We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-23 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you mostly play and talk at a desk or in front of a console, get a headset. If you mostly listen to music and want the cleanest sound for the least bulk, get IEMs.
• Headset — best if you need a microphone and volume control on your head, in one wired package, without buying anything else.
• Iems — best if you want maximum sound quality per gram, a cable you can replace, and a fit that disappears into your ears.
A headset is a system, not just a speaker. The BENGOO G9000 pairs a 40mm dynamic driver with a boom microphone, an inline volume control, and a 3.5mm jack that plugs into nearly anything with a headphone socket — PS4, PS5, PC, Switch, laptops, tablets, phones. That single cable does two jobs at once: it carries game audio up and your voice back down. No dongle, no pairing, no second device to charge.
The specs tell you what to expect. The driver is 40mm with 32 ohm impedance and a 20Hz–20kHz range, which is the standard full-bandwidth window. Low impedance like that means a phone or a controller can drive it without a separate amp. The over-ear cups use faux leather padding with sound isolation, so outside noise drops a bit and your game audio does not leak out to the room.
The defining feature here is the microphone. On the G9000 it is attached to the left cup and works through the same 3.5mm path as the audio, which is why the included 1-to-2 splitter matters on PC — the pink jack carries the mic, the green one carries sound. Get that wrong and you get silence or a dead mic. That is the trade-off of a wired all-in-one: it is simple once it is set up correctly, and fiddly when it is not.
The main trade-off beyond setup is bulk. At 430 grams, this is a piece of gear you wear, not something you forget about. It is also wired, so you are tethered to the controller or the PC. If you want to walk around while listening, this is not the tool.
IEM stands for in-ear monitor, and the Moondrop CHU II shows what the category is about: a tiny 10mm dynamic driver seated inside a cast alloy cavity, pushed into your ear canal with a rounded silicone tip. Because the driver sits close to your eardrum, it needs far less power to hit the same loudness. The CHU II is rated at 18 ohm and 119dB sensitivity, which means basically any phone or laptop headphone jack drives it to painful volumes with headroom to spare.
The interesting engineering is in the diaphragm. The dome is an aluminum-magnesium alloy — stiff and light — and the surround is two different polymers. Stiff domes extend treble and reveal detail; a soft, well-damped surround gives you punchier bass without the distortion that comes from a diaphragm flopping around. Moondrop rates total nonlinear distortion below 0.05%, which is the kind of number you normally only see quoted by manufacturers who care about measurements. In practice that means clean, natural timbre rather than a bass-heavy thump.
Where the CHU II really separates itself from a sealed headset is serviceability. The nozzle is a separate brass CNC part, and its front end unscrews so you can swap the acoustic filter if it clogs with earwax or gets damaged — a wear item you can fix instead of throwing the whole thing away. The cable uses a universal 0.78mm two-pin connector, so if the wire breaks you replace the wire, and you can even run it from a Bluetooth neckband or TWS ear-hook if you want to go wireless later.
The trade-off is obvious: no microphone, no volume dial, no headband. You get sound, and that is it.
Space and portability. IEMs win by a mile. The CHU II weighs about 3.87 ounces including the case, and the case itself is about 3.5 ounces. That is a pocket-sized kit. The G9000 is 430 grams of headband, cups, and cable — fine on a desk, annoying in a bag.
Setup and speed. Headset wins on paper, IEMs win in practice. The G9000 needs the correct splitter orientation on PC and the right jack on console; the included instructions exist precisely because people plug it in wrong. The CHU II just goes into the headphone jack and plays. Its one quirk is the two-pin cable: you have to seat it parallel and firmly, and pull it out by the plug body, not the wire.
Cost of ownership. This is closer than people assume. A headset is one purchase that covers audio and voice. IEMs are cheaper to keep alive — replaceable cable, replaceable filter — but you will eventually buy a separate mic if you need one. If your priority is not rebuying the whole thing when a wire fails, the CHU II's design is friendlier.
Versatility. The G9000's compatibility list is genuinely long: PlayStation, Xbox, PC, 3DS, PSP, tablet, iPad, phone. It is a communication device that also plays games. The CHU II is a listening device, full stop. For music, movies, and solo gaming, I would take the Moondrop. For anything involving a party chat, the BENGOO.
Isolation and comfort. Both isolate, differently. Over-ear cups block broadband noise with padding; deep-insertion IEMs block more, but only if the tip seals properly. The G9000's memory-foam-style earpads are comfortable for long sessions, but 430 grams gets heavy. The CHU II is weightless by comparison, though some people never get used to something inside the ear canal.
Sound quality. In my opinion, the CHU II is the better-sounding product. A well-damped 10mm driver with a metal dome and very low distortion, sitting right at your eardrum, has a structural advantage over a 40mm driver in a plastic cup with a mic hanging off it. The G9000 is tuned for games — big, surround-flavored, bass-forward — and that is a legitimate tuning, just not a neutral one.
Get the IEMs if you want the best sound for the money and the least stuff on your head. Get the headset if you talk while you play — that is the one case where the other type simply cannot compete, because nothing in the CHU II carries your voice. My honest recommendation for a single purchase: if a microphone is anywhere in your requirements, buy the headset. If it is not, buy the IEMs.
The BENGOO G9000 is the straightforward pick for a wired all-in-one. It covers the platforms most people actually own, runs off a plain 3.5mm jack, and drives easily at 32 ohm with a 40mm dynamic driver across a 20Hz–20kHz range. The boom mic, inline volume control, and over-ear faux-leather cups with sound isolation make it a complete kit out of the box, and it ships with the 1-to-2 splitter you need for PC mic and audio separation. Purple, if that matters to you.
Two things to plan for. First, if you are on an older Xbox One controller, you need a separate Microsoft adapter that is not included. Second, budget a few minutes for the splitter and the Windows sound settings on first setup — the mic has to be enabled and routed correctly. Get past that and it is a set-and-forget gaming headset with a two-year warranty.
The Moondrop CHU II is my pick for anyone whose priority is the music. The aluminum-magnesium dome diaphragm, dual-polymer surround, and sub-0.05% distortion figure point to a driver engineered for clean detail rather than boom. The cast alloy cavity with a protective paint layer, the brass CNC nozzle, and the replaceable acoustic filter all suggest a product designed to be kept rather than replaced. The 0.78mm two-pin cable means the wire is a consumable, not a death sentence.
At 18 ohm and 119dB sensitivity it runs from anything, and the included eartips plus protective case make it a complete, pocketable setup. It comes with a one-year warranty. Just handle the two-pin connector gently — seat it straight and pull it by the housing — and it will outlast most of the gear you plug it into.
Yes for game audio — the CHU II plugs into a controller or PC jack and plays fine. No for voice, unless you add a separate microphone. The CHU II has no mic and no inline controls.
No. The G9000 is 32 ohm and the CHU II is 18 ohm with 119dB sensitivity. Both are designed to run from ordinary headphone jacks on phones, laptops, and controllers.
IEMs, in my opinion, if they seal well — they weigh almost nothing. Headsets spread weight across your head, but the G9000 is 430 grams, which adds up over a long night.
On the CHU II, yes. It uses a standard 0.78mm two-pin connector, so a broken cable or a failed channel is a cable swap rather than a new pair of earphones. The G9000's cable is fixed.
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See also: headset vs headphone, headset vs microphone, on ear headset vs over ear