The difference between open back and closed back headphones

Hello and welcome to this week's article!
Today we're going to talk about a topic that came up during the recording sessions of a demo I've been recently taking part to, and it turned out to be an interesting discussion.

Which is the ideal type of headphone to use when recording and when mixing (click here for an article about mixing with headphones vs. mixing with monitors)?


Open back headphones are those that usually have a grill in the back of the earpiece, this prevents the sound pressure to build up inside the ear cup and the sound waves to bounce for too long.

The pros:

- these are better headphones for mixing and mastering because the sound is more clear, since especially the lower frequencies doesn't remain trapped in the earcup giving the impression that there is more low end in the song that there actually is.

The cons:

- low isolation: due to the grill, the sound from outside is easier to hear (which is bad).
- sound leak: always due to the grill, the sound from inside spills out. Both these two points makes these headphones not suggested for outside use (e.g. in public transports).


Closed back headphones instead doesn't have the grill, and the sound remains longer inside the ear cup bouncing, therefore it sounds more loud and messy, and a bit less clear.

The pros: 

- these headphones isolate the sound better in both ways: from inside and from outside, therefore they are used when recording, because they don't have a lot of bleed (unlike the open back ones), and because they isolate better from the external sounds, allowing the musician to focus on their own performance.
- for the same reasons mentioned above, this type of heaphones is also good when listening to music outside, for example when commuting to work.

The cons:

- if you mix with closed back headphones there are big chances that the final sound will not translate to the other sources as you expect, because they doesn't provide a flat representation of the sound spectrum: they emphasize the low end and makes the high end a bit cloudy.
- they are heavier and makes the ears sweaty, which in long sessions can be a problem.


In conclusion:

For tracking buy a good pair of closed back headphones, that can isolate well the sound from inside to prevent it from bleeding into the microphones, while when mixing and mastering use some good level open back ones, because they will allow you to obtain better sounding mixes, that translates better also in the other devices (computer, car stereo etc).

I hope this was helpful! 


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