Don't worry, even amazing headphones like the DCA Expanse can be like this. Looks open but behaves like closed.

The same way you hear in 3D while only having two ears, but reversed.

Your ears are shaped such that when a sound comes from a certain direction, your ears physically alter it in a way your brain can understand. That lets you hear a direction. (Left and right are done by relative volume in each ear as well).

Dolby atmos and similar techniques apply filters to the sound that make it behave similarly to what your ear does, and that fools your brain into thinking the sound came from a specific direction.

The only one that I think is worth it, is the ADI-2. It has features no other dac has. I have mine auto switch eq profiles based on whether I use speakers or headphones.

To me they sound a little shrill, which is also an area that's harder to measure.

Foam earplugs make the problem less annoying to me.

I do like the Aeons. My Noire are pretty comfy to me but not at the level of the HD800S to me. Haven't tried Dekoni pads because they seem to affect sound so much you basically need to EQ twice as hard. Might be worth it though.

Interesting. I tried the Utopia 2022 a month and a half ago and found it severely uncomfortable. The headband pressed into the top of my skull and the round cups didn't sit well with me at all.

Shows that, as I was kidding in my previous comment, it really is your mileage may vary. Because I don't doubt the Focals are super comfortable for others.

The HD800 line disagrees. They're a close second though! ;)

All we know is, her laughter is absolutely hideous.

Okay, let's do the basics:

A DAC is a digital-to-analog converter. If you use a digital thing (TV, tablet, phone, computer, Cd player, basically anything that isn't tape or vinyl) you need to do this step to produce an analog sound.

If you want to then hear the sound, it needs to be amplified. A DAC doesn't produce an audible signal on its own.

Neither is very difficult to do these days - the dongles that some phones have included often do both.

There are many, many DACs and amplifiers you could buy. It depends heavily on what you want to spend on them. One option per example: FX-AUDIO DAC-X6 MKII

I know what you mean.

I listened to the Dan Clark Expanse extensively a month back. I was ready to buy it. But comparing it to my (EQ'd) HD800S, I didn't really find it preferential. It sounded good but not revolutionary, which was the only way I could justify the high price tag. Some things even sounded worse to me.

Listening to anything else seems pretty pointless, so I guess this is it. Either that or I pick an Expanse up second-hand someday and give it a more thorough listen. But in the mean time, I feel like we plateaud.