DJ The Rocket
500+ Head-Fier
I HATE going out in public wearing isolating IEMs. I get that not everyone agrees with me; in fact, "what possible use could open-earphones ever have?" is a comment I see all the time in the forums here and elsewhere, as if this is something most people haven't even considered.
I think it's useful to hear things. It's more than just a safety issue, being able to hear traffic, or a bicyclist calling "on your left" from behind you. Maybe that stranger is trying to get your attention because you dropped something and they're trying to give it back. Maybe you're blocking a supermarket aisle and didn't realize anyone was trying to get by. Maybe you just don't like having to pull one IEM out and then put it back in every time a coworker wants a quick word, which can be frustratingly often.
I'm not trying to convert anyone, here. I understand there are plenty of good reasons you might want or need isolation. You certainly have more products to choose from, if you do. The sheer size of the closed portable market might make the open portable market seem neglected by comparison, and historically it probably has been.
I think the market for open portable gear might be inching closer to maturity. Everything on this list is currently in production save for the Sennheiser. Audeze is actively developing new products, inventing the planar earphone with the iSINE and following it with the ultra high end LCDi, though the latter is well beyond what I can afford and is thus outside the scope of this post. I also haven't had the opportunity to try the Stax SR-003. The Stax is in theory within the range of what I would pay for a top-class earphone though, so perhaps I'll be able to add it in the future.
If YOU'VE ever tried these earphones I haven't, I'd love for you to post your impressions. Or if you know of anything good that I didn't include but maybe should have, please leave a comment about that too.
These are my impressions of my favorite open-acoustic portable earphones. I'll go in order from best to "worst" (where "worst" of the TOTL is still pretty damn good).
1. Audeze iSINE20
2. Sennheiser MX985
3. Koss KDE250
4. Blue Demuns
1. Audeze iSINE20
(standard cable)
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Note: I use the over-the-ear clips to wear them, I've never tried using the inner-ear stabilizing options.
They are way more comfortable to wear than they look, Audeze did a fine job on the design. I can wear them for 4-5 hours straight without issue. The biggest thing with them is the back end of the earclip will eventually start pressing down on the back of my ear, but for the first 4+ hours I'll forget I'm wearing them. They are very stable as well: I've worn them while playing an 18 hole round of disc golf--a physically vigorous activity which doesn't make me sweat much--and they never fell out and rarely even needed any adjustments.
The iSINEs are the most involved pair to take on and off. It's a two handed job to put them on, and not something you'd want to do repeatedly. Fortunately, once they're on, they don't block any sound at all, so you can easily turn the volume down or hit pause to listen to whatever else you need to without taking them off. It's a different story if you want to take them off to DEMONSTRATE to someone that you're giving them your full attention. They're perfect for spying, because everyone will assume you can't hear anything when really you can!
Don't be fooled by the thin, flimsy-looking plastic on the ear clips (like I was at first): it's easily as strong as it needs to be and more (and if something breaks, Audeze sells replacement accessory packs for a shockingly reasonable $15). The whole driver assembly is tough and well made, despite being mostly plastic.
Sound Quality (standard cable only)
Sound-wise, these are the best of the bunch by far. They are an excellent choice for "end-game" portable 'phones; they are reasonable end-game desktop 'phones too, really. They compare closely to mid-range full-size planar magnetic cans: Hifiman's HE500 or Audeze's LCD2/3. They're neutral sounding, and nearly flat up and down the spectrum. The bass is truly world-class here: it extends all the way down with well articulated texture and without losing accuracy, and it can slam as hard as any track calls for. I listen primarily to EDM, and the iSINE20 is everything I could ask for in an earphone. It also responds well to EQing, and sounds clean even at very high volumes. They are exceptionally clear and detailed.
Oftentimes I'll walk in my front door listening to them, and once home I won't find a reason to change to my full-size headphones. I'll power up my desktop Magni 3/Momby stack and plug the 20s into that, continuing to listen for hours more. They will scale extremely high up the scale, but they won't scale forever, and they can't compete with true TOTL full size cans. On the same Schiit stack, my Mr. Speakers Alpha Prime has slightly (but noticeably) better quality, particularly in resolution and detail.
The iSINE20 is pretty picky about the source you feed it. Cheap players or 128kbps mp3 files will sound awful more often than not. All of the other earphones on this list are far more forgiving. Also, like most planar magnetic drivers, they need lots of power to sound their best. They don't necessarily sound bad with under-amped players, but they're overkill for all but the best players. I don't use an amp with my Shozy Alien, Hifiman HM601, Colorfly C3, or even Samsung YP-Z5. I do use an amp--a Fiio e11--to improve the sound from my LG V20.
Note: I owned a pair of iSINE10s (then sold them) four or five months before getting the 20s. It's hard for me to say specifically what the 20s do better. The 10s sounded fantastic too at times, but on a subjective emotional level, they left me wanting in a way I can't describe after so long. In contrast, the 20s don't leave me wanting for anything.
2. Sennheiser MX985
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Typically excellent Sennheiser construction, these are the most abuse-proof earphones on this list. The parts that go in your ears are plastic, but the rest is metal. The y-split, for example, is a solidly made metal volume slider, which I really could have done without. It's never been useful
The only times I can remember it's there are when it's causing problems by accidentally getting set lower than 100%, and even then the stupid slider is never my first guess, or second guess, or third...
The driver housings are larger than the VE Monk+ housings, but not as large as the Blue Demuns. The MX985s sit in my ears securely when I'm sitting down or perhaps on a leisurely walk, but they have trouble staying in if I'm moving around much more vigorously. In the winter, wearing a beanie helps. I didn't like the too-fancy-by-half shirt clip Senny included, so I had to super glue one of my own to the y-split and then modify the leather carrying case to hold it. I don't mind that though because I don't plan to ever sell my pair, they'd be way too hard to replace. Sennheiser produced them for less than a year, making this the rarest earphone on this list.
Sound Quality
Note: I prefer listening with full foam covers, for both comfort and sound
Think three parts HD650 + one part HD800. They're more clear and detailed than the 650, but they retain a similar warm sound while avoiding the dreaded "Sennheiser veil." They are flat but not neutral, and are very musical and very, very enjoyable to listen to. They can sound bright at times, with a bit more treble than I prefer. Mids are smooth, natural, and while they aren't forward, they aren't recessed at all either. The bass is lighter in quantity than I would really like, but they extend deep, and are very articulate down low. The bass quality more than makes up for the missing quantity most of the time, even with EDM.
Note 1: the Sennheiser OMX980 sounds almost identical and has a completely different form factor. The MX980 also sounds nearly identical, but with the same form factor
Note 2: These Sennheisers, along with the Koss up next, occupy the perfect "sweet spot" of being able to scale up with better sources, while also being reasonably forgiving of lesser ones.
3. Koss KDE250
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Possibly the weirdest design on a list of weird designs. I find them comfortable, and it's easy enough to forget I'm wearing them. I didn't get comfortable with them overnight though. They take more practice than the others.
Even after you're comfortable wearing them, there are a couple of drawbacks. They require more frequent adjustment than anything else here, as they tend to slip out of the sweet spot in your ear where they sound their absolute best. They will also fall out of your ear any time you lean your head sideways (as in putting your ear on your shoulder). I would never have guessed how often I lean my head sideways until I spent time wearing my KDE250s. Don't try them if you're doing anything more vigorous than walking.
They're also the most fragile of the bunch, and the only pair I've had break (though it could have been prevented with a shirt clip, something they don't come with but really, really should). This is of course offset by the legendary Koss lifetime warranty, but you still should steal a good clip from some other pair.
I think these are the most stylish looking earphones on this list, at least looking from the side. Looking front-on, they have a tendency to call attention to the way one of my ears sits higher on my head than the other, something that's true for almost all of us, though we usually don't notice.
Sound Quality
Imagine if Koss started with the PortaPro sound signature, then improved it, uncolored it, then refined that even further. That's the KDE250. Its dual dynamic drivers won't match the planar iSINE, but they come impressively close (I'm comparing them on an absolute scale, not even considering that the Koss are ONE FIFTH of the price!*). That makes these far and away the best value per dollar on the list.
You can expect detailed crisp treble and smooth, natural midrange, but the star of the show here is the bass. I'm not a "basshead" so I don't know what they would like, but for open portable earphones, this is probably as close as you're gonna get. The KDE250 bass hits harder than any earphones I've ever tried. It does so without letting it get bloated. It's still fast and on the lean side, but with a nice amount of fullness as well.
It's still not better or even equal to the iSINE's sound quality, but it's a similar reference-type signature that still sounds extremely good.
*Figuring $489 for an open box like-new iSINE20 on Razordog.com, and $99 for a brand new KDE250 from Massdrop
4. Blue Demun
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Allow me to be blunt: the Demun series earbuds are total ergonomic failures. They come with inexplicably heavy duty cables that are so stiff the 'buds are nearly impossible to wear. Almost any movement will cause the cable to push one side up and out of your ear. Wearing them is like being in a slapstick routine: I'll get the right side secured, only for the left to pop out, and once that's dealt with, the right side has come out again, back and forth and so on ad infinitum.
It also doesn't help that the driver housing is too wide to sit securely in my ear. Someone with bigger ears may well find them a perfect fit. I would simply try recabling them with something more mobile-appropriate, however I'm given to understand the cables here make a significant contribution to the end sound quality. I've never found different cables to make more than a minute difference to the sound, but I'm not going to dismiss the possibility out of hand either.
Sound Quality
The Demuns sound so nice that the ergonomic problems mentioned above seem like such a shame. They have a mid-centric sound signature; the mids are well forward in the soundstage here, making them fantastic for vocal-oriented music. The upper mids all the way to the treble is also very crisp, clean, and clear, and it extends impressively high.
Their "weakness" (if it's even fair to call it that) is the bass presentation. Deep extention isn't really the problem, as they'll articulate quite low. The problem is as they get lower, they roll off more and more. All the bass texture is there, it's just very recessed. These are the only pair on this list that I wouldn't recommend universally, for all genres of music. They're awesome for most types of music, even: classical, jazz, even most rock music. While the Blue sounds great with certain sub-genres of EDM (Bonobo, for one example), the lack of bass presence more often than not makes it inappropriate for hip-hop and most electronic dance music.
End Notes
There is a critical mass of open portable earphone models with TOTL sound quality available on the market for those of us who know where to look for them, and it's only going to get better as more 'phones are developed. For the first time, planar magnetic technology is an option for those of us who don't care for dynamic or balanced armature earphones.
If you've only used isolating IEMs and you're not sure whether it's worth changing something so fundamental to your mobile listening habits, you can always start small, with a VE Monk+ and see how you like it. Obviously the Monk+ is not likely to be mistaken for TOTL sound quality, but it still sounds good. It's fun to listen to, it can make bad recordings and bad sources sound okay, and it defies the common preconceptions people have against earbuds (they have no bass and sound terrible in general).
If you decide you like not being isolated away from everything, then you can upgrade from there!
Unlike full size open headphones, none of these earphones leak sound outward. I've cranked them up loud and asked people standing uncomfortably close whether they could hear anything, and gotten only "no"s. The drivers just aren't big enough to move that much air, so they're 100% library safe
I think it's useful to hear things. It's more than just a safety issue, being able to hear traffic, or a bicyclist calling "on your left" from behind you. Maybe that stranger is trying to get your attention because you dropped something and they're trying to give it back. Maybe you're blocking a supermarket aisle and didn't realize anyone was trying to get by. Maybe you just don't like having to pull one IEM out and then put it back in every time a coworker wants a quick word, which can be frustratingly often.
I'm not trying to convert anyone, here. I understand there are plenty of good reasons you might want or need isolation. You certainly have more products to choose from, if you do. The sheer size of the closed portable market might make the open portable market seem neglected by comparison, and historically it probably has been.
I think the market for open portable gear might be inching closer to maturity. Everything on this list is currently in production save for the Sennheiser. Audeze is actively developing new products, inventing the planar earphone with the iSINE and following it with the ultra high end LCDi, though the latter is well beyond what I can afford and is thus outside the scope of this post. I also haven't had the opportunity to try the Stax SR-003. The Stax is in theory within the range of what I would pay for a top-class earphone though, so perhaps I'll be able to add it in the future.
If YOU'VE ever tried these earphones I haven't, I'd love for you to post your impressions. Or if you know of anything good that I didn't include but maybe should have, please leave a comment about that too.
These are my impressions of my favorite open-acoustic portable earphones. I'll go in order from best to "worst" (where "worst" of the TOTL is still pretty damn good).
1. Audeze iSINE20
2. Sennheiser MX985
3. Koss KDE250
4. Blue Demuns
1. Audeze iSINE20
(standard cable)
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Note: I use the over-the-ear clips to wear them, I've never tried using the inner-ear stabilizing options.
They are way more comfortable to wear than they look, Audeze did a fine job on the design. I can wear them for 4-5 hours straight without issue. The biggest thing with them is the back end of the earclip will eventually start pressing down on the back of my ear, but for the first 4+ hours I'll forget I'm wearing them. They are very stable as well: I've worn them while playing an 18 hole round of disc golf--a physically vigorous activity which doesn't make me sweat much--and they never fell out and rarely even needed any adjustments.
The iSINEs are the most involved pair to take on and off. It's a two handed job to put them on, and not something you'd want to do repeatedly. Fortunately, once they're on, they don't block any sound at all, so you can easily turn the volume down or hit pause to listen to whatever else you need to without taking them off. It's a different story if you want to take them off to DEMONSTRATE to someone that you're giving them your full attention. They're perfect for spying, because everyone will assume you can't hear anything when really you can!
Don't be fooled by the thin, flimsy-looking plastic on the ear clips (like I was at first): it's easily as strong as it needs to be and more (and if something breaks, Audeze sells replacement accessory packs for a shockingly reasonable $15). The whole driver assembly is tough and well made, despite being mostly plastic.
Sound Quality (standard cable only)
Sound-wise, these are the best of the bunch by far. They are an excellent choice for "end-game" portable 'phones; they are reasonable end-game desktop 'phones too, really. They compare closely to mid-range full-size planar magnetic cans: Hifiman's HE500 or Audeze's LCD2/3. They're neutral sounding, and nearly flat up and down the spectrum. The bass is truly world-class here: it extends all the way down with well articulated texture and without losing accuracy, and it can slam as hard as any track calls for. I listen primarily to EDM, and the iSINE20 is everything I could ask for in an earphone. It also responds well to EQing, and sounds clean even at very high volumes. They are exceptionally clear and detailed.
Oftentimes I'll walk in my front door listening to them, and once home I won't find a reason to change to my full-size headphones. I'll power up my desktop Magni 3/Momby stack and plug the 20s into that, continuing to listen for hours more. They will scale extremely high up the scale, but they won't scale forever, and they can't compete with true TOTL full size cans. On the same Schiit stack, my Mr. Speakers Alpha Prime has slightly (but noticeably) better quality, particularly in resolution and detail.
The iSINE20 is pretty picky about the source you feed it. Cheap players or 128kbps mp3 files will sound awful more often than not. All of the other earphones on this list are far more forgiving. Also, like most planar magnetic drivers, they need lots of power to sound their best. They don't necessarily sound bad with under-amped players, but they're overkill for all but the best players. I don't use an amp with my Shozy Alien, Hifiman HM601, Colorfly C3, or even Samsung YP-Z5. I do use an amp--a Fiio e11--to improve the sound from my LG V20.
Note: I owned a pair of iSINE10s (then sold them) four or five months before getting the 20s. It's hard for me to say specifically what the 20s do better. The 10s sounded fantastic too at times, but on a subjective emotional level, they left me wanting in a way I can't describe after so long. In contrast, the 20s don't leave me wanting for anything.
2. Sennheiser MX985
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Typically excellent Sennheiser construction, these are the most abuse-proof earphones on this list. The parts that go in your ears are plastic, but the rest is metal. The y-split, for example, is a solidly made metal volume slider, which I really could have done without. It's never been useful
The only times I can remember it's there are when it's causing problems by accidentally getting set lower than 100%, and even then the stupid slider is never my first guess, or second guess, or third...
The driver housings are larger than the VE Monk+ housings, but not as large as the Blue Demuns. The MX985s sit in my ears securely when I'm sitting down or perhaps on a leisurely walk, but they have trouble staying in if I'm moving around much more vigorously. In the winter, wearing a beanie helps. I didn't like the too-fancy-by-half shirt clip Senny included, so I had to super glue one of my own to the y-split and then modify the leather carrying case to hold it. I don't mind that though because I don't plan to ever sell my pair, they'd be way too hard to replace. Sennheiser produced them for less than a year, making this the rarest earphone on this list.
Sound Quality
Note: I prefer listening with full foam covers, for both comfort and sound
Think three parts HD650 + one part HD800. They're more clear and detailed than the 650, but they retain a similar warm sound while avoiding the dreaded "Sennheiser veil." They are flat but not neutral, and are very musical and very, very enjoyable to listen to. They can sound bright at times, with a bit more treble than I prefer. Mids are smooth, natural, and while they aren't forward, they aren't recessed at all either. The bass is lighter in quantity than I would really like, but they extend deep, and are very articulate down low. The bass quality more than makes up for the missing quantity most of the time, even with EDM.
Note 1: the Sennheiser OMX980 sounds almost identical and has a completely different form factor. The MX980 also sounds nearly identical, but with the same form factor
Note 2: These Sennheisers, along with the Koss up next, occupy the perfect "sweet spot" of being able to scale up with better sources, while also being reasonably forgiving of lesser ones.
3. Koss KDE250
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Possibly the weirdest design on a list of weird designs. I find them comfortable, and it's easy enough to forget I'm wearing them. I didn't get comfortable with them overnight though. They take more practice than the others.
Even after you're comfortable wearing them, there are a couple of drawbacks. They require more frequent adjustment than anything else here, as they tend to slip out of the sweet spot in your ear where they sound their absolute best. They will also fall out of your ear any time you lean your head sideways (as in putting your ear on your shoulder). I would never have guessed how often I lean my head sideways until I spent time wearing my KDE250s. Don't try them if you're doing anything more vigorous than walking.
They're also the most fragile of the bunch, and the only pair I've had break (though it could have been prevented with a shirt clip, something they don't come with but really, really should). This is of course offset by the legendary Koss lifetime warranty, but you still should steal a good clip from some other pair.
I think these are the most stylish looking earphones on this list, at least looking from the side. Looking front-on, they have a tendency to call attention to the way one of my ears sits higher on my head than the other, something that's true for almost all of us, though we usually don't notice.
Sound Quality
Imagine if Koss started with the PortaPro sound signature, then improved it, uncolored it, then refined that even further. That's the KDE250. Its dual dynamic drivers won't match the planar iSINE, but they come impressively close (I'm comparing them on an absolute scale, not even considering that the Koss are ONE FIFTH of the price!*). That makes these far and away the best value per dollar on the list.
You can expect detailed crisp treble and smooth, natural midrange, but the star of the show here is the bass. I'm not a "basshead" so I don't know what they would like, but for open portable earphones, this is probably as close as you're gonna get. The KDE250 bass hits harder than any earphones I've ever tried. It does so without letting it get bloated. It's still fast and on the lean side, but with a nice amount of fullness as well.
It's still not better or even equal to the iSINE's sound quality, but it's a similar reference-type signature that still sounds extremely good.
*Figuring $489 for an open box like-new iSINE20 on Razordog.com, and $99 for a brand new KDE250 from Massdrop
4. Blue Demun
Build quality/Comfort/Ergonomics
Allow me to be blunt: the Demun series earbuds are total ergonomic failures. They come with inexplicably heavy duty cables that are so stiff the 'buds are nearly impossible to wear. Almost any movement will cause the cable to push one side up and out of your ear. Wearing them is like being in a slapstick routine: I'll get the right side secured, only for the left to pop out, and once that's dealt with, the right side has come out again, back and forth and so on ad infinitum.
It also doesn't help that the driver housing is too wide to sit securely in my ear. Someone with bigger ears may well find them a perfect fit. I would simply try recabling them with something more mobile-appropriate, however I'm given to understand the cables here make a significant contribution to the end sound quality. I've never found different cables to make more than a minute difference to the sound, but I'm not going to dismiss the possibility out of hand either.
Sound Quality
The Demuns sound so nice that the ergonomic problems mentioned above seem like such a shame. They have a mid-centric sound signature; the mids are well forward in the soundstage here, making them fantastic for vocal-oriented music. The upper mids all the way to the treble is also very crisp, clean, and clear, and it extends impressively high.
Their "weakness" (if it's even fair to call it that) is the bass presentation. Deep extention isn't really the problem, as they'll articulate quite low. The problem is as they get lower, they roll off more and more. All the bass texture is there, it's just very recessed. These are the only pair on this list that I wouldn't recommend universally, for all genres of music. They're awesome for most types of music, even: classical, jazz, even most rock music. While the Blue sounds great with certain sub-genres of EDM (Bonobo, for one example), the lack of bass presence more often than not makes it inappropriate for hip-hop and most electronic dance music.
End Notes
There is a critical mass of open portable earphone models with TOTL sound quality available on the market for those of us who know where to look for them, and it's only going to get better as more 'phones are developed. For the first time, planar magnetic technology is an option for those of us who don't care for dynamic or balanced armature earphones.
If you've only used isolating IEMs and you're not sure whether it's worth changing something so fundamental to your mobile listening habits, you can always start small, with a VE Monk+ and see how you like it. Obviously the Monk+ is not likely to be mistaken for TOTL sound quality, but it still sounds good. It's fun to listen to, it can make bad recordings and bad sources sound okay, and it defies the common preconceptions people have against earbuds (they have no bass and sound terrible in general).
If you decide you like not being isolated away from everything, then you can upgrade from there!
Unlike full size open headphones, none of these earphones leak sound outward. I've cranked them up loud and asked people standing uncomfortably close whether they could hear anything, and gotten only "no"s. The drivers just aren't big enough to move that much air, so they're 100% library safe
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