Title says it all really.
Just wondered if anyone had a bad word to say about the HD 280s or if another brand had a better product in the same price range.

Best price I've seen so far in the UK is £66.

Very grateful for any alternative suggestions or negative comments re. the Sennheiser HD 280s.

C.

Not a negative comment really, but I did notice that I had to get my ears adjusted to the sound of them. At first impression they seem to lack some bass, but after your ears "burn in" then you realize that there is enough bass. The period of ear burn in isn't very long, for me it was only a few days. I can't think of another closed headphone I'd want in this price range.

I have a pair of 280s and like them the least of all the phones I have in play.

Check uk ebay item number 120344610143

This should be a pair of Sony MDR V900 headphones for an unbelievably low price. I picked up a pair on US ebay a few weeks back. I prefer them to the HD280s in at least 3 significant ways:

(1) Smoother
(2) More extended bass
(3) More comfortable for long term listening.

And the price is about half of what you mentioned.

Also consider audio-technica's ATH-M50, they are getting superb reviews.

I haven't listened to, or compared, that many different headphones, but I do own a pair of HD280's, and they are quite good. And, they have a good reputation. That is, they are considered a bargain... i.e. One of the best choices in the $100 USD price range.

However, they are "closed" headphones. Do you need "closed" headphones? I think the general consensus is that (in a given price range) the best "open" headphones are better than the best "closed" headphones.

With the HD280's, I think I can hear some slight "closed headphone resonance". Don't get me wrong... Like I said, they are quite good. I don't use them that often, and almost every time I do use them, I start thinking "Hey, these sound better than I remember!" So, maybe that "resonance" stuff is a false memory or something...

I also own a pair of Grado "open" headphones (more expensive than the Sennheisers) and a pair of older "open" Koss headphones (less expensive than the Sennheisers). Both of these sound better to me (more natural?) than the Sennheisers. I've never done any careful A/B comparisons, so I can't be more specific... I'll just say I prefer the sound of the "open" headphones.

I have a pair of those, too. I prefer them to HD 280s.

The Sony MDR V900 have deeper bass. Comfort and smoothness are about equal.

Basically same here, except my "open" headpones are HD580. HD280 are not bad, they are decent, but I can't fall in love with them :-).

Open ear headphones primary advantage is comfort. The lack of a seal around the ear tends to make deep bass response less likely.

The bass of my open-air HD-580s come pretty close to Sony MDR V900s, and are about equal to the ATH M50s. But most other open-air phones are a little light in the bass department.

The Sony MDR-7506 is both built far superior and has substantially higher accuracy for monitoring. I have evaluated many, including the Sennheiser models listed above, as well as several Sony models, along with multitudes of other headphones. The 7506/V6(same phone, different Sony distribution channels), when compared to live feed with no F/X or EQ, using flat response linear measurement microphones, and standing between them at same distance form live sound source, the headphone feed sounds nearly identical to the live sound source that is being miced. Difference is extremely minor - primarily the headphone has a little bit thinner sounding lower midbass - otherwise it's right on track.

-Chris

Many thanks to all for your input, and WmAx in particular for the excellent summary/outline - a great help and much appreciated.

C.

I found that connector you were looking for
Cindy, is this the thing you were looking for?
www.liangdianup.com/computeraccessories_1.htm
It's on the list of computer accessories and parts. They have the DVI video thing to convert that jap monitor to work with your other computer. Just about any other kind of wire adaptor, usb connectors, monitor extension wires, ps2 extention wires, and all kinds of female and male swap connectors and things that I think would help your shop. If that above link don't work then goto www.lducompany.com and click on computer accessories. Let me know if that is what you need and give me your email address again.

I *love* my HD280's. They are great headphones for monitoring.

Just to add a bit more chaos to all this. A quick search of Amazon and HeadRoom for headphones ~$175 or less (and using HeadRoom's classifiacations and value ratings) returned the following:

---------
Sealed
---------
Audio Technica ATH-A700 (3.5/5) $124
Audio Technica ATH-M50 (4.5/5) $130

Denon AH-D1001K (4/5) $150

Sennheiser HD-280 (4/5) $100


---------------------------
Circumaural/Full-Size
---------------------------
Audio Technica ATH-A700 (4/5) $124
Audio Technica ATH-AD700 (4/5) $95

Sennheiser HD-555 (4.5/5) $99


-----------------------------------
Supra-Aural/Ear Pad (Small)
-----------------------------------
Grado Prestige Series SR80 (3.5/5) $95
Grado Prestige SR 125 (3/5) $150


--------------------------------------
Misc. (Couldn't find categories)
--------------------------------------
AKG K242 HD $140
AKG K272 HD $163

beyerdynamic DT 440 $64
beyerdynamic DT 660 $126
beyerdynamic DT 860 $171
beyerdynamic DTX 900 $100

Denon AHD1001S $81

Sennheiser HD-515 $77

I realize that this is all subjective, but are there any that can be quickly eliminated as inferior and whittle this list down? I too am interesting in a pair of new headphones but don't want to spend much more than $150. If the goal is quality audio playback (without having to live in a sound-proof cave), not professional monitoring or DJing, can the list be whittled down even further?

if headroom's graphs are to be believed, the denon 1001k has very high levels of harmonic distortion, which is not something i would want for monitoring headphones

also, i do have the hd 280s, i love them, but ive never had anything better really

that post by hdmyg8586 looks like spam...

I've had two pairs of 7506s, I simply wore the first ones out. But years of experience and discussions with other recordists leaves me with the strong impression that they are actually highly colored. Thay are particularly rough at the high end, which frankly the HD 280s seem to have partially copied. Sony has corrected this problem with later designs.



I've done that experient numerous times, and come up with different results. Ive recorded 100s of live performances both at church and also at choir and band festivals.

The phones that came closest to live sound in my experience were the 580s. Of course that result is a bit questionable given their poor isolation. The ATH M50s have proven themselves to be very close. I haven't had a chance to test my Sony MDR V-900s that way directly, but based on how they sound with recordings, they will be very close.

I have the MDR-V6s and the HD280s. For my subjective taste I give both a 10/10 for sound quality. You can spend hundreds of dollars more and get worse sound quality, IMHO. The V6s are sturdier and much more comfortable after a month or so of solid use though. They are little tight out of the box but they loosen up. I use Beyer DT250 pads on the V6s, a well-known trick which makes them very, very comfortable for long-term listening, although I'd guess it alters the sound a little, for better or worse.

For me the HD280s are impractical as a primary headphone due to comfort issues. They clamp too hard around the ears for me.

Evaluating accuracy of headphones is mind-numbingly complex, IMHO. But to me the V6s and the HD280s are both in "the zone," even though they sound rather different from one another. Two different schools of thought as to what's accurate, I suppose.

I can ABX the comfort of the V6s versus the HD280s 100 percent of the time.

The HD280s isolate much much better, FWIW, if that's a factor for you.

Have you done this experiment exactly as I described? I did this only after reading a new forum post a few years back from John Dunlavy where he did this using two linear(most recording mics are not, of course) measurement mics, standing between them, at the same distance as the sound source, recording classical performance for radio play.

Now, of course the 7506 has some colorations, it's not the best headphone in the world or anything. Measurably, they have a narrow notch around 200-205Hz and a some very mild treble resonances around 8-12kHz.

Now, the absolute most accurate/linear headphone I have ever used(not to say it is perfect - just the most linear headphone I have tried) is a 2003 Edition Beyer DT880 with modification. The modification was a high grade acoustic donut placed over the driver baffle to reduce the substantial ear to baffle resonances and combing that occurred. The result, both measurably and audibly was significant, and the result was the most liner headphone I have ever used. But it is an open phone, and thus has no isolation, so it's very limited for live monitoring use.

-Chris

I own both. They sound very similar and good. The M50s probably have a little better bass The A700s are more comfortable, but also more fragile. Literally, parts fall off when I wear them. One time I was wearing them while visiting my son, and my daughter-in-law found a piece and had to UPS it back to me.



Long story short, they aren't 580s. They put your head in a vise and the cups get clammy. Great bass, but rough high end.



I had a pair of these and they are more comfortable than A700s. They are equally fragile because they are made that much alike. Very smooth, but not so much bass. In the end I had to redo the wiring inside the cups and glue various loose and broken parts. Then, some really stupid thieves stole them. Go figure.

But yes, with all their faults I wore them until they were stolen because they were very comfortable physically and also very comfortable to listen to.



The best deal around are the Sony MDR 900s that are on both US and UK eBay for under $50 delivered. At the price, they are throw-aways. Buy em, if you do like them and you probably will, then you got a heck of a deal. If you decide to move on, they are still going to provide value for secondary uses.

Sorry to bump a reasonably old thread. But just to conclude:
I ended up getting the Sony MDR-V6s in the end. Very glad I did, too.
So thanks once again to all for your help and in particular to WmAx.

C.