Sennheiser HD555 vs. HD280

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berndawg3

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
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Hey guys, I need some help picking out headphones. I will most likely be pairing them up with a Prelude. I will have the Prelude connected to a Sony HT, but I'm not sure if I should use that as an amp, just straight out the prelude, or a dedicated headphone amp that is <$50 that someone could recommend. Anyways, on to the real question. I know the 555's are open and the 280's closed, but this is my first dive into high-quality audio. They will be used in my room for HTPC, music, and gaming. It'd be great not to have sound leaking out as to not bother my roomate, but he also said he'd be okay if a little noise was leaked by my headphones. I'm curious as to how much the headphones will leak noise. Second, how much better is the sound on the 555's being open? I've always heard it's better, but I'm wondering if it's leagues better. Which would you recommend?
 
For general use, the HD555's are your best bet. I use the HD280's and they're only good for music (some people hate these cans big time - completely flat EQ except for low low end bass which is damn heavy).

Go with the 555's. If your roommate actually complained about 'noise' from those, I'd slap him/her ;)
 
He won't hear much unless he's within a few feet of you or you like to crank up the volume.
 
It's a him and he's pretty much my brother so I'll slap him anyways :) Thanks for the help so far guys. I am leaning towards the 555's, I'm just hoping the sound leakage isn't bad. How is the sound difference between the two?
 
Open headphones are fairly loud on the outside. Volume must be quite low so that you dont bother anyone. However, each one has their own volume sweetspot.

This was a major con when I had my HD555, but then again, this applies to all open headphones. For isolation, I'd get a closed one instead.

Me and my buddy from work both have the HD555. When I use it, I found that it was annoying my co-workers around me, my fault as I like playing music loud (the details man! the details!). My buddy on the other hand gets away with it, as he likes it really low. I had to get a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 pro to fully enjoy my music at full blast without irritating anybody.

The HD555 is an excellent set of cans, IMO, the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 offers a more balanced refined sound. However, I find that the soundstage on the HD555 is quite excellent. The bass pound is lacking, but it can produce quite nice bass tones in the upperbass range. Other than that, IMO, AD700 kicks its ass in every respect (and can be found for around the same price, ebay mostly)

As far as HD555 vs HD280 goes, HD555 is a better all-rounder.
 
Never mind, I now see they are open. How do the A700's compare to the 555s, if you have any experience.
 
Most people will say the AD700s are better than the A700s as well, though still with the ceveats/benefits of being open. I can't say anything about the A700s (though I don't imagine they're too different from the ADs), but if you decide on the ADs in the end, you can get them from buy.com right now for like 84 or even 79 shipped (assuming no tax) if you've used Google Checkout with them in the past and haven't used the current 20/25 off 80 coupons. That's an utter steal IMO. The others you're wavering on might come out cheap here too pending sales elsewhere.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1296839 (coupon details)
http://www.buy.com/prod/audio-techn...amic-headphone-cable/q/loc/111/202093918.html
 
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