Have IEMs made closed back headphones obselete?

[XaviMartinez55]

Not at all.

I fell into the iem rabbitt hole a few months ago and I've had to go back to headphones...........My tinnitus has only worsen with iems, also because everytime you puch the iem in for sealing, you actually have a mass of air pushing against your eardrum.... I had to go to the doctor and he told me "not sure what you are doing with your ears, but your eardrums are becoming concave".

It's not about the sound at all for me.....

 

[Tell]

For me it was my own head that killed on/over-ear headphones, a few years ago I started to get dizzy while listening to them, at first only when I was out riding my bike but then also inside. I tried a few different pairs but I always got more or less dizzy. Not exactly sure why, but I guess it's something about the pressure around the ears. So that's when I started exploring IEMs, at first bluetooth ones and later wired, and after I got the Zero2 and now the Gates I how no urge for overears at all.
Sure it can be a bit less comfortable with those things in the ear canal, but not getting dizzy or super warm ears and not having to have a place to store those big things when out and about is a BIG plus. And then of course the sound quality of my cheap IEMs is way better than any over ears I ever had. I also think it's generally easier to get a good seal with IEMs than regular headphones, hence better bass response.
I'm also a less-is-more-guy, so I genereally prefer smaller and more efficient things over bigger stuff.

So my answer to the question is yes, IEMs have made closed back headphones obselete.

 

[respice finem]

Not at all.

I fell into the iem rabbitt hole a few months ago and I've had to go back to headphones...........My tinnitus has only worsen with iems, also because everytime you puch the iem in for sealing, you actually have a mass of air pushing against your eardrum.... I had to go to the doctor and he told me "not sure what you are doing with your ears, but your eardrums are becoming concave".

It's not about the sound at all for me.....

Without tinnitus, this was exactly my problem with IEM, using standard earpieces. Plus, I was hearing my pulse and breathing loudly, with a good seal. With smaller size earpieces, I didn't, but haven't got a good seal any more. Foam-type cylindrical "memory foam" earpieces were the game changer. Less pressure and still good seal.

That said, with tinnitus, IEM are not good for you anyway.

 

[Bleib]

No, different and inferior sound. Do they mix with IEMs in the studio? Nah

 

[Blake Klondike]

I am not convinced that in-ear gear is better than all over the ear gear. I attempted getting better in-ear gear but no success to date. I have had several in-ear phones over the recent ~2 years and my Sennheiser open back headphones sound better than all of them. The Sennheiser over the ear open back headphones sound better in all ways.

i would love to find a pair of IEMs that could beat my HD800s but so far no luck at all.

 

[BolusOfDoom]

For me it did. I have some sort of right ear resonance at the frequency of a soprano that made a crackling sound if that frequency range was too loud. IEMs bypassed my pinna and the crackle went away.

 

[Multicore]

They make my ears itch terribly. Not comfortable at all.

 

[DVDdoug]

I prefer speakers, and then headphones. When I'm listening to headphones (not often) I generally prefer "open" headphones so I'm not isolated from what's going-on around me. Also, I sometimes wear glasses so I can't get a good seal. But my best sounding headphones are closed/sealed (without glasses).

Do they mix with IEMs in the studio? Nah

Pros don't mix or master on headphones either. Not as their "main monitors". They usually check the mix on headphones, in-ears, and various systems/speakers. And if they are using headphones for occasional monitoring tasks or while editing, they are easer to slip on-and-off than slipping in-ears in-and-out.

 

[drewdawg999]

I prefer IEMs now and rarely use my closed back headphones. I have the Mod House Argon mk3, the ZMF Atticus Cocobolo, and Beyerdynamic DT770 (80 ohm). It's just too hot and sweaty in SoCal to use full headphones, and since I've started using foam eartips for my IEMs, comfort has not been a problem. My favorite set is the Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch, they're AWESOME, for those of us who crave bass in a portable solution. I still have love for the Argon and the Atticus, but I just have that much more for the Punch, they're that good.

 

[suttondesign]

love love love truthear reds and hidizs mp145. my senn hd800’s gather dust.

 

[Blake Klondike]

love love love truthear reds and hidizs mp145. my senn hd800’s gather dust.

really? have you A/B them to any extent? I am very curious about this because I have terminal paranoia that if I am not using my HD800s I am missing out on something in the music. Do these IEMs duplicate the experience or just do it differently in a way you like?

 

[Tito]

we used to meet up at my broken studio
now we all use VSX373 iems and we just dont meet up anymore
i am afraid that its just too late
i curse the titktok iem influencers and steven slate



PRECHKORUS
superlux focals akg
became a part of history
my girldriend thinks i ve gone too far
chi fi waifue came and she took my heart

CHORUS /

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
you araaaaaaaaaaaaaaaae MY i e m star

 

[Tito]

Have you guys seen that new star wars tv show. Argando something. . hundreds of years into future and they still use some beyerdinamic 770 /akg aviatic style headphones. unbeliveable. i had to turn off the show after that. it is clear that old people writing these shows are not up to trends. tony scott you fraud give back your emmy for screenwriting they gave you few months ago your time is past due!

 

[Blake Klondike]

Have you guys seen that new star wars tv show. Argando something. . hundreds of years into future and they still use some beyerdinamic 770 /akg aviatic style headphones. unbeliveable. i had to turn off the show after that. it is clear that old people writing these shows are not up to trends. tony scott you fraud give back your emmy for screenwriting they gave you few months ago your time is past due!

at least they werent wwii aviator headphones! also, wasnt the fact that star wars world is 50% amazing technology and 50% antiquated junk a factor here? Like the millenium falcon can do amazing stuff but you have to pound on the control panel with your shoe to get it to work.

 

[Ktacos]

I like IEM's for some things, closed headphones for others. For music work, if I'm not singing IEM's are great. If I have to sing holy crap I hate them. The foldback effect of having things in your ears and singing is pretty awful, even if I try to compensate in the IEM's response. Headphones don't do that so I have to keep a pair around.

 

[suttondesign]

really? have you A/B them to any extent? I am very curious about this because I have terminal paranoia that if I am not using my HD800s I am missing out on something in the music. Do these IEMs duplicate the experience or just do it differently in a way you like?

of course. i have had hd800’s for like 15 years, and several other cans, and other iem’s. the zero red and the mp145 have incredible response smoothness, unbelievable impactful bass with almost no distortion. the hd800’s require a lot of eq and distort significantly in the deep bass when eq’d to have enough. just get some zero reds already!

 

[a5ehren]

IEMs make my ears sweat, so no.

 

[Joe Smith]

Nope! Actually, now my best wired IEMs are the items not getting used. For casual listening and when working outside of exercising, I use one of two sets of BT earbuds, my favorites the TOZO ones. For serious listening from a headphone amp, prefer one of my tradition al headphones.

 

[Bleib]

Have you guys seen that new star wars tv show. Argando something. . hundreds of years into future and they still use some beyerdinamic 770 /akg aviatic style headphones. unbeliveable. i had to turn off the show after that. it is clear that old people writing these shows are not up to trends. tony scott you fraud give back your emmy for screenwriting they gave you few months ago your time is past due!

Or rather they keep the original 70s style the original trilogy had, the same is also true for the new Alien show
Even in Lucas own prequels the droids could have been made to communicate wirelessly at ultra-rapid speeds instead of dumb things like 'roger roger'
You could also give them basically 360 vision, fast reflexes and multiple guns to shoot with at the same time to make it very deadly
But then humans couldn't even fight them and we'd have no movie to watch basically at all

Also, why is technology not more merged with humans to try to keep 'em up with technological advances?
We could do this endlessly basically..