Does it make sense to buy high end headphones for listening to music on Youtube?

[SnowSlide]

@Pugsly

Have you heard/ had experience with open back headphones before?

No I haven’t.

@Pugsly

Be aware that they leak sound like crazy, and thus you will hear any noise in the room, and anyone in the room will be able to hear your music very easily.

I listen to music at a low volume so I think sound leakage shouldn’t be a problem?
I’ve put the headset I currently have to my normal listening volume and placed them on a table in front of me and I couldn’t hear a thing. I’ve heard (link to that reddit thread) that others will be able to hear the music I’m listening to at that volume.
If that’s true then sound leakage shouldn’t be a problem.

@Pugsly

If you want to see if it is ‘your thing’, you could always try something like Koss KPH30i with some Grado replacement pads (see Z reviews for this.) You could also try a pair of Grado SR60s/80s for something that is easier to drive, less expensive, and that would give you the flavour of an open back. Once you have something like this, I’d say try an online ABX test and see if you can even hear compression or not (ABX High Fidelity Test list ) as the results tend to be quite surprising (and upsetting for those of us who have spent too long chasing the audio dragon!)

Thanks I will check those headphones and the test out.

Also do you perhaps have any recommendations for closed back headphones?