[Daeder]

I'm feeling the need for better sound from my computer and I want to start with the head phones. I play games now and then but mostly music, all kinds ranging from dance, trance, R&B, rock.

Now I've been researching and have found the Senn hd 280 pro and the hd 555 to be what I'm looking for. I don't know which one to choose though, but I do want the better sounding one but from reviews that I've read from sites like Cnet, say I should get the hd 280 pro for music as it sounds more lively. Hd 555 is just better for movies but it sounds richer?.

I would prefer the 280 pro closed design for when me and my friend are playing in the same room but I wouldn't mind getting the hd 555 if it had at least 5x's better sound over the 280pro as I am looking for really nice sound for a good price. (portability not a problem)

If anyone can help me or give me a suggestion other than those headphones, it would be greatly appreciated and my budget is around $100, $120-40 is pushing it but it has to be reasonably better to justify the purchase.

I'm also going to purchase today when I get back from work and I'm in the U.S so I'm fine with shipping. If any of you guys have any better suggestions than my listed ones, please me links and price details and also a reason. If you can tell, I am fairly new to the can word.

Please guys link me to some awesome good cans or tell me which I should get from the 2 i listed!!!!!!!

 

[mthrsuperior]

Well I have both the cans you mention and use them both regularly.
The 280s at work and the 555 when I walk my dog. =)
I'm not sure I'd agree the 280s are more lively. I'd say the other way around, unless by lively you mean "slammin".
Given the music you mentioned and the fact you'll be gaming the 280s might serve you better. Be aware they have a really tight seal almost to a fault. That is, I can actually hear my pulse if turn the music off.
The 555s are on the other hand *very* open - hence I like to use them when I'm outside and need to be aware of sounds around me.
The 555s have a nice, detailed and relaxed presentaton which is more to my taste.
Since I love goofball analogies so much, the 555 are to a Lexus as the 280s are to a muscle car. =D

Edit to add. headphone.com is a good place to get either of these and if your budget can handle it, their Total Bithead amplifier will no doubt blow you away with the improvement to the sound. Especially with the 280s.

 

[espire]

I was actually just recently discussing this with my uncle, who's planning to buy a pair headphones recently. He ended up going Grado, deciding that his preference was the SR-125, I believe. However, he listened to both the HD-280 and the HD-555 in a store, and found the HD-280 better, as it made the music sound more lively. However, he felt that the HD-280s were playing louder, which could explain it.

 

[Daeder]

AWW MANN, it kinda helps me but still leaves me wondering, I'm going to best buy right now to check it out so it seems those 2 headphones are pretty good budget ones then I presume?

 

[fewtch]

IMO the HD280 sounds very harsh... I'd go for almost anything else (but that's just me).

P.S. I'm a fan of the older DT880 too, which some ppl think are bright... so it's not like I dislike brighter phones.

 

[espire]

Have you though about Grado? You might want to look up the SR-80, or even try it if you can.

 

[mthrsuperior]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daeder /img/forum/go_quote.gif AWW MANN, it kinda helps me but still leaves me wondering, I'm going to best buy right now to check it out so it seems those 2 headphones are pretty good budget ones then I presume?

Yes you presume correctly.

They're both great phones regardless of budget.
Beware the 280pros tend to divide people into love em or hate em camps so you'll get lots of diverging views.
Such as fewtch finding them 'very harsh' /boggle !!
(I'm kiddin fewtch, to each his own...)
Listen to them both and decide what sounds best to you.
It's worth it to buy from a retailer that will let you exchage if need be.
Then you aren't under so much pressure to make the right decision the first time.

PS I PM'd you.

 

[metalears]

If anyone following this theard is interested, I'll be getting my 555's in a couple of days and will be able to compare them with my trustworthy 280's which i've been using for 1.5 years...

 

[moogoob]

Give the 280s a slight bass boost and they're golden.

I still use mine frequently when I need isolation, and they even scale up a bit with a nice portable amp/DAC like the Headroom Total Bithead, but also sound just fine out of a portable audio player, even one with a weedy amp like the first generation iPod Nanos.

EDIT: Threadomancer!!!!!! lol I forgot to check the post dates.

 

[metalears]

Yep, I do exactly the same on the eq. But, there is a big but: 280s cannot respond to bass or in other words, you cannot load all the bass that comes from your audio file of choice. So, with heavy bass music, you can actually hear the drivers overworking and moving, and making the "womp" sound. At that moment, I reduce the bass but to achieve no 'womp' sound, I have to reduce the bass so much that there's too little left

This can be proved with the headroom.com frequency respond graph, comparing the 280 with other grand stereophile headphones:

=213&graphID[]=549&graphID[]=585&graphID[]=255]http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCom...phID[]=255

So, the Senny HD 280 Pro can't handle a big load of bass