[Geir]

I am looking for a new pair of headphones, and they will to have very little sound leakage as they will be used at job and on the balcony where there is not appreciated that one makes a lot of noise during the night.
I have been thinking about the AT-esw9 and Denon D2000, but I am unsure as to how much they leak.
Any comments, advice greatly appreciated.
Oh, and budget, up to usd400.

 

[riceboy]

I haven't heard the ESW9, but the D2000 doesn't leak any sound. Basically go with a sealed can as they don't leak. Any open can depending on what brand will leak, some more than others. For example I notice that the DT990s don't leak as much as a Grado SR60 - SR225, including SR325i, RS1, and GS1000s. Once again I would look at sealed cans and work from there on what can works best with a certain genre like good sealed rock cans.

 

[pdennis]

IEM's will leak least of all, I believe.

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdennis /img/forum/go_quote.gif IEM's will leak least of all, I believe.

This is true pdennis as I owned many IEMs, but he said headphones

 

[pdennis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by riceboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is true pdennis as I owned many IEMs, but he said headphones

Sure, sure. Just thought I'd mention it on the off chance that it wasn't something the OP considered.

 

[Geir]

IEM's has been considered, but my ear's do not like it at all. If they do not fall out they are uncomfortable to me, at least those that I have tried, I guess I am more a

man
I have heard that the D2000 do leak, but I am not in a position to say how.
I do listen to a great variety of music, from classical to rather heavy metal and rap and what ever, life is too short to stick to just one style.
What I do not do, is to listen at Tinnitus level.
When I was doing my army service I was in the artillery, and got a low level tinnitus there, and I am taking care not to worsen it. Does not mean that I do not like it loud, just not ear shattering.

 

[captian73]

IMHO sorry to burst your bubble, but sound leakage depends on where you have the volume control. yes open headphones do leak more than closed. but my wife can hear my Ultrasone 750's, my HD25-1's and ESPECIALLY my Denon D1000's from upstairs, when i'm downstairs!

 

[whee]

sennheisher hd280's will not leak even at extremely high volumes. the best seal i've yet to see on any full sized headphones. they are not the most comfortable headphones however. very high clamping pressure.

stay away from any "semi-open" cans if you want any sort of sound isolation. even most "closed" headphones will leak unacceptable amounts of noise for most applications. my friend owns the "closed" audio technica 900's and they leak very badly compared to hd280s.

 

[Geir]

No bubble to burst, but what I am curios about is the leakage level at normal listening volumes.

 

[silverrain]

HFI-780 seems to seal really good, compared to all my other cans.

 

[Kommando]

ultrasone are awesome, get any of the HFI series, very small sound leakage and great soundstage for a closed

 

[Robonaut]

I use Beyerdynamic DT770s at work and their sound leakage is minimal. I can take them off while music is playing and put them on my desk and not hear anything.

I tried to upgrade to Denon D5000s a few weeks ago, and, while they definitely sound better than the DT770s, they leak sound fairly badly. I would suspect that the D2000s are similar in that regard but I haven't personally auditioned them.

 

[silverrain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robonaut /img/forum/go_quote.gif I tried to upgrade to Denon D5000s a few weeks ago, and, while they definitely sound better than the DT770s, they leak sound fairly badly. I would suspect that the D2000s are similar in that regard but I haven't personally auditioned them.

Yep -- the Denons are similar in that regard.

 

[xnothingpoetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverrain /img/forum/go_quote.gif HFI-780 seems to seal really good, compared to all my other cans.

but i'm sure he would like good sound quality as well.

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverrain /img/forum/go_quote.gif HFI-780 seems to seal really good, compared to all my other cans.

X2. I forgot about the HFI-780. They do seal quite well. Also, the volume does matter on how high you put it for some cans sealed cans. How tight the seal is around the ears with sealed cans help determine more or less how much sound leaks from what I have experienced. The D2000 is quite comfortable can, but there isn't much of a tight seal around the ears. The HFI-780 has a more tighter seal around the ear so it can seal the sound a lot better. The D2000 does leak if you do listen to them at high volumes. What is high? Well, I haven't tested this on a D2000, but on some of my other cans with an SPL meter would be around 90 to 100 db is considered quite high by an audiologists. Anything above 120 db is probably going to damage your hearing.