Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphone, Black

Bought this product for the following applications:

1) Playstation 3 Games

Primarily use these headphones for Rocksmith. Prior to purchase, I was using inexpensive Sony and JVC open headphones which presented two problems. First, the volume was too low when they were directly connected to the Playstation. I could turn up the volume to max on my guitar to hear my own sound but the game music and voice announcements were barely audible. Hooking up the Sennheisers easily doubled the volume, allowing me to turn down the guitar volume which now blends much better with the Rocksmith audios. I also bought an E6 amp which improved the sound slightly but have been usually playing without. Our home is very open with a cathedral loft where I play while my wife reads or watches TV below. The headphones effectively blocked the TV audio.

2) iPod 6thGen

Like to use my iPod nano and shut out the home noise while listening. These headphones amazed me with their sensitivity and how much volume I could crank out of my teeny nano 6th gen. I have some high frequency hearing loss so I will allow others to comment on the overall performance but I was able to hear things I was missing. For example, Sarah Brightman’s vibrato really jumped out at me. It was there before but I had just missed it in the past. Again, although I used the E6 it was unnecessary. However, I’m going to keep it. If I crank the iPod down and the E6 up it should help me extend listening time.

3) Laptop

Occasionally, I’ll plugin while working at the computer although after hearing how great the Sennheisers sound I’ll probably be doing it more often. In this application, as well as the above, the coiled cord on these Sennheisers give you nice range and flexibility without the tangles or cords stuck under the desk chair. Volume was acceptable on both laptops I own. Again no need for the E6. However, both PCs have high quality DAC and are marketed as entertainment devices.

4) Receiver and CD player

Tried both the Sony receiver output and Sony 5 disc player component. Make sure the volume is turned down on the receiver or the Sennheiser’s sensitivity is going to blow your ears out. The disc was another matter and if I used this output I would probably need to use the little E6. Come to think of it, I’ll have to check the manual and remote on the Sony. There may be volume control.

5) Guitar

Tried a direct plug into my electic since the Sennheisers come with a neat little 1/4 inch adapter. Problem – the adapter is stereo and the guitar is mono so you’ll hear only the left channel. Also, the volume isn’t loud enough. But pumping it though my little personal guitar mounted amp the sound was plenty loud, and plenty clear, a big improvement over earbuds or open headphones.

6) TV

Perfect but I’ll need a 15 foot extension cord for it to be effective.

This is not my first set of closed headphones but in previous units the heat buildup was very uncomfortable. Strangely, these were comfortable for me to wear for an entire day of listening on all these devices and the audio was far superior to the previous ancient Koss headphones I chucked several years ago. In addition, I have a wide head. Opticians never carry lens frames wide enough for me to wear in the sample cases. I was concerned by several reviews that indicated this was an issue but these Sennheisers are adjustable both in width and depth. I could actually adjust them to be comfortably loose at my desk or tighten them to grip firmly while standing and moving with the guitar.

I was surprised by the overall value and had expected them to be only acceptable in certain environments, perhaps excelling only with a receiver. The ability to use these in every situation makes this an incredible value. Very happy with my purchase!

Sound depth remarkable, quality as good as it gets. Cinematic sound is state of the art. As good as it gets. I highly recommend 👌

the folks at Sennheiser must not have large heads. As with about every pair of headphones that I try on, I had to extend these all the way to fit. After a few months of daily use, the plastic headband began to develop small cracks. Now the cracks are growing and I fear that the whole thing will just snap one day. Unfortunately, that is one of the parts that isn’t listed as replaceable.

That said, people who look at this headphone are looking for: a) quality sound synonymous with the name Sennheiser b) excellent noise reduction.

a) The sound from these phones is excellent. The standard criteria are there. The signal is very clean, thanks in part to the oxygen free copper cabling used. Bass is controlled and precise so a timpani doesn’t sound muffled. Higher frequencies do not hiss and the phones are able to drive high frequency sounds and pull out details lost by consumer grade headphones. Soundstage is fairly narrow as some have said, but much better than consumer sets that sound like the sound source is inside your head. Of course, a DSP solution for soundstage expansion could help if someone didn’t like the soundstage.

What people should realise is that most music is optimised for listening on a stereo system and not headphones. A search for “binaural music” will yield samples that show how music should be sampled for headphones. Anyways, the HD-280 Pros also have 64 Ohms of resistance so an amplifier isn’t needed.

b) The biggest impression I got from these phones is silence. Not total silence, since with the headphones on I could still hear outside noise. Once the music starts playing, however, music is much clearer because background noises have been attenuated so effectively.

That was the biggest attraction of these headphones. For my sound processing work, ambient noise from my computer and the outside world are suppressed admirably. 32 decibels is a lot of sound attenuation, far more than the Active Noise Reduction sets from Bose or even Sennheiser. The HD-280 Pros use passive noise attenuation. This means that for the phones to supress outside noise effectively, they have to be tight. They are very tight in fact. Four Newtons of force are applied, a number significantly larger than most headphones. If it weren’t for the thoughtful padding, they would feel as uncomfortable as firing range headsets. Passive noise attenuation also means there is no artifacting from electronic noise that is usually the case in Active Noise Reduction sets.

If you have a very large head, a solution is to find in-ear phones (the expensive Etymotics sets have even better sound quality and noise reduction). If you are sensitive to tight headphones, a solution might be the Active Noise Reduction sets (although they aren’t as good sonically). If you listen to sound in a very very quiet environment, Grados or some other Sennheisers would probably get you that better soundstage for the money.

If none of these situations applies to you, then these phones will provide better sound through their native excellent quality and their superior noise attenuation. After all, the listening experience with Sennheiser 600’s on an Audigy 2 card or a tube amplifier is diminished with that noisy computer fan in the background.

All in all, these phones are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

*** UPDATE, October 20, 2009 ***

Wow, well these headphones are still ticking after over six years and I’m pretty rough with my equipment! Cheap headphones break after six weeks for me because the cable gets pulled or I mess up the speaker so these Sennheisers are pretty solid.

Just as I feared though, the plastic HAS cracked and you can see the thin wires (covered in plastic or rubber) exposed. Now that most of the plastic on the headband has broken off, the fit is quite a bit looser though the headband is still held together by a wide piece of metal. I just wish they would just make a nice metal headband to avoid the plastic cracking issue.

While I like the fact that they aren’t so tight, I don’t like the fact that richness (low-end midrange and bass) suffers because of it. You can simulate this when listening by pulling the headphones slightly apart. It isn’t noticeable on light music though and might not be an issue with newer versions of the HD-280 Pro.

The ear cushions on my 6+ year headphones are worn past the leatherette, past the foam and to the foam backing layer. The top is looking ratty as well. Replacement ear cushions are around $20.00 which isn’t cheap. I’ll probably skip that in favor of a new pair of HD-280s – especially if they’ve been redesigned for larger heads as some people are indicating. I’ll keep this pair around as beaters until they quit on me. However, now that I’ve quieted my working area, sound isolation isn’t as critical to me as it was before so I might take a look at other Sennheisers.