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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-25 · 8 min read · Independent comparison
These two products share almost nothing except the fact that both sit on or in your ears. One is a quadbrid wired IEM paired with a compact portable DAC. The other is a 2.4GHz wireless intercom headset built for people who talk to each other across a set. If you landed here searching for open back monitor headphones, the honest answer is that neither is a true open back over-ear studio headphone — but they solve two completely different jobs, and knowing which job is yours makes the choice easy.
• Linsoul Kiwi Ears Septet — biggest strength: a quadbrid driver array (1 dynamic + 4 balanced armature + 1 planar + 1 piezoelectric) plus an included Allegro Mini portable DAC, aimed squarely at high-fidelity wired listening.
• Linsoul Kiwi Ears Septet — biggest trade-off: it is a wired in-ear monitor, so it is tethered to a source and has no wireless freedom, no talkback, and no crew features.
• COMICA Seekcom S1 — biggest strength: full-duplex 2.4GHz wireless communication with a 1,640 ft line-of-sight range, dual antennas, and up to 12 hours of battery per headset.
• COMICA Seekcom S1 — biggest trade-off: its audio is tuned for intelligible speech (150Hz–7kHz), not for music reproduction, and it is on-ear rather than in-ear.
• Who each is for: the Septet is for a listener, musician or mixing hobbyist who wants wired detail; the S1 is for a director, sound recordist or multi-camera crew that needs to talk constantly.
The Septet is a wired in-ear monitor built around a four-technology driver stack. A 10mm composite dynamic driver handles the low end, and Linsoul describes it as capable of sub-bass down to 8Hz with a sub-woofer-like signature. Balanced armatures, a planar driver and a piezoelectric driver round out the rest of the range. In plain terms, this is a design that chases detail and separation across the whole frequency spectrum rather than a single "fun" tuning.
What makes this package notable is that it ships with the Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, a compact portable IEM DAC. That matters because the Septet is a wired IEM — it needs a decent source to shine, and the bundled Allegro Mini gives you one in an all-aluminum alloy body that is smaller and more pocketable than the full-size Allegro. For someone plugging into a phone, laptop or portable player, that removes one purchase decision.
Who should skip it? Anyone who needs to move around untethered, communicate with a team, or monitor speech across a noisy set. The Septet has no wireless technology, no battery, and no intercom features at all. If your priority is freedom of movement or group talkback, this is the wrong tool. And if you specifically want an open back over-ear headphone for a wide, airy soundstage, an in-ear monitor is a different physical approach entirely — it seals your ear canal rather than letting sound leak out.
COMICA Seekcom S1: Who It's For
The Seekcom S1 is not a music product. It is a two-way headset communication system — a wireless intercom built for production crews. It uses 2.4GHz wireless with a dual-antenna design that intelligently shifts working bands to reduce interference, and COMICA rates it for up to 1,640 ft (500m) of line-of-sight range in open areas. That is the kind of reach that matters on a large film set, an outdoor event, a sports shoot or a live broadcast where the camera operator and the director are nowhere near each other.
The features are all production-first. You can switch host and guest roles freely and set up multiple groups, which is exactly what a multi-camera crew, sound team, director and assistants need in order to keep separate conversations from stepping on each other. There is CalMix AI intelligent noise reduction plus a traditional ENC mode, switchable with a single click depending on how noisy the environment is. The headset offers TALK, PTT (push-to-talk) and MUTE modes, and the integrated battery runs up to 12 hours — enough for a long shooting day.
Audio quality is specified as 24kHz/16bit with a 150Hz–7kHz frequency response. That range is deliberately voice-focused: it covers the fundamentals of human speech and intelligibility rather than deep bass or sparkling highs. A 3.5mm audio input, cascade extension support and USB-C digital audio (UAC) cover PC conferences, charging and firmware updates, and the Comica control app handles operation. An OLED display shows signal strength, battery, volume and the noise-reduction mode at a glance.
Who should buy it? A director, sound recordist, assistant or multi-camera operator who needs reliable, hands-free talkback with a team over long distances. The one-key broadcasting and Recorder Mode with one-click ducking are aimed directly at sound recordists who need to hear both the crew and the audio they are capturing. If you run events, this is a communication tool, not a listening tool.
Who should skip it? Anyone buying for music. The 150Hz–7kHz range and voice-tuned noise reduction are the wrong priorities for enjoying an album or mixing a track. And because it is an on-ear closed design with active noise cancellation, it is the opposite of an open back headphone in both philosophy and use.
• Best for critical music listening and wired fidelity → Linsoul Kiwi Ears Septet. The quadbrid driver array and bundled Allegro Mini DAC are aimed at detail and low-end extension.
• Best for team communication over distance → COMICA Seekcom S1. Full-duplex 2.4GHz with up to 1,640 ft line-of-sight and dual antennas.
• Best for battery life → COMICA Seekcom S1. Up to 12 hours per headset, with no wired tether.
• Best for a portable, source-ready setup → Linsoul Kiwi Ears Septet. It includes its own compact DAC, so a phone or laptop is enough.
• Best for multi-person coordination → COMICA Seekcom S1. Flexible host/guest switching, multi-group setup, TALK/PTT/MUTE modes and one-key broadcasting.
• Best for sub-bass depth → Linsoul Kiwi Ears Septet. The 10mm dynamic driver is specified for sub-bass down to 8Hz.
• Best for clear speech in noisy places → COMICA Seekcom S1. CalMix AI and ENC dual-mode noise reduction with one-click switching.
• Best if you want true open back over-ear headphones → neither. Both are sealed ear-worn designs; open back is a different category altogether.
If I were buying for myself, I would pick the Linsoul Kiwi Ears Septet. My reasoning is simple: I listen to music far more than I coordinate a film crew, and the Septet's quadbrid driver stack plus the included Allegro Mini DAC gives me a complete wired monitoring setup in one purchase. The COMICA Seekcom S1 is excellent at what it does — long-range, full-duplex, noise-reduced team talkback — but it is a specialist communication tool, and I would only buy it if that were my actual job. Buy the one that matches your daily reality, not the one with more features on paper.
how to open back headphones work
Open back headphones use earcups with vents or grilles that let air move freely between the driver and the outside world, rather than sealing the ear. That venting usually produces a wider, more spacious soundstage and a more natural sense of air, but it also means sound leaks out and outside noise leaks in. Neither product here is a true open back over-ear headphone — the Septet is a sealed in-ear monitor and the S1 is a closed on-ear intercom headset.
what is open back studio headphones
Open back studio headphones are over-ear headphones built with an open rear chamber, typically used in mixing and mastering where a natural, spacious presentation matters more than isolation. Because they leak sound both ways, they are usually a poor fit for tracking sessions, live stages or noisy rooms. If that specific behaviour is what you need, neither the Septet nor the S1 delivers it; they are designed for isolation and communication respectively.
what are the best open back headphones
There is no single best — the right open back headphone depends on your source, your comfort preferences and what you are monitoring. What I can say from these two data sheets is that neither the Linsoul Kiwi Ears Septet nor the COMICA Seekcom S1 is an open back headphone at all, so if open back acoustics are your goal, keep looking within that category. If you actually want a wired IEM for detail, the Septet is the one to consider here.
are open back headphones better
Not universally. Open back designs are often preferred for mixing and critical listening because of their spacious, natural presentation, but they isolate poorly and leak sound, which makes them worse for travel, tracking or noisy environments. Closed designs like the S1 trade that openness for isolation and noise reduction, and in-ear monitors like the Septet trade it for portability and a tight seal. "Better" depends entirely on the job.
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