[SpazzMan]

Okay, just to start things out, this is my first pair of what I would call, "nice," headphones. As a result, I can't post a lot of comparisons, so this is all going to be highly subjective. I'm going to try to make up for that by being exasperatingly thorough, and I'm going to be posting this in pieces, so for those of you who come in late, you may want to bring a snack or something

. Now that that's out of the way...

Impressions as I remove them from the box:

My Labtec Elite 840's are sitting in front of me for comparisons on their non-sonic attributes.

Amazon.com really puts a lot of stuff in the box as shock absorption; it's stuffed with air-filled plastic bags (and they all have that new plastic smell

). They also seem to pack in advertisement

, and the HD-280's are listed in the advertisement :/. Crap, this is a big box for headphones... They come with a suprisingly thick manual, but each language only gets about eight pages. Flipping through it... "Attention! High volume!"

Instructions on how to remove various parts... They give a maximum SPL of 102 dB and a frequency response of 8-25000 Hz, but the frequency response graph they include only runs from 100-15000 Hz

. Contact pressure of 6 N... I think I remember people saying that the HD-580's were 2.5 N and people complained about it, but then I may have my numbers mixed up.

Okay, on to the headphones... These things are huge. The cord is coiled (d'oh), but at least I get a gold plug. If I uncoiled it, the cord would probably be the same length as on my Labtecs, so they're at a stalemate at this point, but the HD-280's are pulling ahead because of the swiveling (I said this would be exasperating, didn't I?). The Labtecs are fairly comfortable, but the pads aren't large enough so my ears rest half-on the pads and half-inside the pads. On the Sennheisers, my ears fit inside the pads so the pleather seals my ears in. Also, wearing the Sennheisers, my keyboard seems a lot quiter, so I think it would be safe to say that these things get a good amount of isolation (I'll be testing how well they block out my little sister a little later, so I'll be able to be more conclusive then). However, I wouldn't recommend tapping the headphones while you're wearing them *wince*. They push on my head a little more than I'd like, but they're fairly adjustable. Finally, the Labtecs have a cheap-looking silvery paint job and are made of thin plastic parts, while the black finish on the Sennheisers screams, "professional," and everything feels quite solid. Even the cord is thicker.

Out-of-the-box audio impressions coming shortly.

 

[Khazim]

Nice, I should be getting mine on my birthday in a few weeks

 

[SpazzMan]

Audio impressions out of the box:

I'm not as impressed as I was hoping I would be. I was really hoping I'd get some, "WOWOWOW IVE BEEN LITSNEING TO CARP AL MY LIEF," epiphany, but the changes are more subtle than that.

It might be a product of the isolation, but the HD-280's seem livelier than the Labtecs. They're able to belt out those lower bass frequencies; if I had to guess, I'd say they get down to somewhere around 25 Hz right now (I ran a sine sweep from 20000 to 20 Hz through them and they cut out a few seconds early). The soundstage is tolerable, but still narrower than what my Labtecs were giving me, so I would say that even a cheap open headphone can top these for width of soundstage (impressions on imaging will be coming as soon as I either boot into Windows or install the Linux version of the Quake 3 demo. I'm really lazy, so either of those may take a while).

Yes, they're better than what I had, but I'm not sure the difference is worth the $100 I paid for them

. I'm hoping the breakin will make a significant improvement.

 

[radrd]

Give them 100 hours of break-in and they will sound great. Please don't judge them until at least 50 hours. These suckers go through an unusual amount of changes during break-in. Once you get close to 100 hours I think you will definitely find that they were worth the price.

I broke mine in with 6 hours at low volume, 6 hours at medium volume, then the rest of the time at normal listening volume. I'm not sure that the volume changes are absolutely necessary, but I saw it recommended somewhere. Just plug them into your computer or a good sounding radio and let them break in. Don't stress if they start to sound worse around 20 hours, I've heard of that happening. They will sound better, trust me.

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

Yes, give them at least 40 hours and they'll sound much different. Right now they probably sound pretty thin and there's not much in the midrange. After 40 hours the bass should go much deeper and the mids will fill out. Also, if you hear a rattle at around 20 hours don't worry, you didn't blow your phones it's just some quirk with the 280s. It'll go away as you get towards 40.

Soundstage is always going to be short in a closed phone, that's one of the negatives of them. Funny thing, it doesn't seem to make much difference in games. I assume that's because games are adding artificial spatialization cues. Closed phones like the 280 and V6 always seem to be the top recommendation for gamers.

(HBZ)

 

[pitstain]

i got my 280's yesterday also. right out of the box, they were pretty thin and bright. i've been breaking them in for about 26 hours so far, and they're sounding better (although not by a whole lot). hopefully they pull through after 40.

as far as construction goes, it'd be nice if the plastic was thicker, but they seem fairly sturdy. theyre light, which adds to the comfort. once the sound levels out, i dont think i'll have any trouble wearing these for a long period of time. my ears might get kinda hot after a while, but i can just air them out for a few seconds if needed. if the earpads had just a little more cushion to them, the comfort level would be excellent. i remember someone complaining about the top-of-the-head pad. it doesnt press down on my head hard enough to bother me, so i guess these phones will fit better for different people. they do clamp tightly, but it's not bothersome for me.

my new-ish (1-2yr old) sony pcdp powers them fine. surprisingly, they handle the bass boost really well too (unlike my last pair of phones).

the 280's look kinda funny while being worn since they're angled for isolation. a small price to pay to really block out the talking and the babble.

this is my first pair of sennheisers. before these, i had some nicely aged sony mdr-7506's and the v700dj's.

my 7506's got killed a while back, but i remember the treble being kind of harsh sometimes. other than that and the sweaty ear thing, i liked them a lot. people have been saying that the 280's have more pleasant treble than the 7506/v6's. this isnt the case so far, but i'm hoping it will be once they get a decent break-in time.

the v700dj's werent the greatest, but not as bad as a lot of you make them out to be. the bass was enjoyable at times, and annoyingly bloated at others. the ear pieces got uncomfortable after wearing them for a couple hours at a time too. since the senns are circumaural, i've finally gotten around these problems. i'll still use my sony's at work though.

after about 40hrs of break-in, i'll give my impressions on the sound.

 

[SpazzMan]

I should probably be breaking these in continously; I'm only up to about 16 hours...

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

If you can do them continuously that would be good. I put the CD changer on repeat, adjusted the volume as high as I could go without distortion, folded them up and stuck them in a drawer for a few days. I'd check them every once in a while, about 10 hours or so, to see what was happening.

If you can't do a continuous session, don't worry about it. The only important thing is the amount of time they're running.

Pitstain: bassboost? BASSBOOST?!?!

Don't you know that's a dirty word around here? Using that stuff muddies the sound and kills the detail. Clean, detailed sound is one of the main reasons we buy these big buck headphones. On good phones you should never need bassboost, maybe on itty bitty earbuds (or AKGs

).

(HBZ)

 

[pitstain]

i'm close to 50hrs right now, and they sound much better than before. i'd say between 30 and 40hrs is when they really started to get tolerable. the highs have mellowed a lot, and the mids are coming through well. the bass goes deep and stays clear, but i wish they had a little more punch to them. overall, these are pretty detailed headphones, but i'd prefer something warmer.

i have a turtle beach santa cruz soundcard. when i'm using the 280's with my computer, i still sometimes find myself turning the bass & mids up a notch or two above the highs in order to try to get a thicker, warmer sound from some of my cd's. some stuff sounds +really+ nice with a flat eq though. with my pcdp, i use the first bass boost setting for some things, and none for others. yes, i know that bass boost makes the sound muddy, but these phones are just too thin for stuff like breakcore, that relies on harder-hitting bass. maybe an amp would help fix this, but that's something i cant afford right now.

the earpads could definitely use more cushion to go with the increased clamping. i have to take the phones off every so often for some relief from the tightness. the isolation is great though.

i like the 280's. they have a sound that goes really well with some of the music i listen to, especially fantomas and mr bungle. they reveal a lot of the subtle details and provide an even sound & great soundstage for this stuff. 'the director's cut' has seriously never sounded better to me. on the other hand, the 280's dont do some other music justice. breakcore sounds weak, and a lot of hip-hop lacks the solid punch it needs, although nwa's 'efil4zaggin' sounds amazing. the production on that album really shines with these phones.

unfortunately, i cant afford to keep 2 or 3 pairs of nice headphones around. as much as i enjoy the 280's with about half of the music i listen to, i'd like something that i can use with all of my music. something warmer and more comfortable than the senns, that has thicker bass without giving up a significant amount of detail. i'm thinking about returning them and getting a pair of beyer 250-80's. what do you guys think? if they'll cover those points, the extra $70-$80 wont be that big of a deal to me.

 

[SpazzMan]

I'm a little past 20 hours now... not a huge difference from before. I'm not noticing this, "rattle," but I'm probably better off if it just comes and goes while I'm not listening.

 

[pitstain]

i checked my pair after every 10hrs or so, and i didnt notice the rattle either.

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

I have my computer running into an Onkyo receiver. The extra power probably does help, bass is always power hungry. That may also be why you're not hearing the "rattle". It sounds sorta like a blown speaker, there's a buzz on the bass notes. If the 280s aren't getting all the juice they want they might not be hitting the particular bass note that causes the rattle.

I've always gotten the impression that the 250-80 has a warmer sound than the HD280. If you need that extra bass and can afford them you might be better off with the Beyers. The V6 may have a bit of extra bass too but then you have to deal with the shrill highs and recessed mids.

'(HBZ),

 

[PhifeDawg]

just got my 280s a few days ago, and although i haven't done any extensive listening, i like the sound and i like the comfort. we'll see what happens...

btw, i'm running these out of a soundblaster live and a sony d-ej611 pcdp...would an amp make me that much happier??

 

[jms007bnd007]

I noticed the bass rattle after about 20 hours out of my Sound Blaster Live card. When I switched it over to my Harmon Kardon reciever the rattle seemed to go away a bit, so I think you are exactly right about the bass being the cause of the 20 hour rattles.