[Snoodge]

any opinions on this?

HD280Pro vs HD265 ?

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Forget about the HD-265. That particular headphone is regarded as "crap" - it is extremely dark in its presentation, with muddy overall sound.

 

[Nak Man]

Second that 265 opinion. Can only stand them for 1 hr before returning them to store, feel like bass hammering my head. Even lowly 25sp have much better tonal balance.

To be fair I didn't give them enough burn in period - I don't think they will change that much anyway.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nak Man Second that 265 opinion. Can only stand them for 1 hr before returning them to store, feel like bass hammering my head.

Furthermore, the quality of the HD-265's bass leaves a LOT to be desired, as well - that bass tends to be of the muddy, bloated one-note variety instead of the tight, musical variety.

 

[acg2424]

The HD280 is a much better sounding h-phone

 

[schwarzenneger]

i prefer the 280 to the 265.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Has anyone on head-fi ever posted a positive impression of the HD265? I've sure never heard one.

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver Furthermore, the quality of the HD-265's bass leaves a LOT to be desired, as well - that bass tends to be of the muddy, bloated one-note variety instead of the tight, musical variety.

To some extent that was how I hear 595's bass for the first few days - but it changed significantly thereafter. That's why I mentioned short burn in period.

I was tempted to give them a second chance ... but so many phones to try ... so little time and so empty wallet ... =)

 

[trulove]

Responding to this old thread just for posterity in case anybody still has this question. I still own the HD265 and owned the HD280 PRO until it wore out. Honestly, the HD280 PRO was horrible. I obviously put up with it for years but always felt it was lacking and definitely noticed a huge difference later when I replaced it with the DT 770 PRO and went back to listen to my old HD265 as well.

I got the HD280 PRO originally based on widespread recommendations. But the HD280 PRO has very poor sub bass, and therefore lacks accurate reproduction across the frequency spectrum. I regret following those uninformed recommendations and wasting my time with it for so long. I thought it might get better with use (more burn in) but should really have sent it back at the beginning. Even besides the bass, the rest of the sound isn't too exciting either. And the headband ended up breaking due to cheap plastic build quality. I wouldn't recommend it at all.

On the other hand, the HD265 is the best closed-back headphone I've come across, and the DT 770 PRO is the closest I've found to it in many years searching. Since Nak Man mentioned the HD25sp, I'll say I use the HD25 (not HD25sp which is cheaper) for DJing. It's good for its purpose (and small, robust, easily repaired) but the sound isn't quite as good as the HD265. It's much better than the HD280 PRO though.

 

[trulove]

About the HD265: I don't know what head-fi-ers are smoking when they diss the HD265. I think probably since most headphones have very warped frequency response (almost nothing as linear as the HD265), I think they probably believe what they are used to is 'good', whereas the truth of the matter is they have become accustomed to a very bright and highly warped sound (with lack of sub bass) which is found on virtually every other headphone on the market. They are probably worsening the situation with non-linear amps and EQ (to make those warped headphones sound a little better at the bottom), or they have never actually heard sub bass on a headphone before. So when they hook up a good pair of neutral headphone like the HD265 (very flat frequency response), it sounds 'wrong' to them. It's pretty funny actually. This is exactly how I feel when I hook up those tinny ridiculously overpriced headphones that are thin, sizzling, with no bottom. I need a flat response across all audible frequencies, not coloring the sound or missing frequencies. Why pay so much for a headphone that can't even reproduce the lower frequencies? Wouldn't you want at least all the frequencies of human hearing? Why settle for headphones with a big missing gap in the spectrum?


Eagle_Driver and Nak Man talk about bass hammering or muddy, bloated bass. That's probably what happens when you're overdriving the sub bass frequencies because the headphones you're used to (with that so-called 'tight, musical' bass), are actually incapable of rendering frequencies below 20-50 Hz properly (they are maybe 50dB too low on the frequency response at the low end). Once you have a headphone capable of rendering those frequencies at the correct level relative to the rest of the spectrum, if your setup isn't properly tuned, you will overwhelm the rest of the mix and it sounds muddy. This happens very easily with the low end frequencies as any producer will tell you.

Poor quality headphones will sound almost silent at 20Hz. So you will never know if your setup is flat and properly tuned since these low frequencies are never heard. That is until you connect headphones which do render those frequencies (very few on the market, even so called 'bass heavy' headphones). This is what I expect is wrong with most reviews of the HD265. It's hard to appreciate the quality of the mids and highs if you're washing out the sound with too much low end due to poorly tuned outputs. I suppose the head-fi-ers could listen with a 50 Hz high pass filter to replicate the inadequacies of the other headphones they're used to. But really, the reason for having the HD265 is good reproduction across the spectrum with flat frequency response. What use is 'exciting' sound over some frequencies but totally lacking low end (technically it may not even be possible to amplify those frequencies with enough EQ on the other headphones without harming the rest of the sound since it won't sit properly in the mix any more).

I suspect what is called "tight, musical" bass, is really mid-bass - if the ear is unfamiliar with sub bass or the level is too high due to poorly tuned (non-flat) output then it becomes bloated and muffled since the lower frequencies can easily overpower the mid bass frequencies. On the other hand, many cheap 'bass heavy' headphones will boost the mid bass to extreme levels (since they can't reproduce the sub bass properly either, they try to substitute with mid bass loudness) and that also causes problems of bloated, indistinct bass with lack of punch or proper bass tone.

Comparing the HD265s to a good set of monitors or a club PA system gives a satisfyingly similar experience to my ears (as much as can be expected from headphones). Especially when pushed to higher volume levels (without distortion). This can't be said of many other headphones I've tried.

I would hope that musicians or music lovers who actually use and want to hear the lower octaves may also appreciate headphones that will actually play those notes (not trail off into silence or truncate the spectrum). So my comments don't just apply to club or bass-heavy music but also to jazz, classical, and all musical styles really (at least for those listeners and players who pay attention to lower octaves and care that they are reproduced faithfully).

 

[RetroE83]

I bought a HD265 last year, but unfortunately one driver was damaged on arrival. The cups proved to be a good donor for HD6XX I had laying around. I initially transplanted/sacrificed the drivers-capsules of a HD535 into the HD265, puncturing the foam at the back of drivers. From memory the sound was pretty neutral imo; my only complaint was the midrange (mainly vocals) was thin and lacked body. I decided to put the drivers-capsules of a HD650 silver screen that had the foam already removed from the previously owner. The difference from the HD535 drivers was immediate: the midrange had body and warmth, treble was a little coarser than a HD580 (at the level of a AKG K371, steely sounding), bass wasn’t boomy and more or less at a similar level to a HD580. Imaging and soundstage was better than the HD580 I have.