Help Please with Sennheiser HD280 Pro advice for a newbie? (Replacing Koss TD-65)

[michelle_alisa]

Hi everyone! Wow I'm new here, there is just so much technical knowledge and things to learn I've read so far by following some of these threads and conducting some searches. You see, my situation is this:

I think I have pretty good ears and I know what kind of music I enjoy and I think I have good aural perception of the frequency spectrum

. My previous pair of headphones was the KOSS TD-65's which I am a bit surprised do not get a good word around here because I always thought they were good.. but of course I know I have much to learn and this is the case. They just broke today at the hands of a stupid vaccuum cleaner after something like 4, 5 years of use (and they were showing their age physically with scratches and padding wearing off). Well... so I did some research and Net searches and now I am here

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I don't have that much money to spend and I wouldn't consider myself a pro but I am a real music enthusiast, both as a listener and as a songwriter. My main concerns, and please forgive me if this sounds a bit too general, are clear reproductions of the mid range as well as a sharp but not painful high end and healthy tight, deep but not inappropriately exaggerated bass. The music I am mostly into is pop / techno dance / hip-hop although you could say I enjoy variety and I'd also like my new headphones to be able to be friendly with classical music.

So after doing my research on here it seems like the Sennheiser HD280 (are the HD280 and HD280 Pro two different models?) seems to be the way to go for under $100 U.S. which I think is a good price. However I am puzzled why there seemed to be no formal page for them at the Sennheiser website... I located pages for other models like the HD265 but I understand the HD280 is relatively new, so what gives? Or if anyone knows another model I should be looking at from another company even? There are so many it gets confusing!

Also ... I live in a relatively remote area of Canada and no local stores carry good headphones like this. Does anyone know where would be a good place to order within Canada, or even a store in the big city like Vancouver which is 8 hours from me but which I might be visiting soon?

Thanks SO much for any help and please pardon any ignorance of mine as I am still trying to learn a lot about this. Again, my old pair is a Koss TD-65 and based on my own research it seems like the SENNHEISER HD280 is the best upgrade, bang for the buck and otherwise and form factor etc. I also would like to do some DJ'ing and mixing and I heard these are not to shabby for those either

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All personal opinions, pros cons and experiences tremendously appreciated, thanks a lot! I hope to hear from you soon

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All the best and keep on rockin',



Michelle

 

[Magicthyse]

I can see why people like them. But I can also see why other people don't - including me. I would love them if I was looking for a pair of 'reference' headphones. However I think that these are for genuinely professional use where you're required to pick apart, rather than listen to, the music in question, and not for 'consumers' as such.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...threadid=13355

That's my review.

With pop/dance/techno/hip-hop (what the boys here call 'CRAP MUSIC'...) the 280's are uninvolving and weak - even with a decent amp.

Other people love them and will also post their opinions here too.
I would definitely say this: Try it, try others, then go away and come back, before you buy.

I was actually quite horrified yesterday evening when I tried out a Minidisc on these phones - The combination of excellent noise sealing and the too-precise drivers meant I could hear the Minidisc artifacts - something I could only vaguely occasionally make out so far on the Grados - both the SR60 and SR225. It destroyed the music as a point of enjoyment. If I plugged it into my secondary system, I could hear the 'ID marker' or whatever it is that the Sony CDP-XE570 outputs at the start of every track - so I could be relaxing listening to a quiet track, and then suddenly there's a 'bloop' before the next track comes in. This was also virtually inaudible on the Grados. From an academic point of view, the HD280's are amazing. From a 'just listening' point of view the 280's suck.

Many of the guys here are recommending the Beyerdynamic DT250-80 instead of the HS280 for what you look as though you want, and for that matter what I want. But I haven't tried the 250-80's yet.

 

[starch]

I really like my 280s - tight, extended bass, good mids, and good highs without being sibilant or screechy. I haven't heard the Koss TD-65, but it may have an exagerrated mid bass response, like sony V700s, that if you enjoy, would be missed in the 280s. The HD280s HAVE had very mixed reviews around here, so definitely try some out first, or at least buy from somewhere with a good no-questions-asked return policy. As Magicthyse said, the Beyer 250-80s are well recommended around here, so if you can afford to, you may want to check them out also.

 

[dhwilkin]

Hi Michelle, you came to the right place. I started out my headphone journey w/ the Koss TD-65 (before I knew of this place), and... well, just check my profile to see how far I've come. There is a world of difference between it and the really good stuff.

That said, I have not heard the Senn 280. Try and order from Headroom, since they have an excellent 30-day return policy. Many people think they want a clean, clear mid-range... but that presentation is noticeably different from mass-market stuff, like the TD-65, and you may not like it as much for general listening. If that turns out to be the case, you should probably have separate headphones for listening and for mixing.

Given your music selection, other listening headphone alternatives include the Koss KSC-35 (much better than the TD-65, believe it or not), Beyer 250-80, and Grado SR-60.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Don't order the 280's from the states unless you like paying border taxes + high shipping costs + brokerage fees.

It all adds up!

Oh and the 250-80's have added bass but I wouldn't say it is boomy.. I think they are great for hip hop...

Biggie.

 

[jyee]

i've been checking my package status at ups.com every hour for the past few days. my hd280's should arrive tomorrow, then i can really join in the disccusion.

by the way, sennheiser does have an official hd280 product page on it's website:

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/pages/p...nes/280pro.htm

 

[Magicthyse]

For the money, the SR-60's are very hard to beat - in a quiet room.

I use the SR225 exclusively with my stereos, but I use the two SR60's I have with all manner of gear - I plugged the SR60 into my Vaio laptop in my (very quiet) living room, played back a DVD and was stunned. I'd thought the Vaio had a fairly crappy output stage before, and who knows it might have (Sony being what they are - I bought their PCV-LX1 desktop some time ago and found it had an SiS motherboard - the kind you get on really nasty desktops), but the SR60's made the output sound like a million dollars.

BUT, the sole reason that I couldn't hear those CD player track marker 'bloops' with the Grados is that there is incidental noise in my room with the secondary system - and the Grados are open, very open.

I really love the sound of the Grado SR-series phones but you need a very quiet room to take full advantage of the sound.

 

[michelle_alisa]

I just looked back here and just wanted to say, thanks SO much everyone for your advice.. I really appreciate all your help with this. I'm still confused and trying to make up my mind. Issues I am still wondering about...

-NotoriousBIG, it says you are from Canada? Where do you get your headphones from in Canada? Some threads indicate that certain headphones like the Koss KRS-35 are hard to come by in general cases and need to be ordered in? Does anyone know a good place to order headphones from in Canada?

Magicthyse: Thanks, I appreciate all the detailed advice and I like the south park icon too

But I don't think the Grado SR-60s would work for me, for the reason that I am usually not in a quiet room and I would like more closed-ear headphones which are still comfortable to muffle or eliminate outside noise.

I should also state that I have a line mixer for my musical stuff which is... pretty good and has a volume boost (not bass boost, just general output increaser), do I still need a "headphone amp"?

dhwilkin: Which of the headphones you stated would have the best bass response? I hear adjectives like "deep" and "boomy" on here but I just want the bass to be well-represented without being overexaggerated, like good with hip hop or dance when I hear the bass drums and stuff I want to feel it in my ears . I have not done research on the other ones you suggested yet... the Koss KSC-35s seem all appealing to me except for the fact they aren't "big style" like closed headphones like the ol TD-65 I had (rest its soul) and the Sennheiser HD280s I am currently interested in.

Some of these brands... Grado, Beverdynamic, etc. I truthfully have never heard anything about before. I'm going to Vancouver actually in a little while, I think I mentioned that, maybe I can check some stuff out for real in the big city, because this is a real TRY BEFORE YOU BUY thing

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Anyone else have pointers for me in the maze of headphones? Thanks a lot again, I am really grateful for all your guys' great help and this forum.

Rock on,


Michelle

 

[Maj0rMaj0r]

I have the HD-280 pro and the Audio Technica ATH-A55 sitting in front of me and can honestly say that the audio technicas blow away the HD-280 in almost every respect. the senns sound seems a bit thin. they are also not as comfortable as the audio technicas. the audio technica's sound is very good. there is a lot of bass, but it is not over powering. even though they have a lot of bass, it seems to me that the senns have an overall darker sound to them, but it is a hollow darkness. it is very hard to explain. anyway, if you can afford the extra $18, go to www.audiocubes.com and get the audio technicas.

 

[michelle_alisa]

Thanks Maj0RMaj0R... much appreciated. I have heard of those before but have never tried them, hopefully I can find somewhere that carries them locally or nearby and lets me try before I buy because I do understand this is a very subjective topic. I'm going to keep researching in the meantime and check this thread regularly for any more cool info

Thanks,


Michelle

 

[sunshine]

www.etronics.com sells the 280pro for US$76. I think they ship to Canada for about $7. There's also a $10 rebate from Senn USA.

 

[Maj0rMaj0r]

Finding the Audio Technicas might be a problem, the only place they are available in the united states, that i know of, is www.audiocubes.com because they are a japanese only model