[mitaic]

I am new at DJing, and in need of a new pair of cans. I've narrowed it
down to two choices: Sennheiser HD-280 pro and Sony-MDR7506

The 7506 has been around forever and you see them everywhere so their
quality I have no doubt. It's being dicontinued however, and it's
US$10 (street) more expensive than the HD-280 pro. I've tried both
models and liked the sound of both almost equally because they have
different responses. 7506 sound more live whereas the HD-280 is
flatter, which I probably don't mind. I am also interested in HD-280s
isolating capability because I am also intending to use it to listen
to my portables on the subway.

so I'm torn between the two. I primarily want this to be for DJ
purposes, but also listening to other types of music, watching TV,
etc. Which one should I choose?

 

[fappar]

sony. sennheisers suck for spinning, imo

 

[xlifez]

are the sonyones the one that duncan have on their icon?

 

[mitaic]

50/50? haha.. that's not helping. I guess another consideration is isolation. I was recommended the Senns to protect my ears. Also I'll probably bring them along on my daily subway ride which isolation would be a big plus.

Here's my review for what it is worth:
(sony mdr-v700, sony mdr-v600, sony mdr-7506, and sennheiser hd-280pro. The cans were plugged in to a Pioneer DJM-600.)

sound quality:
My rank for sound quality was topped by the sony 7506. Pretty impeccable sound. Sony v600's not too bad, either. Sennheiser had a flatter freq curve as predicted, but needed a little bit more power to drive the mid-bass range. The v700 was horrible; distortion was all over the place.

Portability:
also easily won by sony 7506. It's the smallest among the four when folded. The others are fine. The sennheiser 280 was a little bit bigger (for a reason, though).

Isolation:
Sennheiser won out by far. The headband of the HD-280 goes out a little bit more than your normal cans, which make it a little bit bigger (apprx 20% bigger? see above) in any of its

configurations. However, this allows the spring force on cups to sit normally (perpendicularly) against the temporal side of your face. The result is great sealing of the cups and hence great isolation.

Construction:
the sony v700 didn't look as bad as I thought. From an engineer's point of view, it's high rate of deterioration must come from a fundamental design flaw of the swivel hinges. They look sturdy but after playing for a little bit, I can see how they can experience abnormal torques that will eventually lead to damages to the hinges. The v600 and Senns have similar hinge design, but Senns looks better. The sony 7506 was the only one that used metal hinges which I favour. However, the wires are exposed in the sony 7506 which kinda annoyed me.

Design and Style:
Alright. the v700 looked really nice, only if they were real metal. I liked the senns A LOT, even if they accentuate the size of my head. Sony 7506? It's ugly. Old school. But we are not here to rant about looks, are we?

Comfort:
They were all pretty comfortable during the 5 minutes I spent with each one of them. The HD-280 is tighter than the others, but not uncomfortable at all. One thing that I noticed when I was playing with your 7506, was that I had a hard time keeping the canns on my head when doing one ear monitoring. They kept slipping off and I ended up holding one cup by hand. Alternatively, I gues syou could hold the cup in place with your shoulder and neck, I guess... but my neck's already stressed. Also, the 7506 does not swivel. In this catagory, the HD-280 and the Sony v700 were the winner.

 

[PeterR]

Quote:

Originally posted by xlifez are the sonyones the one that duncan have on their icon?

No, I believe those were V300s.

mitaic, the 7506 aren't discontinued and, considering their popularity in the professional world, probably will be around for a long time. It's the consumer V6 that's being discontinued, as you're supposed to buy V-crap.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by mitaic The 7506 has been around forever and you see them everywhere so their quality I have no doubt. It's being dicontinued however

Where did you hear this? I'm pretty sure the 7506 are not being discontinued.

 

[jms007bnd007]

I own the HD 280's and love them....and so it kills me to tell you this.....but I would suggest going for the Sony's. The HD 280's don't really sit on your head very well with one side off your ear (I think you need that for DJing). Also, they look kind of dorky, and you probably wouldn't want to wear them on the subway.

There I did it.

 

[usc goose]

My v6s sit just fine on my head with just one earpiece on and the other earpiece behind the ear. Hard for me to imagine how this configuration wouldn't work for someone. Just when you do it, it's not so much moving the earpiece backwards as rotating it so most of the headband still stays put. v700s aren't too bad but everybody and their mother has them. that and the earpieces get kind of annoying after a while comfortwise. also, i'm pretty sure if you start spinning with v600s you can never show your face here at head-fi again. (kidding... kind of) http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=33713 i've never even tried on the hd-280s though.

 

[DoomForce]

Hey,i used to own the hd-280 pro's and let me tell ya,they wont fall easily off your head.
And they can be comfy after much stretching-use.
I havent tried the 7506 but i've heard many good comments on them and they definetely look better that the hd280 pro.
The sound quality of the senns can be massive, in certain genres and with certain equipment.And dont forget the burn in effect before u judge.
A point for the hd-280 pros from me if u dont care about the looks and u spin mostly electronica,trance etc.(i find them great on this genre).
Also isolation rules on the senns for sure! but make sure u audition some 7506/sony v6's,to hear the difference.
good luck in djing m8!

 

[radrd]

Quote:

Where did you hear this? I'm pretty sure the 7506 are not being discontinued.

Ditto. I think it might be the V6 (same headphone different model/plug/warranty) that is or will be discontinued. I'm pretty sure the 7506 isn't going anywhere.

 

[mitaic]

Quote:

Originally posted by DoomForce Hey,i used to own the hd-280 pro's and let me tell ya,they wont fall easily off your head. And they can be comfy after much stretching-use. I havent tried the 7506 but i've heard many good comments on them and they definetely look better that the hd280 pro. The sound quality of the senns can be massive, in certain genres and with certain equipment.And dont forget the burn in effect before u judge. A point for the hd-280 pros from me if u dont care about the looks and u spin mostly electronica,trance etc.(i find them great on this genre). Also isolation rules on the senns for sure! but make sure u audition some 7506/sony v6's,to hear the difference. good luck in djing m8!

so what do you use now?

I do indeed spin trance and progressive. I will also definitely spin downtempo, techno and hard dance in the future (just don't have the dough to build up the record library in those genres right now).

What's your experience in terms of frequence response curve and beatmatching? Do you find a slightly exaggerated bass such as 7506 has or a flat bass line such as HD-280 pro more beneficial to hearing the bpm differences and other details?

oh.. maybe I was wrong about discontinuation of the 7506. I didn't make a difference between the v6 and the 7506s and thought 7506 were getting discontinued as well.

 

[usc goose]

I use V900s personally, a little more sturdy and comfy. Also the earpieces extend a lot farther for more security with one ear or comfort around the neck. For everyday use these can be a little dark for some people. (I like em) Whereas I find the V6s a little harsh for most music. etronics.com i think is the cheapest place for V900s at the moment.

edit: spelling

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by mitaic oh.. maybe I was wrong about discontinuation of the 7506. I didn't make a difference between the v6 and the 7506s and thought 7506 were getting discontinued as well.

Well, for that matter, the V6 isn't really discontinued, either

 

[mitaic]

seriously though, I would like to know why I shouldn't buy the senns.

jms007bnd007 and DoomForce, your comments were helpful. I went to GC again... This time I used an older openbox Senns and a new 7506. The Senns were broken actually (the wire to the R got cut), so I was testing only with the left ear.

This time, the sound level difference is less. Nor is the difference in comfort level. I was listening to a hiphop CD the store manager gave me to demo, and I was surprised how much the 7506 resonate in my ear in the bass frequencies. The Senn kept the bass short and tight.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't tight bass more beneficial to beatmatching, etc?

 

[mitaic]

I found this link which is pretty helpful in terms of evaluating headphones

http://headwize2.powerpill.org/articles/hguide_art.htm