spronkey
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2007
- Posts
- 119
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- 21
Well well, after reading a comment in another thread (sorry, can't remember which!) regarding the HD280 Pro being one of the bassiest headphones this particular HeadFi-er owned, I decided to have a little experiment with my own pair.
I've been thinking of selling these for quite some time - I got them almost for free by importing a few pairs and selling them to my friends, but I've never quite gelled with their sound. Anaemic bass, very forward mids (especially around the vocal range), and lack of top-end airyness (I like a bit of that grainy, noise-revealing treble) were three of my complaints.
Don't get me wrong though, for an exclusive few tracks and albums the 280 Pros outshine every other pair of cans I own by a country mile. But never before in the bass department... until now.
The participants:
The test tracks:
The mods:
My 280 Pros seem to have an equilibrium. If I don't use them for a while (which often happens), I come back to them and am always disappointed with their bass response. However, if I run some heavy program material through them for a good while at ear-splitting volumes and listen immediately after at normal levels, there's shipping container-loads of hard-hitting, head-rumbling bass. In fact, the bass i'm hearing below say, 200Hz, is literally twice as loud as that of the other two cans. Both of which I would usually say are slightly bass-heavy! Amazing!
Perhaps these cans have a natural equilibrium. The only thing that comes close the deep bass on these cans playing Fat Boy Slim - Champion Sound is a good subwoofer. I should add that my 280 Pros have at least 300 hours of playtime on them.
I'm amazed. Alas, there's still the midrange to tame...
I've been thinking of selling these for quite some time - I got them almost for free by importing a few pairs and selling them to my friends, but I've never quite gelled with their sound. Anaemic bass, very forward mids (especially around the vocal range), and lack of top-end airyness (I like a bit of that grainy, noise-revealing treble) were three of my complaints.
Don't get me wrong though, for an exclusive few tracks and albums the 280 Pros outshine every other pair of cans I own by a country mile. But never before in the bass department... until now.
The participants:
- Sennheiser HD280 Pro
- Sennheiser HD580
- Philips SHP895
The test tracks:
- Fat Boy Slim - Champion Sound
- Chemical Brothers - Galvanize
- Shapeshifter - One
The mods:
- Plug headphones into amplifier and put on head
- Find a bassy tune - like one of the three above
- Turn volume knob until it becomes near-painful to listen
- Take them off and leave them on repeat for 12-24 hours
- Now enjoy bass on your 280 Pros!
My 280 Pros seem to have an equilibrium. If I don't use them for a while (which often happens), I come back to them and am always disappointed with their bass response. However, if I run some heavy program material through them for a good while at ear-splitting volumes and listen immediately after at normal levels, there's shipping container-loads of hard-hitting, head-rumbling bass. In fact, the bass i'm hearing below say, 200Hz, is literally twice as loud as that of the other two cans. Both of which I would usually say are slightly bass-heavy! Amazing!
Perhaps these cans have a natural equilibrium. The only thing that comes close the deep bass on these cans playing Fat Boy Slim - Champion Sound is a good subwoofer. I should add that my 280 Pros have at least 300 hours of playtime on them.
I'm amazed. Alas, there's still the midrange to tame...
