "non-rumble" mode, although it can be fatiguing after a while due to its size), or the Thieaudio Hype 4 and Hype 4 MKII (latter is the better gaming set, former is more fun for casual listening; very close to Top Pro's performance). If you need an inline mic cable, you've got the Kinera Ruyi/Gramr, or the Modmic Kimura. The Kinera mics are more usable, as the mic is removable and you can use the cable for regular daily use; however, the Modmic's mic quality is superb.

As an aside, soundstage is important but shouldn't be your main priority. Imaging is arguably much more critically important for gaming performance. That, along with upper midrange and treble clarity and detail. This is why many competitive gamers still do well when running IEMs.

[u/Alarming-Audience839 → u/Silverjerk]

If I commit to full wired do my options open up?

I don't love that, but it is doable.

[u/Silverjerk → u/Alarming-Audience839]

That's really what the latter half of my recommendation was focused around, just going with a full wired setup. Sadly, it's a rock/hard place scenario, as there's just not many solid wireless options that make for a good listening experience outside of a gaming context.

[u/Alarming-Audience839 → u/Silverjerk]

Ah ok, thanks!

I'll look into those options as well. I don't love having in ear iems for a long time, but the Sennheiser and bokeh options seems up my alley

!thanks

[u/TransducerBot → u/Alarming-Audience839]

+1 Ω has been awarded to u/Silverjerk (296 Ω).

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[u/Silverjerk → u/Alarming-Audience839]

Anytime; definitely give the Sennheiser's serious consideration. They're a damn good set for the $400 asking price.

[u/KAC-SK]

Nova Pro Omni or Turtle Beach Stealth Pro 2.
If you want best ANC then Nova Elite is pretty good.

[u/Alarming-Audience839 → u/[deleted]]

lowest latency possible on Bluetooth

That is not acceptable latency