Kryft
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2004
- Posts
- 18
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- 0
Hi there.
I bought my first set of 'real' headphones on Thursday. I'm not exactly sure how I got infected with hifititis, but the illness progressed very rapidly. One day I was innocently scanning the supplies of local stores, the next I spent frantically reading reviews and forums (mostly this one). Only a few days later I had reached what most experts agree is the point of no return: I had decided on a pair, listened to them, and bought them.
I had rather specific reasons for picking Sennheiser 280 Pro. I mainly wanted the headphones for listening anywhere anytime, which, combined with my mild paranoia about hearing loss, implied that I wanted all the isolation I could get. Also, I needed the phones to be sturdy and preferrably collapsible, so I could keep them in my backpack when I wasn't listening without having to worry about them breaking. A number of good reviews convinced me that the sound quality was probably good enough for me, particularly as I was going to listen to an unamped mp3 player.
So far I'm very happy with my choice of phones. A friend of mine who uses these same phones for mixing warned me that the sound of these may be too 'neutral' for listening to music. Based on comparing these with another friend's Sony MDR-CD580s, which, I understand, are specifically intended for listening to music rather than monitoring, I think I have a sketchy idea of what he meant by that, but it doesn't really bother me.
The main difference I noticed was in the bass department: the Sonys had a noticeably pronounced bass that was somewhat 'booming', whereas the bass on my 280s was more subdued, but very 'tight' and somehow precise. The thunderous bass of the Sonys was good for music that had bass but wasn't mixed to emphasize it --- Devin Townsend's Terria seemed like that --- but to my ears it went over the top when the music had lots of bass. (Many people no doubt like the 'over the top' bass, but I think I prefer a more balanced sound where the bass is strong, but not more so than the mid and high range.) The 280s, on the other hand, could have used a stronger bass response on Terria, but their bass seemed to scale better with more 'bass-heavy' mixes: when the bass on the sonys was a bit too strong and booming to my ears, the bass on the 280s felt just right, and still as tight and defined as it was on the less 'bass-heavy' music. I should perhaps point out that his Sonys are probably at least a year old, whereas my 280s were almost fresh out of the box. If burn-in has as noticeable an effect on the 280s as some posts I've read here have suggested, the sound on these should eventually be just perfect for my tastes.
Yay!
I've noticed something funny while listening to the 280s, by the way: the sound seems to grow on you. What I mean is that when I start listening to them at a comfortable volume, the sound may at first feel somehow weak and lackluster, but the longer I listen, the richer and louder it gets, and I often find myself turning the volume down a bit at a time. Removing the phones after listening for a time results in a strange sensation: the music that sounded plenty loud to me turns out to be quieter than the hum from my computers or the noise made by a few people in a large room.
To anyone who has had 280s for a while and enjoyed them, how did you find they changed over time? (As I said, I've read some burn-in opinions, but more never hurts.) Do they benefit a lot from an amp, and if so, how? So far I've only listened to my small flash mp3 player, which I'm quite sure isn't among the juiciest sound sources available.
I don't have any money to invest in an amp (or anything else for that matter! Do not tempt me! The dark side is strong enough in me as it is!) right now, but one might as well plan for the future.
Argh, sorry for the long, rambling post, I guess I'm just excited about how my perception of music (and sound in general) has changed so completely in the space of just a few days. Listening to the above-mentioned Terria for the first time with these headphones was an almost religious experience.
Although I was in the middle of a fairly noisy shopping mall, I could hear all kinds of details that I'd never noticed before.
I can't wait how it will sound when these are burned-in. Not to mention if I got an amp. Not to mention if I replaced my mp3 player with a good cd player. Not to mention ...
I bought my first set of 'real' headphones on Thursday. I'm not exactly sure how I got infected with hifititis, but the illness progressed very rapidly. One day I was innocently scanning the supplies of local stores, the next I spent frantically reading reviews and forums (mostly this one). Only a few days later I had reached what most experts agree is the point of no return: I had decided on a pair, listened to them, and bought them.
I had rather specific reasons for picking Sennheiser 280 Pro. I mainly wanted the headphones for listening anywhere anytime, which, combined with my mild paranoia about hearing loss, implied that I wanted all the isolation I could get. Also, I needed the phones to be sturdy and preferrably collapsible, so I could keep them in my backpack when I wasn't listening without having to worry about them breaking. A number of good reviews convinced me that the sound quality was probably good enough for me, particularly as I was going to listen to an unamped mp3 player.
So far I'm very happy with my choice of phones. A friend of mine who uses these same phones for mixing warned me that the sound of these may be too 'neutral' for listening to music. Based on comparing these with another friend's Sony MDR-CD580s, which, I understand, are specifically intended for listening to music rather than monitoring, I think I have a sketchy idea of what he meant by that, but it doesn't really bother me.
The main difference I noticed was in the bass department: the Sonys had a noticeably pronounced bass that was somewhat 'booming', whereas the bass on my 280s was more subdued, but very 'tight' and somehow precise. The thunderous bass of the Sonys was good for music that had bass but wasn't mixed to emphasize it --- Devin Townsend's Terria seemed like that --- but to my ears it went over the top when the music had lots of bass. (Many people no doubt like the 'over the top' bass, but I think I prefer a more balanced sound where the bass is strong, but not more so than the mid and high range.) The 280s, on the other hand, could have used a stronger bass response on Terria, but their bass seemed to scale better with more 'bass-heavy' mixes: when the bass on the sonys was a bit too strong and booming to my ears, the bass on the 280s felt just right, and still as tight and defined as it was on the less 'bass-heavy' music. I should perhaps point out that his Sonys are probably at least a year old, whereas my 280s were almost fresh out of the box. If burn-in has as noticeable an effect on the 280s as some posts I've read here have suggested, the sound on these should eventually be just perfect for my tastes.
I've noticed something funny while listening to the 280s, by the way: the sound seems to grow on you. What I mean is that when I start listening to them at a comfortable volume, the sound may at first feel somehow weak and lackluster, but the longer I listen, the richer and louder it gets, and I often find myself turning the volume down a bit at a time. Removing the phones after listening for a time results in a strange sensation: the music that sounded plenty loud to me turns out to be quieter than the hum from my computers or the noise made by a few people in a large room.
To anyone who has had 280s for a while and enjoyed them, how did you find they changed over time? (As I said, I've read some burn-in opinions, but more never hurts.) Do they benefit a lot from an amp, and if so, how? So far I've only listened to my small flash mp3 player, which I'm quite sure isn't among the juiciest sound sources available.
Argh, sorry for the long, rambling post, I guess I'm just excited about how my perception of music (and sound in general) has changed so completely in the space of just a few days. Listening to the above-mentioned Terria for the first time with these headphones was an almost religious experience.