{"id":1076463,"date":"2026-01-23T00:03:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T00:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/LYXusUdnLUz8fvkfueDzDC"},"modified":"2026-01-23T00:03:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T00:03:02","slug":"2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div class=\"fancy-box\">\n<div class=\"fancy_box-title\">Gear of the Year<\/div>\n<div class=\"fancy_box_body\">\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' >\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"BUBn2YyegYRz5P3KHbHKyS\" name=\"GOTY Banners Main\" caption=\"\" alt=\"PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 logo on a black background\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg\" mos=\"\" link=\"\" align=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"pinterest-pin-exclude\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\"\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"fancy-box__body-text\"><strong>Check out more of the year&#8217;s best tech in our <\/strong><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/tag\/hardware-awards-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024<\/strong><\/a><strong> coverage.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Earlier in the year, PC Gamer packed me up and shipped me off to Denmark to take a look at some new SteelSeries gear. After filing into a SteelSeries office with a handful of other journos and SteelSeries PRs, it was revealed that The Big News were these new tiny earbuds. And my heart sank. <em>I can&#8217;t stand earbuds<\/em>, I thought. <em>They really picked the wrong person to bring out here<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>How wrong I was, though. Perhaps by some premonitory magic, the SteelSeries folks happened to pick the one person who could be brought not just on-side but yanked <em>out of the depths of anti-earbud abyss<\/em>,<em> <\/em>and on-side.<\/p>\n<p>This wouldn&#8217;t have been possible if the Arctis GameBuds weren&#8217;t damn solid, though.<\/p>\n<p>No, SteelSeries isn&#8217;t twisting my arm to write this, I&#8217;ve just been genuinely blown away by these buds. I&#8217;m sure that&#8217;s in part because I&#8217;m surprised to be giving any earphones at all the time of day again, but it&#8217;s also because these ones in particular genuinely impressed me.<\/p>\n<p>Why&#8217;s that? Well, for one, they <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/hardware\/earbuds-headphones\/the-new-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-actually-fit-my-weird-little-ears-and-if-that-isnt-a-glowing-endorsement-then-i-dont-know-what-is\/\" target=\"_blank\">actually fit my weird little ears<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, moving on.<\/p>\n<p>I actually ended up using the GameBuds in different ways than I thought I would. For instance, they&#8217;ve got me listening to audiobooks while tootling around the house doing chores, and they&#8217;ve even got me running to pick them up when I receive a phonecall. I shudder to think of the number of times my friends must have heard me say &#8220;call you back in a second, I&#8217;m just grabbing my earphones.&#8221; There&#8217;s just something about chatting hands-free, you know?<\/p>\n<p>Maybe this is old news to everyone who didn&#8217;t write off earbuds for the last decade. But part of the reason for me writing them off\u2014apart from most earbuds not comfortably fitting my ears\u2014is that there&#8217;s rarely enough benefit to weigh against the dreadful feeling of having your ears clogged.<\/p>\n<p>But wait, what&#8217;s that, Transparency Mode (think the inverse of ANC) works a charm and makes your ears feel positively de-clogged? Yep, the GameBuds shine in that regard, too.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p>They simply work, in pretty much any circumstance I&#8217;ve put them in\u2014any time, any place.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In fact, every barrier that I wanted to put up, the GameBuds smashed them down. Like a pushy but loveable puppy, they clawed their way through my protective barriers and made me admit: <em>Okay, I&#8217;ll give you a shot<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s why I gave them such a high score in <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/hardware\/earbuds-headphones\/steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-review\/\" target=\"_blank\">my Arctis GameBuds review<\/a>: because there&#8217;s not a single area in which I feel they should be improved. (Okay, that&#8217;s a <em>slight <\/em>exaggeration because I later found out some third-party tips prevent them from fitting in their charging case, but that&#8217;s a small gripe.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery inline-layout\">\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-wrap\" style=\"display:flex; flex-flow:row nowrap;\">\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\" style=\"flex: 0 0 auto;\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 1 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:4032px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"P9EkdmcWVnhh4xcqLz78h7\" name=\"steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-gaming-earbuds.jpg\" alt=\"SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds gaming earbuds inside case\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-1.jpg\" mos=\"\" link=\"\" align=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"2268\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\"\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\" style=\"flex: 0 0 auto;\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 2 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:4032px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"AutcEFd2e2JxkCnT3oGtWV\" name=\"steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-charging-case-pod.jpg\" alt=\"SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds gaming earbuds inside charging pod case\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-2.jpg\" mos=\"\" link=\"\" align=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"2268\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\"\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\" style=\"flex: 0 0 auto;\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 3 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:3293px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.24%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"o3AS5ELJwoH3s9gnXyWPgk\" name=\"steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-in-hand.jpg\" alt=\"SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds in hand\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-3.jpg\" mos=\"\" link=\"\" align=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"3293\" height=\"1852\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\"\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: SteelSeries)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\" style=\"flex: 0 0 auto;\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 4 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:4032px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"WL5ruygLwuWSJqAPa9L99R\" name=\"steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-out-of-pod.JPEG\" alt=\"SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds gaming earbuds on desk\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-4.jpg\" mos=\"\" link=\"\" align=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"2268\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\"\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\" style=\"flex: 0 0 auto;\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 5 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:4032px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"ZcaTUirC3KVvGRckyzeo8L\" name=\"steelseries-arctis-nova-gamebuds-in-ear.JPEG\" alt=\"SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds gaming earbuds in-ear\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-5.jpg\" mos=\"\" link=\"\" align=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"2268\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\"\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Audio quality&#8217;s the obvious area to start with, and in this department they&#8217;ve been a blast. I&#8217;m used to my open-back Sennheiser HD 599 headphones, and while the earbuds don&#8217;t <em>quite <\/em>get there\u2014and it&#8217;d be a miracle if any 6 mm drivers did\u2014they get close. This has made my train journeys 100x more pleasant than before, especially given I was previously using bone conduction earphones (ie, not earbuds, but over-ear earphones).<\/p>\n<p>The GameBuds have been the perfect little guides back into the world of in-ear monitors not just because of this but because they&#8217;re so versatile and easy to use. I just take them out of their case and they connect to Bluetooth, and then if I want to do some handheld gaming I can switch over to 2.4 GHz with a quick toggle. They charge as soon as I put them back into their cosy little pod, too, and I can charge that pod by simply placing it on top of my Qi charger.<\/p>\n<p>After spending just a day or two with them, I no longer had to think about it. They simply work, in pretty much any circumstance I&#8217;ve put them in\u2014any time, any place.<\/p>\n<p>And they fit my weird little ears. There&#8217;s that, too. That makes the Arctis GameBuds a 2024 champion in my ears\u2026 I mean eyes. I didn&#8217;t expect to consider a pair of earbuds to be my fave tech of 2024, either, but here we are.<\/p>\n<div class=\"product\"><a data-dimension112=\"c1b2706c-d947-4bcd-81f4-55534ed3efc3\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"Best gaming mouse\" data-dimension48=\"Best gaming mouse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:1920px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:100.00%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"3DERF6xTnqDVhb3JyhnsKC\" name=\"peripherals.jpg\" caption=\"\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds-6.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" credit=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-gaming-mouse\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-dimension112=\"c1b2706c-d947-4bcd-81f4-55534ed3efc3\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"Best gaming mouse\" data-dimension48=\"Best gaming mouse\" data-dimension25=\"\"><strong>Best gaming mouse<\/strong><\/a>: the top rodents for gaming <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-gaming-keyboard\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best gaming keyboard<\/strong><\/a>: your PC&#8217;s best friend&#8230; <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-gaming-headset\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best gaming headset<\/strong><\/a>: don&#8217;t ignore in-game audio<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/hardware\/earbuds-headphones\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gear of the Year (Image credit: Future) Check out more of the year&#8217;s best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage. Earlier in the year, PC Gamer packed me up and shipped me off to Denmark to take a look at some new SteelSeries gear. After filing into a SteelSeries office with a handful of other journos and SteelSeries PRs, it was revealed that The Big News were these new tiny earbuds. And my heart sank. I can&#8217;t stand earbuds, I thought. They really picked the wrong person to bring out here. How wrong I was, though. Perhaps by some premonitory magic, the SteelSeries folks happened to pick the one person who could be brought not just on-side but yanked out of the&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1076464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[13181,10530,66],"class_list":["post-1076463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-earbuds-headphones","tag-gaming-audio","tag-hardware"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gear of the Year(Image credit: Future)Check out more of the year&#039;s best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage. Earlier in the year, PC Gamer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gear of the Year(Image credit: Future)Check out more of the year&#039;s best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage. Earlier in the year, PC Gamer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-23T00:03:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"269\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-23T00:03:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Earbuds &amp; Headphones\",\"Gaming Audio\",\"hardware\"],\"articleSection\":[\"PC Gamer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/\",\"name\":\"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-23T00:03:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"Gear of the Year(Image credit: Future)Check out more of the year's best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage. Earlier in the year, PC Gamer\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":269,\"caption\":\"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds | Arcader News","description":"Gear of the Year(Image credit: Future)Check out more of the year's best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage. Earlier in the year, PC Gamer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds | Arcader News","og_description":"Gear of the Year(Image credit: Future)Check out more of the year's best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage. Earlier in the year, PC Gamer","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-01-23T00:03:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":269,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds","datePublished":"2026-01-23T00:03:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/"},"wordCount":822,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg","keywords":["Earbuds &amp; Headphones","Gaming Audio","hardware"],"articleSection":["PC Gamer"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/","name":"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-23T00:03:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"Gear of the Year(Image credit: Future)Check out more of the year's best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage. Earlier in the year, PC Gamer","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds.jpg","width":480,"height":269,"caption":"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2024-was-the-year-i-returned-to-earbuds-after-writing-them-off-for-nearly-a-decade-thanks-to-the-steelseries-arctis-gamebuds\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2024 was the year I returned to earbuds after writing them off for nearly a decade thanks to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1076463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1471538,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076463\/revisions\/1471538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1076464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1076463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1076463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1076463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}