DW_Mike
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Silly Headphone Question
I just got the stupid deal of the day email.
I've seen this before but never understood the difference.
What is a semi-open headphone?
Do they make fully-open phones? I would probably call those 'speakers'.
Whats the purpose and why would you want that in a recording situation?
I'd think most people would prefer less bleed no?
I understand that having some decent cheapo's are always nice for the way some people treat them but i usually still use closed back.
Anyone use semi-open phones and does it cause many issues?
Mike
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SuperG
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/18 23:01:59
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I'm no expert, but *supposedly* it's easier to design the bass response of headphones with a semi-open, whereas closed back phones completely dependent upon the ears sealing properly. Of course, closed-back phones have their advantages too, when complete isolation is a priority.
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bapu
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/18 23:07:43
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People have tried to isolate me for years.
They never used closed back "anything".
'Splains a lot.
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craigb
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 01:32:24
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bapu
People have tried to isolate me for years.
They never used closed back "anything".
'Splains a lot.
And that's the bass player response. 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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Rimshot
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 09:47:55
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☄ Helpfulby chefmike8888 2014/01/19 10:35:46
Rimshot Sonar Platinum 64 (Lifer), Studio One V3.5, Notion 6, Steinberg UR44, Zoom R24, Purrrfect Audio Pro Studio DAW (Case: Silent Mid Tower, Power Supply: 600w quiet, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz (8 threads), RAM: 16GB DDR3/1600 , OS drive: 1TB HD, Audio drive: 1TB HD), Windows 10 x64 Anniversary, Equator D5 monitors, Faderport, FP8, Akai MPK261
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DW_Mike
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 10:45:33
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☄ Helpfulby bapu 2014/01/19 12:04:46
I personally like mt AT M50's.
Mike
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bitflipper
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 10:47:28
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☄ Helpfulby craigb 2014/01/19 13:34:27
Think of the headphone can as a miniature speaker enclosure. The same rules apply as to speaker cabinets, just on a smaller scale. The ideal speaker enclosure is one where the distance between the front- and rear-facing wavefronts is infinite, such that there can never be destructive interference between them. The natural resonant frequency of such an enclosure is irrelevant, and no acoustical tricks are necessary so there are no unnatural peaks or dips in the bass response. You'd come closest to that ideal by mounting a speaker in a rigid wall with a huge open space behind it serving as an infinite baffle. Not very practical. Except with over-ear headphones, where the two wavefronts are effectively isolated from one another - but only if the back side is open to the world. Of course, once you open up the back side you lose the major benefit of headphones, which is isolation. Now your headphone sound leaks out, making it unusable for tracking, and outside noise gets in, making it unusable while riding on a bus. A semi-open back has vents to allow low frequencies to escape, as a compromise between fully sealed and fully open. Semi-open cans offer better isolation than open-back headphones and better low-frequency response than closed headphones. (Or conversely, worse isolation than closed and worse frequency response than open.) [EDIT] BTW, Mike, I do use open-back headphones (Sennheiser HD-558) and they're wonderful. Not for tracking, obviously, nor for listening to music on airplanes, but rather for editing and as an alternate reference for evaluating mixes. And of course, late-night pleasure listening in the dark. For tracking, it's the HD-280Pro with its good isolation. And the trusty ATH-M50's for pretty much anything and everything else. Those are the ones I'll be packing for the beach when I head to the Philippines in two weeks.
post edited by bitflipper - 2014/01/19 12:54:59
 All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. My Stuff
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bapu
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 12:06:16
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bitflipper
Think of the headphone can as a miniature speaker enclosure. The same rules apply as to speaker cabinets, just on a smaller scale.
The ideal speaker enclosure is one where the distance between the front- and rear-facing wavefronts is infinite, such that there can never be destructive interference between them. The natural resonant frequency of such an enclosure is irrelevant, and no acoustical tricks are necessary so there are no unnatural peaks or dips in the bass response.
You'd come closest to that ideal by mounting a speaker in a rigid wall with a huge open space behind it serving as an infinite baffle. Not very practical. Except with over-ear headphones, where the two wavefronts are effectively isolated from one another - but only if the back side is open to the world.
Of course, once you open up the back side you lose the major benefit of headphones, which is isolation. Now your headphone sound leaks out, making it unusable for tracking, and outside noise gets in, making it unusable while riding on a bus.
A semi-open back has vents to allow low frequencies to escape, as a compromise between fully sealed and fully open. Semi-open cans offer better isolation than open-back headphones and better low-frequency response than closed headphones. (Or conversely, worse isolation than closed and worse frequency response than open.)
Fred Killer With Facts.
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bitflipper
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 12:42:34
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☄ Helpfulby craigb 2014/01/19 13:34:06
Sorry, Ed.
OK, so just go down to your AT&T store at the mall and buy some $400 Beats by Dre headphones. The red ones sound especially phat.
How's that?
All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. My Stuff
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craigb
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 13:34:12
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I know people who are infinitely baffled.
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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Rimshot
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 14:33:27
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I use ATH M50's. My brain has adjusted to their frequency response well and thinks they sound awesome! Way to go brain! 
Rimshot Sonar Platinum 64 (Lifer), Studio One V3.5, Notion 6, Steinberg UR44, Zoom R24, Purrrfect Audio Pro Studio DAW (Case: Silent Mid Tower, Power Supply: 600w quiet, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz (8 threads), RAM: 16GB DDR3/1600 , OS drive: 1TB HD, Audio drive: 1TB HD), Windows 10 x64 Anniversary, Equator D5 monitors, Faderport, FP8, Akai MPK261
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paulo
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Re: Silly Headphone Question
2014/01/19 14:45:44
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bitflipper
Sorry, Ed.
OK, so just go down to your AT&T store at the mall and buy some $400 Beats by Dre headphones. The red ones sound especially phat.
How's that?
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