Sennheiser HD-280 Traditional Closed Dynamic Collapsible Headphones

Rating:
Summary: Worth the price
Review: After reading other negative reviews of these headphones I have concluded that many people have no clue what good music sounds like.
For starters most walkmans, portable cd players, and portable mp3 players have barely enough power to drive the junky headphones that they come with. Buying an expensive set of headphones isn't going to magically transform a piece-of-junk player into a beautiful music machine. Most portable players will greatly benefit from a headphone amp.
Secondly even with an adequate player, amp, and headphones many people still don't know what good music sounds like. Overblown bass that drowns out mids and highs is something that should be avoided, not sought after.
In my opinion the frequency reproduction of these headphones is very good for the price. I think the bass is very good. I just don't know what some people expect.
They are tight fitting but not uncomfortable per se. After extended periods of listening it is a relief to have them off for a while but they are not painful. This is the price you pay though if you want well sealed headphones. Without playing any music they block out a great deal of sound. With the volume turned up it's darn near impossible to hear the phone, doorbell, someone yelling at you etc.

Rating:
Summary: Big, heavy & uncomfortable
Review: I bought these headphones and they are huge. They feel like your wearing a brick. They sound decent but should sound much better for the price they are sold at. I think that these headphones were not made to the greatest standards by a company who normally makes high quality headphones. They do have an upside, they are durable and can withstand a beating aka traveling. They play audio at at good intrevals from high, medium and low without being scratchy or too heavy on the bass. For these to sound good, you do need a high quality audio source, mp3 players might not cut it, and computers may sound amplified through these headsets. The ear cups are full cups and quiet but due to air and sound mixes they give ear fatigue fast. So if you have time pick what you want, but not these. Others sound better.

Rating:
Summary: Too LARGE for women's heads....
Review: The headphones seem to work very well. They're excellent quality, both in terms of sound delivery and construction. But I wanted to add my two-cents to these reviews, a number of which say that the 'phones are too tight. Women buyers may find, as I did, that they are too loose to work as they ought to, in terms of passive sound reduction. I loaned them to a friend and she had the same problem.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Closed Headphones
Review: First let me tell you why I wanted this set of headphones. I wanted it at work for my PC. I work in an open cubicle environment. (Hate it.) And it's just amazing how noise travels through open space. It's quite fantastic really. I guess it's what allows us to communicate verbally. I just wish they would do their communicating a couple of buildings over.

I wanted a headphone that would muffle the background noise and I also wanted very good sound quality. I've purchased Sennheiser headphones before and I became hooked on their great sound reproduction! And this HD-280 is kudos on all accounts. It does an excellent job of drowning out neighborly squawking. It even dulls the clicking of my keyboard as I type this. (Unnerving!) The sound quality is absolutely amazing. I can pick up little defects in the recordings and I've never experienced that before. I can even hear in some songs the singer taking a little gulp of air and somtimes hear the stickiness of the tongue against the roof of the mouth as the singer sings the songs!

But you do want to burn them in which just means that you shouldn't judge the sound quality of these headphones until you've listened to them for a week or two. My headphones are burned in somewhat and they're getting better everyday! The midtones get way more defined and the bass gets deeper.

As for the comfort and construction, excellent again. I wear glasses and the closed ear muffs don't bother me. They are well made. And I can listen to these for hours on end. As for the construction, I don't understand what people are complaining about. It's absolutely solid!

Buy these headphones!

Rating:
Summary: Just a note...
Review: People often make fun of me for having a large head. I bought these and they're almost too comfortable. Maybe my head is simply TOO big, or many people don't adjust the headband...

Very good sound as well.

Rating:
Summary: Headband NOT Brittle! + Good Sound
Review: I have owned these headphones for over two years now, and yes, I noticed the cracks on the headband as well. However, I took the headphones apart, and that outer peace of plastic is only cosmetic, not structural. There is a steel band inside the plastic that holds the headphones together, and I'm not at all concerned about that ever breaking. After all this time (and heavy use), the band has held up perfectly.

Though my review was primarily to inform that the headband is, in fact, quite durable, the sound quality of these headphones is superb for their price. I don't think there is a better deal out there. I listen to classical music, and the HD280pro's uncolored response is very pleasant. Though not perfect, the reproduction is very accurate, and makes for a great listening experience.

Rating:
Summary: I've never heard music sound this good in a long time...
Review: After many months of searching for the perfect headphones and reading several reviews, I've decided to stop here. I actually never had a chance to hear how it sounds through a pair of headphones over $10, until I got these. These are the very first pair of "closed" headphones I've ever used, and to say the truth, I really like them... ALOT.

My previous headphones were a pair of very cheap Sony MDR-101 headphones, until the bass went bad, really bad. I'm heavily into music, so I needed a new pair to replace these. Hooked up to my Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX, the Sennheiser HD-280 headphones are a dream. Music is crisp and clean, and the bass is quite powerful too, even after hearing some complaints that there wasn't enough bass (equalizers will definitely help solve this). With these headphones, you can really hear a difference in sound quality between some audio formats, and a noticable difference as well in the quality each song was encoded/ripped. Now that I've got these headphones, I'll really need to look into updating my music database with some higher quality music more suitable for them. Poor quality audio and music sound awful with these headphones. Also to mention, watching DVD movies with these give great surround reception and they pick up background noise details that I never even heard before with other headphones... and same goes for music.

These headphones manage to fit perfectly on my head. They are not too tight, but my ears will get a little sore after a couple hours, so I take short breaks once in awhile. As for blocking outside sounds, I was actually somewhat dissapointed, but maybe it's just me and my expectations too high. It DOES block outside noise, but not as much as I was expecting they would have. This is probably the only negative I have about these headphones. Everything else, perfect.

I still haven't had a chance to "burn in" these headphones yet, but I don't know how much better it could get if I did. So far these headphones sound amazing and I'm very impressed. 5/5

Rating:
Summary: Fragile
Review: This set of headphones has great sound quality, however, it's only marginally better on paper than its Sony counterpart. Because it has problems with a very brittle headband, and will very quickly crack and break away entirely into sharp pieces of hard plastic, I cannot recommend these headphones except for review for product safety. Every time I have to send away my pair to get repaired I have to pay for shipping to Sennheiser, and I am without the headphones for weeks as a result. Save yourself a headache and possibly further physical injury and consider getting the Sony headphones...

Rating:
Summary: Best sound driven by notebook PC
Review: I bought these headphones from Amazon a year ago. They are tight on the head and do look a little big, and after a year, one of the pieces in the plastic headband broke. This began tearing up the plastic covering on top, and it was a big hassle to extend or compact the phones. After researching on the Internet, it turned out this was a very common problem with the HD280. I logged into Sennheiser's web site, mailed in my old headphones with receipt I printed from the Amazon web site (2yr warranty), and I got my new phones in ~ two weeks free of charge - no problems. In the meantime I bought more expensive Beyerdynamic DT 250-80 headphones. These looked nicer when wearing, didn't have as much pressure on my head, and the velour earpads were definitely more comfortable. However -- when driven with my notebook audio-out jack, the Sennheiser HD280s were DEFINITELY clearer and better, even after 48 hours of semi-loud burn-in with the Beyerdynamic. People often say you need good stereo equipment to bring out the best of your headphones. In any case, I've heard it said that the Sennheiser HD280s are the best headphones you can get when a notebook or cheap desktop audio card is driving the sound. I completely agree with this. Finally, the HD280s have the best sound isolation I've encountered -- you can enjoy the music without being bothered by outside noise, and without bothering other people. This feature also works very well on a plane, although you do look like a nerd. If Sennheiser could come up with an improved HD280 that's not as big, not as tight on the ears, with about the same sound isolation, velour earpads, and the same great sound -- that would be perfection.

Rating:
Summary: great sound, but poor comfort
Review: First off, the sounds is great. After listening to this, I realize how poor by other headphones are.

However, be prepare to live with the following:
- While wearing these headphones, you might not notice any otherside sounds. If you're wearing them at work, like I do, be prepared to get "spook" by visitors behind you.
- The headband is *very* tight. I guess it's ok if you have a small head. But for me, the plastic pieces on the headband already starts to break after 6months or so... I guess my head is just too big for it.

Overall, the cans sounds great, just wish it was more comfortable like the HD570