The best IEMs for gaming 2026

When people think of the best IEMs for gaming, they think about FPS games or competitive shooters. Nobody seems to account for the rest of the gaming space. How about the story-driven games, such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, with tons of dialogue, and an amazing backing soundtrack? Action-heavy games like Monster Hunter Wilds, where you can hear the ambiance of large environments, the explosion of barrel bombs, and roaring of monsters 10 times your size, there’s the annoying kid too, I suppose. There are cozy games where you chill on an island with some cute and soothing background music as you attempt to recover from the tons of debt you keep accruing from a raccoon that’s hell bent on keeping you there.

Regardless of which type of game you’re most likely to play, IEMs are a good alternative to gaming headsets. IEMs take up less space and are easy to wear for long periods, and you don’t get the dreaded headphone dent. For the most part, we will be sticking to easily available IEMs. While most gamers prefer a built-in mic, not every gamer requires or even has the need for communication. That is why you might find the best “gaming” IEM list does not have a gaming-specific IEM like the Razer Moray.  Many gamers play single-player games or even local co-op, like Mario Party.

Note that we will only recommend IEMs that we have personally tried and tested. So if you don’t see your favourite on the list, it’s possible we haven’t tried it yet. Please let us know your favourites below. Check out the quick answer if you want the list, with the details of each product further down.

The Quick Answer

For a quick guide to the best IEMs that suit your needs and budget, check out our top picks below. Each link leads to our full review.

The best overall: Oriveti Dynabird

The best for story-driven games: Truthear Gate

The best for action and adventure games: Meze Audio Alba

The best for cozy games: Moondrop Chu II

The best for competitive shooters: Sony INZONE E9

Best overall: Oriveti Dynabird

Dynabird delivers a sound that caters to the discerning competitive gamer. The ability to hear and locate the position of the sound with little effort makes the Oriveti Dynabird great for competitive shooters. It also doesn’t compromise its ability to deliver sound to those who enjoy movies or music. For listening to music, the Oriveti Dynabird is not bad, with some lack in the treble, and a touch of overemphasis in sub-bass. Unlike most gaming IEMs, they’re enjoyable to listen to for long periods of time.

In gaming, the Oriveti Bleqk Dynabird has great separation. I was easily able to separate gunfire, enemy movement, ability cues, and team communication. The bass doesn’t lose rumble; it’s never overbearing, which means the story dialogue is drowned out. The treble doesn’t have any sharp sibilance that can be distracting. The fit on the stock eartips are great, and I find that despite only having passive isolation, it tends to block out a good chunk of noise, and what does go through isn’t distracting compared to the sound from the game audio. This helps keep away the annoyances from the outside world when playing cozy games.

Read our full Oriveti bleqk Dynabird review

Best For dialogue-heavy and story games: Truthear Gate

For dialogue-heavy games, the separation of sounds will be the top priority, while keeping vocals in the front of the mix. Closely followed by making sure the IEMs don’t sound fatiguing when listening to them, which means we don’t want too much treble energy. With comfort being the last of the priority list, as generally with story-focused games, you’ll be playing roughly 2 to 4 hours at a time.

Which is why the top pick for dialogue-heavy story games is going to be the Truthear Gate. In games like Cyberpunk 2077, the dialogue doesn’t get lost in the mix, even with background music and other environmental noise. High-pitched sounds like the crystaline chimes aren’t painful, and the Truthear Gate are easy to listen to for hours on end without much issues, although some might find it annoyingly unnatural due to the lack of brilliance from the treble. They fit in my ears just fine, and they’re light without any notable points of pressure. Wearing these for over 6 hours at a time didn’t pose any issues either. They don’t have a lot of rumble for action games, and aren’t very accurate in sound positioning.

Read our full Truthear Gate review

Best for action or adventure games: Meze Audio Alba

In action and adventure games, you likely want to be in the action. Immerse themselves in the action without any compromise, explosions should rumble, the crack of ice breaking beneath your very feet painfully obvious, vehicles whooshing by with breakneck speed. You’ll want it loud and in your face for the most part. For some people, an included mic would be good here, but it is almost always better to get a proper microphone. Our current pick doesn’t have an included microphone, but you can easily get a replacement cable that has one built in.

Putting you in the action is the Meze Audio Alba. It has a deep and punchy bass, but not so much that it muddies the overall sound. There are times when the treble feels painful to the ears, which is exactly what we want when being immersed – to feel that building fall and crumble, each glass panel at a time. Bass from explosions has enough pressure that you can feel the rumble. The vocals stand out, feeling forward in the mix even when in busy scenes. The separation between sounds is excellent, but it doesn’t sound very wide. The sound feels like it comes from in between my ears, leading to the feeling of sounds panning from left to right incredibly fast, and constantly feeling close. This is horrible in competitive shooters, making them difficult to use.

Read our full Meze Audio Alba review

Best for cozy games: Moondrop Chu II

Read our full Moondrop Chu II review

Best for competitive shooters: Sony INZONE E9

For competitive games, people tend to look for the most accurate placement of sound, but what is more important is sound separation and isolation. Sound separation is important, as you don’t want to miss audio cues such as an enemy trying to flank you, or a third party coming from behind, despite having the loud and terribly obvious sounds of a firefight going on. Isolation comes in with a close second, as it won’t matter if you aren’t blocking out as much of the outside world as possible. Leaving spatial width and depth last, despite still being important. The more accurate the spatial width, the better you’re able to tell the direction of the flanking enemy, the easier it is to pre-aim at the location of where they’re likely to break cover, especially in games like Valorant and CSGO2. With a good spatial depth, you’ll find it easier to tell how far a firefight is, and the easier it is for you to make decisions on where to go on a map if you’re playing a battle arena type game, such as Apex Legends or Fortnite.

When playing an FPS like Apex Legends, which I’m most experienced with, Sony opted not to focus on “Soundstage” as the main attribute. The Sony INZONE E9’s separation and clarity are amazing. I can easily hear footsteps, even in intense firefights with sniper shots ringing out, ordinances exploding, and abilities raging across the battlefield. The stereo imaging is fairly accurate. I could easily pinpoint flanking enemies’ locations. The spatial depth of the Sony INZONE E9 is good, letting me easily tell when a firefight is far away, mid-range, close by, or right next to me. Sony prioritizes the correct areas to focus on: separation and isolation first, gaining great stereo imaging as a byproduct. For those who are variety gamers or streamers, look elsewhere, as these are not very exciting to listen to, action games fall flat, and music doesn’t feel enjoyable to listen to. If you’re looking at a highly specialized product for FPS gaming, this is the best I’ve used in that aspect.

Read our full Sony INZONE E9 review

The best IEMs for Gaming: Notable mentions

Alternatives if the size or fit is unlikely to fit your ears, or a close second that might have done well, but did not do quite as good as the best in their category.

• For overall gaming: Sennheiser IE200 () is normally used in the music industry for monitoring, but their small size and great overall sound make them do well in most game genres. You can also check the previous pick the Truthear Hexa.
• For story-driven games: Tangzu Waner () is a good choice as they tend to underemphasise the temporal effects of most voices, such as echo.
• For action games: Truthear x Crinacle Zero: Blue 2 () is great, especially if you like a lot of bass and rumble. But doesn’t quite drop you into the action.
• For Cozy games: Kiwi Ears Cadenza () for those looking for a warm leaning earbud that is easy to listen to for a long period, however, it does get warm in the ear physically as well.
• For Competitive Gaming: The second best is the Oriveti Dynabird () if you want great FPS performance without sacrificing an enjoyable listening experience. It also lands in the best overall for gaming category.

How we test IEMs

Using a dummy head, product designers can test out how audio products will perform for most people — and so do we. We run a number of tests, including frequency response, isolation, and microphone demos. You can read more about it here and learn more about the specifics.

• For each product, we played several sine sweeps through the earphones. Once we arrived at a representative result, we logged the frequency response, demonstrating the hallmarks of a good acoustic seal.
• To test isolation, we play a sample of shaped noise at 90dB(SPL) (measured at the eardrum), once with the headphones off and another with the headphones on. We then subtract one measurement from the other.

These basic tests cover the biggest areas of concern with IEMs. Additionally, you could squeak out better isolation performance if you use third-party tips on your earbuds.

Why you should trust SoundGuys

Wired IEMs still are some of the most used tools on stage or on stream

We pride ourselves on our ability to show our work and justify why we selected our picks. SoundGuys takes integrity very seriously.

Everything we recommend results from our objective measurements and great subjective experiences. Ultimately, we want you to enjoy your purchase or, at the very least, leave our site with a little more knowledge about the inner workings of audio.

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