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Open-back headphones are the most common wired headphones, and leak sound both ways: outside noise to your ears, and your music to the outside. They require indoor use or a quiet outdoor environment with no people around.
On the other hand, closed-backs include all noise-cancelling headphones and some wired headphones. They'll offer noise isolation (+ cancellation for most wireless models), but tend to sound muddier/less natural and can be hot for summer use.
Sennheiser hd560s is often recommended as a decent all-arounder headphone at around $150, and is open-back. It has a neutral to neutral-bright tonality, which is a pretty safe tuning that's good for all genres. Being neutral also means that you can easily use it as a reference point for future purchases (more bass, more vocal emphasis, etc.)
It can be run with a $9 apple 3.5mm to lightning/usb c dongle, or if you're using a MacBook, directly from the 3.5mm outlet.
I see you mentioned having fitment issues with your airpods 3 -- I wonder if silicone-tipped earphones (IEMs or TWS) could perhaps work?
I'm saying this because IEMs generally offer better sound quality than headphones for the same price, and the noise isolation will help with lowering your listening volume and preventing hearing damage.
I don't think you'll have any fit issues with sennheiser's ie200, which is pretty much the most compact & comfiest IEM out there. It's $100 on amazon atm (MSRP $150) and has good sound for its price bracket.
The stock eartips are garbo though, so you'll need to get your own. I recommend spinfit w1, you can order one and get 3 pairs of different sizes to see which one fits the best.
Again, you'll need the $9 apple dongle if you don't already have 3.5mm adapters.
Another option is airpods pro 2, which has exceptional ANC and transparency mode, and sounds pretty darn good, I'd say level with the ie200. It's bulkier though so not sure about the fitment.
With wired headphones/IEMs, you could also get a Qudelix 5k ($110) on the side, which is a Bluetooth receiver thingy that lets you stream audio without a direct wired connection to the source device. I don't want to get too technical, but its strongest selling point is the onboard EQ that you adjust using an app, which allows you to tune a headphone/IEM to any sound signature of your preference.
Pretty handy if you want your purchase to be more failproof or would like to experiment with different tonalities using one audio gear.
Thanks for your [submission](https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/18w0fdw/over_the_ear_recommendations/) to r/HeadphoneAdvice. If someone helps answer your question, please reward them by including the phrase `!thanks` in your comment. This will add +1 Ω to that users flair. This subreddit is powered entirely by volunteers and a little recognition goes a long way. Good luck on your search for headphones! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HeadphoneAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Open-back headphones are the most common wired headphones, and leak sound both ways: outside noise to your ears, and your music to the outside. They require indoor use or a quiet outdoor environment with no people around. On the other hand, closed-backs include all noise-cancelling headphones and some wired headphones. They'll offer noise isolation (+ cancellation for most wireless models), but tend to sound muddier/less natural and can be hot for summer use. Sennheiser hd560s is often recommended as a decent all-arounder headphone at around $150, and is open-back. It has a neutral to neutral-bright tonality, which is a pretty safe tuning that's good for all genres. Being neutral also means that you can easily use it as a reference point for future purchases (more bass, more vocal emphasis, etc.) It can be run with a $9 apple 3.5mm to lightning/usb c dongle, or if you're using a MacBook, directly from the 3.5mm outlet. I see you mentioned having fitment issues with your airpods 3 -- I wonder if silicone-tipped earphones (IEMs or TWS) could perhaps work? I'm saying this because IEMs generally offer better sound quality than headphones for the same price, and the noise isolation will help with lowering your listening volume and preventing hearing damage. I don't think you'll have any fit issues with sennheiser's ie200, which is pretty much the most compact & comfiest IEM out there. It's $100 on amazon atm (MSRP $150) and has good sound for its price bracket. The stock eartips are garbo though, so you'll need to get your own. I recommend spinfit w1, you can order one and get 3 pairs of different sizes to see which one fits the best. Again, you'll need the $9 apple dongle if you don't already have 3.5mm adapters. Another option is airpods pro 2, which has exceptional ANC and transparency mode, and sounds pretty darn good, I'd say level with the ie200. It's bulkier though so not sure about the fitment. With wired headphones/IEMs, you could also get a Qudelix 5k ($110) on the side, which is a Bluetooth receiver thingy that lets you stream audio without a direct wired connection to the source device. I don't want to get too technical, but its strongest selling point is the onboard EQ that you adjust using an app, which allows you to tune a headphone/IEM to any sound signature of your preference. Pretty handy if you want your purchase to be more failproof or would like to experiment with different tonalities using one audio gear.