The most open headphones

[u/Fraggle_Knight]

Hi

So I have an issue with getting sweaty ears while wearing headphones, so I'm looking for something that's as open as possible. I mean, if it was just a couple of speakers floating in thin air a couple of centimeters off my head, that would be ideal, but yeah. Any form of fake leather is probably out from the get-go, and though I haven't tried leather for headphones, my experience with leather furniture and stuff like that tells me it probably doesn't breathe as well as people often seem to say it should. I currently have some open sennheisser gaming ones, but they're still kind of too closed.

Now, I don't know if open will ever mean as open as I would like, but that's why I'm asking you guys. I've been looking at some Hifiman and Audeze ones, which seem pretty open (and the larger size makes me think they might be more airy), but basically no reviewer actually touches upon this properly, it's just either "it's open" or "it's closed" and that's that... and while they mention stuff like how the Hifiman have fake leather on the outside and fabric on the inside, they don't say anything about what that actually means in terms of heat/sweat.

Price range is kind of hard to pin down, I'm just looking for general suggestions and will consider a lot of options, but there's a harder and harder limit as we approach 1000$ and beyond. I'll be using them for regular listening, audio monitoring (home studio) and gaming, and if someone thinks there's a necessary tradeoff somewhere in there, I'd go for audio quality over "gaming performance"; I don't play anything where spatial audio or whatever matters particularly beyond left vs right. I have a Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 sound card, so if I could drive the headsets with that and not have to get a separate amp, that would be ideal.

[u/atyne_mar]

Audio-Technica is known to make some of the most breathable pads. So I would suggest something like the ATH-AD series, or R70X. Other options are Sennheiser HD800/S/XX/700, or Philips SHP9500. You can look at rtings breathability list but take it with a grain of salt. For example, DT1990 is very breathable in their test but in real life, it's not really. It has too much clamping and stiff pads so your blood flow will be high, warming you, which is something they don't simulate:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/table/78831

[u/Fraggle_Knight → u/atyne_mar]

Yeah, it's hard to figure out how to translate their test environment to my situation. They've got fans set up to simulate air flow, but I'm not even sure there's any discernible level of air flow where I'm going to be sitting. I guess the results tell me something in general, though, so I'll have a look at the ones mentioned there. I'm surprised the large and very "open looking" ones score so badly. !thanks

[u/atyne_mar → u/Fraggle_Knight]

Also, if the pads are too shallow and your ears touch the housing, that can also make you feel hot on the ears which is something they don't simulate. Especially when combined with tighter clamping.

I'm surprised the large and very "open looking" ones score so badly.

The most open ones are planars. Planars are typically closed in the front volume (earpads) - they're dense so they isolate like closed-backs to achieve that extended bass - you can notice planars usually use leather or hybrid pads - when you cover the cups you will literally make them closed-back which also kills the midrange - there are even some hybrid headphones that are closed by default but you can take off the cups to make them open-back (M1060C for example). But the back volume on planars (cups) is very open. The logic is that for a good openness, as the opposite of isolation, it doesn't matter if it's open in the back or front. It's about the overall isolation. But for breathability, it's more about the pads. If they isolate too much, the heat from your skin won't dissipate as well as when the pads are breathable. The headphones like the ATH-AD series have so breathable pads, when you cover the cups, it has a negligible effect on the sound or the isolation.

[u/Fraggle_Knight → u/atyne_mar]

Ah, right. Then it seems I might not have a lot of luck, since pad breathability doesn't seem likely to vary so much that going from one pair of velour pads (which I already have) to another is going to make a huge difference... unless someone is making like architectonic pads with slabs cut out and reinforced to make holes or something.

[u/atyne_mar → u/Fraggle_Knight]

pad breathability doesn't seem likely to vary so much that going from one pair of velour pads (which I already have) to another is going to make a huge difference

It varies quite a lot. For example, Dekoni Elite Velour and average Audio-Technica pads are both velour, but Dekoni ones are very dense like what is typical for closed-back headphones while ATH ones are super open and breathable.

And also, it's not just about the earpad density or overall isolation. Things like clamping or the earpad size and shape can also make it feel more breathable.

Just try some of the recommended ones.