Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphone, Black

the folks at Sennheiser must not have large heads. As with about every pair of headphones that I try on, I had to extend these all the way to fit. After a few months of daily use, the plastic headband began to develop small cracks. Now the cracks are growing and I fear that the whole thing will just snap one day. Unfortunately, that is one of the parts that isn't listed as replaceable.That said, people who look at this headphone are looking for: a) quality sound synonymous with the name Sennheiser b) excellent noise reduction.a) The sound from these phones is excellent. The standard criteria are there. The signal is very clean, thanks in part to the oxygen free copper cabling used. Bass is controlled and precise so a timpani doesn't sound muffled. Higher frequencies do not hiss and the phones are able to drive high frequency sounds and pull out details lost by consumer grade headphones. Soundstage is fairly narrow as some have said, but much better than consumer sets that sound like the sound source is inside your head. Of course, a DSP solution for soundstage expansion could help if someone didn't like the soundstage.What people should realise is that most music is optimised for listening on a stereo system and not headphones. A search for "binaural music" will yield samples that show how music should be sampled for headphones. Anyways, the HD-280 Pros also have 64 Ohms of resistance so an amplifier isn't needed.b) The biggest impression I got from these phones is silence. Not total silence, since with the headphones on I could still hear outside noise. Once the music starts playing, however, music is much clearer because background noises have been attenuated so effectively.That was the biggest attraction of these headphones. For my sound processing work, ambient noise from my computer and the outside world are suppressed admirably. 32 decibels is a lot of sound attenuation, far more than the Active Noise Reduction sets from Bose or even Sennheiser. The HD-280 Pros use passive noise attenuation. This means that for the phones to supress outside noise effectively, they have to be tight. They are very tight in fact. Four Newtons of force are applied, a number significantly larger than most headphones. If it weren't for the thoughtful padding, they would feel as uncomfortable as firing range headsets. Passive noise attenuation also means there is no artifacting from electronic noise that is usually the case in Active Noise Reduction sets.If you have a very large head, a solution is to find in-ear phones (the expensive Etymotics sets have even better sound quality and noise reduction). If you are sensitive to tight headphones, a solution might be the Active Noise Reduction sets (although they aren't as good sonically). If you listen to sound in a very very quiet environment, Grados or some other Sennheisers would probably get you that better soundstage for the money.If none of these situations applies to you, then these phones will provide better sound through their native excellent quality and their superior noise attenuation. After all, the listening experience with Sennheiser 600's on an Audigy 2 card or a tube amplifier is diminished with that noisy computer fan in the background.All in all, these phones are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.*** UPDATE, October 20, 2009 ***Wow, well these headphones are still ticking after over six years and I'm pretty rough with my equipment! Cheap headphones break after six weeks for me because the cable gets pulled or I mess up the speaker so these Sennheisers are pretty solid.Just as I feared though, the plastic HAS cracked and you can see the thin wires (covered in plastic or rubber) exposed. Now that most of the plastic on the headband has broken off, the fit is quite a bit looser though the headband is still held together by a wide piece of metal. I just wish they would just make a nice metal headband to avoid the plastic cracking issue.While I like the fact that they aren't so tight, I don't like the fact that richness (low-end midrange and bass) suffers because of it. You can simulate this when listening by pulling the headphones slightly apart. It isn't noticeable on light music though and might not be an issue with newer versions of the HD-280 Pro.The ear cushions on my 6+ year headphones are worn past the leatherette, past the foam and to the foam backing layer. The top is looking ratty as well. Replacement ear cushions are around $20.00 which isn't cheap. I'll probably skip that in favor of a new pair of HD-280s - especially if they've been redesigned for larger heads as some people are indicating. I'll keep this pair around as beaters until they quit on me. However, now that I've quieted my working area, sound isolation isn't as critical to me as it was before so I might take a look at other Sennheisers.

I had another pair of Sennheiser Headphones that I had bought, that lasted for quite awhile, years, and pretty good quality. So I decided to pick up another set and up-scale a bit as far as quality goes. The fact that these were on-sale when my others conked out on me finally helped move my choice along.Anyways I'm not an "audiophile", bless those individuals hearts.. But I do appreciate comfort and clear sound just like anyone. And these headphones definitely deliver that. I suppose there is a bit of a 'break in' period.. when your first wearing them, but after a little usage.. listening to tunes and watching streaming media.. the headphones loosen up a hair, where they start becoming more comfortable.As far as "Over the ear headphones" these do a really good job of cutting out background noise. Especially when your actually listening to something on them. I can sit right next to my TV and have the sound cranked up, and it will sound muffled with these on. Take them off and its like being shouted at though.My setup for these, is directly plugged into my laptop. No special software to tweak the sound, no amp.. nothing like that. Just all the basic stuff and these work really well. I can imagine if you were more of hard core individual when it comes to audio and had a more technical set up, that these headphones would deliver for you.*Update* So I ordered these on "Ordered on April 9, 2015 " Everything is continuing to hold together, So its been about 3 years. They've paid for themselves a few times over now. The only thing is, the padded headband (This is the old model design as far as I can tell that I bought) is starting to flake. Ironically the over ear part, the faux leather is still holding on and in good shape. Surprised at this. Still sound great.*Update* October 30, 2019 So I have had these things for 4 years Now. And they've just REALLY started to fall apart. Like the right padding on the headset, just.. kinda *pop* like it was magic.. came lose.So it's been a good run, but I'll probably have to buy another pair of these, or something really similar.*Update* June 2020 Not sure why, b/c usage is limited to my pc. And while I listen to music & watch video, frequently, I have been gentle with my new headset 'The newer design' anyways, the HD280 Pro just developed a short, in the right speaker for some reason? I'm going to attempt to check it out and see if I can fix it, because I'm past the warranty period since I purchased the new.This is really frustrating. I've literally had them less than a year. Since I ordered them in October 2019. If I hadn't had such good experience with the other headsets of this brand, it would be a bad deal.I'd rate this new headset 1 star out of 5, for this garbage.*Update* SO after some frustration of trying to figure out how the new design was assembled in such a streamlined manner, I got the right speaker out of its cradle, and dissembled the unit, and fiddling with the wire...WHILE LISTENING TO IT, I could get the audio to come back through. I think during themanufacturing process, the way the wire was plumbed in, it got pinched in such a manner, that it was readyto break, and then after usage for awhile, it just broke completely.Even though I've had the headset since October 2019 to, today, that's 9 months, but I may have only used the unitfor 30 days, solid time.The good news is I may be able to fix this. I don't really want to.*Update* Good news went south real quick. The manufacturing process of the wires, leading to the speaker, are designed in an interesting way.. They have fiber mixed it. The wires, are HORRIBLY small.. like, it's so little copper, that, well basically I couldn't fix my Sennheiser HD280PRO Headphones (New Design) Also of note, when leaving a review, even though I'm doing this under the "New design" its still registering for the old one.