Open back headphones

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zuma

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Jun 3, 2015
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343
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Vancouver
What do you guys think about open back headphones? I've never owned a pair, but I'm thinking about getting the audio technica ath-d500x.

I live in an apartment with paper thin walls and I can never blast the music. I'm also in my own so sound leakage shouldn't be a problem. Not planning to use them outside either, I've got a pair of shures earphones for that. It seems like open back would be the way to go?

Thinking of pairing it with an oppo ha-2 dac/amp and listen straight from the macbook. Any input or recommendations?
 
I am a big fan of open back headphones for home use only obviously. It's the best way to experience a realistic, speaker-like sound. I also like the sense of space it gives to the music and the separation of instruments. I own a Stax electrostatic earspeaker system, which is open-backed. Not many people know what that that is and they look pretty funny to the average person, but they offer unparalleled clarity and detail. I know a fair amount about dynamic and planar headphones, and the Stax system beats everything in terms of sound quality.

Anyway, the Stax systems are very expensive, so I generally wouldn't recommend them if you are on a budget.

The amount of sound leakage varies with each headphone but you'll never have an issue with people complaining about noise. Even for a headphone with a lot of sound leakage, it doesn't get that loud. It will sound like a thin-sounding transistor radio to people next to you.

You should check out Hi-Fi Man Edition S headphones, which has the ability to be both a closed and open back headphone. I've heard amazing things about the sound quality. Also, the Hi-Fi Man 400s and Sennheiser HD598 are excellent options.

Just keep in mind that, generally, open back headphones don't give you that bass slam that most mainstream headphones like Beats provides, but at least it's realistic and not artificially pumped into the sound.
 
Thanks for your reply! I've read a bit about dynamic, planar and electrostatic and the Stax system was used to explain. It sounds very neat, but yeah out of my budget. I like my music to should good, but I'm not sure my ears would appreciate a set up like that.

Thanks for the info on the sound leakage. I'll check out the options you mentioned. Thanks!
 
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