[Kryft]

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 ...

 

[MuzlL0dr]

Welcome. Like you, I lurked for a while before posting. Anyway, congratulations on the new cans! I got my first real pair of cans a couple years ago, I can't even remember what kind they were. Panasonics of some flavor, I think. I got my first Senns about a year ago. While I can't say I've even listened to the 280 Pros, my experience with Senns has been this.

First, I remember the first time I listened to my Senns, I was like... "that's it??" Mostly due to the bass. It was "there" technically, but wasn't really doing much for me. Even now when I slip them on compared to other phones, they sound slightly lacking in the bass department, comparatively. But, with break in, they have gotten better. I think the difference is that I (and you, possibly?) was used to the boomy, sloppy, go everywhere bass. With nicer cans, the bass is still there, it's just limited to what was recorded more than having the headphones dramatically expand the bass frequencies. (The slop!)

So, just based on the Senns that I've had, yes, they'll improve... but so will your taste for bass. It'll get refined and will sound better as you go and adapt. Enjoy the new phones! OH, hahaha. And sorry, I'm not really a good person to answer your question, not having owned the 280s... sorry!

 

[Kryft]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuzlL0dr Welcome.

Thanks!

Quote:

While I can't say I've even listened to the 280 Pros, my experience with Senns has been this.

Are the Senns you've listened to open or closed, by the way?

Quote:

First, I remember the first time I listened to my Senns, I was like... "that's it??" Mostly due to the bass. It was "there" technically, but wasn't really doing much for me. Even now when I slip them on compared to other phones, they sound slightly lacking in the bass department, comparatively.

Right, that's pretty much my experience. The bass is definitely there, and it sounds very precise, but it doesn't roll over you. I don't want to change it much, but perhaps it could be a little stronger and warmer. If Jink in the "For all the burn-in skeptics" thread is right, the initial burn-in should result in just that.

Quote:

So, just based on the Senns that I've had, yes, they'll improve... but so will your taste for bass. It'll get refined and will sound better as you go and adapt. Enjoy the new phones! OH, hahaha. And sorry, I'm not really a good person to answer your question, not having owned the 280s... sorry!

Heh, don't worry; it seems quite likely that what you've said applies at least to some extent to these phones as well. Besides, I'm sure your point about ears adapting is true regardless of the phones.

 

[MuzlL0dr]

Quote:

Are the Senns you've listened to open or closed, by the way?

The ones I own are both open. (PX100 & HD497) But I have auditioned several pairs of closed. I believe (but honestly can't be sure, in retrospect) that one of the pairs was the 280 Pro. I do remember the bass being much more present, simply because it wasn't being lost to outside the headphones as much.

I'm actually consistently surprised by how much bass the PX100s have considering they are open phones. They have a lot more "oomph" in that department than my 497s do.

 

[sunlapse]

I am currently considering getting the HD280s as my first set of nice cans too. Seeing that you tested them on Terria, I assume you are into prog rock as I am too? I was a bit worried about the bass, but on a lot of music I have the bass isn't as soft as much as it is undefined. What I mean by this is that you can hear it fine, but there's no discernable tone to it. It's hard to explain what I'm thinking of, but hopefully you know what I mean. I'd prefer phones that bring out the detail in the tone rather than the volume of the bass. Are the 280s like this?

 

[MuzlL0dr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunlapse I am currently considering getting the HD280s as my first set of nice cans too. Seeing that you tested them on Terria, I assume you are into prog rock as I am too? I was a bit worried about the bass, but on a lot of music I have the bass isn't as soft as much as it is undefined. What I mean by this is that you can hear it fine, but there's no discernable tone to it. It's hard to explain what I'm thinking of, but hopefully you know what I mean. I'd prefer phones that bring out the detail in the tone rather than the volume of the bass. Are the 280s like this?

I think the 280s will be fine in this department. One of the differences between cheaper and more expensive headphones is that the more expensive ones are "tighter". It is very accurate in reproducing the bass note. It's tighter because the bass tone doesn't have such a wide spread over the lower frequency range... It's hard to explain, if I could make a graph I could show you easily. ha Anyway, yes, Senns are usually pretty good at having detailed bass that isn't slopped around all over the place. I hope that sums it up. Ugh.

I'm sure there are people here who can describe it much better than I can.