[niko-time]

Well, I have been sitting here happy with my AKG K271S for a while and have been happy with the sound; I just feel that I'm missing out on stuff, plus it hurts my head if I leave it on too long.

I generally use headphones late at night as these are a bit too uncomfortable to wear for periods over 4 hours I would say, but they don't leak sound at all which is great for the late night sessions.

To get onto the point of the thread; Do open headphones leak sound too much for my liking or is it not too bad? Would semi open be better?

I listen to quite a broad range of music; lets say ones that will make Thom Yorke's voice sound great...mystical headphones, not dull.

It also needs to be fairly easy to drive as it would be driven from the Microshar uAMP107B which I have recently ordered.

Budget wise...say the max price I would be willing to pay is for a Grado RS2...I'd say that would be the top of my budget.

So...do open headphones produce too much noise for others around me or is it okay? I.E, on a car journey.

Thanks guys in advance.

 

[Goh]

In general, if you're in noisy environment (like a car journey), open cans will not give you as much enjoyment as closed cans. Sound from the outside will mask details in the music, interfere with bass response, etc. Plus, you'll have to turn up the volume to listen properly, which is bad for your ears.

If you listen loudly, and there are other sensitive souls around you, your open cans will be annoying. The sound coming from them will be tinny and abrasive.

If you don't have a relatively quiet place to enjoy music without disturbing others, I'd say just stick to what you have, and think about upgrading again when your living situation changes. The portable rig in your sig should work fine for your car journey, for example. On such a journey, you should be blasting tunes from the car stereo and talking to your friends anyway, not dwelving deeply into audiophile listening Or is this a solo journey?

 

[qazwsx]

Open headphones are called open because that's what they are, open. They don't isolate, period. Leakage is almost always a problem--more for supraaural.

 

[niko-time]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goh /img/forum/go_quote.gif In general, if you're in noisy environment (like a car journey), open cans will not give you as much enjoyment as closed cans. Sound from the outside will mask details in the music, interfere with bass response, etc. Plus, you'll have to turn up the volume to listen properly, which is bad for your ears. If you listen loudly, and there are other sensitive souls around you, your open cans will be annoying. The sound coming from them will be tinny and abrasive. If you don't have a relatively quiet place to enjoy music without disturbing others, I'd say just stick to what you have, and think about upgrading again when your living situation changes. The portable rig in your sig should work fine for your car journey, for example. On such a journey, you should be blasting tunes from the car stereo and talking to your friends anyway, not dwelving deeply into audiophile listening Or is this a solo journey?

Just family outings really; I'm more sociable when with friends and tend not to listen to music.

My room is a quiet place where I listen to music; I could just stick to my closed for when I need no sound leakage i.e flights and things.

Are my current closed cans a fairly good can as closed cans go by or should I upgrade that? The upgradivitis bug is making me want to buy some new headphones

And what about semi-closed such as those beyer ones...I can't recall the name, 770 or something.

How comfy are the grados? I spend lots of time in my room so I want some nice sounding ones for my alone times...plus the wood goes splendidly with my speaker setup (lol).

 

[Torula Yeast]

Comfort, like sound, is subjective, so it would be hard to tell you if you'll find Grados comfy or not. I listen to my 125s at work and 325i's at home hours and hours daily, and have no comfort issues whatsoever. Others can't get 'em off their head fast enough after an hour or two, so you can see ymmv.

So far as sound leakage, if you're listening at sane (i.e., safe) levels, it shouldn't annoy those around you unless they're trying to meditate or somesuch. When I'm listening to them on the couch with the Mrs. sitting right next to me, she can tell what songs I'm listening to but it doesn't bother her in the least (and neither does the sound of the teevee shows she's watching interfere with my listening). If she were 5 or 6 feet away, I don't think she'd hear a thing. And my office mates have never offered a peep of protest, either.

 

[starmaker]

Open headphones leak sound but usually the leakage isn't too bad as long as you listen at a reasonable volume. The louder you play your music, the louder the leakage is so it might disturb others in the same room. However, if you aren't sharing a room with others or play the music at a lower volume, leakage usually isn't a problem in college.

 

[niko-time]

*Sigh* I now want to buy some open headphones; thanks alot guys

So, which should I go for then? Easily driven, good for stuff from sigur ros to ben folds to dirty pretty things to muse. Max budget of around £220 I would say.

Grado RS2 catagory for me...what do you think? Is it a suitable upgrade from my current closed cans?

 

[F107plus5]

To me the most annoying thing about open phones is the noise leaking IN!

I normally listen at a low enough level to protect my ears, and when trying to listen critically to the music I almost have to turn it up higher than I'd like just to drown out the outside noise.

The alternative is to do what I did this morning. I set the alarm for 5:00 AM to get up early to catch some tunes.

Two and a half hours this morning so far! Just me and my HD600!!

...yesterday it was my MS2i!!

 

[niko-time]

You sly shrew.

Okay, after more thought here is what I'm going to do...or think I'm going to do anyway.

1. Buy some decent IEM's which sound better than my K271S (is that plausible? Would I have to spend a fair bit to get an increase in sound quality?)
2. Sell my K271S
3. Buy some Grado RS2's.

That should take a couple of months so thats something to satisfy my upgrading desires

What do you think?

 

[F107plus5]

Ahhh...the RS-2. I went back and forth for months trying to decide between MS2i and RS-2. Finally settled on the MS2i since they sound so much like my MS-1 that it was a sure bet!

If I hadn't already had the MS-1 I probably would have gone for the RS-2!!

As far as Grado comfort; I can almost wear mine as long as the clock and my CD collection allows. My heavier aluminum MS2i have the bowl pads and after they've settled in for a few months they've become just as comfortable as my HD600!

But yup; from all I've read about RS-2, it sure could be a good choice if they match you music styles!

 

[niko-time]

Awesome.

Well, I'm off to Uganda in 2 weeks for 2 weeks to do some charity work and thats a huge flight and I don't want to lug around my K271S's so I need to order some IEM's pretty swiftly

So, which ones? Shure SE310 maybe...or are they not good enough?

I don't want any etymotics.

 

[Torula Yeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko-time /img/forum/go_quote.gif Awesome. Well, I'm off to Uganda in 2 weeks for 2 weeks to do some charity work and thats a huge flight and I don't want to lug around my K271S's so I need to order some IEM's pretty swiftly So, which ones? Shure SE310 maybe...or are they not good enough? I don't want any etymotics.

My experience with Shures (I own their low end [E2c] and their flagship [SE530] models) is very rolled-off highs but otherwise good sound for each price point; they do seem to take care to deliver smooth, detailed midrange. Not an "exciting" listen, per se, but they should serve your portable needs well.

 

[niko-time]

Are there any more exciting IEM's for a similar budget? I am attracted to shure because of their excellent customer service, however I am sure there are others out there.

 

[tbonner1]

Quote:

Are there any more exciting IEM's for a similar budget?

Hard to beat the Shure E500 if you can find them at the closeout price around $280.

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goh /img/forum/go_quote.gif In general, if you're in noisy environment (like a car journey), open cans will not give you as much enjoyment as closed cans. Sound from the outside will mask details in the music, interfere with bass response, etc. Plus, you'll have to turn up the volume to listen properly, which is bad for your ears.

I agree with Goh in that open cans such as Grado's, Senn's sound better in a quiet environment. I notice the db measured from my SPL meter goes up higher in a noisy environment and is bad for my ears. I would recommended closed cans on a car journey for sure. You'll enjoy the music more and everyone around you won't be bothered by your music

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