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93%
PROS
Excellent sound quality, comfortable padding, circumaural design, can fold up flat.
LOWS
A rather long coiled cord, have to get used to the initial contact pressure applied to your head (it's quite a bit).
OVERALL
These $100 headphones give you great sound quality with comfort and portability. If you can take the contact pressure, get a pair!
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John Donne wrote that “No man is an island.” Using literary works, this quote is quite difficult to disprove. However, using the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones as an example of pure isolation, John Donne looks like an idiot.
It's hard to get a pair of headphones as feature packed as the 280's. They combine excellent sound quality with relative portability. Not to mention comfort. Of course, you won't be able to carry the 280's around like Apple earbuds. BUT, the cool thing about them is that they can fold flat. The ear cups can rotate so they lie flat, and then the headphones are much easier to carry in a backpack… or anything for that matter.
The ear cups are designed for total comfort. When I first put them on, I was a bit skeptical, considering they press the ear cups close to the side of your head. It seems a bit uncomfortable at first, especially when switching from headphones with flat cushions on the ear cups.
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The pressure applied to your head is necessary to create the suction effect so no outside noise can escape inside. Still, give yourself a week or so and see if you can get used to this contact pressure. I was able to transition just fine, but it is a bit contact pressure, so be prepared. The design is circumaural, meaning they surround your entire ear in order to immerse you in the sound.
Aside from the cushioning on the ear cups, there is also a nice padded strip running across the roof of the headphones. Through all my testing, I have never once become too uncomfortable and needed to remove the headphones. The only thing you may run into is the possibility of getting too hot. If you are outside in a really hot environment, you may begin to sweat using the headphones. Just because they are circumaural, this becomes more of a problem. This problem is not limited to the 280's, however, and is a common issue with all headphones that are larger like this one.
Sound quality is superb for a set of “closed” headphones. When I say closed, I mean that there is not sound filtering in from the outside, which is what the way high end headphones have. This “open” design is not good for being in an environment with a lot of talking and noise, which is why they are typically reduced to studio use. So, being that they are closed, the 280's work excellent in any environment- regardless of how much outside noise there is. I have used the headphones in environments ranging from silence to screaming arguments, and the 280 meets my expectations in all. The headphones can great rather loud, but sound does not get distorted at higher volumes. Nice! I'm sure if you were to analyze the headphones from the standpoint of a top notch audiophile, you could point out some flaws in the 280's sound. These aren't $750 headphones. They are $100. But for $100, you're getting some amazing sound, which, quite frankly, is good enough for anything you could want outside of a professional recording studio.
Physically speaking, the 280's are sturdy. Unlike Sony models I have used, I am not worried about these bad boys breaking under heavy use. Don't be afraid to use this pair everyday, shove it in a backpack, and carry it around everyday. In addition to its sturdy built, it can always fold flat easily, so this decreases any chance of being severely contorted under pressure. The cord is coiled and can stretch to a maximum of three meters. Rather large, especially if you want to use them with an iPod. It can be done however. I do it all the time.
So, in all, the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones are a great match for a number of applications. I principally use them as portable headphones with an iPod, and they suit me great for this purpose. They sound great, fold up nicely, and are incredibly comfortable. What more could you want?
