Sennheiser headphones: poor quality? Differences?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Jay Levitt <jay+news@jay.fm> wrote:

> Have others here had quality issues with Sennheiser phones? I like the
> isolation, but not if they're going to be this unreliable.

I recently got a pair of HD280Pro's and they're holding up well so far.
Over the years I've experienced good realiablity from sennheiser and
Beyer phones.

> Also, does anyone know why the 280s, which specwise look to be an equal-
> or-nicer headphone, cost less than half the 265s? Karl?

Karl is now with Lectrosonic.

--
ha

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"hank alrich" <walkinay@thegrid.net> wrote in message
news:1gn410n.1sne0ux13j4dbuN%walkinay@thegrid.net...
: Jay Levitt <jay+news@jay.fm> wrote:
:
: > Have others here had quality issues with Sennheiser
phones? I like the
: > isolation, but not if they're going to be this
unreliable.
:
I have HD600's. I only use them to listen to finished
stuff, never during music production. The cheesy plug
in to the ear unit cable / connector was bad from day
one. I replaced it and hot glued it in and now it
appears to only act up occasionally. To fix I pull it
apart and coat with Caig pro gold and re-hot glue it
in. Not what I would expect from a $350 pair of phones.
I will not buy any more sennheiser phones.

They sound great compared to my 7506 and K240's but
they will never be used for production.

Phil Abbate

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"anybody-but-bush" <Anybody But Bu$h@YAHOO.com> wrote in message
news:ht2ld.12816$Gm6.4363@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net
> "hank alrich" <walkinay@thegrid.net> wrote in message
> news:1gn410n.1sne0ux13j4dbuN%walkinay@thegrid.net...
>> Jay Levitt <jay+news@jay.fm> wrote:
>>
>>> Have others here had quality issues with Sennheiser phones? I like
>>> the isolation, but not if they're going to be this unreliable.
>>
> I have HD600's. I only use them to listen to finished
> stuff, never during music production. The cheesy plug
> in to the ear unit cable / connector was bad from day
> one.

Why didn't you return it to the store on day one?

> I replaced it and hot glued it in and now it
> appears to only act up occasionally. To fix I pull it
> apart and coat with Caig pro gold and re-hot glue it
> in. Not what I would expect from a $350 pair of phones.
> I will not buy any more sennheiser phones.

I have 3-year-old HD580s that have been dropped on a hardwood floor,
thrown, stepped on, even slept on by both man and dog. A grandchild broke
the brittle plastic headband, when they were about 6 months old and the
replacement cost me about $50. After 2 years of use the plug-in wiring
harness went bad and that cost me about $25 to replace. The foam pads start
smelling like head sweat after about 18 months use, but they snap off and
are washed and good for another 18 monhts. They still sound great.

> They sound great compared to my 7506 and K240's but
> they will never be used for production.

On balance, I've had 7506s that I have used for production for about six
years, with zero maintenance. If Sony made phones that sounded like HD580s
with 7506 durability, the world would probably be a happier place for
everybody but Sennheiser.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

>Probable cause is Guitar center. IME if a customer fries something and
>returns it, they just put it iback nto stock and sell it to someone else.
>They did it to me with a Flying Cow.
>

A friend of mine bought a used ribbon mic that was shipped in from another
GC..toast..took him a few days to realize it was the mic and not all the other
"new" stuff he had bought.

John A. Chiara
SOS Recording Studio
Live Sound Inc.
Albany, NY
www.sosrecording.net
518-449-1637

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

: > They sound great compared to my 7506 and K240's but
: > they will never be used for production.
:
: On balance, I've had 7506s that I have used for
production for about six
: years, with zero maintenance. If Sony made phones
that sounded like HD580s
: with 7506 durability, the world would probably be a
happier place for
: everybody but Sennheiser.

My other pair of 7506's have one side blown which
happened while someone was tracking with it.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

walkinay@thegrid.net (hank alrich) wrote in message news:<1gn410n.1sne0ux13j4dbuN%walkinay@thegrid.net>...
> Jay Levitt <jay+news@jay.fm> wrote:
>
> > Have others here had quality issues with Sennheiser phones? I like the
> > isolation, but not if they're going to be this unreliable.
>
> I recently got a pair of HD280Pro's and they're holding up well so far.
> Over the years I've experienced good realiablity from sennheiser and
> Beyer phones.
>
> > Also, does anyone know why the 280s, which specwise look to be an equal-
> > or-nicer headphone, cost less than half the 265s? Karl?
>
> Karl is now with Lectrosonic.

I'll take the liberty to answer the question anyway <g>

The HD580/600 originally had a very problematic wire jack on the
earcups. The 600s were "fixed" a few years ago but I don't think the
problem was totally solved. It turns out that the problem wasn't the
outer part of the jack/plug assembly so much as that the metal
contacts inside the earcups would fatigue over time and need
tighening. Some design enhancements were considered, including
spanning the two contacts with a tiny o-ring to provide good
resistance and thus contact over a longer period of time. I don't know
if that idea was ever put into use.

The new HD650s have a much more robust cable/plug/jack design and so
far, I haven't seen or heard of any complaints.

When the HD280 first came out, it had some kind of quality problem
that would show up if users twisted the earcups past the stop when
folding the headphones. That was also solved at least a year ago to my
knowledge. As for the price/quality thing, I think the 280s are a good
value and produce quite good results. When I was at Sennheiser, it was
a top selling model and I'd guess it still is.

I personally always liked the Sony V6 and 7506, probably after using
the old V6 on many a tour with very reliable results. The 280 is a
good alternative as well. For more critical listening, the 580/600
can't be beat for accuracy, and the 650 is just a joy, but not as
accurate IMO.

Not a big fan of the AKG240. Just doesn't sound right to me. YMMV.

I've never used the Beyer headphones, but I know quite a few people
who like them a lot.

Karl Winkler
Lectrosonics, Inc.
http://www.lectrosonics.com

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 02:11:40 -0500, Jay Levitt <jay+news@jay.fm>
wrote:

>I had four Sennheiser HD265 phones, used only occasionally for tracking,
>just a few years old. Recently I did a tracking session and discovered
>three were bad - all distorted in one ear, and one had a dead ear.
>
>I swung by Guitar Center and picked up two Beyer DT770s and two
>Sennheiser HD280s. The Beyers perform great, but of course are $200.
>One of the HD280s distorted and cut in and out, right out of the box!

I have an HD280 and they're great.

>
>Have others here had quality issues with Sennheiser phones? I like the
>isolation, but not if they're going to be this unreliable.
>
>Also, does anyone know why the 280s, which specwise look to be an equal-
>or-nicer headphone, cost less than half the 265s? Karl?