HD 280 Pro to 595 upgrade?

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kodek64

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Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of buying the Sennheiser 595s to upgrade my HD 280 pros. I'm looking for some reassurance that it'd be a worthwhile upgrade.

I'm currently using my HD 280s hooked up to the headphone port of my logitech z-5500 speakers which are connected to an audigy 2. Would there be a sound difference with the 595s with this setup? Would I also be able (or even need) to hook up a headphone amp to the headphones output of my z-5500s?

I heard these headphones don't do any noise attenuation. I'm not worried about noise coming in, but noise coming out could be an issue. How loud can the 595s get in a quiet room?

I mainly use my headphones for music (pretty much every genre) and gaming.

Thanks!

Quick EDIT: Would making a cmoy headphone amp for my current 280 headphones make a big difference coming out of the Z-5500 console?
 
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I would think you'd get better imporvement by upgrading your source *cough* Audigy 2 *cough* or going to a digital out solution. The D/A converters in the Audigy aren't going to be stellar.
 
The reason I mention it is that I see little point in using "pro" level headphones when you're using a consumer level card. The DACs on a EMU 1212m or 0404 are going to be vastly superior to the Audigy 2 and with no resampling. (The audigy resamples everything to 48khz). I'd start with a cleaner source first, the difference between the Audigy 2 and a "pro" level card is going to make the headphones sound like new anyway, but then again piping them through the Z5500's isn't doing them any favors either. ;)
 
Yeah what bonsai said. The HD 280s are an excellent pair of headphones, I love mine. The 595s are somewhat of a different beast, open drivers vs. closed. This means that the drivers are suspended essentially in open air, as opposed to being inside of a closed shell as they are on the 280s. This means sound can come in as well as go out much more freely. The audigy 2, as well as the Z5500s are a few notches below the quality level that can be offered by even the HD280s, the combination of the two sounds like a recipe for disappointment. I would first suggest that you take the speakers out of the path, you lose the volume control of the speakers but at least you'll get some idea of how much quality you're losing with them in the chain. The HD280s are a pretty hefty load, and do require a fair amount of amplifier to power them. An underpowered amp will result in more than just lower volume, it will mean loss of detail and clipping, so I recommend a headphone amp of some description in the chain, CMOYs seem to be well regarded. The 595s are undoubtedly nicer headphones than the 280s, but your headphones are definetely not your weak spot. Give the 280s sufficient clean amplification and you'll be much happier with them I promise you. As for the Audigy 2, it's midrange in my opinion. There are much better sound cards as well as much worse, but if you're looking at a new sound card, stay away from Creative, they're just not good value (or good sound cards anymore IMO). Hope this helps a little.

Dustin
 
Thank you so much! That's the answer I was looking for. I will keep my 280s a bit longer and replace my sound card instead. Would you recommend a sound card with a built-in headphone amp, or would it be better to get one without it and then add a headphone amp?

Are there any sound cards out there with DDL and DTS Connect support AND a headphone amp? I think that'd be a perfect solution.

Thanks again!
 
The HT Omega Claro "halo" has a built in headphone amp, and the other features you're looking for. I use the HD 595 headphones to the front panel connection for the "Claro" model (no built in headphone amp), and it sounds good to me without the amp; however, if I were purchasing again I'd probably pay the extra money for the built in amp (the "halo" model was not available when I made my purchase).
 
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