The 9600 are designed to be fairly linear for their price. They try not to have too much coloring although they are slightly colored on the bass and treble. Being open back means the sound doesn’t bounce back so it doesn’t sound muffled. It opens up what the audio was recorded as. Yes, the room will hear everything you hear since it’s open back. If you prefer a certain type of sound like heavy bass, neutral headphones may not be for you. There’s a world of difference between closed backs and open backs so it may take you a few days to get used to the different sound if this is your first pair of open back. That being said, sound is all about preference so if you still don’t like them a week later return them and get some closed back ones.