Basic/mid fi headphone advice.

The ’open’ question... Yes open means you can hear stuff around you even with phones on. And yes it also means others nearby CAN hear your music more than with a closed phone design.One solution to cut off ANY sound is to use earbuds, and Shooters/Handgun use earmuffs. Those can cut the sound over 33dB from in to out and reverse. I know op said no buds. But.. Maybe some SMALL over the ear can FIT INSIDE the shooter’s earmuffs.Particularly if zero sound is to be allowed.. Possible solution. Also you might be able to carve a bit out of the inner foam inside big muffs... to allow room for somewhat larger over the ear phones. Maybe able to take off headband of phones and attach inside the muffs?

The Sonys that I got block sound out quite well. And my wife says she hears nothing when I’m sitting nearby with them.

I used earbuds with shooting ear muffs (I’m a shooter too) for years when I was mowing on my farm tractor. Works well enough for both purposes. Will try out these Sonys for that as well. Even with small earbuds the muffs start to get uncomfortable after a while.

My main problems with ear bud is they don’t sound good to me unless they are pushed way into my ear canal. Then they sound awesome. I’ve got a decent pair with soft rubber tips (think stethoscope) and they sound great until they start to back out which they always do.

Anyway, new ear pads for the Sony arrive today. If they are comfortable then all problems solved.

The modern retros are ridiculously light and very comfortable. When I first unboxed them I said to myself, you have to be kidding me. They felt like a piece of crap headphone. No weight whatsoever.
The bass blows me away. If you don't want really heavy bass, then these may not be the cans for you. I'm only recommending these headphones to you because they are $24.99. Going by your post, you seem like sound quality isn't too important and you didn't want to spend a lot of money. Less than $100 I think.

Personally, going by your original post, I think you should have taken a chance on these at $24.99 because if your budget is $100 then in the grand scheme of things every headphone will be crap. Might as well save yourself a few bucks.

On second thought, screw the modern retros and screw all the other headphones you considered. I'm listening to my Focal Clears right now and you should just get yourself a pair. You only live once.

I got the replacement ear pads and they are much more comfortable. Overall happy with the purchase and even with the replacement pads it came in at under $100 with free next day shipping.