I would like to get a nice(er) pair of headphones and I know how well loved the Sennheiser HD 280s are on OCC. The HD 555 are on sale for $10 cheaper than the HD 280s on newegg and I was wondering if they were worth going buying. I dont really have any requirements except for them to be better than the LTB 5.1 headphones and logitech x-530s Ive got.

From what Ive searched, the HD 555s are better if you dont mind sound leaking out... true?

I just got a set of the Turtle Beach HPA-2s. They aren't perfect for music but for gaming and movies they are AWESOME.

EDIT: They are open-back as well.

I love my HD 555s but one of the downfalls is indeed the sound leaking. If I'm listening to music or playing a game at a higher volume my roommate can hear it too. Its not loud, just a whisper but he can still hear it. Apart from that you can't seperate me from my Sennheiser's

Ive been reading more into the HD555s. I keep coming across 120ohm vs 50ohm which I dont entirely understand. I wont have an amp and the ones on newegg are 120ohm, will they be no good?

Edit* I guess they have phased out the 120 ohm version. Now Im back to square one but leaning towards the HD 555s

If you're spending a lot of money on headphones it'd probably be worth buying/building a small amp for them.

If its going to give me a nice boost in quality I probably will in the near future, as long as they dont cost a fortune. But for right now it would be nice if I could find something that will work well with and without an amp.

Can you afford HD595's? You might be glad if you can - I love mine via my amp (in sig) and were worth every penny spent!

"Leaking sound" is because the headphones are open-back. It's not that loud, but yes, audible. Can give a much better sound than closed cans though.

200+ is a little more than I would like to spend on headphones at the moment. I am now also looking into the audio-technica ad700... there are too many choices in this price range

i use senn for long time, 580, 600, 650, finally, i keep my 580 for more than 6 years.
I think right now, you can very easliy get a nice condition 580 around 100$, or even new one.
I bought it brand new only something around 150$, and that was 6 years ago. As I know, all other
5 series headphone is not good as 580. I keep 580 just because the performance/price ratio can not
beat by 600 or 650.

Another one I would recommend, which is AKG 501. I like it very much, just like 580. i sold mine when
i got 580.

you should go http://www.head-fi.org/, there is a lot of useful information.
good luck.

I have the Sennheiser HD280 Pro, and it's my favourite for home listening out of the 3 main headphones I use, the other two are Sennheiser HD25-1 II and Westone UM2 (DJ and IEM respectively)

The HD280 Pro is closed back, yes, but the sound is EXTREMELY clear on them... they are very accurate, and that's why they are highly rated everywhere and widely used commercially.

The main "downfall" of the HD280 Pro is that it has a steep bass rolloff starting around 250Hz:


http://www.headphone.com/technical/product...e=0&graphID[]=213

This means that you will notice a distinctive lack of bass when driving them flat. I use them plugged into the headphone out of my Technics amp, with the bass control on ~ +80%, and they sound great.

I've only plugged them directly into a soundcard once or twice before and didn't really bother after that, it was a temporary measure when I hadn't hooked up my amp. So I went ahead and took the screw-on 6.35mm-3.5mm adaptor off and connected it to my X-Fi XtremeMusic (with LM4562 op-amps).

OMG, they sound horrible lol... my ears are still ringing from having the X-Fi at 100% and flat... arg...

Scrambling to the EQ, I found I had none in the current mode lol... you have to disable Bit-Perfect Playback to get the EQ in Audio Creation Mode. I ended up with this for the HD280 Pro to sound totally awesome:

+


Of course, you can adjust EQ in Game Mode without disabling anything as it doesn't have Bit-Perfect options...




It's not like the HD280 Pro is incapable of bass, far far from it, they are just somehow set to not have much bass by Sennheiser, maybe to make them clearer for dialogue as they are used as monitor in the movie industry etc.

EQ'd as I have set them, the bass is awesome, it's so low and continues the precision of the HD280 Pro.

The HD280 Pro is so clear and precise, it will seem almost clinical when you first use them. They really need 100's of hours of use before they "burn in". This isn't theory or heresay, the diaphragms actually loosen from usage, and the drivers become a lot warmer and the bass extends lower.

They sound better amped, of course, but in just a few minutes I've managed to make them sound totally awesome directly from the soundcard.

I prefer the sound of the HD280 Pro to the HD555... some people like the warmth of the 555, but I find it wooly and wishy-washy, smearing the sounds together a bit, whereas the 280 Pro is surgically precise.

However, you might be better off looking towards some of the other headphones available. A lot of people like AKG and Beyerdynamic for headphones driven directly from the soundcard, and they wouldn't need as severe EQ adjustment as I have shown.

Love my HD 515's have used them for about a year and still as comfortable as the day i got them. I love the open ear design of the sennheiser's and sound quality is the best that i have found. My previous pair of
Alec-Lansing 502's set on your ear's becoming un-comfortable after about an hour or so and thought they sounded good till
i put the sennheiser's on..
You cant go wrong with sennheiser's..

I just took a look at the HD280s, and they look to be really nice. I just have one question. Does that cable get annoying?

You CAN go wrong with Sennheiser headphones... all the cheap/budget headphones, and all the earbuds and clip on headphones suck... I even think the PX100 sucks and some people thinks it's the ultimate set of portable headphones

Kash, my headphone coil is usually suspended in the air between me and my amp, so it's ok lol... it's like 3m long semi-stretched how I have it now, coiled up it's like 1.5m I think... mine is permanently slightly stretched now as they are quite old.

It's more annoying when I used to use them as my portable headphones on journeys, and trying to somehow coil up a coiled cable... I ended up having to like loop it round my belt and looked like I was some sort of sound man off a movie set or DJ (or idiot) or something lol...

Im leaning towards the audio technica AD700 heavily. Ive been doing a lot of searching/reading at headfi.org and people generally go for the AD700 over the HD555s, and my current headphones are open so Im quite used to them. The only real downside Im seeing with the AD700s is lower bass, but I really dont see myself needing something that will vibrate my brain.

Edit* So do all headphones need some burn in or is it just that particular pair?

All full-size cans would benefit. Probably doesn't make as much difference for the likes of IEMs. I didn't notice as much difference with my Westone UM2.

I'd recommend playing music loud and bassy through them when you are not in the room to loosen up any newly purchased full-size cans.

Hmm, that actually sounds good. My cats won't be able to nibble on my headphone cable if it's not touching the floor.

I've got the HD595s as well. When I was buying I was looking at the HD280 Pro and HD555 as well. I figured it wasn't such a huge increase, so why not? Looking back, I'm glad I picked the 595s. On a related note, I recently purchased a Little Dot MK III amp and wow! My little portable-turned-desktop amp was really holding these cans back. Not that a relatively inexpensive amp isn't worth it! I brought my portable amp (Mini Head Signature, if you're curious) into work one day because I noticed that one of my co-workers was using some Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3's. He likes it so much that he's going to buy it.

I don't remember who it was that started me down this path, but my wallet has never recovered. "I just want to get some decent headphones..." *buys HD595s* "Wait, an amp can make these sound better?" *buys amp* "These are great, but I can't use them when I travel." *buys Super.Fi 5's* "This amp is great, but it's really not made for desktop use." *buys Little Dot amp*


I remember when I got my headphones... They arrived on a Thursday, I listened to them for a few hours, then let them play over the weekend while I was gone. When I came back there was a very significant difference in sound. Burn-in definitely makes a difference.

Awesome about the Little Dot MKIII. I love mine - need to get around to fiddling with the jumpers for my cans though - not tried anything as yet. Rolling tubes is dead easy too. I had a bit of crackle on one of the smaller tubes, but reseating it a few times has "cured" it.

Let me know if you find messing with the impendance jumpers to be useful. Then do a sound channel check for me - mine came with reversed channels on the headphone jack resolved by reversing the line in to the amp (and also the line out to my speakers - works beautifully as a wee preamp!)

And then get yourself a hotrodded X-Fi like mine (thanks again hardnrg) and you will love the sound that is produced. Still need some "better" cabling really, but meh.

You know I still have a half-finished interconnect on one side of my room lol...

Nag me about it to remind me to finish it

Ive decided to go with the AD700. Im not quite ready for an amp or a new soundcard but the auzentech x-fi and the MKII amp look good.

well, that guy shares the same opinions as me on the HD555... so I'd personally take his recommendations into consideration on headphones

I would go for an amp before an upgrade on a stock X-Fi:XM... you could get someone local to do a Hotrod mod to your XM... it's only a few dollars for the components (the op-amps can be free, so you could just pay for one capacitor), and it doesn't take all that long to do the mod...

the end result of modding is probably just ever so slightly better than the Prelude because of the power capacitor, but it would be really close... if you don't want to mod, Prelude, if you want to mod and save yourself a packet, Hotrod mod...

either way, you really want an amp... after I posted the EQ things for my HD280 Pro I disconnected it, screwed the 1/4" jack adaptor back on, and hooked it back up to the headphone socket on my amp... much better... no messing with EQ required, just the amp's bass+

I'd personally be hesitant about buying a headphone amp without any tone controls...

If I could find someone locally to do the mod I would probably go threw with it. What do you recommend as a decent amp? It cant be too much money, anything around $100 is cool for now.

The bass can get distorted with positive EQ (ie + db). The HD280 does well with these settings available here (see post #13). Try it you will be pleasantly surprised.

I would try it, but my HD280Pro has died of multiple injuries (the headband outer shell broke off in several places, and then one of the drivers got blown by an unfortunate headphone amp accident during development that caused a massive low-shelf bass gain to be applied to on of the channels) - I threw them in the bin

Now I have K701, HD25-1 II, and UM2, and still use my PortaPro occasionally