The Best Studio Headphones For Music Production | The Ultimate Guide

An open-back headphone implies that the design of the ear cup allows for more airflow, whereas a close-back headphone offers more isolation. A semi-open design sits somewhere between the two. Read on to learn what these terms mean in greater detail.

Open-Back

These are generally regarded as the most natural and accurate sounding headphones out there; making them best-suited for critical listening. Open-back headphones typically provide a more accurate frequency response and a much larger soundstage. The design makes use of a transducer that is mounted in a space slightly away from the head and places a foam-filled enclosure that is often ventilated using slots or holes. Allowing some sound and air from outside means that they sound more natural to the listener, and refrain from colouring the sound the way that more isolating closed-back models do.

However, this is a clear trade-off as it means they will leak of sound outside of the phones—a potential disaster for a heavy hitting drummer. Vocalists will often prefer the more natural sounding playback to sing along to, though it becomes highly problematic when performing along to a click track.

Open-back headphones are optimal for referencing and surgical mixing. Things sound much wider overall with a natural brightness, though in comparison to closed-back headphones, sometimes lack a little something in the bass. They expose great detail of the audio and typically allow you to arrive at a more “sound“ decision for audio that translates well across all playback devices. We recommend open-back headphones with a flat frequency response and a deep low-end extension as to allow you to get a good grip on the low frequencies.

Closed-Back

More commonly used for monitoring during tracking are closed-back headphones. These tend to produce overall higher level as they more efficiently isolate the ear, preventing less sound from leaking into the room.

Musicians love wearing closed-back headphones during the creative process because they typically offer a bigger bass reproduction and block out a lot of outside noise. This encourages the listener to become consumed in the sound and get into a vibe.

The problem, however, lies in the fact that the design traps pressure inside the ear cup, creating false low frequencies. Some models will hype these frequencies for this very reason, and while they may help draw a better performance from an artist, it certainly makes them far from ideal for critical listening applications. The soundscape from closed-backs will ultimately feel more artificial; leaving you enthralled in the music but serenely disillusioned as to what’s really going on under the hood.

So if your mixes aren’t translating well across a variety of playback devices and you’re making decisions wearing a pair of closed-back headphones, you now know why.

Frequency Range indicates the span of audio frequencies a speaker can reproduce. Frequency Response is the Frequency Range versus Amplitude. In other words, a certain input signal level may produce 100dB of output, but at that same input level, certain frequencies along the Frequency Range may actually produce more or less output than 100dB. This would show as a peak or a valley at a given frequency along the Frequency Response Curve (FRC) depicted on a Frequency Response Graph. You with me?

Oftentimes, manufacturers of speakers or headphones “sweeten” certain frequencies, giving them a boost or a cut as to, for instance, enhance the bass to sound immediately enjoyable to the consumer market. For critical listening applications, you want to go for a pair of good studio headphones that have the flattest frequency response possible with the absolute least amount of sweetening.

Frequencies are measured in Hertz (Hz). The generally accepted standard range of audible frequencies is 20 to 20,000 Hz, although this will vary from person to person and is greatly influenced by environmental factors. Any of the best studio headphones will have a frequency range that is well within or beyond said ranges, and actually extend quite a bit further than most pairs of studio monitors. This is why spending time with your music in various pairs of headphones of all levels of quality is simply just good practice.

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

Total harmonic distortion is a flaw in audio reproduction which degrades the music you listen to by generating frequencies that were not intended. Sound is produced by a vibrating diaphragm in the driver. At high volumes, if this diaphragm cannot vibrate fast enough, there will be a resulting distortion. THD is expressed as a percentage, and the lower the better. Most headphones have a THD of less than 1%, and high-end recording headphones have considerably less.

Impedance (Ω)

This is a tough one to explain as it is a very technical measurement. In layman’s terms, impedance is a measure of electrical resistance and is displayed in Ohms.

Low impedance headphones (less than 25 ohms) require little power to deliver high audio levels, and can produce a louder sound from a standard headphone jack. This means they work well on equipment with weak amplification and require less voltage to achieve a target sound pressure level or SPL. However, it also means that they are more susceptible to being blown when connecting to more powerful amplifiers.

High impedance headphones (more than 25 ohms) require more power to deliver higher output levels. As a result, they are protected from damage caused by overloading, meaning they’ll have a longer lifespan and can be used with a wider range of audio equipment.