Closed cans... Im puzzled...

[kramer5150]

Somethings Ive always wondered....

Closed cans have the reputation of sounding "boxed in" and lacking ambience. In severe cases they can sound alarmingly honk-ish, exciting odd resonances and artifacts.

So... How come al lthe HIGH end woody cans are closed? JVC / Victor, R10, and the audio technicas in particular?

Does it take $1200 in fancy wood work to overcome the plagues and pittfalls of more traditional closed cans?

?????

Garrett

 

[Veniogenesis]

I am by no means an expert, but here is my blank guess based on my studies in physics.

I'm too tired to use physics terms right now, but I'll just a give a basic interpretation and guess with non-precise descriptions.

Woodies are designed so that the surface area of the wood is maximized so that as much direct sound as possible can travel and reverberate through the wood to generate a, say, fuller sound like those in stringed instruments.

Edit: So if they were open, most of the sound that travels through the wood would, instead of reverberating back and forth in the wood and ultimately reaching your ear, just quickly dissipate outwards and out.

For closed designs, the sound would travel through the wood and still end up at your ear or the opposite edges of the wood piece.

Pwahaha. A guess!

 

[South_Korean]

hmm makes sense. i mean would you also have to consider density (thickness) of the material also used?

 

[brokenwallet]

Koss should make $20 closed cans with cups from MDF fiber board. Complete with interchangable shag carpet outer liner!

 

[gerG]

If I might forward an alternative hypothesis:

They add wood to make them exclusive and justify a higher cost. Resonance is not an issue. Reflectivity is, but wood is not much different than plastic in this regard. Closed phones are a challenge, and there are several different ways of dealing with waste energy. The advantage with open phones is that they can just dump the unwanted energy to the environment. The main advantage of closed phones is that they can take advantage of cavity resonances to bolster bass response. This gives a beefier bass, while a well damped open can will deliver a dry/taught bass.

Reflections are maybe not all bad. The perception of "soundstage" may depend on them.

As I said, just my hypothesis.

gerG

 

[The Actual]

I recall reading something similar to what gerg was getting at: Closed cans are not handicapped, but just need to be designed differently.

And it does make a lot of sense that it might be 'easier' design for closed cans, because of both the reasons that gerg mentioned and because closed cans seem much more prevalent.

 

[EdipisReks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gerG The main advantage of closed phones is that they can take advantage of cavity resonances to bolster bass response. This gives a beefier bass, while a well damped open can will deliver a dry/taught bass.

i haven't heard many closed cans that i would describe as having "beefier bass", compared to open cans like Grado RS-1 or PS-1, so if this is a possibility it's one that few makers are taking advantage of.

 

[Veniogenesis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdipisReks i haven't heard many closed cans that i would describe as having "beefier bass", compared to open cans like Grado RS-1 or PS-1, so if this is a possibility it's one that few makers are taking advantage of.

Maybe not beefier, but more impactful? Maybe even bloated? Don't know exactly.

DT770... AKG26P? Even the A500/A900 have a pretty strong bass. HD25 has an impactful bass. Ultrasones have a somewhat bloated/artificial bass. Hehe, just my thoughts.

 

[l_simon_l]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gerG The main advantage of closed phones is that they can take advantage of cavity resonances to bolster bass response. This gives a beefier bass, while a well damped open can will deliver a dry/taught bass. Reflections are maybe not all bad. The perception of "soundstage" may depend on them.

And yet many people find that the R-10s have no bass

 

[South_Korean]

well, driver closeness still could play a factor here too right?

so i dont get it, if the driver is farther back, would the resonnance be stronger and make more bass, or would it be better to have close or in the middle of the cups?