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I did a lot of research to find headphones that would deliver what I wanted. I'm fairly picky about sound and am very easily bothered if parts of the sound range are artificially boosted or otherwise out of balance. Which describes most of the common headphones that are out there these days with their amplified bass, muddy notes and uneven middles and/or upper notes.
Just as a point of comparison, I looked closely at Audio Technica because I had gotten the chance to try two of their models. The sound was a lot better than most, fairly clear and defined overall. Nice. Seemed slightly muddy though on the finer details. And somewhere in the middle range felt a little 'off' to me in ways I don't know how to describe. And parts of the sound profile sounded farther away than other parts. Subtle but it was there. So they were nice in many ways but not quite satisfying for me the longer I listened to them. Additionally, the m50s (the more popular of the two models I tried) had a noticeable amp on the bass which also wasn't quite my speed. Though that's pretty common knowledge about the m50s, so hardly a surprise.
I also seriously considered the Sennheiser HD 598 headphones. The reviews are tempting but I just can't have open-back headphones in my current living arrangements. I need at least some ability to shut out noise because of bad neighbors, etc. Even though the 280's are not noise reduction headphones, they do an amazing job of dampening outside noise without any fancy technology. Not only is my music nearly unhearable to anyone sitting in the same room with me, but noises in the room around me are partially blocked out even when I'm wearing my 280's without any sound playing in them. Something to do with how closely they fit I think, seems to automatically dampen some of the noise around me. So they fall somewhere inbetween actual "noise reduction" headphones and normal on-ear headphones which block out nothing at all. Seems to be a little more so than other over-ear headphones as well. Overall, that's been nice.
I was concerned at first about the 280's since many reviews noted they have a decent clamping fit on the head. I have had huge problems in the past with various on-ear headphones which clamp too hard against my ears and cause physical pain. I knew these were cupping around the ears instead of directly on-ear, but I was still more than a little concerned that this "clamping" might be too tight to be comfortable. Thankfully this has proved to fine. When I first put them on, there was a noticeable sense of "pressure" on the sides of my head, but not bad enough to be outright uncomfortable or anywhere close to painful. Thankfully within the first 12 hours of use, they seem to have relaxed a bit and now are plenty comfortable to wear for long hours without issue. Occasionally if I don't have them adjusted right, one of the ear pads can end up resting slightly onto of the edge of one ear, which can become uncomfortable hours later. But it's simple to adjust them on my head. Usually happens if I was in a hurry in putting them on and since they are comfortable enough I won't notice for awhile that it wasn't on quite perfectly.
As for sound, they've been pretty much exactly what I was looking for. The sound is natural, pretty much like real life. No artificial boosts or drops in parts of the range going from high to low. Sound is nicely crisp and defined, no muddy areas. Holds up when listening to a wide range of genres, from rap to classical, pop to country, acoustic to electronic. Watching movies works fine. The lack of bass boosting is more noticeable on genres that overly rely on the bass being boosted and didn't actually balance their music enough without it. So some rap, some dance, some action movies will have a little less 'umph' to them than you might expect or than they seem to have intended. I count that as a mistake on the original mixer's part though and still prefer to hear what is actually there rather than an overly beefed up version of it which a bass boosting amplified headphone would give me. Plenty of rap and dance music holds up though, so it's really down to whether or not the people who mixed it in the studio did their job correctly or if they had cut corners in the production thinking it wouldn't be noticed. I suspect if I had a portable amp to plug them into, I could get the best of both worlds for those songs and movies where production fell a little short. For me, it doesn't really bother enough to sweat it.
The sound on these headphones do feel like it comes from the room around me (even though it isn't actually) rather than the pads on my ears or inside of my head. Again, this headphones have a more natural feel to their sound than anything I've tried before. Some say "flat" but I say "real" in a way that feels more true to the sound it should be.
There is one minor and subtle thing I did notice with these: sometimes I have to fiddle the volume up or down just a slightest hair to get a song to sound at its best balance-wise. I suspect that this is where the fact that these are only a $99 pair and not something higher grade shows. Still, it really isn't bothersome, only just barely noticeable and more than acceptable for a $99 dollar set of headphones. So for a newbie audiophile, these do the job and keep me satisfied. I am sure I will eventually explore higher grade audiophile headphones at higher price points. But for now these are hands down the most satisfying I have found for around $100 with closed backs. Not for bassheads though. If you love a decent sound but still love a bit of bass amp, you should probably choose the Audio Technica m50 over these. If you like an even and more natural sound at this price point, these Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's are worth it and a solid choice. They are exactly what I was looking for and the only ones in this bracket which don't actively bother me. In fact, I can forget it's through headphones and just focus on what I'm doing instead. So just in case any of this helps anyone else who may be pouring over hundreds of reviews trying to imagine what these vs other headphones would be like, just like I was a few months ago. Best of luck on your quest!
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Excellent Sound Quality and Top-Notch Sound Isolation
I needed a pair of headphones with strong passive noise isolation. I was originally going to get this over a year ago, and now I finally did. I'm glad to say that I don't regret buying them, because they sound so good and yet deliver sound isolation that comes close to a pair of ear defenders.I've seen mixed reviews about the 280 Pro's sound quality for personal use, but the sound seems to work out well for me. Despite wearing glasses, the subbass doesn't seem to roll off at all, which helps up for the slightly underemphasized midbass. Pretty much anything that doesn't rely heavily on midbass is going to sound amazing on these headphones. Music that is midbass heavy will sound a bit dull without using EQ. The mids sound fantastic, and so does the treble. The treble is slightly underemphasized from 2k to 8k, which helps reduce harshness, but doesn't sacrifice any clarity at all. Soundstage is very good for a closed-back headphones, and imaging is spectacular to say the least.Comfort-wise, I find them very comfortable to use for hours at a time. I feared they might be a little too clampy at first, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for me.Sound isolation is second to none among the headphones I have. It even outperforms the Koss Pro4S in sound isolation. Both measure similarly in sound isolation from InnerFidelity's measurements, but from personal experience, the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro beats the Koss Pro4S quite a bit in sound isolation. These come so close to ear defenders in sound isolation that it isn't funny. The outstanding sound isolation ensures that you can listen to your music while cutting down external noise to a dull roar if not blocked out entirely. Sound leakage is almost nonexistent.The coiled cable is permanently attached, which isn't too much of a deal for what I use them for, but it certainly is going to make it awkward to use while taking walks or going out in public. I still have my Koss Pro4S, which I use for those purposes anyway, so the Sennheisers stay at home.Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. Sure, if the midbass was at the same level as the subbass, it would make these headphones more fun to listen to, but I'm not going to complain given their outstanding imaging, soundstage, and clarity and lack of major peaks and dips in frequency. 9/10 for sound quality, 10/10 for sound isolation, imaging, clarity and soundstage (by closed-back standards).
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William
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