[kevms89]

Iems like the ex1000 are said to be "open and airy sounding", what does this mean?

I will be getting the ex90 (not sure if they are open) soon so that will give me some experience with dynamics as I have only experience with balanced armature.

So what is closed vs open and what does an open iem sound like?

 

[Ivabign]

Typically dynamic drivers move more air - and since there isn't a lot of air in a tiny IEM, there is a port, or opening, so that air can be brought in to move - this effects isolation as the movement of air can be heard outside the IEM - and noises outside can be heard inside the IEM - but the biggest differential in my experience between a closed IEM and an open one is of soundstage - it tends to be larger with a ported dynamic IEM - everything sounds bigger...
 
IMHO

 

[kevms89]

Cool, cant wait to get a dynamic to see how things are compared to my xba3.