Which Sennheiser?

dakaiez

dakaiez

dakaiez

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Well im looking for a new headset, originally i've gone with gaming headsets with mic's but all of them have broken pretty easily and im now looking at purchasing some headphones which will last me for a while. Budget is £100.

I'll mainly be using them for music/gaming on my rig hooked up to a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music 7.1 Soundcard.

I've been looking and i kind of like the HD555's and the HD595's but is there any better for the money? My only problem would be the sound leakage, which kind of defeats the purpose of headphones but if it isn't to bad then they would be quite good.
 
HD595's are the best Senn's you're going to get for £100. Yeah they're open so they leak a lot of sound as well as let a lot in.

If you want to sacrifice sound quality for isolation, look at the HD280 Pro's. They're very good closed headphones.
 
H2F Scott said:
HD595's are the best Senn's you're going to get for £100. Yeah they're open so they leak a lot of sound as well as let a lot in.

If you want to sacrifice sound quality for isolation, look at the HD280 Pro's. They're very good closed headphones.
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So the sound leakage is quite bad? That's not very good, considering main reason for headphones is to keep things quiet :p. I'd rather sound quality over isolation though, was looking at other headsets, just i like Senn's considering i've had some which have lasted years.
 
v1bez said:
So the sound leakage is quite bad? That's not very good, considering main reason for headphones is to keep things quiet :p. I'd rather sound quality over isolation though, was looking at other headsets, just i like Senn's considering i've had some which have lasted years.
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Well if you want alternatives to Senn's for around the same price, look at Audio Technica A700. They're closed and apparently sound really good. I haven't heard them personally though.

And yeah open headphones usually sound better than closed ones, but you can still get some really nice closed headphones.
 
H2F Scott said:
Well if you want alternatives to Senn's for around the same price, look at Audio Technica A700. They're closed and apparently sound really good. I haven't heard them personally though.

And yeah open headphones usually sound better than closed ones, but you can still get some really nice closed headphones.
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I'll have a look at them now.

I heard although their's leaking it's only really noticeable when you've got the volume really turned up. So that's a bit of a saving grace really.
 
v1bez said:
I'll have a look at them now.
I heard although their's leaking it's only really noticeable when you've got the volume really turned up. So that's a bit of a saving grace really.
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True, but...who keeps the volume down low anyway? I know I certainly don't.
I don't mind the HD555's. The sound leakage is enough that anyone in the same room will be able to hear it. People in other rooms shouldn't hear anything though.

As for letting sound in, only if the volume is low. I have my phone sitting on the desk beside me and the ringer is quite loud. With my HD555's turned up, I can't hear it ring.

My vote goes for the HD595's. I've read that they're almost the same as the HD555's except they have better bass (which is actually my only real complaint on the 555's.).
 
Tripnologist said:
True, but...who keeps the volume down low anyway? I know I certainly don't.
I don't mind the HD555's. The sound leakage is enough that anyone in the same room will be able to hear it. People in other rooms shouldn't hear anything though.

As for letting sound in, only if the volume is low. I have my phone sitting on the desk beside me and the ringer is quite loud. With my HD555's turned up, I can't hear it ring.

My vote goes for the HD595's. I've read that they're almost the same as the HD555's except they have better bass (which is actually my only real complaint on the 555's.).
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Well i don't have my headphones turned up so loud that i can't hear anything else, i do that with my ipod and end up shouting when speaking, hence why i use lower volumes now so i don't ruin my hearing! I think i'll go with the HD595's then, although is the £30 difference really worth a little more bass?
 
What's the difference between them both really? I've checked reviews and so forth, there just doesn't seem to be enough between them to warrant another £30. Someone shed some light :).
 
I might pickup HD-650 eventually, although not too impressed with build overall, the connector also seems to become intermettant after a while.
 
squiffy said:
I might pickup HD-650 eventually, although not too impressed with build overall, the connector also seems to become intermettant after a while.
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I suppose you can't claim under warranty then as they will just state you did it?
 
Just been checking more reviews, apparently the sound leakage is quite bad indeed. It's kind of put me off again, as i want something really comfy i can wear for hours and hours but also good for games/music etc but i don't want everyone else hearing it aswell.
 
They're open, like Grados so they leak lots of sound.
Open phones are usually classed as the best phones around, most closed back (sealed phones) have a boomy one noted bassy sound to them.
 
squiffy said:
They're open, like Grados so they leak lots of sound.
Open phones are usually classed as the best phones around, most closed back (sealed phones) have a boomy one noted bassy sound to them.
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Sorry But I just don't agree with that.
 
Heh looks like some conflicting information then. I'll be using them on my pc and nowhere else so maybe the sound leak isn't to bad. Just don't want to be playing something at 3am or so in the morning when no work and people hearing so i wake them up.

I like the comment on some other competitor's site. It was "I loved the sound on these new headphones, so did the guy next to me, the guy next to him and the guy next to him!".
 
For £100 if you look around you can get HD25's. They're popular in the TV and film industry as they are very robust, and there are loads of spares avaliable for 'em.

If someone gave me £100 for a set of cans, you can't beat HD25's IMO. :) Nice sound quality also. :cool:
 
MikeHunt79 said:
For £100 if you look around you can get HD25's. They're popular in the TV and film industry as they are very robust, and there are loads of spares avaliable for 'em.

If someone gave me £100 for a set of cans, you can't beat HD25's IMO. :) Nice sound quality also. :cool:
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I'll have a look at them now. Although still tempted by either the 555's or 595's as im only using them on my pc.
 
MikeHunt79 is right, the HD25's are considered the top closed portable Senns, maybe a fraction outside your price range, last time I checked (quite a while ago) they were ~£130.

Personally I'd go for a pair of ATH-ES7 I like a 'fun' sound, also Equation Audio RP-21 is getting rave reviews atm, but probably quite hard to find a pair.
 
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