Sennheiser HD280 PRO Review – All You Need On A Budget

Design:
Features:
Performance:
Value:

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Sennheiser is well known as one of the best manufacturers of headphones in the world. However, today we won't be talking about their flagship models. Instead we are going to look at Sennheiser HD280 PRO, by far one of the best studio headphones you can get for less than $100.

Design

When Sennheiser designed HD280 PRO, they had to make a few compromises. The price range these are set in doesn't really leave much room for maneuvering. As it turns out, their compromises were the right ones to make. HD280 PRO are a fully closed back studio headphones with a plastic chassis and a fairly standard design. Both cups are hinged in order to provide firm seal despite the profile of user's head, while you can also adjust the height of the headband. Speaking of which, HD280 PRO isn't the type of headphone that comes with loads of padding. Instead, Sennheiser went with two thick pads on the inner portion of the headband, which pretty much get the job done. Quality of the padding is nicer than expected, being incredibly soft. Despite these being made of plastic for the most part, the overall build quality is standard Sennheiser.

Features

The core of Sennheiser HD280 PRO is the pair of very capable drivers. Just by looking at the frequency range that starts at 8 Hz and ends at 25kHz, you know that these have plenty of range. Same goes for volume. We're looking at 113 dB of SPL at a nominal impedance of 64 Ohm. Those stats are not bad at all. Quite the contrary. What really drives the whole thing home is the versatility Sennheiser has built into the HD280 PRO. You can easily swap out both the ear pads and padding on the headband. This way, the longevity of your pair is ensured, as is the comfort. HD280 PRO comes with a coiled cable, which will give you anywhere from 3.3 feet to 9 feet of length to work with. As usual, all of the adapters are included.

Performance

What really makes Sennheiser HD280 PRO so good is their performance. Not only do they go super low in the frequency range, but their response is surprisingly flat. There are some deviations that occur within plus or minus a couple of dB, but you are generally looking at fairly transparent set of headphones. To add to that, the noise reduction on these is amazing. Sennheiser is known for making great closed back headphones and that reputation has translated well to HD280 PRO.

When it comes to user fatigue and comfort, things are fairly decent. Padding which is provided works well, although you might want to look into swapping the ear pad after a while. It's not that they don't work, but there's the sweating issue which plagues most affordable headsets. Other than that, Sennheiser HD280 PRO are fairly comfortable right out of the box.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, Sennheiser did an awesome job with HD280 PRO. They have enough power, decently flat response, and show plenty of detail. Yes, the chassis is made of plastic, but that is a small price to pay considering the rest of what these have to offer.

For more info about the Sennheiser HD280 PRO, click here.
For more Studio Headphones Under $100 you might like, click here.