[Rotmammoth]

So I've been looking at many different headphones and I do not understand how you would determine which one is better than which.  For example, the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro has a frequency response of 8Hz -  25KHz whereas the Sennheiser HD 555 have a frequency response of 15Hz - 28KHz.  Many say that the 280 doesn't even come close to the 555 and why is that? 
 
I figured that the 280 would have better bass but a slightly crappier high frequency sound than the 555.  Is this difference enough to make the 280 considered trash?

"HD280 = no. Super boring headphone, very cold. I would go as far as to say un-musical."
 
My guess is that you can't judge headphones by looking at their technical data.

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

nope specs are meaningless as they depend on how they were measured. You'll have to rely on reviews.

 

[soundstige]

Specs like frequency response graphs, like those at innferfidelity, aren't meaningless, they show the sound signature of a given pair of headphones very well. However, this will only tell you what you're going to hear, not the quality of it. That's where subjective listening comes into play. But specs like "8 - 25K Hz" on the back of the box are pretty well meaningless as far as judging audio quality, and can frankly be made up at times.

 

[wind016]

Go with these measurements. http://www.innerfidelity.com/headphone-data-sheet-downloads
 
AFAIK now, if distortion reaches 1%, there is a chance it will sound fairly bad in those regions even in moderate listening levels, like ~70db.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD280Pro.pdf
 
The 280 seems to measure pretty flat in the bass, but from what I remember when listening to it, it wasn't that warm sounding. Measurements aren't 100% perceived sound, but it can give you an idea of where the frequency emphasis and peaks are, the distortion, and speed of the drivers.

 

[HairPhones]

From what I've learned so far,
You can use technical data (such as graphs) to assume things about the cans, but in the end it'll all depend on the person listening to it.
 
First off, frequency response is a measure of how high and low the phones can go in the sound spectrum. When given plain numbers, though the HD 280 Pro may have a broader FR than the HD 555, it doesn't account for how the SQ is, given any frequency. You also have to keep in mind that the average human is limited to a range of frequencies that they can hear - I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head, but know that it's not much compared to the wide FR of headphones.
 
You could look at a FR graph, which plots frequency with dB (sound quantity), & compare the HD 280 Pro & the HD 555:
 

 
According to this, the HD 280 Pro would have better low & mid bass, since it's more prominent than the low & mid bass that the HD 555 could produce. However, the HD 555's upper bass is more prominent than that of the 280s, so you could assume that the 555s would have better upper bass, given that the 280s upper bass are a tad bit recessed. So I wouldn't definitely say that the 280s have better bass than the 555s.
 
Looking at around 10kHz, you can see the the 280s spike more than the 555s. That could attribute to why you figured out that you say that the 280s have "a slightly crappier high frequency sound". I haven't read much about high frequency yet, so I can't say too much about it. If anyone else could help out, that'll be great.
 
I wouldn't say that the 280s are trash because of what you've figured out so much. Maybe some people prefer that to the 555s? I don't know. But to be cliche: "One man's treasure is another man's trash".
 
In conclusion, I don't know how you could determine which cans are better than which. Sound's a subjective matter, and though you can look at some (not all - ie. frequency response) technical data to help judge the phones, remember that perceived sound is not the same as you'll find with technical data, because in the end you'll find out which cans are better for you through auditioning.
 
If I've gotten any information wrong, please correct me. Can't learn without finding mistakes.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I thought price was the sole determinant of quality.

(If you want them to sound better, just add a zero to the end of the price tag.)

 

[Acix]

For me the transparency is the determinant of hps quality, the FR graphs are the hps company tuning, and better bass is most of the cases here on headfi if quantity. 

 

[b0wl1ng]

Tend to agree with you, transparency and neutrality is my benchmark for headphone quality.

 

[dyl1dyl]

IMO, the most important area is balanced sound with no overemphasized mids, bass or treble.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Quality seems to be rather relative to culture. If it's popular, apparently it's high quality. If it's not, it's apparently junk, regardless of price. Though of course, more expensive stuff is thought to be higher quality, but many people purchasing realize they may sound like high quality but are built like a cheap toy. Sadly there's not a very good standard for this. All we have are... well, reviews. There's not a lot of headphones out there that satisfy every single aspect for the headphone for someone looking for quality, including sound and build construction and materials used.
 
Even my HE-500 has some serious flaws in construction (the super cheap sprocket plastic mechanism that attaches the pads to the phone plate), which is very disappointing considering what they cost.
 
Very best,

 

[LizardKing1]

Sound quality's best indicator is always your own perception. Of course there is some measure of objectiveness in it too, i.e. "how well does it reproduce the original sound" (there are also graphs for that besides the FR), but nothing will tell you how well they sound to you besides your own opinion. The problem is, your perception can change thanks to a lot of things, while a graph stays the same. If you buy an expensive set, you're expecting it to sound really good, so if it doesn't blow your mind you'll see it as crap. Also, comparing is a hard game, since sound memories aren't that good. All in all, if you read several reviews and they all have a few points in common regarding a headphones sound quality, like they all say that the highs extend a lot, or that the hiss is inaudible, then you can be more safe that those aspects will be true to you, since several people agree on them.

 

[Xymordos]

Headphones don't really worth anything to you if you don't like their sound...Since you're spending the money on the sound of the headphones...not the looks...right?

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Headphones don't really worth anything to you if you don't like their sound...Since you're spending the money on the sound of the headphones...not the looks...right?

Heya,

I like the whole headphone as a package though. Great sound in a poorly constructed headphone for example is a deal breaker for me. The HD4xx series from Sennheiser comes to mind. They actually sound great, but their construction is rotten. A real sneaky market entry by Sennheiser which I suggest be avoided as other headphones in that price bracket are much better values, even though they sound quite nice (the Sennies).
 
I like a headphone to be a well constructed object with nicer materials, plus have excellent sound.
 
Very best,

 

[oldshoe99]

nope specs are meaningless as they depend on how they were measured. You'll have to rely on reviews.

Reviews are good for researching your next buy, assuming you can find a lot of reviews on an item so you get all points of view.

But in the long run, such absolutes as freq. response and transparency don't mean much by themselves because headphones are a fact of life, a given reality. In the long run you just compare what's there and decide which is better representing the truth (heh) that you desire. The graphs and so on are interesting, but not reliable. Some are more reliable, and some not at all.

 

[LizardKing1]

How is a graph not reliable? I'd say a review is much less reliable than a graph. A graph is as objective as possible (if it's accurate, of course), it doesn't tell you if it's good or bad, it doesn't give you an opinion, it gives you values. You can say it isn't really as important as a review, since that one relates more to what the buyer wants (how does it actually sound), but that doesn't make it more reliable. Human opinion changes, and therefore is unreliable =)