[Jasper994]

The 280's do seem to be a love or hate headphone. I recommend that you burn them in at a pretty high volume (quite a bit louder than you would listen to them but not distorting) with some bassy music and leave them for 3 - 4 days. After full burn in give them a shot if you still don't like them send them back/return them.

 

[bhd812]

I think the ath-d40fs was better then the hd280's, it has a fuller sound to them. the 280 is more defined in there way as the ath's are all sound comes from one part of the can.

The 225's are amazing but they do cost $200. not as much bass cause of the earpad layout but super clear.

like I said the 280 reminded me of any sony headphone....as in all it was to me was a bunch of hype. the 280 are pretty comfortable esp if you have ear rings and such.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Geek At headroom Jamey and I compared some graphs, and the HD280s were at least 10 decibels below neutral on the bass, up to 200 hz. Cheers, Geek

Woah... I suspected as much, after hearing them -- weakest bass I've probably ever heard from a headphone. Would like to see those graphs, but there's nothing posted at headphone.com.

 

[bangraman]

It's just a thought of mine, but I've sat at home and elsewhere with a wide variety of the headphones that Headroom has reviewed and tested, and sometimes their results leads me to puzzlement as well as some of their recommendations.


The HD280 needs to be used frequently. There's the initial sense of disappointment, and as your hearing acclimatises to them as well as the phones being allowed to break in (these must have very stiff diaphragsm to begin with) it does start to loosen out a little. I'll say after three weeks of 'normal' use, you'll start saying 'hey, these aren't bad at all!'. I seem to remember accidentally burning them in over a weekend when I left some stuff running, and I must say that I never really had a problem with the phones but they did change for the better over time. They have a better staging than the DT250-80, less bass that's sure but quite tight and certainly discernible from a decent amp. Portable use means less power so there can be problems, but e.g. the 250 in comparison is very hard to drive from a portable without an amp, so the HD280 certainly gives you more options. One of those 'mini-epiphany moments' I had was with a D-141 and a well broken in HD280, unamped. I liked their comfort and I think they ended up being among the longest-owned of my phones.


It has a tendency to sound rough at times if you've listened to better gear, but still, quite a good general purpose phone with an amp or receiver in my opinion, especially the price they go for.


Having said that I think the Ultrasone HFI-650 is significantly better than both HD280 and DT250-80, although maybe not as good in certain ways as the HD25 and maybe worse in certain ways compared to the K271S. Given my completist fetish, it was certainly odd that I didn't buy them after samping them for the longest period of any other phone at a Head-Fi meet. However a year down the line I'm preparing to cave in.

 

[ph0rk]

Quote:

Originally posted by kugino if you 280 owners want a much better headphone for a much better price, check out the grados.

Better is a subjective term. HD280's give a pretty flat uncolored sound. Grado's don't, and if you like grados why on earth are you buying -anything- Sennheiser makes?

 

[Magic77]

What I've found about the 280's is; They can sound great with some recordings and sound pretty bad with others. I don't use them all the time; but overall I think they are very good headphones for the price.

 

[ph0rk]

Quote:

Originally posted by Geek At headroom Jamey and I compared some graphs, and the HD280s were at least 10 decibels below neutral on the bass, up to 200 hz.

Sounds like a load to me. What graphs?
What mic did they use? (What is the frequency response of the mic?) Did they allow the earcups to seal properly?
Its nice of them to toss all those graphs up there, but they don't really mean much apart from relative comparisons, assuming they tested all headphones the same. The graohs for the 280 aren't even available.

Hell, their graphs for the grado sr225 shows it as relatively flat up to 5khz. They sure as hell don't -sound- flat.

the HD280 certainly doesn't have the dreaded midbass hump, but the very low deep bass is definately there (Rumbling orchestral bass drums, organs, etc).

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally posted by ph0rk Better is a subjective term. HD280's give a pretty flat uncolored sound. Grado's don't, and if you like grados why on earth are you buying -anything- Sennheiser makes?

sure, better IS a subjective term...but what comparison/review on this forum isn't subjective? accurate can still sound "good" and the senns just didn't sound good.

as for being a grado guy and buying senn? yeah, i don't know what i was thinking. my 325s should arrive soon and maybe i'll forget about all this...hopefully

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

If you like honky vocals and no bass then sure the senn 280's are nice. Otherwise check out the beyer 250-80's for closed headphones..

Biggie.

 

[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally posted by kugino sure, better IS a subjective term...but what comparison/review on this forum isn't subjective? accurate can still sound "good" and the senns just didn't sound good. as for being a grado guy and buying senn? yeah, i don't know what i was thinking. my 325s should arrive soon and maybe i'll forget about all this...hopefully

325's are amzing, Then again I only had them for a day. and before I picked those up I returned the 280's


frank sinatra comes to life with these, you can hear him takeing a drag of his smoke, getting off the stool, and loads more of finger snapping.....lol I never heard the first two before.
even bone thugs in harmony sounds different.
but take it from me play them low low low, cause the clarity seems to be bothing my ears at mid levels...I know it sound stupid but thats what I am seeing now.

 

[ph0rk]

Quote:

Originally posted by NotoriousBIG_PJ If you like honky vocals and no bass then sure the senn 280's are nice. Otherwise check out the beyer 250-80's for closed headphones.. Biggie.

Can the 250-80's be had for $70 new?

Of course a $180 headphone will best the 280's. Will the DT231's or 331's beat out the 280's?

the hd280's (imho of course) are great cans because they are inexpensive, reasonably accurate, and isolate very well.

REAL bass starts under 40hz anyway.

 

[tbutterf]

I've had my 280s for about six months...

Treble: good detail and balance
Mids: decent when the music isn't complex, but tends to get mushy quick
Bass: nonexistent, blurry, no punch (or boom), crappy in all respects
Construction: Awesome! these are beefy!
Comfort: good but somewhat muff-esque
Isolation: The only 'phones that beat the 280s are the etys. these have something like 23dB of isolation!
Soundstage: What soundstage?
Cord: coiled, annoying

Conclusion: If you're going for comfort, functionability and isolation these are your phones. However, if you want prefer superior sonic abilities, and I'm assuming most of you here do, then don't buy these!

P.S. I may have to change my icon over these phones, damn!

 

[Taurui]

Quote:

Originally posted by fewtch Woah... I suspected as much, after hearing them -- weakest bass I've probably ever heard from a headphone. Would like to see those graphs, but there's nothing posted at headphone.com.

You obviously haven't heard the Sennheiser PMX60 yet

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Taurui You obviously haven't heard the Sennheiser PMX60 yet

True... there are lots of headphones I haven't heard. To be perfectly honest though, the HD280 Pro is the only headphone I've heard (at any price) that I'd actually pay to never have to listen to again...

P.S... just a matter of my personal preferences, I'm not slamming them on an objective basis. Whoever likes the sound, more power to 'em...

 

[andrzejpw]

I have to say, the 280s were never a favorite headphone of mine (to put it lightly). Where's the cream filling(bass)? On the other hand, the beyer 250-80s are simply astounding.