Open-back headphones.
Where does the back of a headphone driver push the air?
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Where does the back of a headphone driver push the air?
Where does the back of a headphone driver push the air?
Fit all five cup assemblies to satisfy the stand interlock.
A coil in a magnetic gap moves the diaphragm. The front and rear faces push air in opposite directions. An open grille lets the rear cavity vent; a sealed cover stores compression behind the diaphragm and changes its motion. Closing the rear keeps the driven front output. This is an illustrative test stand, not a prediction of a particular headphone.
Illustrative linear small-signal, single-channel moving-coil model: 32 Ω coil, 0.08 mH inductance, BL 0.8 N/A, 0.25 g moving mass, 180 N/m suspension, 0.25 N·s/m damping; front acoustic loading is a constant 0.05 N·s/m. A 36 mm effective diaphragm drives a 30 cm³ rear cavity with a chosen 15 cm² vent, 5 mm effective length and 2500 Pa·s/m³ resistance. Lumped pressure assumes wavelengths exceed cup dimensions. The stand has a completeness interlock; a removed grille does not mean every real bare driver becomes silent. No SPL, sound quality, ear seal, hearing safety or commercial product prediction. Cutaway and captive-guide layer separation only inspect geometry. The numerical diaphragm is an effective piston; the drawn cone flex is an illustrative mode shape, not a resolved membrane simulation. Both cups face forward on the inspection stand; the right channel alone is modeled. Motion is slowed 200× and excursion magnified 30×; arrows show volume-flow amplitude and phase, not sound rays or loudness.
With the rear vent open, produce at least 20 µm peak diaphragm travel.
Compare airflow with an open and sealed rear vent.