Hi there.

Some days ago I "killed" the Sennheiser HD 530 headphones I used. (They don't belong to me, so I'm in big trouble. ) I want to replace them, but I couldn't find them on ebay here, only lots of HD 540s (25-35 €). I'd like to know if these two headphones are comparable quality-wise, but I havent found any helpful information on the net so far. If you have some information that could help, please tell me. I'd also appreciate if you point me to some other good headphones that are easy to find (used, e.g. on ebay) and cost less than 50 € (used).

Thanks for your help.

Cheers tigre

Ok. I give you an ultimatum of 10 hours , which is 6.03 PM HA forum time.

If noone contradicts, I'll buy a pair of Sennheisser HD 540 Reference II at ebay tomorrow.

Of course, if someone wants to ease my doubts, I'd still appreciate it.

IIRC FYI:

HD 520/525/530/535 are sealed headphones.
HD 540/545/560/565/570/575/580/590/600 are open headphones.

I have a pair of Sennheiser 535's. Does anybody know how they compare to other models, such as the ones commonly recommended on HA?

I would prefer it over the HD570/575 which are much too bright.

The 530/535 are nice for Pop and Rock music.
My sister has it.

How does it happen that HD-497 from the lower level model line cost more than HD-5XX headphones?
What do you guys think of this model? I own it - really nice for me... (but I'm still interested in what others think of them)
not as good as 600, but they can be driven by SlimX easily. I haven't heard a better pair of the headphones for this price
(I've paid 37$ on eBay) MSRT 69USD

I use a pair of Koss Porta Pro and I am very pleased with them. They deliver a nice rounded sound, very clear, good bass response but not too powerful, very comfortable.

I think bang for bucks you would be hard pressed to find anything better. Their price is also less than 50 €. I highly recommend them.

http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/02Pro...phones^PORTAPRO

I think because HD 520-540 are old. I don't know when they stopped producing them but I think some years ago.

I just lost a bidding duel :'( - but there's another opportunity to get some HD 540s today.


Thanks for your recommendation. I did a quick search but couldn't find them for less then 50€ (no used offers ATM). Besides, I don't need the headphones I'm going to buy for portable use, just for sit&enjoy and maybe some listening tests, so I'll try to get the HD 540s next time ... If I fail, we'll see.

-edited: some typos

SUCCESS!

I've ebayed a pair of HD 540 reference right now for 27 €.

Thanks everybody for participating. I'm looking forward to find out how they sound to me. I'll let you know.

Hmm, from the little bit of info I can find on the HD 540, it looks like you got a really nice deal on them. Should sound very good, especially for that price. Very good deal!

I've just got them. To me the sound is great (of course, I've listened to crappy computer speakers for 2 weeks now). No, seriously - If I listen to HD 540 on one ear and to HD 530 on the other ear (on earbud is still working) it sounds the same to me as 2x 540, maybe 540 is a little bit better but it'd be hard to do bilnd-tests on this

The guy who owned them before me seems to smoke 100 cigarettes a day but I know how to get rid of that "perfume".

Again thanks to everyone - I'll be happy ever after.

Cheers tigre

[EDIT] To get rid of the smoke odour I disasembled the HD 540 to put all parts that can stand this treatment in the washing machine . There's not much difference between HD 540 and HD 530, but I took the opportunity to take some pictures:

left: HD 540, right HD 530; details: HD 540 and HD 530

The membrane of the 540's feels more stiff somehow. I've noticed that the HD 540's are even loud enough on my cheap crappy Lenco mp3 discman.

@Frank Klemm: HD 530 and HD 540 are open (or semi-open. HD 525 (and lower, I think) are sealed.[/Edit]