Need help choosing headphones

[Neutrino]

Well I am torn between two sennheiser models: the cheaper HD280 and the significantly higher priced HD590.

Is the price difference worth it? My main uses will be: movie watching and listening to my mp3 collection.

Btw I have found some HD590s for only 99 dollars on froogle however the stores listed don't have the best resellerratings and froogle has two prices for the same product from them.
Here is the link:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle_c...06&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=&addr=&scoring=p
Do you guys have any idea if that is a scam or not?

As a second question, there are plenty of super good deals on audigys 2 nowadays and I have my eye on a good deal on a audigy 2 platinum pro ext refurb for 99, should I however spring the extra cash for an x-fi platinum instead? Will it be worth it for movie watching and mp3s (good quality ones)?

Thanks in advance for your replies

 

[Mister X]

Well I am torn between two sennheiser models: the cheaper HD280 and the significantly higher priced HD590.

Is the price difference worth it? My main uses will be: movie watching and listening to my mp3 collection.

You are asking us to compare apples to oranges here.
Cept in this case the apples are closed headphones and the oranges are open headphones.

As a second question, there are plenty of super good deals on audigys 2 nowadays and I have my eye on a good deal on a audigy 2 platinum pro ext refurb for 99, should I however spring the extra cash for an x-fi platinum instead? Will it be worth it for movie watching and mp3s (good quality ones)?

Spend the extra $ for the X-fi.

BTW your question about the retailers listed is moot cause none of them have those cans in stock at the prices listed.

 

[Neutrino]

You are asking us to compare apples to oranges here.
Cept in this case the apples are closed headphones and the oranges are open headphones.

yes i understand the difference, and the sound isolation on the 280 is a nice feature, but i would definitivelly give more weight to the sound quality. Basically my question is: Is the sound quality difference beween the HD590 and HD280 woth the price differnce 166 versus 80.

Spend the extra $ for the X-fi.

is that because of its CMSS 3D feature for headphones and crystaliser for enhancing mp3? or are there other reasons?

BTW your question about the retailers listed is moot cause none of them have those cans in stock at the prices listed.

Thanks for pointing that out, i did not notice they were out of stock. Guess this explain the overly good prices.

 

[Mister X]

yes i understand the difference, and the sound isolation on the 280 is a nice feature, but i would definitivelly give more weight to the sound quality.

Just making sure you understood the difference.

Basically my question is: Is the sound quality difference beween the HD590 and HD280 woth the price differnce 166 versus 80..

I don't think so but I never really liked the HD590s all that much.
Now if replace the HD590s with the HD555s I would say.....yea, the extra money is well spent.

is that because of its CMSS 3D feature for headphones and crystaliser for enhancing mp3? or are there other reasons?

Other reasons to.
One of which is better sample rate conversion.

Guess this explain the overly good prices.

It was a good question... most of those sites aappear to be affiliated with Ecost somehow and they always have those kind of silly low price but they never actually have the items in stock and when they do have them in stock they usually show up as refurbished items.
So yea there is some kind of funkyness going on there.

 

[Neutrino]

I don't think so but I never really liked the HD590s all that much.
Now if replace the HD590s with the HD555s I would say.....yea, the extra money is well spent.

Interesting, my impression was that the 590's are suposed to be a superiour product to the 555. Also browsing reviews it seems that cnet prefered the HD280s to the HD555:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sennheiser_HD555/4505-6468_7-30822851-2.html?tag=nav
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sennheiser_HD_280_Pro/4505-6468_7-30235462-2.html?tag=nav


Oh and another question: The sennheiser website has a MSRP for the HD280 pro of 200USD. Does anyone know why you can find them as cheap as 80USD? Here is an exaple from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...98151-9271060?n=507846&s=electronics&v=glance

is there another model of crappier HD280s that i'm not aware of or something?

Other reasons to.
One of which is better sample rate conversion.

ok I'll guess i'll start looking for a good priced x-fi platinum.

 

[MetalDwarf]

sennheiser
grado labs
ixos
akg

find something from one of those manufactuers in your price range and you will be happy

 

[AdamW]

Interesting, my impression was that the 590's are suposed to be a superiour product to the 555. Also browsing reviews it seems that cnet prefered the HD280s to the HD555:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sennheiser_HD555/4505-6468_7-30822851-2.html?tag=nav
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sennheiser_HD_280_Pro/4505-6468_7-30235462-2.html?tag=nav


Oh and another question: The sennheiser website has a MSRP for the HD280 pro of 200USD. Does anyone know why you can find them as cheap as 80USD? Here is an exaple from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...98151-9271060?n=507846&s=electronics&v=glance

is there another model of crappier HD280s that i'm not aware of or something?




ok I'll guess i'll start looking for a good priced x-fi platinum.

Sennheiser MSRPs are rather notional, especially for their older phones. Most of their products that have been around for a long time retail well below the MSRP.

 

[Neutrino]

sennheiser
grado labs
ixos
akg

find something from one of those manufactuers in your price range and you will be happy

Yes I'm sure that all their products are excellent, but often you'll encounter products that offer more bang for the buck.

So basically what will give me better sound for movies and mp3s a pair of Grado SR80/ SR125 or Sennheiser products like the HD280/HD555/HD590.

Right now i'm somewhat set on the HD280 because of their great price, but I'm worried a bit about how much will teir closed design hurt their performance. Anyway basically I'm open to sugestions because I hate to get a product only to find out that something much better was available for not much more.

Sennheiser MSRPs are rather notional, especially for their older phones. Most of their products that have been around for a long time retail well below the MSRP.

Ok thanks, just wanted to make sure there are uber crappy submodel out there for a cheaper price.

 

[AdamW]

nope, HD280s are HD280s are HD280s, it's not like the HD25, which does have several distinct versions.

 

[jaffy]

http://reviews.cnet.com/Sennheiser_HD555/4505-6468_7-30822851-2.html?tag=nav
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sennheiser_HD_280_Pro/4505-6468_7-30235462-2.html?tag=nav

Never ever trust CNet for audio reviews. IMO they are the absolute worst out there at reviewing headphones.

That being said, I do prefer the HD-590 to the 280. The 280 is incredibly flat sounding, too flat for me to enjoy. I briefly demoed a 590, and while it was a bit bright and nowhere near neutral sounding, it was quite enjoyable. If you can find a pair for $99, they would be an excellent choice. The 555s are also very good for the price, as are the Alessandro MS-1. For decent headphone reviews, check out www.head-fi.org. Just be sure to check multiple reviews, as some people tend to over-hype cans there

IMO.

 

[Treyshadow]

Audio Technica ATH-A500
http://www.audiocubes.com/category/...t/Audio-Technica_ATH-A500_Art_Headphones.html

I found these cans to be much greater than the HD590, and better than the newer HD555. This was unamped on an emu 0404 sound card. Better bass, better space placement, and just as comfy as the HD590.

These are also closed cans, and they should seriously be put in the running for your choice.

I am by no means a senn hater... on the contrary, I have both HD580's and HD650.