Sennheiser Professional HD 280 PRO Over-Ear Monitoring Headphones

Product Information

Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.

Having said that, at least to my ears, my HD 280 PRO are mostly “flat”, with a very slight bump in the lower frequencies. Instruments and vocals sounded sufficiently forward if a little lacking in detail and clarity compared to some other neutral listening models like the DT 770 and the ATH-M50x. The HD280 Pro headphones are a great choice for the Musician or producer that does a lot of their work on the go. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus.

All models (except HD 25) are supplied with oxygen-free copper cables as standard, steel cables available for certain models as accessories. The Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO are better neutral listening headphones than the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro 2016. The head band connection that's made of pastic broke and I had to use electrial tape to fix it, but I guess that says a lot about how much I use them and they still sounds great. As comfort and performance continue to be driving factors for those looking for new headphones, the HD 280 PRO’s are becoming more and more popular for those wearing headphones for long interviews and recording sessions. Of course you all know this is probably the best produced album ever, and this is a great bass tester.

They easily beat my "cost effective" bookshelf speakers- Polk Tsi100, Cerwin Vega XD3, Insignia bass reflex, JBL Control One and a few others when am not using them for nearfield listening where the sparkly shine really stands out and can only be matched by the Audio Technica Ath AD700 or KRK KNS 8400. It is not difficult to see why they were soon coveted as the ultimate alternative monitoring headphone for recordists and DJs alike due to their light weight. Every now and then, I’ll come across the article summarizing your review and thoughts on the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, which is a well thought out and articulate review by the way.

To increase the passive sound isolation HD 280 Pro uses relatively strong clamping force, yet the excessive force applied to the listener’s head becomes tiring rather sooner than later. Some will interpret the M50X's as more detailed, but others will find them more harsh and unpleasant. When I first saw the "New" Sennheiser HD 280 Pro a little over a year ago, I said "Oh, I guess they changed the headband pad? I really don't think burn in is real, but these tended to just open up a little after playing for a few nights at medium level.