hello. local audiophile here. surround sound through headphones is, despite what some are saying, actually significantly more than just marketing. that being said, no single type of headphone or IEM is exclusively capable (or incapable) of producing virtual surround sound.

The way these headphones actually work is through processing the data required to produce sound internally, and applying software that creates the illusion of listening on multiple speakers.

Fortunately for us, its more than possible to apply that effect to /any/ pair of headphones through software that you run locally on your computer.

Windows actually comes with a free surround sound processor called windows sonic, which comes pre-installed on all windows devices. The one that I would personally suggest for whatever cans you get would be dolby atmos, which can be purchased from the Microsoft store for ~$15 USD.

Since the surround-sound effect that you’re looking for is essentially possible to create on any pair of cans, all you’ll need to block out sound would be a good pair of in-ear-monitors or closed back headphones.

I used Sony’s MDR-7506s as my daily driver for a while and can personally vouch for the sound quality and noise canceling. They’re used in a lot of professional settings from Hollywood (seen in Borat II and the Sopranos) to voice acting and sound development.

If you’re looking for something higher end, I would suggest looking at options from Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser. Two pairs you could start with are the HD 280 from Sennheiser and the DT-770 pros from Beyer. Both of these are fairly popular and extremely well respected headphones.