Sony MDR 7506 vs Sennheiser 280 Pro

heatmiser

heatmiser

mr. green christmas
Hi,

Anyone have any comparative experience between these two sets of phones?

I've had the Sony set for about 5 years and always found them to be overly bright (I kind of got used to that though), but otherwise I liked them a lot. Comfortable, good clarity...plenty loud. They finally died though....sound has cut out in one ear and the foam ear pads are disintegrating.

The 280 Pros get recommended a lot here, so I'm thinking of getting a pair of those instead of buying another pair of the Sony ones. Can I expect the 280 Pros to be a little less bright? They're both around $100 which is all I want to spend.

These are used for tracking mainly and occasional listening just for fun.

Thanks.
 
Hey,
I can't compare to Sonys but I have been very happy with my Senny HD280s.
At first I thought they were very big and heavy but that didn't bother me afterall.
I wouldn't describe them as overly bright. They might lack in bass slightly but overall I find them pretty well balanced.

I've had mine for a good few years now and they're starting to get a bit tatty. I'll definitely be replacing them with a new pair of 280s. ;)
 
The sony's are more mid forward. they are better for vocal overdubbing.

The senn's have more low end and more isolation. I like them for drummers.

Either are good, I have both for different purposes.
 
Farview said:
The sony's are more mid forward. they are better for vocal overdubbing.

The senn's have more low end and more isolation. I like them for drummers.

Either are good, I have both for different purposes.
Click to expand...

Right enough, the isolation is great!
 
That is the reason the Sony's are popular in studios, they are great for vocal overdubs. It's easier for the singers to hear themselves.
 
I have both.

I use the 7506s in live situations where there's a lot of noise and isolation/level are the primary concerns. Like many, I find them a bit too bright and forward in the mids to judge sound critically (but that's not to say they're bad.).

I use the 280 Pros (and also a pair of HD 25s) at home in the studio and yes, the sound is more neutral and a bit (I hate the word) "warmer".

Gotta say, my favourite of the 3 in terms of sound quality are the HD 25s...but they're a bit small for my ears and isolation can be a problem.
 
Thanks dudes. Good stuff. I am looking for a more neutral sound I guess since a lot of my tone choices for guitars and things are made while wearing phones. Everyone talks about wanting flat, neutral monitors for mixing, but before I get to that stage a lot of tonal decisions are made during tracking while wearing phones (like moving the mic around in front of an amp's speaker cone to find a sweet spot). I've often wondered if people check the tones they're getting through monitors before settling on mic positions for that reason. I normally don't bother myself.

Anyway, I too have found the Sonys to be good for tracking vocals, but I think their brightness causes me to settle for duller tones when tracking. I try to compensate by tracking tones that are brighter than I think I want, and it pretty much works, but I'm interested in something new. Sounds like ideally I'd have a pair of both, and I may do that eventually, but right now money is tight, so I have no business buying two of anything. :) Thanks for all of the comments so far. Very helpful.
 
For what it's worth, I mix on Mackie HR624s and track on the HD280s.
I never find myself having to make adjustments or compensate between the two, other than with stereo image or extreme bass.

Good luck. :)
 
Steenamaroo said:
For what it's worth, I mix on Mackie HR624s and track on the HD280s.
I never find myself having to make adjustments or compensate between the two, other than with stereo image or extreme bass.

Good luck. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks.

That's cool. In my case, it's not like I'm making huge adjustments or anything, but stuff generally sounded so much brighter through my old phones that when I'd go back and review the sounds I'd settled on, I was often surprised that there was as much of a difference as there was. Yeah, bass was the thing that was most unreliable for me through phones. Almost any bass tone/level sounded awesome through those phones...very different when cranked through the monitors.
 
I bought a couple pairs of the 280's a few (4? 5?) years ago, mainly for tracking drums. Good isolation and a pretty decent sound.
They're not "honest" but they're close enough for me.

I mix thru the Adam A7's and have found that I only have minor tweaks to do on them after tracking on the 280's.

No experience with the Sony's tho.

oh... and G'mornin. :)
 
Cool. It just seems like people throw honesty/flatness/neutrality out the window when it comes to phones while that's all anyone talks about with speakers...odd.

Good morning...er...good afternoon to you too breath-of-a-dog!
 
I've got some 280s for tracking because of their better isolation and better bass response (bass player) and because I thought the 7506s were painfully bright. As far as being purely neutral, I like my DT-770s, and I liked my ATH-M40s before they got stolen.
 
I don't really care for my 280 phones. They sound "clunky". Not the drivers in the headphones, but rather the earcups. Every time I move a bit it is like the sound of moving is amplified. Also don't like coiled cords. When tracking with an acoustic guitar it gets up against the body of the guitar. I've tried looping it around belt loops and tried to get the cord to stay on my RHS because I'm a lefty. They isolate the audio from a mic well enough but I don't like singing with them on either, again because of the self-noise of the earcups.

I had a pair of Sony 850's or something like that from the early 90's that I liked much better.
 
heatmiser said:
Cool. It just seems like people throw honesty/flatness/neutrality out the window when it comes to phones while that's all anyone talks about with speakers...odd.

<snip>
Click to expand...

Well, I can sort of offer an explanation for that--for the most part they're used for different things.

Monitor speakers are used to take all the important decisions about your mix and, as such, should be brutally accurate, showing every flaw in your tracks rather than giving an artificially flattering sound.

Headphones, although sometimes used for mixing, have a much bigger role in tracking where the important thing is a sound that brings the best out of the performer. If this mean exaggerated mids or whatever, so be it. It doesn't affect the final results. The other biggie for tracking is the isolation--you don't want bleed into the mic.

Of course this all goes out the window if you mix on headphones--but, because of the different interaction there is when the sound source is plastered against the ear rather than more distant, cans will never be ideal for mixing. However, as with anything, you can learn what things need to sound like on your headphones to also be acceptable on a wide variety of players.
 
c7sus said:
I don't really care for my 280 phones. They sound "clunky". Not the drivers in the headphones, but rather the earcups. Every time I move a bit it is like the sound of moving is amplified. Also don't like coiled cords. When tracking with an acoustic guitar it gets up against the body of the guitar. I've tried looping it around belt loops and tried to get the cord to stay on my RHS because I'm a lefty. They isolate the audio from a mic well enough but I don't like singing with them on either, again because of the self-noise of the earcups.

I had a pair of Sony 850's or something like that from the early 90's that I liked much better.
Click to expand...

I think this drives home the other consideration with headphones--everyone's ears are different in size and shape. What fits/suites one person is a real pain for another--sometimes literally.

In my days doing some location recording, the "standard" headphone as issued by the company I worked for was the DT150. Lots of people loved them but I just could not wear them. No matter what I did they sounded tinny and, after a few hours work I'd be in physical pain. Similarly, I have a friend who can't stand the HD280s that I can wear all day without a hitch.
 
To be fair, this above is true of the 280s.
I found they have to 'settle', but I can totally see how they could annoy someone.

Mine are so worn now that it's not an issue but I do remember being aware of this at first.
 
notCardio said:
I've got some 280s for tracking because of their better isolation and better bass response (bass player) and because I thought the 7506s were painfully bright. As far as being purely neutral, I like my DT-770s, and I liked my ATH-M40s before they got stolen.
Click to expand...

I can't afford the DT-770s right now, but the ATH M40s look nice. Similar construction to the Sonys I just wore out, and they were super comfortable. Plus, they're only $100, just like the ones I was considering...hmmm.

c7sus said:
I don't really care for my 280 phones. They sound "clunky". Not the drivers in the headphones, but rather the earcups. Every time I move a bit it is like the sound of moving is amplified. Also don't like coiled cords. When tracking with an acoustic guitar it gets up against the body of the guitar. I've tried looping it around belt loops and tried to get the cord to stay on my RHS because I'm a lefty. They isolate the audio from a mic well enough but I don't like singing with them on either, again because of the self-noise of the earcups.

I had a pair of Sony 850's or something like that from the early 90's that I liked much better.
Click to expand...

The 280s definitely look kind of clunky too. Not that it matters much, but somehow they look like they might be uncomfortable.
 
Bobbsy said:
Well, I can sort of offer an explanation for that--for the most part they're used for different things.

Monitor speakers are used to take all the important decisions about your mix and, as such, should be brutally accurate, showing every flaw in your tracks rather than giving an artificially flattering sound.

Headphones, although sometimes used for mixing, have a much bigger role in tracking where the important thing is a sound that brings the best out of the performer. If this mean exaggerated mids or whatever, so be it. It doesn't affect the final results. The other biggie for tracking is the isolation--you don't want bleed into the mic.

Of course this all goes out the window if you mix on headphones--but, because of the different interaction there is when the sound source is plastered against the ear rather than more distant, cans will never be ideal for mixing. However, as with anything, you can learn what things need to sound like on your headphones to also be acceptable on a wide variety of players.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree that they're used for different things (I don't mix with headphones), but I think when you're in a home environment and you are both the "performer" and the "engineer", you wind up making some tone decisions with the phones on, so I would think their accuracy would be just as important as with speakers.

I imagine in a "real" studio with a control room and stuff, the engineer is listening through monitors all the time, while the performer is listening on phones just so they can monitor while performing...so accuracy isn't a factor. I think one-man home recording operations force you to kind of do everything all at once though. When I'm getting ready to track some guitars or vocals, I'm picking mic positions and making some tonal decisions with the phones on. I don't hear what it sounds like through the speakers until the take is done, so I kind of live with whatever sound I picked while wearing those phones.

Not a big deal as I think I make it work for me. I was just thinking out loud...
 
heatmiser said:
Yeah, I agree that they're used for different things (I don't mix with headphones), but I think when you're in a home environment and you are both the "performer" and the "engineer", you wind up making some tone decisions with the phones on, so I would think their accuracy would be just as important as with speakers.

I imagine in a "real" studio with a control room and stuff, the engineer is listening through monitors all the time, while the performer is listening on phones just so they can monitor while performing...so accuracy isn't a factor. I think one-man home recording operations force you to kind of do everything all at once though. When I'm getting ready to track some guitars or vocals, I'm picking mic positions and making some tonal decisions with the phones on. I don't hear what it sounds like through the speakers until the take is done, so I kind of live with whatever sound I picked while wearing those phones.

Not a big deal as I think I make it work for me. I was just thinking out loud...
Click to expand...

That's kind of the specific reason I got the 280s. They were a good mix of relatively neutral with relatively high isolation, so i got them mostly for guitar mic placement, and then guitar and bass tracking.

They also fit my big head and big ears pretty well, which is rare. I find mine fairly comfortable.
 
I don't have that model of either, but my Sony 7510s are also mid forward and used for vocals. My 380s are my go to for everything else...
 
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