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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-01 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• Creative 51EF0370AA010 — biggest strength: a circum-aural closed-back design with leatherette-cushioned cups and passive noise cancellation, so it physically covers your ears and knocks down ambient noise without any electronics.
• Creative 51EF0370AA010 — biggest trade-off: it's a plain listening headphone — no microphone, no remote, no detachable cable, and a fixed 3.5 mm wired connection.
• FiiO /JadeAudio JT1 — biggest strength: a 50mm dynamic driver with an N52 magnet and a PEK+PU+aluminum-foil composite diaphragm, plus an inline mic cable and a detachable dual TRS cable.
• FiiO /JadeAudio JT1 — biggest trade-off: it lists no noise control at all, so isolation comes only from the closed cavity rather than a dedicated noise-cancelling design.
• Pick the Creative if you mostly listen to music and want comfort plus quiet, and you never need to talk into your headphones.
• Pick the JT1 if you game, record, or take calls and want one wired headset that does all three.
The HQ-1600 is an old-school wired headphone, and I mean that as a compliment. The design brief here is comfort and quiet: circum-aural cups that fully enclose your ears, soft leatherette padding, and a closed-back shell that Creative describes as passive noise cancellation. Nothing about it is smart, app-connected or battery-powered — it's a cable, a 3.5 mm plug, and two cups.
Inside, you get 40mm Neodymium dynamic drivers with Copper-Clad Aluminum Wire (CCAW) voice coils. CCAW is a lightweight coil material, and the practical upshot in a headphone like this is that the driver can move quickly and cleanly off modest power — the kind of power a phone or an MP3 player actually provides. You also get a gold-plated plug and a high-purity Oxygen-Free Copper cable that extends, which tells you Creative was thinking about signal integrity on the way in, not just the driver itself. The chrome-and-aluminum finish is a bit of a throwback look; it's aluminum and copper in the enclosure, and it weighs 7.04 ounces, which is light enough for long sessions.
Who should skip it? Anyone who needs to talk. There's no mic, no remote, no volume control on the cable. If you game online, join calls, or record voice, this is the wrong tool. Skip it too if you want a detachable cable, because the HQ-1600 doesn't offer one — the cable is part of the product, not a swappable part.
FiiO /JadeAudio JT1: Who It's For
The JT1 is the opposite philosophy. FiiO built it as a "professional studio headphone" that doubles as a gaming headset, and the spec sheet reads like someone deliberately checked both boxes. The centerpiece is a 50mm dynamic driver — noticeably large for this class — paired with high-performance N52 magnets and a high-tension CCAW voice coil. The diaphragm is a multi-layer composite of PEK, PU and aluminum foil, which is a way of getting stiffness and damping in the same membrane: stiff enough for accurate high frequencies, compliant enough to keep distortion low when the bass hits.
FiiO is explicit about the tuning goal: low-frequency volume plus high resolution, with a wide and accurate sound field, aimed at pop, vocals and folk. And it's easy to drive — 32Ω impedance means a phone, a controller or a laptop headphone jack can push it without a separate amp. That matters more than it sounds, because a lot of "studio" headphones are 250Ω bricks that sound thin off consumer gear.
The practical stuff is where the JT1 pulls ahead for mixed use. It ships with a microphone and remote control on the cable, so you get voice communication, game chat and basic music control without a separate mic. It also includes a dual TRS detachable cable, so if the cable dies you replace the cable, not the headphone — and you can upgrade it later. The headband is adjustable and stretchable with soft padded memory-foam-and-fabric cushions, and the closed cavity is designed to improve isolation and reinforce the low end.
Who should buy it? Gamers who want one wired headset for chat and immersion. Editors and streamers doing monitoring and voice work. Anyone who listens to a lot of vocal-forward music and wants a big, full low end without buying an amp. Who should skip it? Someone who wants active noise cancellation — the JT1 lists no noise control, only whatever the closed cups give you passively. And if you want a single, permanently attached cable with zero fuss, the detachable system is extra parts to keep track of.
• Best for blocking out the room → Creative 51EF0370AA010. Circum-aural closed-back cups plus leatherette padding and passive noise cancellation is a deliberate isolation design; the JT1 lists no noise control.
• Best for gaming and voice chat → FiiO /JadeAudio JT1. It's the only one of the two with an inline microphone and remote.
• Best for long listening sessions → Creative 51EF0370AA010. Soft leatherette over-ear cushions and 7.04 ounces of weight are built around extended wear.
• Best for big, full low end → FiiO /JadeAudio JT1. A 50mm driver with N52 magnets and a composite diaphragm is simply more motor and more membrane.
• Best for easy driving from a phone or controller → FiiO /JadeAudio JT1. 32Ω impedance is explicitly designed to perform off a low-power front end.
• Best for durability and repairability → FiiO /JadeAudio JT1. The dual TRS detachable cable means a broken cable isn't a broken headphone.
• Best for a clean, simple music-only setup → Creative 51EF0370AA010. One cable, one plug, no controls to fumble with.
• Best for monitoring and editing → FiiO /JadeAudio JT1. The mic, remote and detachable cable make it a working tool, not just a listening device.
In my opinion, the FiiO /JadeAudio JT1 is the better buy for most people in 2026, and it comes down to range of use. It's a headphone, a headset and a monitoring tool in one, with a detachable cable that keeps it alive longer and a 50mm driver that gives you more headroom for bass and detail. I'd only steer you to the Creative 51EF0370AA010 if your priority is quiet and comfort for pure listening — no mic, no gaming, no calls. That's a real use case, and the Creative does it well. But if you're buying one wired over-ear and you want it to handle music, games and voice, I'd take the JT1. Before you decide, check the current price on Amazon — both sit in the budget wired category, and the gap between them is worth a look.
FAQ
It has passive noise cancellation, not active. The circum-aural closed-back cups fully cover your ears and the leatherette padding seals around them, which reduces ambient noise mechanically. The JT1 lists no noise control, so the Creative is the more isolation-focused of the two.
Yes. Its impedance is 32Ω, which FiiO specifically notes is easy to drive from a low-power front end. Your phone, laptop or console controller jack should be enough. The Creative's 40mm Neodymium drivers are also designed for portable sources like MP3 players.
That depends on what you need. The JT1 gives you more hardware — detachable cable, inline mic, bigger driver, adjustable headband — for mixed gaming and music use. The Creative gives you comfort and passive isolation with a simpler design. Check the current price on Amazon for both before you commit.
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