[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally posted by Magicthyse The grumpy mod does it again...

I should have put the word 'shrieky' in double quotes, like:

"shrieky"

Seriously, Magicthyse, the "shriekiness" of many closed headphones, such as the Sony MDR-V600 and the MDR-V900, is NOT what those headphones are meant to reproduce - but is actually a sign that most closed headphones suffer from excessive resonances. Your MDR-V700DJ's don't suffer much from those symptoms - but that's because the earcups of the V700DJ's have less empty air space than most. (Soundwise, though, my judgment of the V700DJ's is along the lines of trying to stuff a 38cm subwoofer into a box that's really designed to produce optimal results only with a 25cm subwoofer.) The V600 and V900, OTOH, have too much empty air space within their closed cups. No wonder why they sound even "shriekier" than the Senn 280 Pros. However, your 280 Pros suffer from "shrieky" sound because the factory in Ireland that makes most high-end Senns has been having erratic quality control. In your case, running a "normalized" frequency-response sweep will reveal that your particular Sennheiser sample has a strange response peak in the lower treble.

 

[delenda est Sony]

Good review, Magic! Detailed analysis, fair assessment, and well written!

Fred---
run a search. This has already been done by me and others. I thought the V6 had less isolation, more bass, less sound stage, and a sort of artificial shrill treble. The 280s are generally superior, except if you listen to very bassy music. The Sonys are cheaper though.

I also compared the 280s to the Beyer 250-80s at the Headroom show, and I thought the Beyers were more comfy and also warmer (deeper bass), but they really aren't worth the extra $70 that they usually go for above and beyond the Senn 280 price. And the Beyers are totally non-foldable and also rest on most ears instead of enclosing them (unless you have wee tiny hobbit like ears...)

Those rumors of poor quality control at the Senn plant in Ire Land are interesting though. The 280 has generated probably the most divergent group of opinions of any phone I've seen here on Head-Fi. "It's warm" "It's bright" "It needs an amp" "It sounds just fine w/o an amp" "Great isolation". "No isolation" etc. These seem like the wild card in Senns deck of cards.

 

[a1leyez0nm3]

Originally posted by fredpb
I wish someone could review three cans in a good head to head shootout.

Sennheiser HD280's.
Sony V6's/7506's.
Beyer DT250-80.


Now that would be a good review.




The 280s are much much better then the v6. the 280s have deeper bass, better soundstage, and overall are much more smooth. and dont have the sony "honky" mids. the beyers.. i havent heard em yet.'


the v700dj.... why not just use ex70s??? the dj headphones sound.... alright.. but the thing is is that they are sooooooooooooooo overpriced for their sound!!!! you could get the er6!!!! i would say that the 700dj would be worth about $30. no more. i wouldnt buy them for that anyway, i would get the aiwa canal-bud type headphones for $25. or er6 or ex70 or d66 eggos. or v6. or...

and yes.. i have listened to the 700dj. they shocked me. "And these are $130?!?..."

 

[Eagle_Driver]

And some people may not 'like' the HD 280 Pro's sound because they prefer moderately or strongly exaggerated mid-bass response - whereas most of the Sony MDR-V###DJ series headphones suffer from way exaggerated mid-bass, the mid-bass on the HD 280 Pros is only *slightly* 'exaderated'.

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

I still don't believe it's quality control. Almost everyone who's had an issue with the sound has said that their previous phones were something with an overeggagerated bass and/or rolled off highs: Sony V#00DJ, 60 ohm koss, etc. If you've gotten used to that sound then of course the 280s are going to sound thin. I think a lot of the more mainstream recordings are tuned to compensate for megabass and all the muddy equipment out there. For example some of my electronica doesn't always have the punch I would expect it to have yet something like Son Volt (alt-country) has very warm, deep bass.

Power, someone said that Sennheiser's measurements are with a greater level of something, wattage I believe. So, the 64 ohm rating might not actually be quivalent to other phones. I do think that for a portable they require a higher than average amount of power. I know my Aiwa CD player is a little weak with them, even at full volume they're not quite as loud as I'd like. There are more powerful portable units out there though so an amp wouldn't be a necessity if you had one of those. A soundcard is fine, home equipment (receiver or CD player jack) puts out more than enough power to drive them.

As for fit that's always a personal preference issue. I don't find them tight at all and I'm a bit perplexed by those that say they press against the top of their head. I've pushed mine down against my head and can't find anything objectionable about the headband comfort even with the additional pressure applied. I'm sure the fit is at least partly to blame for the variations in isolation. I've seen people compain about Etys not isolating enough so I think there's just some people with unrealistic expectations.

(HBZ)