[peppe]

 
I was looking for a good pair of headphones $150-$300.  Up until now i had only been looking at closed headphones, but I am wondering if open would be quiet enough to listen to with others in the house asleep in other rooms (doors open for pets)?
 
Right now I have a CK2III desktop amp setup on an end table in the living room.  People sleeping are up a flight of stairs with a small hallway to the bedrooms right at the top.   My floor-standing speakers go right up the stairs and into the rooms, so don't get to listen to those anymore. 
 
I typically listen at the end of the day into the later part of the night to relax before going to bed myself.   I listen to just about anything and have Denon 1001 right now.
 
I was leaning toward DT250/250 or DT770/600 closed cans.   Wondering if i could get away with using DT990/600
's...
 
 
So can you use open headphones in a separate room at good or even high volumes without leaking lots of sound into neighboring rooms?
 
 
The next house we buy will need a nice study/reading area I can take over, but alas we are out of rooms in this house.

 

[joelpearce]

It really depends on two things:
 
1. The design of the headphones themselves
2. Your listening volume
 
The 990s are definitely open, but they are less open than, say, Grados.  At reasonably low listening volumes, given normal house noise, it might not be a problem at all.  If you have a particularly quiet house, particularly sensitive housemates, or like to listen at ear-splitting levels, closed really is a better idea.
 
At high volumes, there is always going to be some leakage, of course, but you're talking about noise that goes up a flight of stairs--unless someone has the hearing of a cat, you should be all right.  I can listen to my 990s blasting pretty loud right under my son's room while he's napping, and there's no trouble at all, even with the vents.
 
One way to think about it: it's probably mostly the bass from your big speakers that goes through the floorboards and echoes all around.  It's really just treble that leaks out of headphones, and that will probably get eaten up long before the sound makes it upstairs.
 
I just did an entirely unscientific test with mine, and I really have to strain to hear it from that far away--even with them off my head.

 

[peppe]

 
Thanks for the response. 
 
That is a good idea on just leaving a pair of headphones out.  I'll try my denon's opened on the table at a reasonable volume and see how much makes it upstairs.   That should give a rough worst case scenario where a headphone leaks 100% out the back.

 

[Sparky14]

I listed to my DT990/600s at work in a cubicle farm. The people in adjoining cubes can hear that I am listening to music. Two cubes away, they might here a hint of music, but not much. I'd say 20 feet away could not hear anything. This is at a moderate volume.

 

[TheWuss]

i'll probably get argument on this one, but the dt880 leak a smidge less than the dt990.
i know some others won't agree with me on that.  the general concensus here seems to be that open cans are open, and that i'm just splitting hairs.
 
but... just my $.02

 

[shane55]

Quote:

i'll probably get argument on this one, but the dt880 leak a smidge less than the dt990.
i know some others won't agree with me on that.  the general concensus here seems to be that open cans are open, and that i'm just splitting hairs.
 
but... just my $.02

Right. The DT880's are "Semi-Open". They isolate about $.02 more than the DT990's. 

 
I think it was MacedonianHero who said "Semi-Open is like Semi-Pregnant". That said, I would agree that the Beyers are in general slightly more isolating than the open Senn's (and from what I remember AKG's).
 
shane

 

[stokitw]

Next room with door open, I'll say DT990 would be ok for sound leakage.
The only phones can be annoying to the next room should be Grados

 

[maverickronin]

The 990s should be ok in that regard.  They leak enough that people who only know about cheap sealed headphones will think you are listening at some crazy loud level, and ruining your hearing, if you're in the same room.  Up the stairs and through a door should kill all of it, unless it's exceptionally quite.
 
Nothing I know of leaks like Grados do though.  At canjam my brother was testing some SR225s by playing Castlevania on his DS.  The leakage from the Grados was considerably louder, and better sounding, than the built in speakers!
 
If you do go for the 990 though, make double sure to get the 600s.  They wipe the floor with the 250s

 

[shane55]

Quote:

If you do go for the 990 though, make double sure to get the 600s.  They wipe the floor with the 250s

+1
From my experience, it's true for the DT880 and DT770 as well.
 

 

[peppe]

 
Thanks all.   Pretty well set on the DT990/600 now.
 
Tested with my closed headphones (held up a little by my mp3 player) at the bottom of the stairs at my normal listening level and the noise in the upstairs rooms was negligible.   Certainly much less distracting than a TV running in any of the rooms.
 
 
Now to buy them without making the wife too upset