13 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Good Sound in a Padded Room (Burn-in period required)
Date of Review: Sep 16, 2004
The Bottom Line: Excellent sound reproduction with a sealed headphone; beautiful flat response with little coloration; low cost for superb quality
Being a lover of good sound, I've become a headphone junkie after quickly discovering the high quality produced by high-end headphones. No longer can speakers satiate my desire for music. Working in a cube farm with managers kind enough to allow employees to listen to music, I quickly ditched my Sony V600s in search of something better (reviews of the V600s were sub-par, so I decided to up the ante). I went for the top of my price range and invested in the Sennheiser HD600s. The open-air quality was fantastic but did little to contain the music. It also did little to seal out the mindless chatter which often permeates the office environment. Unfortunately, the HD600s increased my desire for high-quality sound. No cheapies for me any longer.
My next step was investigating closed headphones. Checking out Beyerdynamics, Grados, Sonys, I finally decided to stick with Sennheiser and plunk down $80 for the HD280s. Thanks to Epinions.com, I had heard about the burn-in period which was a requirement to get the best audio from the cans. I was also concerned with the appearance, they seemed a lot larger and clunkier than the sleek HD600s.
I received the headphones quickly and tried them out. THIS is what I paid $80 for? I instantly thought about sending them back (unfortunately, I bought them off eBay and was stuck with them). Of course, I remembered the burn-in period and decided to stick with it. After all, HeadRoom gave it a highly recommended rating.
Yes, the burn-in period is required! It was amazing, really, within eight hours of listening how much the sound emerged. Though closed, which gives a hollow, canned quality to the music, it is still quite involving. It seems very well balanced in terms of flat response, the bass is tight and rarely boomy, the treble is very precise. It also lets you hear far into the recording, thanks to the closed-back style and the large frequency response. Listening to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," I can hear Yo-Yo Ma's breathing as he plays (apparently, his nose whistles, which is a little distracting).
The cord is a tightly wound 3 feet, which apparently stretches to 10 feet. The cord is wrapped a bit too tightly, resulting in much more pull than I would prefer. It connects to the left-side can which is either a plus or minus given your preference (I like the one-sided connection as opposed to the dual connectors, a la my Sennheiser HD600s). The padding is soft, yet provides plenty of seal to give a good amount of decibal attenuation. Compared to my HD600s, it offers a lot more pressure against my head. I've gotten used to it, but definitely prefer the HD600s in this regard.
Unfortunately, these headphones can not magically enhance a poorly-recorded audio source. Much modern music is highly stylized and digitally created, which will not do much to please audiophiles. These cans are perfect for acoustic, live, orchestral, and various other recordings which demand a great soundstage presentation. I love listening to my classical recordings which take on an ethereal quality (and unlike with my HD600s, I don't have to hear people talking around my cubicle).
If you are looking for a good set of closed headphones (either for listening or recording purposes), you can't go wrong here. Just remember--burn them in with a variety of music.
