Headphones are headphones, right? Distinct from earbuds, the tiny Brussels-sprout-shaped things you wedge into your ear canals, like AirPods. But over-the-ear headphones come in two distinct types: open-back and closed-back.
Knowing which to get relies upon knowing which aspects you prize more than others.
You’re Probably Buying the Wrong Headphones: Open-Back vs. Closed-Back, Explained.
Closed-back headphones consist of two ear cups joined by a headband. These cups fit over the ear like, well, cups. Putting aside the presence or absence of active noise cancellation (ANC) for a moment, they’re better at passively blocking out environmental noise so that the wearer isn’t bothered by the noises of airliners’ jet engines, noisy subway cars, or your loud-a** roommate who you swear is a nocturnal vampire.
They, in turn, also leak less sound, so people around the wearer don’t hear the music playing on them. That comes with a side effect: enhanced bass. People love their bass, but audiophiles often find that closed-back headphones emphasize bass too much in relation to the audio’s mid-range and treble. It can sound sort of like listening to a radio with a trash can over your ears, with all the sound waves bouncing around inside the closed ear cups.
That’s why open-back headphones exist. They have mesh grills over their ear cups so that sound and air can pass freely through. It allows for a more natural sound, more balanced than the bass-heavy closed-back headphones, and clearer because the sound waves aren’t completely trapped within the ear cups.
They also leak noise, though. Coworkers, roommates, and soon-to-be-exes in the room with you will all have to endure the music playing on your headphones. You’d better hope they don’t grunt, shout, or bang around in frustration, either, because open-back headphones are also louder to the person wearing them since their mesh-covered ear cups don’t do much to block out surrounding noise.
The choice comes down to this, then: Do you prioritize blocking out the noise of the world around you, and making sure that you don’t aggravate everyone nearby with your blaring music? Go for closed-back headphones. But if you’re in a fairly quiet environment and want the most natural-sounding audio, then choose open-back headphones.
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