[elan-vital]

Open phones sound different from closed. Semi-open tries to capture the benefits of both formats into a hybrid sonic signature. With open headphones, the aim is for a sonic signature and ambience, of which, sound leakage in and out is a side effect.

So - semi open design tries to incorporate some qualities of closed headphones (could someone list some intrinsic closed headphones qualities besides isolation) and the intrinsic qualities of open design (soundstage and such) to form a hybrid which combines best of both worlds (is semi-open responsible for something specific in terms of sound signature?). I ask because, i'm wondering, for sake of specifications, if we can simply call semi-open headphones open. Or to approach this question from a different angle, would anyone ever want to choose semi-open headphones based just on that spec?

 

[elan-vital]

Also  - what about semi-closed? i see manufacturers using that term. Can any distinct  qualities be attributed to such design choice? They will still leak sound (less maybe?) any other qualities?