[Snikibiki]

Hello, does closed back always have significant worse clarity than the open back cans? Im speaking of mid/hi-end cans like focal elears vs elegia, lcd-2c vs lcd-2 closed back

 

[Deolum]

Imo yes.

 

[silent-circuit]

I think this is a generalization and not necessarily true, but that said... All my current headphones are open apart from some cheap Sennheiser HD 4.50 wireless. Make of that what you will I guess.

 

[kali77]

Well... As stated above I think this is pretty general. So I will just state one comparison from my experience. In my setup I think my Focal Stellia's are just as clear and concise as my LCD-4's and Diana V2's. Are they better, not in my experience but I love them all for their different strengths.

 

[Taz777]

If I compare my Beyerdynamic T1.2 (open-backed) to my T5p Gen 2 (closed-back) running on exactly the same audio chain, then the T1.2 (open-backed) headphones have a slight sound quality advantage.

 

[buke9]

Not for sure what you mean by “clarity” . Are you trying to say there is distortion of some type of weird frequency response in the closed backs ?
You actually picked a few headphones that I really don’t like very much so take that for what it’s worth . Never cared much for either of the Focals but the Stella,Clears and Utopias are a different story. The LCD 2’s are also not my favorites but don’t find them bad but between them and the closed is quite a difference but not a clarity thing just a weird tuning for me. Closed backs seem to be a love hate thing once you get into the higher end of headphones. My AKG K872’s can be almost perfect with a song and then switch it to something else and then I say What is going on but with Neil Young it is stellar. Probably being a bit too much but it is a great gaming headphone as it is ultra easy to drive and has great soundstage and detail for a closed back. Then there is the ZMF Verites. They are very close to sounding like each other but for me I like the opens just a bit more but there are many others that prefer the closed backs . So don’t think it is a closed back thing but your preferences. My Ether-C’s are just as clear as you could want . So probably not that it is a closed back just not the preferred tuning you want.

 

[Mhog55]

Not significant as titled in your thread.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Hello, does closed back always have significant worse clarity than the open back cans? Im speaking of mid/hi-end cans like focal elears vs elegia, lcd-2c vs lcd-2 closed back

At a very low price point, open back driver could be bad enough it's hard to distinguish from an equally not so good driver with no dampening on the sealed enclosure it's in. It's also possible that most drivers being optimized for free air use your chances of running into a driver that got crammed into a sealed enclosure where it doesn't do as well is relatively high.

Go up the range and you'd start running into drivers with T/S parameters conducive to operating in sealed enclosures with probably less concerns about earcup size and not skimping on dampening materials so the gap can start narrowing again.

 

[GREQ]

There are also some insanely detailed closed-back Japanese studio monitors that sound more clear than some headphones costing 2-3X as much.
So it's not a rule.

 

[Monsterzero]

No

Verite closed is just as revealing and detailed as the Verite open,and in some aspects even more so.

 

[buke9]

No

Verite closed is just as revealing and detailed as the Verite open,and in some aspects even more so.

Not going to there but the Closed are not far at all from the opens but still like the opens just a bit more. They are both fantastic though.