Author Topic: Attn: Audiophiles. Are headphones better with closed backs or open backs?  (Read 5317 times)

Tinister

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I've never heard of these "backs" things until today and now I'm rather upset that I have to make a choice here.

SquareWheel

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Well, do you want to eliminate outside noise?  Good for escaping in a loud environment; bad if there's a toddler in the next room over that might kill itself if given the opportunity.

I imagine they're probably more breathy than openback as well.  I did some reading a while back but that knowledge has started disappearing again.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2019, 12:50:25 AM by SquareWheel »

Tinister

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Do I want to?

wilde32

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Generally open back is a little better audio quality within the same price range. But they don't isolate sound at all so they're only suited to quiet environments. Keep in mind nearby people will be able to hear what you hear.
If those things aren't a big issue for you then get open backs.

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Never used open ones before, but apparently it makes the sound stage much wider (sounds more like you are listening to a band rather than a set of earphones shooting the sounds into your ears). Closed back ones are still an upgrade from in-ear and on-ear though in that regard. Other than that, yeah sound leakiness.
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Tinister

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I'm guessing since I like having all manner of fans and air purifiers and what not constantly running in my room(s) that maybe open back wouldn't be that great.  Turns out it's a lot more popular I guess.

Tinister

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So I was looking at Sennheiser and pairing it with an external mic.  Apparently you can just outright replace the cord on the headphones with a cord/mic combo.

However the part of the cord that plugs into the headphones is 2.5mm.  And every 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter ever created is terrible.  Except one adapter created by Nokia which is out of print.

So.... eBay.  From China.

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So I was looking at Sennheiser and pairing it with an external mic.  Apparently you can just outright replace the cord on the headphones with a cord/mic combo.

However the part of the cord that plugs into the headphones is 2.5mm.  And every 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter ever created is terrible.  Except one adapter created by Nokia which is out of print.

So.... eBay.  From China.
I ended up gettting a ModMic for mine, comes with a few clips that keep the cables fairly nicely attached to each other. Cos my headphones came with two cables, I just keep one cable attached to the PC and mic, then use the shorter cable for listening on the go
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