SENNHEISER Professional HD 300 PRO Over-Ear Broadcast Headphones,Black

***** If you have not used circumaural headphones like these, make sure to adjust the earcups down to a comfortable level! Most people can wear these without adjusting them, but they will be very uncomfortable! *****As a user of the HD 280 since 2008, I've been a fervent believer in Sennheiser. I was therefore quite upset when I discovered that they had stopped manufacturing and selling replacement components for the HD 280 for the last several years. I was even more annoyed when I discovered that the HD 280s being sold for the last 5-6 years have been entirely made in China and not in Ireland like mine were. Much to my surprise, when the headband on my pair of 280s broke, I found that Sennheiser had finally developed a successor to the HD 280: the HD 300 Pro.I have to preface this by saying that I am by no means an audiophile user, nor a professional. I recognize full well that these are designed for sound engineers and other audio professionals. That said, I've tried a great number of high-end consumer-grade headphones over the years and they all sound *wrong*. The bass is overblown, the highs are muted or out of proportion, or the mid is muddled and lost. Just like with the HD 280, the 300 faithfully reproduces sound with crystal clarity, and the closed-back design ensures that nothing will disturb that reproduction.This is a generally flat set of headphones - no one part of the spectrum overpowers any other. The mids might be a little quieter in the mix than the highs and lows, but not by a significant margin. If you're not familiar with studio monitors, don't mistake a flat profile for boring - these things will knock your socks off. These things attenuate a significant amount of external noise. You won't hear much of anything unless you're listening to very quiet audio. Positional recreation is perfect - you can pick out each instrument in a small ensemble and where they are in position to the microphones (also great for games). The definition is similarly excellent; you can clearly hear the vibration in string instruments and the impacts on drums. The range in volume is also spectacular. You can clearly hear instruments as they go from pianissimo to fortissimo (Edward Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King or Klaus Badelt's Fog Bound are great examples of this). These sound great listening to orchestral pieces, rock and roll, hip hop, metal, and house. All in all, the HD 300s are close enough the HD 280s that I'm not disappointed in the slightest.Now, there are a few departures in design from the HD 280s, mainly to do with the cord and headband. The weird-looking headband cushions seem to do their job well, keeping the weight off the softest part of your skull - something that would occasionally cause some pain and discomfort with the HD 280s after several hours if worn incorrectly. So far the headband has been very comfortable. The earcups are perhaps a little tighter than I'm used to, but seeing as the headband broke on my HD 280s, it's more likely that I've forgotten what they felt like originally. They are still very comfortable - and as someone who wears headphones for 8-16 hours per day, both at work and home, I have no doubt that these will remain comfortable throughout the day for a long time.The other major (visible) difference between the HD 280s and the HD 300s is the cord. For the most part, I really like the change to a mostly straight cable from a mostly coiled cable. It's maybe about a foot shorter than I would like it to be, but it's about the same length as the HD 280s was coiled. The major improvement is the coil at the earcup. Not only does this act as a small amount of give and resistance before you reach the end of the cable, it also dampens the vibrations that travel through the cord. The one thing that annoyed me about the HD 280's cable was that the coil stopped about a foot and a half away from the earcup, which meant that any movement from the cable in that space transmitted the noise directly into your headphones. So any time the cable moved on or brushed your shoulder or chest you would hear it loud and clear. With the new cable design you really have to smack that thing around to really hear it.Speaking of cables, the HD 300 offer some hope for those of us who will want these things to live forever. The cable is now terminated in a connector that is screwed into the earcup - meaning no more soldering to replace a cable. The headband cushion appears to have the same zip-lock-esque attachment as the cushion on the HD 280s. The bad news is that I don't see how (without disassembling the ear cups) you would replace the ear cup cushions. I also don't see a headband replacement being in the cards - the earcups are essentially one piece and without removing the cushions I don't see a way to disassemble them. The other bad news is that Sennheiser has not yet listed any replacement parts other than the cable. That said, these have only been on the market for 3-4 months at the time of this review. It's entirely possible they simply haven't made any spare cushions yet.Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the HD 300 Pro. The HD 300 Pro claims to trace its electrical design to the older HD 250 Linear model; I have not listened to those, nor have I examined the electrical design of the HD 300s so I cannot make any judgement to that claim. But I've spent the last ten years listening to HD 280 Pros, and, despite the loss of that pair, I'm as pleased as punch with the HD 300 Pro. This is very much a worthy successor to the HD 280 Pro.

Only -1 star for the price. Should be about half for the build quality which is good but i've had 4 headphones of Turtle Beach brand break in the same way (yes I was being gentle with them) & this design is similar so we shall see how long it lasts.

...have used AKG, Sony, Sennheiser, Blue, Pioneer, and many other cans and can say these are really decent for $100. I was looking for a very particular type of headphone however and as a podcast/audiophile/radio person they might be the best I’ve had at this price (I know, I’m cheap) for listening to your own voice. I’m super surprised no headphone company markets to that section of need (then I remember not many do radio).I can’t judge durability as I have had them for only two weeks. But in a studio setting, not a gig situation, I think they are well engineered. All the comfort padding looks replaceable. Light, but solid, they are also not cheap feeling— so I guess well balanced.The best part is that they make you feel like you sound in your head. This is what I wanted for my radio cans, this affects performance by giving you a positive fidelity between speaking and hearing yourself speak. That makes me better at my job. No lie. I am probably not going to use these for music gigs, Blue makes a great headphone with in-ear amps for that, but I’ll grind my daily on these any day.

I upgraded to this pair of Sennheiser's from a pair of Audio Technica -ATH-M40x' that I've used for years. The headphones are awesome in comparison. I can hear a TON more detail in everything I listen to. They are studio monitors so they have a flat tuning which to me means accurate...and you basically customize them yourself feeding it lows, mids, and highs in whatever decibel level you find comfortable. Listening to professionally recorded music with these headphones feels and sounds kind of like being in the room where the band is playing. Incredible really! I appreciate that these are 64 ohms so that I can use them with my mixer to handle a really hot output signal without any struggle, distortion or signal loss, without blowing my ears off, but I can also use them with my phone which outputs less power than my mixer. 64 ohms I think is great middle ground ohm level that is really versatile. Also these cans are really comfortable!

Okay, so I was looking for a pair of headphones that could meet all of my needs. First and foremost, they needed to be spatial with clear upper range and perfectly balanced midrange. In addition, they needed to have decent bass. I'm not a super bass head, but its essential to the music I listen to. These headphones are phenomenal. Perfect bass and clarity combined. When I first hooked them up, the bass sounded weak--but I found I needed to go to my equalizer and make some changes. My equalizer was on neutral for every setting which made my music sound lousy. Once, I made the changes, the headphones were able to shine. These headphones are the best I've ever owned for my needs (I've owned brands like Beyerdynamic and AudioTechnica) and they are super clear with strong, accurate bass. I love them!