Prime Day: $24 IEMs that improved my competitive gaming audio

When you think of upgrades for competitive gaming, a lightweight mouse or a high-refresh monitor usually comes to mind. Audio is just as important, though, and one of the best changes I’ve made to my Counter-Strike setup is a humble set of in-ear monitors that are now $24 at Amazon for Prime Day (Prime members only).

Sound can be decisive in competitive FPS games because precise localisation helps you find opponents. IEMs often excel at that, and the Linsoul Tripowin x 0DiBi Vivace earbuds have been effective for me. I switched from the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro to the Vivace for CS2 and found I could place enemies more reliably, sometimes hearing things my teammates didn’t and almost distinguishing A from B plants on Nuke.

The earphones ship with several tips and an attachable cable. The cable is a bit short and didn’t reach the back of my PC, and the front-panel connector didn’t provide enough power, so I added a separate DAC; a cheap UGreen unit solved the issue and also works with other USB-C devices.

prime day, iems, in-ear monitors, linsoul tripowin, 0dibi vivace, razer blackshark, cs2, sound localisation, dac, ugreen