* will at one point start mysteriously crackling unless you hold the wire in that one weird angle from that one spot

This has actually changed over the last 10 years: today all but the cheapest on/over ear headphones will come with replaceable cables (2.5mm jack in headphone end).

Background: I have a collection of even older "goodish" headphones which I have kept alive with solder over the years. My teenage son recently started buying similar headphones, and they all have replaceable cables. This was me as well until my Yes, this wasIf you have bought a rea

Definitely not all - DT770 still don’t. And their cables are terrible.

Agreed, for this reason I modified my DT770 with a miniXLR socket. There are multiple tutorials for this on the internet.

I don't think the DT770 will be updated though. Recently Beyerdynamics released the DT 700 PRO X, which seem like the "successor" and they do have replaceable cords.

You vote with your money. I went through a ton of "gamer" headphones in my teens, all of them meeting their doom because of the crappy cables. Then spent a bit more on ones with a replaceable cable that those lasted until the plastic broke. Then I spent decent money on some sennheisers and they've been going strong for like 6 years with so signs of slowing down, too bad they sold off their consumer product division not that long ago.

And can be soldered / repaired. I have patched up my wired gear many times in my life.

The dreaded doorknob catch.

Ouch.

Who buys headphones without replaceable cable?

Wired in-ear headphones are difficult to get with detachable cables. The only ones I know about are meant as in-ear monitors for musicians performing live.

Get some KZs! They're a good place to start for cheap ones with replaceable cables, I'd recommend the zsn pro or DQ6 for inexpensive ones.

Thanks, I already have the ZSN pro and they're very impressive. I'll keep the DQ6 in mind in case someone asks for a recommendation.

That really isn't true anymore. Chi-fi iems changed the iem market pretty massively and you can get them with detachable cables for less than $20 these days.

Would appreciate search keyword or brand/model recommendations.

Moondrop, tanchjim, tin audio, dunu

KZ, too.

Merci!

Whoops... started searching for Merci! branded earbuds.

My SHURE SE215 in ear headphones have detachable MMCX cables.

Can recommend. Can be bought for 100 euros.

And they do not require a bluetooth controller, a battery, wireless headset are much worse for the environment.

2 bonus points: -the chord makes it much harder to lose the headset - when on a call, people around don't think you're someone losing it, having a discussion with yourself out loud

Yes!

And:

* Cheap * Better for the environment by a mile * Much harder to lose

The one downside is the damn tangled wire.

Once I learned this trick to folding the wire, I never had that problem ever again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D_oV14dGmM

EDIT: Some people in the comments seem to think this shortens the life of the cable, but I've never had problems with Apple earbuds or Bose headphones (that have a replaceable wire anyway).

EDIT2: Another advantage of wired headphones if you want the wire out of the way and to make them less visible: Just thread them through your shirt!

Materials can help with this to some degree. When good materials are in use, the tangles are fewer and easier to sort out.

I like materials that resist bending after a fairly large minimum radius. More could be done IMHO.

Exactly. Plus they are better for the environment where wireless headphones have a finite lifetime built in due to the integrated lithium-ion cell.

* have no latency (important for video, gaming, playing music…)

Don't cut out when it's "silent" to save battery power, thereby making your music shit when it gets quiet.

* can't be used at any place other than sitting at my desk plugged into my computer