[philipus]

Hello everyone and greetings from the Netherlands

As I'm beginning to look around for a pair of headphones I've come to realise that I don't know if I should look for an open or a closed pair. It's been more than two decades since I worked in a hifi and music store in my native Sweden and I've forgotten all about this. And in the intervening years I've only used IEMs.

The internet in its infinite wisdom explains the obvious that open models will let surrounding sound in to various degrees and don't offer much passive isolation.

But what I am having difficulty understanding is if this means open models are impossible or difficult to use for instance when flying, on public transport or just when one is out and about? I'm envisioning using the headphones in such settings plus in more quiet ones, too.

I'm wondering this because I'm leaning towards open headphones since they supposedly tend to have a wider and more open soundstage, which is something I'd like to have. Of course I may have got this entirely wrong.

So as you can see, a pretty basic question but knowing your thoughts on it would be very helpful for me.

Thank you very much in advance
Philip

 

[jamess71]

Your thoughts are pretty much spot on. With open you will annoy people sitting next to you travelling for sure. Unless of course they enjoy listening to what you are. You will also hear the outside noise with open too, unless you crank it up and then they will all hear you the better. Sounds like you need a closed pair for the travelling at least.

 

[HipHopScribe]

At some level it's about personal preference. Some people are fine using open headphones in moderately noisy environments like walking around outside, other people prefer a greater level of isolation. I would say most would agree that open headphones are impossible to use on an airplane. I find even most closed headphones don't work well for me on airplanes, they still let in too much noise. IEMs or ANC headphones are preferable. I have seen people use open headphones on public transportation, but I personally wouldn't.

Also keep in mind that even in quiet environments open headphones don't just let noise in, they also let noise out into the room. So an office might be quiet enough not to have too much noise coming in, but it would still probably be considered rude to use open headphones near other people who might not want to hear the noise coming out.

Not all open headphones are going to let the same level of noise in or out either, so there is some variation there.

 

[philipus]

Thank you both very much, and for the quick replies too. It's not that I travel extensively under normal circumstances but it's probably best to use IEMs for that then. I really dislike having to crank the volume to compete with that annoying hum of an aircraft.

What about soundstage though – is it generally true that open headphones offer a wider impression than closed? It's a bit challenging at the moment to go to shops and try out headphone so I'm curious.

Your thoughts are pretty much spot on. With open you will annoy people sitting next to you travelling for sure. Unless of course they enjoy listening to what you are. You will also hear the outside noise with open too, unless you crank it up and then they will all hear you the better. Sounds like you need a closed pair for the travelling at least.

At some level it's about personal preference. Some people are fine using open headphones in moderately noisy environments like walking around outside, other people prefer a greater level of isolation. I would say most would agree that open headphones are impossible to use on an airplane. I find even most closed headphones don't work well for me on airplanes, they still let in too much noise. IEMs or ANC headphones are preferable. I have seen people use open headphones on public transportation, but I personally wouldn't.

Also keep in mind that even in quiet environments open headphones don't just let noise in, they also let noise out into the room. So an office might be quiet enough not to have too much noise coming in, but it would still probably be considered rude to use open headphones near other people who might not want to hear the noise coming out.

Not all open headphones are going to let the same level of noise in or out either, so there is some variation there.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Thank you both very much, and for the quick replies too. It's not that I travel extensively under normal circumstances but it's probably best to use IEMs for that then. I really dislike having to crank the volume to compete with that annoying hum of an aircraft.

What about soundstage though – is it generally true that open headphones offer a wider impression than closed? It's a bit challenging at the moment to go to shops and try out headphone so I'm curious.

Generally speaking you are gonna get a greater sense of width with open headphones vs closed, but keep in mind that this can vary a lot from headphone to headphone

 

[WilcoRoger]

For travel consider either an IEM with good sound isolation (any etymotic model, most of klipsch, etc) or an ANC headphone. While traditional headphones have better sound as a rule of thumb, on an airplane or train SQ plays lesser role anyway.

I wouldn't use open back around other people, it's very annoying.

 

[Deolum]

Open backs are far superior to closed backs. I woudn't spend more than a few hundred bucks on closed backs but instead stay with IEMs.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Open backs are far superior to closed backs. I woudn't spend more than a few hundred bucks on closed backs but instead stay with IEMs.

I would be careful with blanket statements like this because it's a matter of preference really. The presentation of sound differs between an open back, closed-back and IEM, and there are definitely people who prefer closed headphones to open, so it's really something someone needs to discover on their own.

 

[SilverEars]

If using for flying get an ANC like Sony XM3. Most important thing is removing the excessive engine noise in the cabin which will mask all the sounds. Openbacks is best appreciated in quiet environments. Closedbacks are practical for decently (not too much) loud environments or situations you can't leak sound like in an office.

Those criterias should set the boundaries for what headphone should be used in what situations.

 

[philipus]

Thank you very much for your replies. Ok I will be sticking with my Etymotics for flying. I'll make another thread about choosing headphones as it's a bit separate from this.
Cheers
Philip

 

[SilverEars]

Thank you very much for your replies. Ok I will be sticking with my Etymotics for flying. I'll make another thread about choosing headphones as it's a bit separate from this.
Cheers
Philip

Practicality wise, I used iems mainly due versatility of practicality in any situations with good isolation. But, a good ANC should be tried because noise in airplanes are in the part of the spectrum that passive isolation doesn't reduce well. Passive isolation works well for high frequencies and ANC for low cyclic sounds.

When the iem spec says reduces such amount of dB of noise. They never say across the whole spectrum because it doesn't. Noise is super strong in airplanes. It's up to 80dB. Try swapping ANC and an Ety. You'll see what I'm taking about.

 

[philipus]

Thank you, I have been curious about ANC for flying actually and spent some time yesterday reading old Stereophile reviews. It seems that at least a few years ago Bose made particularly good ones. Any other I should look at perhaps?

Practicality wise, I used iems mainly due versatility of practicality in any situations with good isolation. But, a good ANC should be tried because noise in airplanes are in the part of the spectrum that passive isolation doesn't reduce well. Passive isolation works well for high frequencies and ANC for low cyclic sounds.

When the iem spec says reduces such amount of dB of noise. They never say across the whole spectrum because it doesn't. Noise is super strong in airplanes. It's up to 80dB. Try swapping ANC and an Ety. You'll see what I'm taking about.

 

[SilverEars]

Thank you, I have been curious about ANC for flying actually and spent some time yesterday reading old Stereophile reviews. It seems that at least a few years ago Bose made particularly good ones. Any other I should look at perhaps?

Airpods Max, XM3 or4, Bose QC35 are all good for airplane noise.

 

[philipus]

Thank you again, I didn't know of those Sonys.
Cheers

Airpods Max, XM3 or4, Bose QC35 are all good for airplane noise.

 

[Deolum]

I would be careful with blanket statements like this because it's a matter of preference really. The presentation of sound differs between an open back, closed-back and IEM, and there are definitely people who prefer closed headphones to open, so it's really something someone needs to discover on their own.

Well yeah i agree for the presentation. But for the technicalities there is nothing to argue about.