Sennheiser HD 280 PRO vs Audio Technica ATH-M30x

[LackOfSkirts]

For gaming, music, and general use Is it worth the extra £10-ish for the Sennheiser HD 280 PRO? Also would gladly take any other reccomendations in this price range (Sub £80), but im from the UK so it would need to be available over here. I would like a well-rounded one that is decently comfy and as reliable as possible. I also live in a pretty noisy location, and i have heard the HD280 PROs have good outside audio reduction so that seems nice for me.

[Cocococo]

For isolation the Sennheiser HD280's are crazy good, sound wise idk if they're still up for £80 but the Shure 440A are some of the best sounding closed backs you can buy, but if outside noise is that bad then the HD280's 25db isolation is untouchable. Audio Technica headphones are usually not worth getting (the M50x chassis is infamous for breaking all the time) 

[NinJake]

Between those 2, I'd go with the Sennheisers all day.

[LackOfSkirts]

1 hour ago, NinJake said:

Between those 2, I'd go with the Sennheisers all day.

Why? What makes them better in your opinion?

[LackOfSkirts]

1 hour ago, Cocococo said:

For isolation the Sennheiser HD280's are crazy good, sound wise idk if they're still up for £80 but the Shure 440A are some of the best sounding closed backs you can buy, but if outside noise is that bad then the HD280's 25db isolation is untouchable. Audio Technica headphones are usually not worth getting (the M50x chassis is infamous for breaking all the time) 

Oh okay, i think i will go with the 280 PROs then, by the way is there anything else i would need to know like compatibilty or something of that nature?

[atarione]

It is my personal experience that I would rather use about anything other then the Senn HD280 Pro... The clamping forces were quite unbearable to myself..

 

In my opinion the Sony MDR-7506 is way better than either of those, quite good and miles more comfortable (althought the long coiled cable maybe a hassle depending on use case.   They seem to be about £89.00 so 10 over your budget stated but I would think it was money well spend to avoid the head vise that the Senn HD280's are..

 

I am not sure what people are doing to break M50s but in my experience they are fairly robust (except:: the fake leather on the headband is prone to flaking after 3~4yrs... the are a number of solutions a zip up cover being probably the easiest?

 

Other options under the £80 target (on amazon uk)

AKG 240   £65

Shure 440A slight over about £5

ath-m30x £68  or better m40's but they are £92~

Yamaha HPH-MT5 *(over budget £95)

 

These are well worth considering (imho) big and sort of clunky.. you'd look ridiculous on the train / bus with these perhaps?   but very comfortable and excellent sound and pretty cheap

The JVC HA-RX700 /900   £50 /£70 respectively... (closed / semi-open) ...

 

But and I feel as if I have made it clear enough I would rather use almost anything than the HD280 as it's maniacal desire to crush your skull is very unpleasant.

[NinJake]

2 hours ago, LackOfSkirts said:

Why? What makes them better in your opinion?

I'm not going to say they are "better" as audio is always pure subjective to the end-user. I will leave you this comparison site from RTINGS to look over if you haven't already.

 

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/audio-technica-ath-m40x-vs-sennheiser-hd-280-pro-2016/296/299?usage=19&threshold=0.10

 

I will also add that I am a bit biased, and already own the HD280 Pro and can recommend them as a good headphone within your price range and between your 2 choices listed.

 

Now.. as @atarione stated, I also am a huge fan of the Sony MDR-7506.

11 minutes ago, atarione said:

In my opinion the Sony MDR-7506 is way better than either of those,

I keep them with my DJ mixing gear as they have a good enough sound signature and easy enough to fold/move on my head to hear what's coming through the headphones or what's coming through the speaker system/monitors when necessary.

 

Here's a comparison from RTINGS between the HD280pro and the MDR-7506 :

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/sennheiser-hd-280-pro-2016-vs-sony-mdr-7506/299/386?usage=19&threshold=0.10

[Cocococo]

3 hours ago, NinJake said:

Here's a comparison from RTINGS between the HD280pro and the MDR-7506 :

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/sennheiser-hd-280-pro-2016-vs-sony-mdr-7506/299/386?usage=19&threshold=0.10

That might be the stupidest thing RTINGS has ever put out (RTINGS are impressively bad with audio so that's quite an amazing feat) just have a look at this

 

"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" Neutral, that's the conclusion i and every single frequency response graph come to when thinking about the DT770 (a headphone known for it's incredibly overpronounced treble and popular among bassheads for it's incredibly overblown bass) and the M50x (some okay upper midrange with an overblown upper bass bump that really messes with male vocals) 

 

"The Sennheiser HD 280 Pro are poor for commuting. Their passive isolation is not enough for loud environments. A lot of noise will seep into your audio on a busy commute" the big reason the HD280 look and fit the way they do is for ISOLATION, the isolation on the HD280's rivals dedicated hearing protection (25db on the 280's, that is crazy good) and other closed headphones (even the dedicated ANC stuff) has trouble cancelling 25db of any frequency.

"They're also bulky, somewhat uncomfortable, and have no control scheme to use with your mobile phone" bulky and uncomfortable are fair enough criticisms (comfort is entirely subjective so idk why they mention it so many times in an "objective" matchup but whatever) but no control scheme for mobile use is moronic, no headphone with a fixed cable has inline controls, if that's a priority then $20 IEM's are a better option. 

"The Sony MDR-7506 are poor for commuting and travel. They don't feature any active noise cancellation (ANC) technology so they rely on their closed-back design to passively isolate you against ambient noise" so literally the same as the HD280 (280 isolates a lot better and has more cushioning, but 7506 gets 0.1 extra points) 

 

"The Sony MDR-7506 are poor for office use. While they're decently comfortable and don't leak as much audio as open-back headphones, you'll still want to be careful when cranking your tunes in a quiet office environment. Their bad noise isolation performance also means you'll be easily distracted by conversations around you." so RTINGS immediately contradicts themselves and admit the 7506 are really badly isolating headphones 

 

"The Sennheiser HD 280 Pro are not suitable for wireless gaming."

"The Sony MDR-7506 are wired-only and can't be used for wireless gaming." yet for some inexplicable reason both headphones don't get a 0 on the score chart, infact the 7506 get 0.3 points MORE despite both being not applicable to this kind of rating. 

 

"The Sennheiser HD 280 Pro are decent for wired gaming. They have a good sound and a low latency wired connection but are not as convenient or as customizable as most wireless gaming headsets. Also, they don't have a microphone, but on the upside, if you don't need voice chat, then they could be a decent option for consoles and PCs since they will provide audio for both the PS4 and Xbox One." So earlier in the article they heavily criticised the sound of HD280 and now they're "good"? Also why even mention latency, wires have so little latency that it is imperceptible to human beings in even the worst cases.

 

"The Sony MDR-7506 are acceptable for wired gaming. Thanks to their analog connection, these headphones have negligible latency, so you don't notice a delay between the audio you hear and the video you see. However, they lack customization options compared to dedicated gaming headsets, and you'll need to purchase a standalone microphone if you want to communicate with your teammates" What a nicely worded way to say "you plug into thingy and make the game noise" and clearly the scoring system agrees and awarded (again) 0.1 points in 7506 favour (ignore how they bring up latency again and what does "negligible" even mean in this context? they're wired headphones, is there latency over wires? If so (and that is what's being implied" then that's not only a huge problem but potentially breaks the laws of physics.

 

If it wasn't clear already RTINGS are an absolutely atrocious site for information or reviews, the review system heavily favours certain properties and inconsistently scores identical performances (also they have previously shown INCREDIBLE bias in favour of Sony products i wonder if their affiliate links have anything to do with that?) if you want to argue the merits of one product vs another go ahead, but when your source is this stupid it really doesn't help your case. It's also kinda amazing how many people try to cope with "it's all subjective" despite how many dedicated audio communities give you the same answers when you ask basic questions and basic recommendations for common price points and common wishes (150usd closed back, and pretty much every forum and discord server will say AKG K371) Not gonna say that there isn't some subjectivity (especially with in-ear stuff because if it doesn't fit it sounds like trash) but there are use cases where certain properties are very much needed (you don't recommend open backs to people who want travel headphones) and all the new suggestions (especially goddamn "semi-open backs") are not helpful for the original posters needs. 

[Cocococo]

5 hours ago, LackOfSkirts said:

Oh okay, i think i will go with the 280 PROs then, by the way is there anything else i would need to know like compatibilty or something of that nature?

Whatever source you plan to use needs a headphone jack, that's the only compatibility issue you're gonna run into (crazy how much better wired headphones still are lol) so much more convenient and no stupid software to fight with to just make the headphones play the noises you want them to

[LackOfSkirts]

2 hours ago, Cocococo said:

Whatever source you plan to use needs a headphone jack, that's the only compatibility issue you're gonna run into (crazy how much better wired headphones still are lol) so much more convenient and no stupid software to fight with to just make the headphones play the noises you want them to

So it should support pretty much every device?

[Cocococo]

18 minutes ago, LackOfSkirts said:

So it should support pretty much every device?

Yeah, pure analogue connections haven't got any room to argue with you, wish high end phones still came with headphone jacks because wired is just plain better

[LackOfSkirts]

8 hours ago, Cocococo said:

wish high end phones still came with headphone jacks because wired is just plain better

Yeah, having to use an adapter is just clunky.

[NinJake]

@CocococoI think you're looking way too deep into my links to RTINGs. I feel most people can logically realize the score for wireless has no meaning when they're looking at a pair of wired headphones for example. I primarily linked there just for a quick access to a graph of the measurements/graphs.

 

Either way, whether I linked to RTINGS or Crinacle or any other site that reviews audio equipment, my opinion still stands as to what I said. (That I'd recommend the sennheiser over the audio technica) These websites have little bearing to me personally, as I prefer to go into a store and check out demo units or listen to headphones myself before purchasing. Though I understand a lot of people live and die by the graph.

[Cocococo]

1 hour ago, NinJake said:

@CocococoI think you're looking way too deep into my links to RTINGs. I feel most people can logically realize the score for wireless has no meaning when they're looking at a pair of wired headphones for example. I primarily linked there just for a quick access to a graph of the measurements/graphs.

 

Either way, whether I linked to RTINGS or Crinacle or any other site that reviews audio equipment, my opinion still stands as to what I said. (That I'd recommend the sennheiser over the audio technica) These websites have little bearing to me personally, as I prefer to go into a store and check out demo units or listen to headphones myself before purchasing. Though I understand a lot of people live and die by the graph.

For newbies false/ bad information is the absolute worst, i know where to look for graphs and what reviewers impressions are closest to my own, but i also remember being brand new to the more dedicated side of audio and got bombarded with "they're wrong, this is right" and links to plenty of reviews that i flip-flopped between believing and not believing, hell the most common new questions on audio forums is when someone has only watched dankpods, goes onto a forum and regurgitates his opinions/ asks if his recommendations are still good. Then get bombarded with experienced users dismissing everything that the newbie thought was true and trustworthy, it sucks and drives people away thinking audio is all petty catfights.

 

As for logically determining when the reviewer is being an idiot you're probably right, but when i was starting to really get into audio i found it really helpful when someone just said "here's why this is wrong" and ripped a dumb article to shreds, instead of lots of people chiming in with "well from my experience XYZ is good but YXZ is also good and ZYX123 is also good for a bit less money if you're in this specific part of this specific country and also XYZ4 is great" and it gets really confusing really quickly, plus it gives almost 0 actual information across at best.