Just how loud are open back headphones anyway?

Fro68 said:
I have the HD600 which are open back. If I put the headphones on my leg the acoustic sound of my strings drowns out the headphones.
Click to expand...

Thanks Fro, that puts it into a perspective I can relate to. I'll be playing in a small closed office where I don't think the wife will be able to hear a thing. I don't usually play in there because it's very tight, but it will do I think. No getting around the string noise so if the open backs aren't as loud as that then I'm good with opens.
 
You would have to crank it pretty good for the sound leakage from open-backed headphones to exceed the noise of the strings, and even then, it would still be less distinct and sleep-interrupting than the original strings. Typically when people talk about closed back to avoid disturbing others, it is in the context of virtually every other headphone use where there is no equivalent to string noise.

If you are curious about how loud it is, try using your current headphones at a volume you would play at, then take them off and set them on a table. “Blaring in your ears” volume does not project much into the room, even when you’re not wearing them and the sound is completely free to enter the room.
 
Old thread now, but an update. I ordered the HD58X Jubilee from Drop. Took 2 weeks to make it to my place. Not their fault, just that Fedex was being lame. But they made it. @Fro68 post was instrumental in steering me to the open backs. The one claiming that if I clamped the phones on my leg the guitar would drown out the phones. And it is true, the strings of my unplugged guitars are louder than the leakage from the phones. And they seem to do a good job of getting me close on a preset, to where I can dial in at band volumes with minor eq tweaks. They sound great to me given that my other set are the ATH-M30's. The M30's are great for listening to music and easier to drive. They make more bass than the 58X, but that was expected. So mission accomplished, and once again thanks to all for helpful suggestions!
 
Whatever headphones you use, build a GEQ block that flattens the headphone's response curve and drop it into the preset just before the OUT 1 block. I use both the HD-650 and ATH-M40x and the curve makes a big difference when listening.

When the HD-650 are comfortably loud the actual sound outside them is very quiet. I have them comfortably loud because the Fletcher Munsen Curve will still affect what I'm hearing, then I'll take them off for a little while and let my ears rest.

Here are my GEQ blocks for the HD-650 and for the ATH-M40x respectively...
 

Attachments

  • HD-650 headphones_20210523_150056.blk
    322 bytes · Views: 7
  • ATH-M50x headphones_20210525_155250.blk
    324 bytes · Views: 1
Thanks man! While researching phones I found a review for the 58X and the reviewer posted specs for flattening them. He also said the 58’s sound pretty close to your 650’s so I’ll give your blocks a try.

Cheers!
Steve
 
skolacki said:
Thanks man! While researching phones I found a review for the 58X and the reviewer posted specs for flattening them. He also said the 58’s sound pretty close to your 650’s so I’ll give your blocks a try.

Cheers!
Steve
Click to expand...
I can’t comment on whether the two are the same EQ curve because I haven’t compared them, but I suspect they are not the same. I’d recommend looking through https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/headphonecom and building one specifically for them. It’s easy enough.

The site also has compensation information for creating a PEQ block but we’re limited to five bands for the parametric so it might not be an improvement. I built both and can’t hear a difference and I figure if I get the headphones flattened to within +/-3db I’m close enough because I’m trying to get in the ballpark for a system that’s going to be blaring music in a noisy bar with people who are most likely talking and maybe drunk.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom