Sennheiser HD 280 Pro

These are very well-made and most comfortable headphones I have ever worn and can wear them for hours while twiddling and tweaking parameters in wee hours of night without neighbors thinking aliens have landed. These have in my opinion, the same neutrality in highs, mids and lows; exactly what I hear from my studio monitors with no insanely distorted bass nor aliasing highs--can hear everything clearly at ALL levels of volume. Very good bang for buck and am going to pick-up an extra set as a back-up.
Sennheiser have been sticking to what they do very well for many decades; mics and headphones, unlike many other manufacturers whom also side-step into making all kinds of speakers for sound systems--professional and commercial, and Sennheiser does this well.Sennheiser has never used the newest "seller-point-gimmicks" of having artists in certain genres "endorse a product" while forsaking their legacy. Have gone through a few other types in past that just to don't cut it when I am using multiple modulation sources/destinations in higher-end synths that also just happen to be of German origin.
Sennheiser provides a print-out of the frequency response across spectrum and if one used that in relation to setting-up the bands in a wide spectrum equalizer for just regular listening of music, will see why these are indeed the way studio monitor speakers are in being "flat and equal" with no exagerated lows or highs. You simply can hear everything, even at very low volume. The true test was using them with my newly added Dave Smith Instruments Mono Evolver Keyboard that I now have polychained to a Desktop Evolver. True stereo path for a mono/duophonic voice where half oscillators are real analog, the other half digital, in-fact, wavetables--with true analog filterson both sides because this instrument can make the deepest juicy bass as well as in a good way crazily distortion laddened output hack highs--with these headphone not breaking a sweat with that and infinite possibilities therein.
The noise isolating/canceling is very good and can see why DJ's and sound guys at the helm of the band on-stage love these as well.
Only wished I had learned about these before going through a few other brands and yes, would purchase these for twice the going price. It's rare to be able to wear set of headphones for really long periods without feeling uncomfortable, nor encountering "listening fatigue", and Sennheiser makes/stocks replacement parts if needed for these, and yes, even for products of theirs still in-service from the 70's. Simply love them still--more than a year later, having put them through alot of synth sound programming. There's a reason the term "Pro" is utilized in product name!

The Sennheiser HD 280 PRO just got introduced to me a few weeks ago when I was in a local studio. I currently use a few different headphones that I am not too happy with so hearing the sound of the HD 280 Pro was “music to my ears”! They are circumaural headphones that you can fold up and take with you anywhere. They are very durable and will last you a long time. As soon as I put them on my head I notice how comfortable they are, I could where them for hours without them getting uncomfortable or irritating.

The frequency response on them is 8 Hz to 25 kHz, they provide some really low frequencies that I really love. When it comes to bass in headphones I am very picky because sometimes headphones can really overdue the bass and that is great for just listening but when it comes to mixing a track I don’t like overdone bass. The bass on the HD 280 is very clean and crisp. It still has that low end thump to it, but it does not have a muddy sound at all. I am fully comfortable with mixing a bass track in these headphones after just using them one time. The tone is very consistence with all types of different music and styles.
The come with a 1/8 and ¼ adapter and the cord is about 10 feet long making them great for live use as well as studio use because you can stretch them anywhere. These headphones are very affordable and I would choose them over any set of headphones that I have purchased in the last 3 years (and I have went through a lot of headphones). I am going to purchase a few pair of these headphones in the future for my studio. They are comfortable with a great sound, clean highs, well balanced mids, and warm low tones. They are a must have.

The Sennheiser HD 280 PRO are an affordable pair of headphones that have a closed back circumaural technology. You can purchase these headphones for around 105 USD online. I was at first on the fence with the HD 280 PRO because I could not get a good mix with using them. But after a while I started to get use to them and then decided they weren’t that bad once I got to “understand” them. They are very comfortable and you can wear them for hours without them irritating your ears or head. The ear cups are very soft and have a nice cushion on them. The external noise is at bay when wearing the 280 PRO, though they are not true isolation headphones you can still block out most of the external noise with them.

One issue that I have experienced over time using the Sennheiser HD 280 PRO is that after long use with them the ear pads will get worn down bad. You will need to replace them if you use these as your main headphones and put them through a lot of wear and tear. They new ear pads will cost about 20 USD for a pair of them and they are easy to put on.

The HD 280 is a decent set of headphones for the price, but I just really don’t trust them all the way because the low end is a little bit too much for me. It is clean, but it's over done, there is just too much deep bass in these headphones. When I mix I like to have a flat and kind of dull low end. The highs are clean though, and the mids are solid. But for the price of 105 dollars for this pair and then needing to replace the ear pads less than a year later that’s another 20 dollars. They really are not worth the buy, there are a lot of other brands that cost around 150 that sound excellent!

These are over rated. I don't like any headphones that you can't do a basic mix down on. These type of headphone have a great deal of misrepresentation on the low end. I think that they boost the lows more than you really hear. They are not flat and that is what you need. I would get a pair of AKG 240's instead. There was no headroom in these headphones and that does not bode well for feeding hot levels or strong low levels at 40 to 60 hz. I don't pay attention to headphone specs, who does, they all claim to be flat from 20hz to 20kz but that is not saying much. Consider that with any headphones you have to consider what you are feeding them as far as signal and as far as what you are using them on. If you are feeding bass and drums to these headphones you fill find that they break up at the 40hz range. I don't get that from lets say a pair of AKG 240's. I live the fact that some of the new styles of headphones are cheap but if I am buying any phones that are near the 70-$100 range I again will move to the AKG's to be safe. You have to remember that there is no real consolidated view of what someone likes in a headphone.

I prefer a set that you can hit hard and not have any distortion. Headroom and clarity are a must. These cans are clean and I don't have a problem with the cleanliness just the fact that they don't take a great deal of level for drums and bass. Use them for vocals and you will be fine. Many of our recording students get these phones and are into HIP HOP and even mix on these headphones. I notice that the bass on their mixes is not placed correctly and that is common on headphone mixing but in these phones your really not getting a full representation of even the basics of the mix. I at least use phones to hear the vocal placement or vocal compression just as a basic quick reference and not on all mixes. But, if i want to just cut vocals these will do for a quick vocal session. Not enough isolation for drummers and I would not use any headphone but the Vic Firth on or for drummers that need click isolation. I like headphones in this price range to at least have a flat frequency sound. To check headphones I always pump singers and kick drum at high levels and if the low mid like at 220 is distorting with about 5 db of gain I will only use them for simple vocal or voice overdubs.