{"id":1992,"date":"2021-07-10T12:25:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T11:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2021-07-10T13:47:51","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T12:47:51","slug":"headphones-open-or-closed-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/headphones-open-or-closed-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Headphones. Open or Closed back."},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Within a week I acquired these two pairs of headphones for very different outlays.<\/p>\r\n

\"Headphones\"
Headphones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Both are rather nice, but quite different.<\/p>\r\n

The headphones on the left were bought new to complement my recently acquired iFi Zen DAC for streaming and to allow me to listen to vinyl loud through my valve headphone amp at anti-social hours. They set me back \u00a3170. That’s a lot for someone who is more used to buying at boot sales. A couple of days later the balance was redressed when I got the second pair from my local Sunday morning mud-bath of bargains.<\/p>\r\n

\"Sennheiser
Sennheiser HD 560s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The Sennheiser HD 560s were bought\u00a0 new specifically for critical listening. The open back design allows for more air flow and lets the drivers do their stuff to best effect. They give very detailed and open sound, which is great. However, they also allow a fair bit of that sound to leak out. Not ideal for use in a room with somebody else sat next to you, unless you want a sharp dig in the ribs.<\/p>\r\n

\"AKG
AKG K271 mk II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The AKG K271 mk II are a different beast all together.\u00a0 Their rugged construction and closed back design make them practical, indeed well suited, for use by musicians and in the studio. I play Guitar and Bass and have been known to sing on a stage, so I have plenty of used for these.<\/p>\r\n

\"Curly
Curly cable for AKG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Most secondhand ‘phones have their issues. The headphone jack had the usual damaged connection. Easiest solution was just to cut it off and solder on a new connector. I used a 1\/4 inch jack from my spares box. I was also able to remove the tangles and twists from the curly cable. I find that submerging the cable in boiling water softens the plastic and helps with the removal of kinks. Be careful to keep the connectors dry when doing this and don’t let water enter the cable.<\/p>\r\n

\"Old
Old and new ear pads<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The ear pads on the AKG’s were in a sorry state. They had lost their flexibility and were cracked and dirty. Getting a good seal is essential for good sound. Besides, they’re gross! Because of the “studio” aspirations of the K271, spare parts are readily available. New pads were quickly acquired and easily fitted. They now look and sound great. Comfy too, though not so much as the Sennheiser’s.<\/p>\r\n

\"Valve
Valve Amp and Headphones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The Sennheiser’s have the edge on sound quality as you would expect, given that new they cost twice the AKG’s new price. For that reason they are my primary phones for those late night immersive listening sessions. I use them mainly from the comfort of my Ikea Poang chair, driven by my Nobsound valve headphone amp<\/a>. The AKG’s are in general use around the house, in the garden, watching telly, playing guitar….<\/p>\r\n

The Sennheiser cost 25 times what I paid for the AKG’s. I paid \u00a37 for the ear pads. Just 50p bought the AKG headphones at the boot sale. That’s got to be worth getting up early for.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Within a week I acquired these two pairs of headphones for very different outlays. Both are rather nice, but quite different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,16,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-loudspeaker","category-portable","category-repair","category-valves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2008,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions\/2008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}