What closed back headphones sound like open back?

you know, wide soundstage, something most closed back’s aren’t known for in comparison to open back.

soundstage wise the 770 sounds pretty wide not as wide as most open backs but wider than most closed

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Pretty much all of the ZMF closed backs. My Eikon has a bigger soundstage than some of the open backs I’ve owned.

The Elegia as well sounds very open just like the Eikon does but the staging is more intimate on those.

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The Elegia are the most open sounding closed backs I’ve ever heard…soundstage is intimate though. Many people confuse how open something sounds with soundstage…remember that those are 2 different things. :wink:

As far as soundstage, I agree with @RiceGuru and @Towa … DT 770 and my ZMF Atticus are the widest soundstage I’ve heard in a closed back headphone. The Modhouse Audio Argon also has wide soundstage as well.

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My HD58X are “open-back” but my Fostex T50RPs got twice the soundstage (let’s say, more than “shoulder wide” ?). But it’s mostly because HD58Xs are known to have… not much soundstage.

(Yeah, T50RPs are technically “semi-open” because there’s a 1cm x 1cm grill but…)

The Elegia are definitely open sounding. I think the way Focal designed the inside of the cups allowed them to simulate what a Clear would sound like, but with the Elegia being closed. The inside of the cups capture and diffuse the sound rather than allow it to bounce back and around within the cup like a normal closed can. I’d love to compare them with the Clear directly to see if the only difference is being able to hear the room your in, and if you can even tell a difference with music playing at moderate to high volumes.

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MMX300s with the Dekoni Choice pads have a wide soundstage. They make my PM3s sound small and narrow in comparison.

I can say the stellia is similar to the elegia in this regard

these are just a DT880 600ohm as a headset, no?

Stella blew me away.

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I’ve never listened to the DT880s 600ohm but I read a review (Headphone Guru) that likened the MMX300s to DT880s, “like a closed-back DT880 with bass that reaches lower.”

I don’t know about that one… mmx300 definitely has more body to its sound and is much much bassier in comparison. Sounds more like my dt 770 more than the 880. Could just be my hearing though.