[Zibit]

How big of a difference is going from a senn 212 to a 280 be? Im not really happy with my 212s and want to get something better. Dont really want to get an amp.

I was thinking of the ultrasone 650 but some say it needs an amp. I was also thinking of the Grado 225 but after this close to buying it, I was reading that I probably wont get the best out of it from my computer. Audigy2. Offtopic I guess, but it is my thread. So please reccommend what would be best. Open closed doesnt matter.

Oh I pretty much just use my computer for listening to death/black metal. A little bit of gaming, nothing serious. And im extremely not a basshead.

Thank you.

 

[hempcamp]

Three words: "world of difference."

The 212 is a crappy set of cans, if you ask me. Unrefined and unbalanced.

--Chris

 

[Ryan T]

I like my 212 pro's for airplane flights were your in very noisey enviroments. They extra bass boost is great cause with other cans you can hear the bass over the airplane engine. Plus they are sealed pretty well to the outside enviroment.


Ryan

 

[Zibit]

Ok. How do the 280s compare to the ultrasone 650's and grado 225. I just want the best bang for the buck between the three. Like I said no amp. Thank you again.

 

[bangraman]

Warning: I've only listened to Ultrasones for about 10 minutes, but I do have the experience of owning about 50 different phones in the last 3 years (driven by proper sources), most of them above $100.


In that audition, the HFI-650 smoked the HD280, both amped and unamped out of an iRiver PCDP and a Sharp MD (not the greatest test gear, but the Sharp in particular wasn't a bad tool to use for comparisons). Compared to the 280, the sound was much more natural and well-balanced. The HD280 sounded tinny and I could detect a rough edge in comparison. And these were my HD280's, which I was completely used to.


The HD280 is however a much better phone than the HD212, which I consider a generally excreable piece of headgear... Which is a shame because it needn't be. [size=xx-small]Are you listening Sennheiser? You can end up with a SR60 challenging closed phone within the same price point as the 497/212.[/size]


The Ultrasone is less of a culture shock while providing a better quality sound than the 280. I know it costs more, but I think it's just as good value as the (frequently heavily discounted) HD280. It isolates less, but the smaller earcups make it more portable. Hope that helps.

 

[BANGPOD]

The HD-212 Pro bass is extremely bloated, excessive, and not defined.
The HD-280 is leagues above the HD-212 Pro in all aspects.
That's why I threw out my HD-212 Pro's after a single week

BANGPOD

 

[Magic77]

I've never heard the 212's, but I do have the 280's and they are a great pair of Headphones for $100. Go get them!!

 

[Zibit]

Im leaning towards the ultrasones or the grado 225s.. Im not sure which to get, no way to test the ultrasones.. and few places around here have grados.

Anyways thanks for the replys.

 

[Davie]

I'm one of the few people around here that prefer the 280 to the Ultrasone 650. For me, the 650 is overbalanced towards the treble and bass. As someone else once said, it sounds like something has been scooped out of the middle. But this is more a matter of "sonic character" than quality per se. Other headphones have different characters. For me the strong treble of the 650 gets irritating whereas 280 sounds more neutral. In other respects the 650 is terrific, with a lively and remarkably open sound for a closed phone.

Also, as has been mentioned many times in this forum, the 280 improves steadily with use. My experience is that after several months the "tinny" quality is gone and the sound is reasonably warm.

I've had good results with both cans straight out of my portables.

Oh and, yeah, the 212 s#cks big time. I don't know how Sennheiser came to the decision to release the thing since it's so obviously flawed -- simply a dud design.

 

[Davie]

oops, double post.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Davie, cheer up about the 212. Though by no means the greatest closed headphones even in the $40~$50 price range, I've certainly heard worse closed headphones for more $$$. (Such as the Sony V-CRAP series - V150, V250V, V300, V500DJ, V600 - and the B0s3 Tr1P0r+. D33z sux0r3d.

)

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally posted by Eagle_Driver Davie, cheer up about the 212. Though by no means the greatest closed headphones even in the $40~$50 price range, I've certainly heard worse closed headphones for more $$$. (Such as the Sony V-CRAP series - V150, V250V, V300, V500DJ, V600, and the B0s3 Tr1P0r+. )

I've tried way too many closed headphones in this bracket. None of them were really good, except the PX200 which is kind of the exception that proves the rule. There is at least one (the Philips HS900) that sounds very good but offers virtually no isolation so may as well be considered open. Plus it is very fragile due to poor physical design.

The 212 is not so much *bad* as *horribly flawed.* The bass on it is simply gargantuan. Given some extreme equalizer tweaking it actually sounds similar to the 497. It's like the Mona Lisa with a mohawk and a safety pin through its nose.