they have notorious qc issue fron what I understand

For reference, these are the 'Monoprice Premium Hi-Fi DJ Style Over-the-Ear Pro Headphones' that are under $20 but the first one lasted about a year before having this issue and this pair it happened within a month. Great headphones otherwise, but was curious if it's a known issue or maybe they're just too small for my normal-ish head and I need to look for a bit bigger of head for same size budget headphones.

Also, think duct tape will help in the mean time? I've only got that and packing tape, unsure what i may wanna use.

Oof, well I get what I pay for I suppose, just remember when almost $20 would get you a year without much issue and even then they'd hang on for a few years more (my last pair). This pair just seems to have more brittle plastic.

I'd just hold off and get a pair of moondrop chu's(20$) or maybe some superlux668b's in the meantime they both are under 40 bucks

at least untill you save up to get a decent pair of headphones.

what are you using your headphones for?

I can give some suggestions on some good pairs

the sampson sr850, superluxHD668b , moon drop chu's, and audio technical m30x are really the only headphones worth buying at that price bracket that I've found

chus have best sound quality for the price but they are in ear iems

the mx30s are usually overpriced online and 30 dollars more gets you a much better model anyways

the sampsons have a great sound stage in the price bracket but have some tonal issues

the superlux668b's have a touch more bass and a wide nueteral sound but have spatial inaccuracies

Oh these are purely just for gaming or watching and listening to stuff passively while I work at my desk at home (wired, no blue tooth).

Doesn't need to be great or even good sound wise, just not super high boosted in the bass frequencies. Not looking for studio quality, this isn't for my sound board.

Something on or over the ear mainly since I can't do ear buds for long periods of time. Preferably under $20 but definitely nothing over $30. Build quality is what really seems to matter it seems which I have the trouble with finding. I can compare sound profiles of hi-fi recording and studio equipment all day and talk shop about that since that's what I'm trained in, but finding inexpensive and not too expensive definitely seems to be the kryptonite for me.

I'll look at those headphones you recommended though. Thanks so much and also thanks for any future rec's!

the superlux668b's are going to be the best option for gaming, especially for horror or fps games

I tossed them on my bed a few years ago and it was like a few inches I dropped them and had the same break happen. The plastic is cheap and thin as hell, it really is you get you pay for with these headphones.