Sennheiser HD 380 Pro Collapsible High end Headphones - Black

For the last 25 years at least I have been using Sennheiser headphones.
I currently have 5 pairs that I use very frequently but the newest ones are the ones you want to know about.

I had been using a pair of Sennheiser HD280 Pro [64 Ohm] and I was very happy with them and then early this year I heard about the "upgrade" to these, the HD 380 Pro and being a bit of a sound nerd I had to have some.
Was it worth it? Well, yes it was!

They are slightly lighter, they fold better and come with their own case, they have a curly lead rather than the straight one for the 280s and they are even more comfortable for long time listening!

But what you really want to know about is the sound quality - they are better in all respects . . . the sound is great!
The bass is tight with a crisp attack but it does go quite deep and sounds really good.
The midrange is musical, well controlled with a good soundstage - the instruments are well placed.
The treble is tight, high without being shrill and hangs onto the top notes say of cymbals without becoming papery and thin.
The sound altogether is musical, well controlled and not coloured - if you want deep booming bass and greatly coloured sound then these are not for you.
All told, these for me are superb headphones and I am delighted to have made their acquaintance.
Oh yes . . . and I also use them with my iPod and that sounds even better too . . .

I give them 5 stars for sound and 5 stars for comfort.

I brought these headphones as replacement and improvement on my old HD 205 headphones. After 2 years of service the 205's had failed at the jack; some kind of electrical connection failure. Shame, because for the money they are very good. One of the reason's I brought the 380's is because of the replaceable cable; it is really annoying when something simple like that kills a perfectly good piece of equipment with no chance of repair.

The one thing I have above all else is a good ear for balance and audio quality; apparently, I don't think I am anything special in this field but the rest of my secondary music department used my for anything to do with sound quality. I have been doing music of various forms for the past 12 years (that might have something to do with it, I don't know) and I have never come across anything this good at this price range. I have been lucky enough to have tried a pair of Sennheiser HD 800 headphones (RRP £999!) and of course the 800's are better but for a 8th of the price (on amazon anyway) the 380's produce stunning quality.

For testing purposes I used several tracks on my iPod touch which I thought wolf give the headphones a good work out...

-Enterprising Young Men -Michael Giacchino -Star Trek The motion Picture
-Uprising -Muse - The Resistance
-Adagio For Strings - Tiesto -Parade Of The Athletes
-Four Seasons -Joe Satriani -Live
-1st Movement -Mahler -Symphony Number 4
-Requiem For Tower -Escala -Escala
-Glitter And Trauma -Biffy Clyro -Infinity Land

(All of these, bar Four Seasons was ripped at full quality on iTunes, which was a 480p video on youtube through the touch.)

The 380's performed superbly on every occasion. They gave a very full quality to the brass, allowed the rumble of the timpani's to carry on and even brought out some bass notes that I did not know existed in Enterprising Young Men. Let the synths and guitar sing out while still giving my ears a right good thump in Uprising; not to mention the crack of the snare. Let me hear the tiniest details in the synthisiser of Adagio For Strings while once again letting me hear the rumble of the bass beat. Four Seasons was a surprise though, I seemed quite messy at times, unclear. The guitar stuck out well but the backing sound like a mash of noise. However this was the lowest quality track by a big margin. The sleigh bells in Mahler 4 were crystal clear and the quality of each instrument was superb, even catching the very full sound of the string and woodwind double ups. Requiem For Tower was a wonder. A full and round double bass, singing violins over the top with a forceful and the 380's even showed up the slight rasp from the beginning of the trumpet note. I even heard a guiero in there as well as rainstick which were both completely new to me.
Last but not least Glitter And Trauma. Now I have been to see Biffy on a number of occasions at various venues and I have heard Glitter And Trauma at most of them. Ok, nothing compares to live music but I still got that same excitement and glee when I heard them through the 380's. Yes music is a BIG part of my life and I am probably more emotional about it than most people but you cant deny that you don't get a serious kick when you are in the right place at the right time listening to your favourite piece of music. And these headphones make it all the sweeter.

Overall these are great headphones that please on every level musically and for comfort. The cable is a little heavy but it is going to last a heck of a lot longer than your standard headphone cable and if it does get damages it is replaceable. I am going to spend many hours enjoying my music with these headphones and when I return to reality be very very glad I got them; they are sensational!

After a good while deciding what new headphones to get have just taken delivery of these and they are fantastic. Come with neat case and pack away tidily so very portable for a full size headphone. Sound quality is brilliant, currently listening to all my old collection again and marvelling at the new detail I can hear. Have been listening to Pink Floyd since I was a teenager back in the 1970s through dozens of different systems and these blow everything away. Very comfortable (for someone who has been known as "wingnut" in the past...enough said!) and well built. Good screw on adaptor. A clever design well executed, you won't be dissapointed.