difference between open/closed headphones

[Teletha]

linus said in this video that the difference is only the sound leaking out but i think there's more then that to it do you guys know?

 

 

[insayan]

Closed headphones can be used for monitoring and when you use them in noisy environments, open headphones can be used at home and have a wider soundstage

[connorpiper]

Open headsets allow the driver to breath more.

Generally, open headphones sound better, for cheaper. But allow sound out and in.

[Vypr]

Huge difference - Open headphones have more airy comfort, better spatial recreation, and slightly warmer lows.

EDIT: This means that sound doesn't sound as if it's inside your head, it sounds like it should... external. 

[Guest]

Linus, not the best source for technical audio information.

 

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/mar94/headphones.html

 

Scroll down, there is a question about open backs:

http://blog.shure.com/inside-headphones-with-yuri-shulman-shure-engineer/

 

More information in the link in my sig.

[minibois]

Closed: smaller sound stage, better isolation.

Open: Bigger sound stage, potentially terrible isolation (from your headphones to the outside world).

 

Open is preferred for gaming since you feel like you can hear a lot more around you (since it uses a bigger sound stage)

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

linus said in this video that the difference is only the sound leaking out but i think there's more then that to it do you guys know?

 

 

 

 

Closed headphones can be used for monitoring and when you use them in noisy environments, open headphones can be used at home and have a wider soundstage

what he said, basically soundstage refers to the percieved space in which instruments or other heard things are placed. in games, my open headphones allow me to better hear where noises are coming from, while my closed headphones are more immersive due to cutting out the background sound.

[Enderman]

also its hard to hear yourself talk with closed headphones

[Teletha]

i don't need a hole article about it i just want to know if it's better or not with open headphones which they are if you don't care about sound leaking out. Thanks for the info guys !

[Guest]

i don't need a hole article about it i just want to know if it's better or not with open headphones which they are if you don't care about sound leaking out. Thanks for the info guys !

 

You asked for more info, that's what you got.

 

[minibois]

i don't need a hole article about it i just want to know if it's better or not with open headphones which they are if you don't care about sound leaking out. Thanks for the info guys !

If you don't care about sound leaking out: open is better. (mostly)

But it's just not as simple as "This is better". There are variables

[Teletha]

You asked for more info, that's what you got.

 

Yeah thanks =D

[IMPERIUS]

Linus, not the best source for technical audio information.

 

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/mar94/headphones.html

 

Scroll down, there is a question about open backs:

http://blog.shure.com/inside-headphones-with-yuri-shulman-shure-engineer/

 

More information in the link in my sig.

 

Do you happen to know how big/wide/good is the sounstage on the m50x, beyer cop and dt770pro?

[Guest]

Do you happen to know how big/wide/good is the sounstage on the m50x, beyer cop and dt770pro?

 

M50x < COP < DT770

 

M50x is known for poor soundstage.

 

[Guest]

Yeah thanks =D

 

If you don't care about sound leaking out: open is better. (mostly)

But it's just not as simple as "This is better". There are variables

 

Another point to consider is that open-back dynamic headphones generally have unboosted bass and lack sub-bass extension.

[Teletha]

Another point to consider is that open-back dynamic headphones generally have unboosted bass and lack sub-bass extension.

 

whats sub-bass extension? 

[ShearMe]

whats sub-bass extension? 

 

 

Blue line is nicely extended bass, Red line is adequate extension, Green line is poor extension (also known as "drop-off").

 

Human hearing gets less and less sensitive as you move to the left, so mostly it's about "feeling" the bass. 

[Guest]

whats sub-bass extension? 

 

Deep sounds; low frequencies; the part of the music that is routed through a subwoofer in a sound system.

 

[Guest]

Blue line is nicely extended bass, Red line is adequate extension, Green line is poor extension (also known as "drop-off").

 

NAD VISIO HP50, DT770, DT990.

 

[ShearMe]

NAD VISIO HP50, DT770, DT990.

 

 

Woah, you must look at graphs a lot.

 

What are these?

[Guest]

Woah, you must look at graphs a lot.

 

What are these?

 

lol, I've looked that those three a lot.

 

The green and blue look like iems, maybe Beats. I don't know the red one.

[ShearMe]

lol, I've looked that those three a lot.

 

The green and blue look like iems, maybe Beats. I don't know the red one.

 

Green and blue are Monster and Skullcandy (didn't write down the model names), and the red is Polk. 

[Guest]

Green and blue are Monster and Skullcandy (didn't write down the model names), and the red is Polk. 

 

Yeah, I don't look at graphs of Monster and Skullcandy much.

 

[creatip123]

It's next to impossible to 'show' the difference in the 'feel' of the sounds of closed back vs open back, without having real examples of the different headphones to try yourself. Especially on the topic of 'soundstage' which is a bit abstract.

 

Let's try, imagine these 2 songs are produced, EQ-ed, and mastered in the exact same way.

 

When you're using closed headphones, it may sound something like this (the music part of course):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp0QJu_Ub3I

 

When using open backed headphones, it may sound something like this:

 

 

What really happened in those video was the first one was recorded in 'dubstep style' (big kicks, lots of lows, not much wideness), while the second one was mastered in 'orchestra hall style' (lots of reverbs, airy and wide feeling)

 

The first one's main sound, the violin clearly came from one exact spot, from the front, and almost monoraul, hence no sense of wideness like in the second one.

 

It may not be the best comparison analogy, but it's the best I could think of...

[ShearMe]

It may not be the best comparison analogy

Because it's not. First one was more treble-y anyways in the violin recording.