Open Vs Closed?

Open
-larger, airier soundstage
-no "cavern effect"
-better high-end extension and detail in several (but not all) cases
-bass rolls off
-less bass impact

Closed
-lots of bass impact
-"cavern effect"
-isolation
-smaller soundstage


All I can think of right now.

The main advantage of closed is sound isolation and more bass impact. The downside is smearing of notes due to the sound waves bouncing around inside the cups because there is no where for the sound waves to dissipate.

Open will have sound leakage so may disturb other people near you but tend to have better soundstage and no smearing of notes. There are open headphones with deep bass too. Sennheiser HD650, beyerdynamic DT990 etc.

There is also semi-open headphones like AKG K71 and beyerdynamic DT880 which will of course be designed to give a bit of both style of headphones advantages/disadvantages.

'i_don't_know' covered it quite nicely.
In general that is, cause of course there are exceptions both for open and closed phones. Just look at the MDR-R10, 4070, SR-007, HE90 and more. A fine mix of closed- and open-back phones, which all are considered state-of-the-art.

I avoid closed enclosures, for headphones and speakers, whenever possible.

Enclosures always color the sound. Always. Sometimes that "sounds" good, but it never gives you an accurate representation. Overall, my favorites are the AKG K-1000 and the Quad ESL-63. Those are not closed in the least and, to these ears, sound more lifelike than just about anything short of the real thing.

My take is tha you should always buy open unless you have a compelling reason to go closed.

Another big disadvantage of closed is that they get hot inside make your ears sweat if you listen for extended periods. I have open DT990pro but just ordered closed ATH M-50 because I want a headphone with a completely different sound signature and I've been reading good things about the M-50. They are not too expensive either. $200.00 CAD.

I don't like closed phones either think boomy one noted things. But for speakers that's entirely different, if you mean you don't like sealed box speakers?

Even open phones makes my ears sweat in the summer. Wearing 990pro in the hot summer months is like wearing ear muffs in a sauna.

I have both the Denon D2000 and the HD600. The Denon isn't moded yet.

The Denon gives a nice punch to a bass drum hit which adds some energy to some music. But it also can have recessed vocals which sucks excitement and presence from some music.

The HD600 doesn't have a punch to a bass drum hit and sometimes the bass drum hits can get lost and overwhelmed when they are noticeable on the Denons. The HD600 always presents the vocals right where they should be.

If I only had one home headphone it would be the HD600. The D2000 would leave me missing what I want in the vocals. The HD600 also give a better headstage which make me prefer them for some music even if I'd want the Denon bass experience. For a closed headphone the D2000 does sound open except for the way the bass is thumpy and bloomy.

It's fun to have both headphones. I'm curious to see how the Denon changes when I get around to doing the markl dynamat mod.

A completely false statement.

I enjoy my open AD700 for their lightness, airyness, clarity, and sense of space. I enjoy my closed RX700 for their impactful bass, partial isolation, and mellow (in comparison) tone. Between the two, I'm done with full-sized phones for now, though greed tempts me now and then for an AD900 or another K701.

There's something I really start to appreciate with my closed cans: I listen to them at much lower volume than open cans at equivalent "satisfaction level". Don't know the impact yet but since I plan to be into headphones for the long haul my next upgrade will be closed cans. And anyway I need an excuse