Sennheiser HD-280 Professional Headphones

Reviews

1. Quality headphones

   by Nick

   I like the sound of these headphones a lot, but they are bigger and bulkier than I expected. I guess it was more of an impulse buy to replace my sony dj headphones, so I didn’t do too much research. Sound quality is great for mixing and listening and whatever, but I don’t plan on wearing them around outside of my house like I could with my old sonys. Overall, a good buy.

2. Amazing for mixing!

   by Chou

   First off, these headphones are NOT meant to be consumer cans. They are for mixing and monitoring ONLY.

   The response is flat across the board, so anything mixed through them needs to be mixed a little dull or else the bass and treble will be boomy and screetchy respectively on a consumer grade system. They are loud, as well. You won’t need a headphone amp for these cans in a normal studio environment.

   I just bought my second pair, as my old ones wore out. The only complaints I have about these are:

   1) The foam/vinyl earcups will rip at the inner seam after lots of use. I had my pair for almost two years before this happened, and the process was slow. I was using these almost every day for several hours at a time.
   
   2) The bass response will begin to degrade around the same time.

   Some equipment just needs to be replaced sometimes. Gear doesn’t last forever, especially gear that’s abused like my pair were.

   If you own a home studio, I would recommend buying two pair of these. Keep one for tracking, monitoring, and quick mixes. Use the second pair for mixing and mastering ONLY. That way you’ll save the bass response in your mixing pair. If you’re like me and you have to mix your own album over a period of over a year, you’ll be thankful for only using that pair during mixing, or you’ll wind up with an array of different mixes where the bass is concerned.

   I am rating this a 5 because these are not what I would consider flaws, merely normal wear and tear on non-serviceable electronic audio equipment.

3. BEWARE

   by Documentarian

   BEWARE, I bought these headphones in November 2009 and they were great until September 2010. One of the earphones started making a scratchy noise. I checked the warranty and there is a 2 year warranty from Sennheiser on this product, so I contacted them. Sennheiser then informed me that because I purchased them from Z-Electria from Amazon’s site, the warranty was void. I guess I didn’t realize that I wasn’t purchasing from AMAZON, but in reality I was getting the product from another source. Apparently Sennheiser has a whole list of NON-AUTHORIZED retailers (see Senn’s website) and if you buy from one of these retailers, your warranty is VOID.
   
   Senn told me to contact AMAZON.
   
   Amazon told me that I needed to contact Z-Electria to get resolution.
   
   Big hassle and runaround, so I won’t buy any more of these headphones from any source.

4. Unbreakable

   by LJD

   I’ve had these for 6 years through 3 moves (2 being across the continent). I’ve probably used them 4-5 times a week since I bought them oh so many years ago. Every time I think I might have broken these things they come out unscathed.

   For example, the other night I had marital relations in my car with a girl I just met and I accidentally dropped the passengers seat down and it landed on them, I didn’t realize this until after I was done having sex, which the headphones received the brunt of from the seat being pressed against them. I plug them in today and the sound is just and sharp, vivid and clear as the day I bought them. In fact, the sound is so incredible despite my lack of care for the headphones that I was inspired to write this review (and I never write reviews) explaining how truly amazing this product is. Hell, I want to buy another just because I’m so appreciative of how durable they are. No lie. I seriously almost bought another pair just now.

   PRO: This is the best product I’ve ever owned.

   CON: I can’t justify buying a new pair because these things are rock solid.

5. seinhesser review

   by seinhesserreview

   Good pair of headphones for the price, great sound. After a few hours of wearing, they become quite uncomfortable, but it seems like most headphones are like this for me. And besides, a break every few hours is good for you.

6. Good sound, weak bass

   by Audiophiliac

   I chose the HD280pro’s after reading a few reviews off CNET and Amazon. This is the first pair of cans I’ve ever owned. I’m inexperienced with good sound, but the highs and mids are pretty good. The sound could have more clarity, its almost as if there’s a slight “veil” over the music. They also don’t go very loud when I use them with my sony mp3 player. The biggest problem I have with them is the weak bass. It’s crisp and sounds great, but there’s not enough power behind it for me to be satisfied. I’m looking for replacements at the moment. .
   
   Comfort-wise they’re not bad. The ear cushions are great, never uncomfortable. I understand what people say about the vice grip feeling. It certainly feels tight at first. I’ve been using them for about two weeks and have gotten used to them, though. They’re not bad phones at all and a novice music listener will like them, unless they prefer bass-heavy music.

7. EXCELLENT

   by Tim Fling

   I bought these for recording. Turns out I use them for much more. Excellent sound reproduction, good flat response, highly recommended. Don’t look any further, excellent buy.

8. A True soundproof headphones device!!!

   by N. Ngo

   This is a true soundproof headphones device…when I play the piano, I put these on so no one hears what I am playing and I can focus what I am playing at the same time. I cannot hear anything outside the surroundings of this headphone when I wear it. Great Quality…would definitely recommend others to look at this product and buy if seeking for a great quality headphone/soundproof!

9. Must have equipment for the aspiring rock star

   by Benjamin Shaw

   No piece of equipment is perfect for every situation and person, but overall the features and quality of these headphones are such that I would recommend them to anybody in a rock band that is at least dedicated enough to go into a studio to record a demo. For other uses, I’d strongly consider at least looking elsewhere, such as the Sennheiser HD448 for day to day listening.

   Sound quality: Many reviewers have complained about lack of bass response, and they may have a point if these were designed as consumer phones. In reality, the frequency response is neutral. Meaning these headphones pretty faithfully reproduce music across a wide range of frequencies. Many of the consumer Sony/etc headphones seem like they give a good bass response, but in reality what they are experiencing is a tuned resonant frequency that gives a powerful response in the range of a bass drum, but to me sounds quite washed out and rubbery sounding at other low frequencies. Using these as monitors in practice or studio gives a much better feeling of the sound that is actually coming out of your speakers and allows for proper adjustment in levels or playing styles. The sound isn’t perfectly flat, so for an actual recording engineer a product like the HD600’s would be a much better choice. But the 280’s would even be a good start for the amateur in a basement who would rather spend the $500 on a multitracker to get started.

   While these headphones do not sound perfect with all types of music, they are quite good for the extensive listening a rock musician is likely do. The sealed nature of the headphones means the volume does not have to be very high to hear the music well… this can help cut down on some of the hearing loss that is inevitable with the rock and roll lifestyle. The flat/neutral response means that individual instruments are easily discernible. While most audiophiles would likely cringe at the sound coming out of these headphones, rock musicians would rather put their money into guitars, amps, pedals, cables, beer and studio time than in the home theater equipment necessary to achieve perfect fidelity in the living room. For financial reasons, aspiring rock musicians generally tend to have roommates or live in apartment buildings and like listening to music late into the night, so a good pair of sealed headphones can make the neighbors happy. Also, in my experience these headphones sound “good enough” when plugged into my bass amp for late night solo practice… most headphones I’ve tried this with simply buzzed and rattled.

   Noise reduction: I touched on this in other sections, but if the headphones are worn properly they have about 30dB attenuation, which is comparable to an average set of noise reducing earplugs. In practices well set up musicians can pipe the sounds they need off a PA, mitigating the inevitable sonic level wars which end up annoying neighbors and angering roommates/spouses/etc. If the attenuation is too much, the headphones can be shifted off the ears a bit to break the seal, or due to the folding nature one of the speakers can even be turned away for an ad-hoc (albeit fairly uncomfortable) DJ style mono setup.

   Price/Durability: I don’t feel that these two can be fully analyzed separately. At around $100 give or take shipping, sales, etc, these headphones are more expensive than anything found in most big box electronics stores. To me the sound quality, noise reduction and other features are enough to justify the price, but the real kicker comes in durability. While probably not fully bulletproof, these have stood up to a good amount of abuse from me. I have rolled over the cable with a desk chair more times than I can count, got the cable caught in many different places, thrown them in the back of a van or station wagon with my other gear at the end of a gigs, left them in a car in the sun on a hot day, etc and they still sound as good as the day I bought them. No: they sound better than the day I bought them, because I did have to break them in first. Three years after the purchase I am now replacing the earpads for about as much money or less as I had previously spent on decent consumer level headphones. Consumer level headphones that invariably needed to be replaced at least twice a year, and that’s without being hauled to gigs and band practices. The failure mode of these pads leaves the headphones just as comfortable and sonically pure as before, but are aesthetically quite ugly and the ear pads may fail totally soon. Additionally, these headphones spend much more time on my computer listening to music, watching videos etc than any pair I previously had, in addition to using them for practice which would have blown the speakers of regular phones. I would overall say that while the price may be a little higher than most people are comfortable dropping on a pair of headphones, they are actually an excellent value and a long term wise financial decision.

   Comfort: for me these are pretty comfortable. I often find most headphones are simply too small for me. The HD280’s are quite adjustable and well padded, I can wear them comfortably for hours at a time. Earbuds would leave my ears burning, itchy and sweaty if I wore them nearly as long as I wear these cans. While the arms do hold the speakers pretty tight to the head, there is adequate padding such that it doesn’t irritate any one particular spot, such as the thin metal headband found on most consumer level headphones, or even the feel of the speaker housing itself through the thin foam fabric covering you are used to. After wearing these a couple times they are no more uncomfortable than, say, a pair of sunglasses. Your mileage may vary with different head shapes, sensitivity, etc, but in general the whole class of sealed headphones will be the most comfortable for long term use for most people. However, due to their bulk, they may not be very appropriate for the bus or other commuting, although the noise blocking would come in handy. These headphones wear quite comfortably dropped around the neck in “standby” position while talking between takes or whatever.

   Finally, an area that headphones usually don’t have much to talk about with: features. In addition to the build, sound, price, etc already discussed, these headphones have a list of features that recommend them for the pro/am level musician. The cord is long enough to give plenty of movement in a practice space/studio environment (I’d say about 3-4 yards of effective play without an extension.) The coils in the cord allows it to spring back and not get tangled up in the web of power and signal cords going between instruments, foot switches, amplifiers, microphones, etc. Replaceable parts: ear pads, headband pad and cable are replaceable. Musicians tend to be hard on their gear, and the ability to repair equipment is important. And at the price these aren’t exactly disposable, but even if the entire headphones need replacing it shouldn’t break the bank. The 1/4″ jack adapter screws onto the 1/8″ jack rather than just slipping on. Musicians will almost exclusively be using the 1/4″ jack and are hard on their gear, so this removes the inevitable hunt for the adapter and frequent trips to radio shack when the plug is gone for good. Also, with a spring loaded jack this means the connection can take a little tension before popping out. While some people mentioned that these aren’t exactly portable, they are stowable. As I said before, these are a bit clumsy for actual portable music listening, but they do fold in such a manner that they can be stowed away with your bag of cables or whatever in a fairly stable shape so the bag can be thrown around without much worry (which anybody who’s played a gig where the band wasn’t able to remove gear until after bar close/festival end/whatever can doubly appreciate.)

   Cons: The headphones are a bit bulky. You won’t find yourself wearing these things running anytime soon, and they aren’t good for throwing in a backback with an ipod for listening on the bus or between classes or whatever. Their bulk just plain looks weird if you aren’t actively playing an instrument… not quite as out of the loop as the guy with the am/fm radio built into a pair of headphones sitting on the bus or at a baseball game; more like you are trying too hard to let people know you are really into music and don’t like interruptions.

   Other posters have mentioned that the cable is a bit noisy if you touch it. This isn’t electrical noise, but vibrational noise transmitted up the cable like a string between two soup cans. If there isn’t much tension in the cable this isn’t much of a problem, so sitting in your living room intently listening to music won’t be much of an issue. Guitar/bass players can string the cable around their instrument strap to reduce the effect. Keyboardists/etc usually don’t move enough for this to be a problem, and drummers… well, they’re drummers. They’d probably be much better off with something wireless.

   Cable length: the cable is quite long, too long and cumbersome for actual portable use. It would drag along the ground if you were actually jogging with them on. The weight alone is enough to drag ipods/etc off of tables.

   Summary: for most music fans, there are much better headphones out there: the Sennheiser HD448’s might be a better choice with a similar quality build and price range if you just want to listen to music. A true audiophile might think anything below Grado’s is a sin. An audiophile in training might do with Alessandro’s. But for an entry level pro/am rock musician, the HD280 is the headphone equivalent of the Shure SM57 microphone. Sure, a wireless setup would be preferable in live situations but then you probably have monitor speakers anyways. For occasional studio use, day to day practicing and listening to music “as a musician” these are going to be your go to piece of equipment. There are far better studio headphones out there, but for your standard rock (or country, really any kind of music featuring amplified music usually heard live in a bar) musician who dreams of one day having roadies… it would be hard to find anything with the same value at this price point. Shure SRH440’s are about as close that I know of, and some prefer their feel or sound distribution, but in my opinion the HD280 just feels more solidly built which is in my opinion of extreme importance to the working musician. But knowing brand loyalty, it’s probably a Coke/Pepsi thing and Shure fans will probably tell you that the HD280 feels flimsy, so if you have a chance I’d try both of them out trying to get pairs that have a little use so they’re broken in. Remember, at this entry pro-am level there is some break in required (about 24 hours of playtime should be good.) Cheaper classes of headphones will sound their best right out of the box, but what quality they have will fall pretty quickly. Really high end headphones on the other hand generally don’t need much break in period, as they tend to be more individually tuned during manufacture. I guess the best comparison would be to footwear: Most Sony, skullcandy etc that can be purchased in a big box store would be like a pair of sneakers. Grado’s would be bespoke italian leather dress loafers (Or the emperor’s new clothes, depending on your outlook.) The HD280 or the Shure SRH440 would be like a good pair of work boots: clunky and ugly, but the people wearing them actually get the hard work done: building the ball courts that the sneakers are used on and the country clubs the loafers are worn to. And Bose? Well, there’s a saying in the audio business: no highs, no lows? Must be Bose. Remember: they pioneered the “wave guide technology” which is the epitome of bass tuned to one particular frequency which sounds really powerful in the store, but is actually quite muddy sounding.

10. Falls apart with normal use

    by jlunn

    As others have written, the plastic bits on the headband start to crack, break, fall off, and finally the headphones break to the point of being unwearable. This happened just by putting them on my head or just wearing them. No abuse, just normal use. They do have great sound and were comfortable before they started to break.

11. great phones

    by Susan E. Rogers

    These are great phones for the price. No complaints with the performance, sound, or fit.

12. Overrated Sound, very poor comfort

    by Allegro von Troppo

    If you are looking for headphones for studio use, these may be for you. If not, I would pass. The sound is adequate, but not great. I listen mainly to classical music on my iPod and the string sound produced by these is kind of thin (like the old transistor radio sound) and lacks body. Also, they sound a little weak in bass and detail in the low frequencies are not very impressive. Even more of a problem is the sheer bulk of these big goofy looking headphones. If you are thinking of using these at work, know that they will look awfully big on your head. The black coiled chord is the old Bell Telephone sort, so heavy that it can pull an iPod off a table, or cause the headphones to tilt to one side if you wear them while walking around and allow the cord to drop. The sound is not good enough to justify the antiquated physical design, which needs to be updated. If you want a good pair of closed headphones for iPods–headphones especially suited for classical music–I recommend the Sennheiser HD 448 (see my review).

13. very nice headphone for monitoring

    by abbado

    this headphone HD-280 PRO is very nice and comfortable for monitoring.
    
    and the price is very good.

14. Awesome headphones for a great price

    by Patrick Ater

    My roommate recommended these headphones because I was tired of using in-ear headphones. They’re comfortable and the sound quality is amazing. I also plug them into my guitar amp so I can practice at home whenever I want. A few people I’ve talked to say Sennheiser headphones are about the same quality as Bose for a lot less money. So far I would have to agree.

15. Just to reiterate what other reviewers have said…

    by Jason Kasper

    I wish I would have paid closer attention to other reviews first, but here are some reasons that I ended up sending my HD-280’s back. My use case is perhaps different than others. I am not a professional musician. I am a programmer by trade and I sit for 8+ hours a day. Music and noise isolation are important to me, but so are comfort and sound quality. I have a cheap pair of Sennheiser PX 100’s that I use at my desk for the majority of the time and they work and sound and feel great. I wanted something a little better sounding and that would cancel out airplane engine noise for my infrequent flying for work. While the HD-280’s did a pretty good job at isolating me from the airplane engine noise, the negatives I found far outweigh that positive.

    Comfort. Or rather, lack thereof. At least on my head, these headphones really squeeze tightly, to the point that they were giving me headaches. I guess this is important to keep outside noise out, but it was too much for me. In addition, they really made my ears hot and sweaty, and during summer, I could not use them, even in an air-conditioned room.

    Bulk. These are HUGE. Like, HUUUGE. No, really, they’re big. And heavy. They take up a whole lot of room, and this is important to me, since one of my reasons for buying them was to use on airplane flights. But they’re so big that taking them on airplane trips is just not practical. Also, the long cord, while I’m sure it’s awesome for professional musicians or someone working at a sound board, is really big and bulky and heavy and kept getting in the way while I was on the plane and sitting at my desk.

    Sound quality. I was expecting that for $100, the sound quality was going to be amazing. But it really wasn’t. Other reviewers commented on the lack of a lower end, and it’s really true. It’s not just a lack of bass punch, but really anything lower in the audio spectrum sounded like it was just lacking. I’m no audiophile, but my cheap open Sennheiser PX-100’s sound better. =:(

    Anyway, I was disappointed with these and I returned them. I still don’t have a good solution for my next airplane trip, but these weren’t a viable option for me.

16. Not an Audiophile, but these are great.

    by pzkfw

    Excellent phones. I use these for games and music on a computer along with a small $20 headphone amp. I have a dedicated Creative sound card. I don’t use mic chat so I don’t care about a mic, but if I had to, and after using these, I’d tape a mic on to avoid getting a headset.

    They feel small at first but the cups fit right over your ears and reduce the background noise drastically. It gives you a “focused” feeling that really puts you in the game and less in other things going on around you.

    I personally believe the “5.1 Surround” headphones are a gimmick. I owned one before and it, in terms of sound direction, sounds the same as the 2 dollar mp3 headphones. I can hear footsteps ingame perfectly and just about better than everyone else on the server, all of whom are very good players and would have probably invested in various types of headphones. Also, most “5.1″ phones are ridiculously expensive and don’t even have good KHZ range. After using these, I even get called a cheater once in a while because I always hear people before I see them.

    If you are a gamer, try reducing the bass if you have an EQ as bass is usually not directional. You’ll be able to hear movement much better in situations where everyone is throwing grenades or something.

    Remember – the speakers/headphones are only as good as the quality signal being sent through them. Crappy source + great phones/speakers = Crappy sound. If you have a newish motherboard, onboard has gotten better over the years. If you have an older board, you should probably get a sound card.

    If you’re looking for portable headphones for an mp3 player, I wouldn’t recommend these. But if you’re talking about a long plane flight or car ride, these will fit the bill, but invest in a portable amp. Most laptop computers and mp3 players by themselves won’t be able to put out a loud enough signal to really take advantage of these.

17. Perfect sound u ever get from a headphone

    by karthik keshannagari

    I brought this head set a month ago and fell in love with this.great
    
    To use in house or out of it. Awesome clarity. Very very good

18. The Best Your Money Can Buy!

    by photo_artiste

    I bought these about two years ago because my Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphones were trashed and needed to be replaced.

    An uncle of mine and I were talking music and microphones and I asked him about his opinion of Sennheiser and while he like me is a “SURE” guy he schooled me to the brilliance of their Headphones. Both of us are very passionate about music and are musicians so I took his opinion seriously and started shopping for a good pair of Sennheiser Headphones on Amazon and went with these.

    There are a number of reasons to buy these over any other Professional Headphones and will list them:

    1. Replaceable Parts and Warranty: Many of the parts of these Headphones can be replaced, unlike Sony, and they have a great warranty making them a long-term investment not a pair of throw-away studio or large personal headphones.

    2. Price: Considering #1 the price is exceptional. They are comparable in price to Sony but the reality is the Sony’s break and are throwaways. I would say the average life of the Sony’s is 1-3 years whereas these will last 10 times longer with care and occasional part replacement. Plus the initial warranty of these exceeds the average life of the Sony headphones alone.

    3. Noise Canceling: I review this because because others have. I am not into this as a FEATURE but these headphones are not NOISE CANCELING HEADPHONES! Noise Canceling headphones require batteries and a switch to turn the feature on and off.

    These are CLOSED headphones (hopefully you know the difference between open and closed) which gives them a quality kind of like ear protection, often called ear muffs used for heavy duty construction or use on a firing range, in that once you put them on they have a ‘natural’ noise canceling quality to them. I don’t like ‘noise canceling’ as a feature, not even in a high-end Bose headphone but these are great because they have that natural noise canceling along with tremendous sound.

    So, while I did not expect them to be as quiet without music on; and I would not wear them in place of construction quality protection in a high noise environment or firing range they do a great job of cutting off the outside world without the ‘electronic feature’ so many companies try to incorporate into their headphones. In my opinion they are better than any ‘Noise Canceling’ headphones I have ever tried at canceling noise.

    AIRLINE TRAVEL: I have only been on a plane twice since I bought these and it was recently but an inter-island commuter flight only 20 minutes each way. I did use them on the flight with my iPod and they were more than sufficient in keeping outside noise out and the audio in without blowing out my eardrums. Good air travel performance which I know is important to some.

    4. SOUND: The most important factor in my opinion. The day I got them I went into my bedroom, got very comfortable and put them on and plugged them into my 160G iPod and proceeded to play my favorite music for about the next 3 hours. I listened to every GENRE of music and did not use any EQ on the iPod or the ‘Sound Check’ feature. Just the raw sound of the recordings as they were digitally recorded (or remastered) and transferred into my iPod.

    The bottom line: I can’t think of a single thing in my life I am more passionate about, or ever have been, than music. I have played and sung music my whole life and have an ear for music. I am extremely picky about speakers and headphones and I can honestly say these are perfect with no flaws whatsoever.

    You can’t get a better headphone AT ANY PRICE except maybe a higher priced pair of Senheisser’s!

    PS When I bought these the seller was offering the Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones for a little over $20.00 so I bought them too and have used these considerably more. Not because they are better but because they are much more portable. You can see my review of these under the product page.

19. well worth the money

    by Milt H. Meyers Jr.

    paid $62 for refurbished well worth the money have paid $150 for some and these are as good or better. Noise reduction is good most sounds are muted.

20. Amazing Headphone

    by Alexandre

    This is an amazing product with a crystal clear sound. The noise cancelling is also superb.