Do you listen to your music with your eyes open or closed or a combination of both?

Closed and with the lights turned off.  I also take my glasses off.  

When I’m paying close attention to the music, I tend to have my eyes closed and the lights dimmed. I think that by reducing other sensory inputs, my focus on the sound is heightened.

I am an amateur musician, and when I play guitar, it is often with my eyes closed. I find that I can “visualize“ the fretboard better with my fingers than with my eyes. I think something similar goes on when listening to music with my eyes closed. I can visualize the placement of the instruments, “feel” the bass player’s fingers sliding over the strings, etc.

It’s not quite synaesthetic, but close. 

 Closed. to my ears it enhances the whole soundstage/imaging thingy....

Both, but I prefer to keep them open while the room is as dark as I can get it. I also always remove my glasses @immatthewj I think I read about this little tweak in Listener years ago and it definitely makes a difference, at least for me. It certainly stands to reason - you are basically removing a highly reflective surface from a spot inches in front of your ears.

I listen exclusively at night, blacked out room, I do combo, mostly closed however. I want no distractions during my listening sessions, no visual stimulation for me.

Well, both, but if I keep my eyes closed for too long I fall asleep !

Both - it often depends on the music.... 

@sfgak 

I am an amateur musician, and when I play guitar, it is often with my eyes closed. I find that I can “visualize“ the fretboard better with my fingers than with my eyes.

I wish I'd gotten into that playing habit, but after 50 years, that's a big ask. Looking at the fingerboard is definitely not good for my neck so I'm currently experimenting with postural changes to see if I can lessen the negative impacts. 

I find when listening to live music, I often close my eyes. Not so much, when listening at home.  I can only conclude there are typically more distractions in a live venue.  

Looking at the fingerboard is definitely not good for my neck so I'm currently experimenting with postural changes to see if I can lessen the negative impacts. 

@stuartk Just don't end up like this:

Lights off, eyes closed. I find that my sense of hearing is enhanced when my sense of sight is removed from the equation. The background is blacker, the "tweak" is free and the speakers actually disappear.

@winoguy17  +1

@sfgak 

Hopefully not!  Makes me wonder -- did Picasso actually paint that from life? It's hard to imagine anyone could sustain such a posture for very long.

I just bought one of these :

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OH29--oasis-oh-29-guitar-support-small?mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700080454169299&lid=92700080454169299&ds_s_kwgid=58700008743176685&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=2311735101264&pro

It's angled so that you can angle the guitar back somewhat while still maintaining decent posture. My wife's gonna make a strap that will wrap around my leg and secure with velcro so it doesn't slip. Unlike the guy in the painting, I play steel string, not Classical/Flamenco. 

both

Always open, like at a concert. Isn't it what most audiophiles strive for, reproducing the sound of a live concert in their homes. Who closes their eyes at a concert? I don't.

I do. In fact, the more I’m drawn onto the music, the greater the likelihood I’ll end up closing my eyes.

...And I've never striven to reproduce the sound of a concert at home. Sitting at home, listening to music is just fine with me. I don't demand that it be anything other than that. 

Only when I fall asleep.enjoy the music eyes wide open or closed.stevie wounder due to his loss of sight developed astute hearing due to his disability. Just a thought

@immatthewj ....*s* Who needs glasses when the mind has perfect vision....;)

One eye open, the other closed. 

Eyes open when I'm just playing music. Eyes closed and glasses off when I’m listening critically. As per others, I think I can listen better without the visual distraction. My room has lots of windows, so lights on or off doesn’t really matter.

I listen in a dimly lit room.  Sometimes I close my eyes.  If I’m listening at night and I close my eyes I wake up later and the music has stopped.  

both depending on the buzz

As I age, if I close my eyes while listening to, sleep beckons.

Eyes closed lights dimmed. 
 

you must close your eyes to see the music. 

Eyes closed, hand partially down front of pants.... Bundy Style!

+1 on immathewj's response about lights off, eyes closed, although I take off my glasses only sometimes.  When I cannot see the physical objects in the room, it tricks my combined senses into "seeing" a wider and deeper soundstage, as I am depending solely on my hearing unaugmented by sight.  I've been doing this since I was in college.  It also brings back memories of the mostly classical concerts I have attended.  I have a performance of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony (the Pastorale) that can almost convince me that I am back in the Berlin Philharmonic's concert hall of the late 1970's hearing Karl Böhm conduct.  It enhances my listening experience.  YMMV.

When listening to my good system it sounds best at night, dimly lit room (candle or recessed light at most). Also project a " party" light projector behind stereo rack on front wall.

Not crazy disco light, but enough to give "life" to the front wall. Takes the eyes focus off speakers and helps my ears focus on the music. For me, soundstage and instrument placement improves.

I hang out with a questionable bunch of characters. 

Eyes always open.

An enhanced experience with glasses off, eyes closed and dark room. But then I wake up to the sound of the needle skipping against the center label. 

Late night into early morning is best.

Mostly closed with dim lights. I like to be in the acoustic space the music offers and looking at my room distracts from that. But every few minutes I'll open them to make sure the boogie man didn't sneak in. 

Usually opened, in a slightly darkened room. 

For me, nothing really changes as far as imaging and soundstage, whether my eyes are opened or not. 

Also, my ability to become fully engaged in the music does not change.

I love the eyes open cuz you hang out with interesting people.i did my surgical training in inner city new york.it was a mash setting.great place to train and yes had to keep eyes open all the time.enjoy the music

Well, both, but if I keep my eyes closed for too long I fall asleep !

LOL!

I listen with eyes open. At live shows, I have eyes open because part of the experience is watching the musicians interact with the audience and each other. I wear glasses and have tried with/without. There is a perceived positive difference without but not enough to require going full-time without. YMMV

Closed.

Improves all aspects of sound quality.

Who needs glasses when the mind has perfect vision....;)

@asvjerry , . . . he’s outside looking in . . .

Maybe I am the odd man out.  I find it best with my eyes open.  I feel as though I am watching the musicians on the sound stage.  Location and depth of instrument placement, the main/front singer and the backup singers' locations.  It just all seems to come together better when I am watching the music unfold directly in front of me.  And of course, I sometimes drift off a bit, my eyes close, and I definitely enjoy that too.  Watching the music, along with listening to it, is part of the total experience.

Open. Staring at the hanging bulb over the turntable. Because LEDs sound bad, it’s a 60w incandescent, and I know that one day, it’s going to burn through the plastic and fall on the cartridge.

Closed, nearly always and lights off or way down. I do leave my glasses on but I am not distracted by them. Always at night for a serious listen.

Someone said they keep them open as if at a concert. You are not at a concert, you are trying to recreate one. Watching your speakers or the lights on your components is not at all like watching a live performance where the whole visual aspect is a good part of the show. Hard to imagine yourself at a show with your eyes open..........at least it is for me. Not like you can literally "trick yourself" but you can sort of imagine a bit better with eyes closed. at least I can. I don't tolerate talking either. Shut up or leave. :)