https://marco.org/2009/03/26/andrew-flavin-love-those-headphones-their
Love those headphones (their earbuds are great too). It doesn’t surprise me that Marco, the maven, is a Sennheiser guy.
I’m a best-for-the-role kind of guy for headphones:
- Sennheiser HD 280 Pro at work, where they need to block out external noise and completely seal my music from getting out and annoying my coworkers. If you’ll only have one pair of headphones, and they’ll spend most of their time at one place (you’re not carrying them around everywhere), get these, no question.
- AKG K-26 P (discontinued, replaced with the nearly identical AKG K-414P) for portable use, usually walking to work, because they’re small enough to fit in a jacket pocket and give fairly good sound for their size and price.
- Beyerdynamic DT-880 for home (although they cost about $70 less when I bought them). These are a strange beast because they’re very open (even moreso than my previous home set, the Grado SR-60, which sounded great but were incredibly uncomfortable): you can hear some outside noise, and everyone else in the room will hear a quieter, tinnier version of whatever you’re listening to. So they’re not appropriate for most workplaces or anywhere with other people around (except very tolerant wives). But they’re incredibly comfortable and provide the best sound quality I’ve ever heard from any headphones or speakers.
And something to think about with pricing: while good headphones may seem somewhat expensive, they’re likely to outlast whatever you’re plugging them into. For example, I’ve had my 280 Pros since 2004 and they show no signs of wearing out or needing to be replaced anytime soon, even though I wear them every day at work, often for many hours at a time. Getting these is a no-brainer. I’ve happily paid a lot more for a lot less.