open-ear
adj1
Synonym of open-back (“partially covering the ear”).
- The open-ear nature of the 580s is IMO their only disadvantage.2008 June 1, Arny Krueger, “headphone surround processors?”, in rec.audio.opinion (Usenet):
- I have a Dean Bass-in-a-Box. Even with cheap headphones, IMHO it sounds great. Fine for using open-ear headphones and playing along with "music in the room".2008 August 4, dusto...@mac.com, “Bass headphone amp recommendations?”, in alt.guitar.bass (Usenet):
2 more examples
- Some of todays best phones are from Audio Tecknica. I have the ath ad700 an open ear design.2009 April 21, GregS, “BOSE headphones”, in rec.antiques.radio+phono (Usenet):
- However, so far, there’s a fairly low ceiling on audio quality for open-ear headphones — so don’t expect audiophile quality regardless.2021 January 8, Dieter Bohn, “The JLab JBuds Frames are open-ear headphones you clip to your glasses”, in The Verge, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2022: