JohnSmith
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 17, 2002
- Posts
- 38
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- 0
I just got a new pair of sennheiser HD280s, highly reccomended by many people. here's a picture:
first impression, they are HUGE! way bigger than i thought they would be anyway. they are solid, well built, nice and durable feeling. Everything on them is replaceable it seems, the ear cups, the drivers, the cord, the headband.
They are a little on the heavy side, and not exceptionally comfortable though. especially when taking one cup of to monitor, they tended to slide off the back of my head. and wearing them around your neck requires some messing around adjusting the position of the cups.
One good thing about them is they block out a TON of sound. -32db, which makes you feel like you are in an isolation chamber, you can't hear people talking or keys tapping or anything else, even with no music on.
so, what you wanna here is how good they sound. the answer is, pretty good. Not as exceptional as i was expecting. In fact, on first listen, not quite as good as my old headphones, Optimus NOVA 403 (Radio Shack's house brand), which i got for $50. They go plenty loud, with no distortion to speak of at any reasonable level that you would listen at. in other words before the volume I can make them distort, my ears are already hurting from the volume. The sound is clear, but the midrange seems exaggerated and harsh, the bass and treble a bit backed off. the bass is good, but doesn't seem TIGHT, it seems a little mushy. the treble seems a little tinny as well.
I'm testing them with 192kbps MP3s, played through a SB128 card, into a set of yamaha computer speakers with a headphone out. Possibly this is insufficient to drive them? I will let you know once i try it with my DJ mixer at home tonight.
*edit* Tried it with my DJ mixer and some records on my decks, they sounded no better, in fact they sounded worse. all EQs and the main level were at 12oclock, gains just high enough to peak over 0db. The HD280s sounded overly harsh in the midrange, and washed out in bass and treble. In particular the mid bass sounded slow to respond, not nearly as quick as my other headphones or even my speakers. I was able to do a direct A/B comparison between the too, since my mixer (vestax PCV275) has two headphone outputs).
I also tried it with a Sony Home Theater Reciever (STR-DE635), in regular 2 channel stereo mode of course, using a yamaha CD player (CDC-902) as a source again the senns sounded empty and washed out compared to my others.
I tried them out on my other stereo a kenwood KRX-89, and an almost identical yamaha CD player (CDC-901). Similar results again. One thing i did notice that is interesting is that if i squished the headphones down on my ears, they sounded quite a bit better, because of the decrease in volume of air they had to move i guess. my other cans drivers are much closer to my ears
and finally, my last test was my MD player (Sony MZN505), and the senns did PATHETIC here, they sounded horrible, but i suspect this was just because my MD did not have the power to drive them. I've heard that they are not very efficient, but i don't know how i can measure that.
In short, i am underwhelmed by these cans which cost 4 times as much as the ones i already had. I'm convinced that my NOVA 403s are much better, they are more comfortable and light than anything i have ever tried, and they sound better than anything i have ever heard, including my friends sony MDR500s and 700s.
About the only good thing i can say about the sennheiser HD280s is that they block out a lot of sound and are solidly constructed, but then again, so does these!
anyway, i am not impressed, i think i am sending them back. Then again, maybe they just need to be burned in? something i had never even considered before visiting this forum.
first impression, they are HUGE! way bigger than i thought they would be anyway. they are solid, well built, nice and durable feeling. Everything on them is replaceable it seems, the ear cups, the drivers, the cord, the headband.
They are a little on the heavy side, and not exceptionally comfortable though. especially when taking one cup of to monitor, they tended to slide off the back of my head. and wearing them around your neck requires some messing around adjusting the position of the cups.
One good thing about them is they block out a TON of sound. -32db, which makes you feel like you are in an isolation chamber, you can't hear people talking or keys tapping or anything else, even with no music on.
so, what you wanna here is how good they sound. the answer is, pretty good. Not as exceptional as i was expecting. In fact, on first listen, not quite as good as my old headphones, Optimus NOVA 403 (Radio Shack's house brand), which i got for $50. They go plenty loud, with no distortion to speak of at any reasonable level that you would listen at. in other words before the volume I can make them distort, my ears are already hurting from the volume. The sound is clear, but the midrange seems exaggerated and harsh, the bass and treble a bit backed off. the bass is good, but doesn't seem TIGHT, it seems a little mushy. the treble seems a little tinny as well.
I'm testing them with 192kbps MP3s, played through a SB128 card, into a set of yamaha computer speakers with a headphone out. Possibly this is insufficient to drive them? I will let you know once i try it with my DJ mixer at home tonight.
*edit* Tried it with my DJ mixer and some records on my decks, they sounded no better, in fact they sounded worse. all EQs and the main level were at 12oclock, gains just high enough to peak over 0db. The HD280s sounded overly harsh in the midrange, and washed out in bass and treble. In particular the mid bass sounded slow to respond, not nearly as quick as my other headphones or even my speakers. I was able to do a direct A/B comparison between the too, since my mixer (vestax PCV275) has two headphone outputs).
I also tried it with a Sony Home Theater Reciever (STR-DE635), in regular 2 channel stereo mode of course, using a yamaha CD player (CDC-902) as a source again the senns sounded empty and washed out compared to my others.
I tried them out on my other stereo a kenwood KRX-89, and an almost identical yamaha CD player (CDC-901). Similar results again. One thing i did notice that is interesting is that if i squished the headphones down on my ears, they sounded quite a bit better, because of the decrease in volume of air they had to move i guess. my other cans drivers are much closer to my ears
and finally, my last test was my MD player (Sony MZN505), and the senns did PATHETIC here, they sounded horrible, but i suspect this was just because my MD did not have the power to drive them. I've heard that they are not very efficient, but i don't know how i can measure that.
In short, i am underwhelmed by these cans which cost 4 times as much as the ones i already had. I'm convinced that my NOVA 403s are much better, they are more comfortable and light than anything i have ever tried, and they sound better than anything i have ever heard, including my friends sony MDR500s and 700s.
About the only good thing i can say about the sennheiser HD280s is that they block out a lot of sound and are solidly constructed, but then again, so does these!
anyway, i am not impressed, i think i am sending them back. Then again, maybe they just need to be burned in? something i had never even considered before visiting this forum.
