[rushofmusic]

 
Hello Head-Fi’ers
 
This is my first review of a pair of headphones. These reviews are meant for everyone but specially targets those looking for great bang-for-the-buck headphones (aka college student audiophiles). I would love suggestions on what to write about or elaborate on but I will try and format my reviews to reflect those of much more experienced reviewers. I hope you all enjoy!
 
Sennheiser HD428

Build Quality (6/10) – While the headphones do look very nice in my opinion, I must admit the build quality isn’t as great as it could be. The headphones are made of plastic that don’t feel the most durable and the hinges feel a bit looser than what you would expect. That’s not to say that they feel fragile, but definitely not the most rugged headphones either. The one major disappointment for me was the long and thin cable. It is extremely wiry and really does not inspire confidence. It is also extremely long and I have to wind it quite a few times and I still worry about the durability of the cable.
 
Comfort(9/10) – I love how these headphones feel on my head. They are relatively loose but feel very secure on my head, though I must admit I have a relatively large head. The earpads are also shaped well and very comfortable and have good depth so your ears don't touch the inner panel.
 
Isolation (7.5/10) – Though they don’t appear to be very capable of isolating sound, these are surprisingly competent for blocking out almost all ambient noise. I like this pair for studying and even when I’m in an atrium or slightly louder setting, I have never had a problem blocking out most white noise.
 
Sound(7.5/10)- I really like these headphones. Interestingly enough, Sennheiser gave the HD428s a very balanced and neutral sound; quite unlike many of the competitors in the same price range.
 
Now for a slightly deeper analysis of the sound. The strength of the HD428s definitely arises from its mids. Clarity is fantastic and the sound is very nice and smooth. The mids are nice and present but not in any way too forward. The highs are also quite good, very crisp and clear. The one part of the HD428s that is slightly lacking is the bass. While the bass is relatively clean and punchy, I personally find it to lack a little depth. Interestingly enough, despite having an impedance of 32 ohms, the HD428 feels surprisingly inefficient, whereas my other headphones have plenty of volume at 15 on my Zune HD, the HD428 often times needs to be set to at least 20. Amping the HD428s may reap some good improvements as joker has noted.
 
The soundstage is pretty average in depth. The interesting thing that I’ve noticed is that the sound is relatively distanced from the listener compared to other headphones I’ve tried. They sound almost a bit far and it forces the listener to kind of “go” to the sound. However, some may find this favorable to their tastes.
 
Value and Opinion(8.5/10) (Current price ~ $45-50) – As a college student, I got this as a gift from my roommate who knew I was very into headphones (I’ll be happy to let you all know that I turned him into someone who browses headphones all the time now too).  
These headphones are a fantastic value and they are my headphones of choice when I try to do some easy listening. Their slightly distanced sound along with their neutrality, cleanness, and accurate sound makes it very easy to listen to and I love using it when I study in libraries and in my dorm room. They sound fantastic with piano and I would definitely recommend this headphone.

 

[GeneralSmirnoff]

Nice review! I also love my HD 428's but my 428's are modded. For one thing, I took cotton from a cotton ball and put it under each ear cup so my ears rest father from the driver. this partially increased isolation and added more space to my music, things felt more spread apart. The second mod that I did was I took apart the headphones and modded the 3 ventilation holes for the drivers by taking off the mesh and leaving it only covering 1 hole, covered 1 with tape and one without a cover. This increased the bass but it felt too boomy and overshadowed the rest of my music. So what I did was I took synthetic cotton used in stuffed animals and put an even amount inside each ear cup. This slightly increased isolation and since this decreased the air moving in the cups the bass was perfect. Now I use my HD 428's with a Cmoy and my iPad and I'm really enjoying them

 

[rushofmusic]

That sounds intense..

 

[GeneralSmirnoff]

Yeah. I highly recommend you do it, and if you mess up by any chance refurbished HD 428's go for around $30. I got mine refurbished and with the cheap but effective mods, they are an amazing bang for the buck, I just wish the build quality was slightly better :/

 

[charvat8]

     Thought I'd throw my two cents in here since I bought them to try and get the most bang for the buck. I agree with most of what you've said, but I'd like to put emphasis on the cord. It's very thin, easy to tangle, and puts a lot of pressure at the jack itself when you have the music player in your pocket. I've had mine ten months and I now have to hold the cord down by the jack to get a sound from them. When I look for the most bang for my buck I look especially at durability, which I'm sorry to say these don't have. Also, by no means am I an audiophile, but I am a hardcore basshead. Though I love the mids on the these, I crave something with a more powerful, full bass response. I'd recommend these for home listening, but not for travel because of their sub-par durability and not so good isolation.

 

[GeneralSmirnoff]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I recabled them I got 25 feel of 24awg stranded silver plated copper and braided them. i them covered the 3 braided wires with teflex and slapped a neutrik plug on it. I used the same hole. All I did was enlarge it with an old soldering iron and I was good to go! However the microphonics are terrible and the chord is actually pretty thick and annoying since its not as flexible. I wish the chord was something similar to that on my gaming mouse: Extremely flexible and covered in cloth. Also, I totally agree with charvat8, they're not good for outside use, the isolation is still sub-par even after the mods I've done. But because I modified the headphones, I think that they have perfect bass. If I had the ability, I'd get a pair of cheap headphones with better build quality, get the previous drivers and put in my drivers from the 428's, they're that good! I was actually thinking of getting a pair of fake Dre Pro's and doing that to them but $100 is a large investment in something fake......