Closed vs Open back headphones

[creatip123]

After I got my hands on a new 'toy': http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/362157-diy-make-a-binaural-mic-system-yourself-image-heavy/I was wondering if I could replicate the 'feel' difference of a closed back headphone vs an open back headphones.

 

So this is the only closed back I have in the moment:

 

 

Krezt DJ 9200. It's just a generic DJ styled headphone

 

For the open back, I chose the AD-700, because of the big airy feeling:

 

 

Level (volume) matched with decibel meter. They may not match exactly, but the difference in the volume shouldn't be very much.

 

Recorded a video with the binaural mic as the audio input:

 

 

Now too bad the AAC audio compression messed up the original audio. The low frequencies were bloated by quite a bit in the video (AD700's bass sounded friggin awesome in the video). So I separated the audio channel, and recorded it in uncompressed WAV format. This is how the original video sounds: https://soundcloud.com/marcus-sudjojo/closed-vs-open

 

I think the recording (the WAV file) represents, to some extent, the feeling of 'confined' of a closed back headphone.

 

Needless to say, this can't be treated as the 'absolute comparison' as there were many flaws and imperfection in the process itself, namely:

 

- The mic, dummy head material, and ADC aren't studio recording standard.

- The Krezt headphone is obviously not on the same level as the AD700, in all aspects, price, sound quality, etc. It's just that's the only closed back headphone I have at the moment. A good closed back headphone will sound so much better, and less 'confined' feeling.

- I can't control what headphone you're using to hear the recording, closed, open, on ear, over ear, quality level, etc.

 

The best way to really understand is of course to try both type (open and closed) side by side, personally. This project is just one of those 'better than nothing'...

[creatip123]

Continuing the project above, I thought I'm gonna try to take it a step further. I wanna see if it can replicate the differences between closed vs open headphones in game audio, specifically FPS. Open headphones are supposed to have more 'airy' feeling, and beneficial in virtual surround positioning audio (HRTF).

 

The video is pretty simple. Played a round in an old FPS, audio set to 'headphone' (in-game virtual surround), captured with fraps, and then encoded in WMV format. I found the VBR audio of WMV encoding to be the least detrimental compared to AAC or MP3 encoding. 

 

Keep in mind that the audio tracks came from the headphones, recorded with the binaural mic system embedded in the dummy head (the black spots in its ears). And the motorbike sound in the middle of the video? Yeah that's recorded from the street in front of my studio (not in your home )

 

- I move around and look around a lot, to record as much positioning audio of the zombies as possible

- like said in the post above, it can't be treated as an 'absolute comparison', due to lack of standard of the recording devices. It's 'better than nothing' at best.

- for the closed, I used the Krezt DJ-9200, and the open, I used HE400. Of course it's a $20 headphone vs a $250, so keep that in mind.

- the audio source, mic, and sound recorder is the exact same. 

- the purpose is (hopefully) to give an idea, to some extent, of how an open headphone is beneficial for HRTF, especially in FPS. Of course this doesn't mean closed backs can't be used at all for audio positioning. They can, just got a few drawbacks compared to open backs. One particular drawback I found is that with closed backs, even if you're playing the outdoor scenes, the sound still feels as if it's indoor, not very natural. 

[Guest]

Useless. You need a halfway decent closed can with a similar sound signature. Anyway, no one seriously denies the difference. The interesting question is what causes the difference, which this sheds no light on.

[creatip123]

Useless. You need a halfway decent closed can with a similar sound signature. Anyway, no one seriously denies the difference. The interesting question is what causes the difference, which this sheds no light on.

 

It's better than nothing stuff, and judging by the topics lately, seems like quite a lot of people who still don't have a speck of clue as to how open headphones fare in HRTF compared to closed. 

[vembutech]

Here have a look at this comparison closed vs open back headphone which may assist you with some idea.

[creatip123]

Here have a look at this comparison closed vs open back headphone which may assist you with some idea.

 

Did you actually read anything, or are you just on the post count streak? I know what they are and how they differ. I'm finding a way to tell the others who are lacking the knowledge.

[vembutech]

Did you actually read anything, or are you just on the post count streak? I know what they are and how they differ. I'm finding a way to tell the others who are lacking the knowledge.

Your suggestion are perfect just adding to that.

[Guest]

Your suggestion are perfect just adding to that.

 

No, you're not.

[pas008]

its pretty good interpretation

 

even used few different headphones just for the amusement,

 

using open listening to closed feels wrong

 

and 770's listening to closed game felt like I was listening to someone gaming in a room down a hallway

 

I'm not good with descriptions though, shit load of headphones all I can say to people is try this or that lol