Sennheiser 280 Pro - low bass?

[RavCat]

Well, after doing plenty of research and following the advice given to me in this thread, I decided to take the plunge and ordered online a pair of Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones a few days ago.

Today, I spent the day in a friend's studio, and comparing my HD280s to his Technics headphones, mine really did seem to be missing a lot of bass. On more than one occasion, I found myself over compensating with my own EQ to produce a bass sound that was, to him, very "boomy" and "muffled". Whilst listening to CDs/MP3s, they also seem to lack bass, unless I boosted lows and cut mids on the EQ.

I've read that the the HD280s require a decent burn in time before they perform at full capacity. For those who own HD280s, is this the case, or should they operate at maximum performance straight out of the box?

What are your experiences with these headphones?

[Captain_joe6]

For sure they need some burn in time. Hook them up to your computer, out a song with a good dynamic and frequency range, then leave them playing for a couple days. After that they'll sound more alive, more natural.

I've also found that I can go online and find a response graph for them, then go into the EQ in iTunes of Apollo (greatest media player ever) and set the sliders opposite the graph to level things out. Given enough power and careful tweaking, I can set the bass so low and intense that it makes my molars hurt.

On the other hand, I love plugging them into my iPod with the EQ turned off and then playing Grateful Dead concerts. Tome they just sound amazing under any circumstances, but I'll admit that they do take a couple of days hard use to burn in, plus another couple days to get used to the ultra-clear sound.

[chrisp2u]

I have a pair of Senn HD600's, and AT M-40fs', and have also owned some old Beyer's and Sony V600's and 7506's in the past. From my experience, the Senn stuff isn't really lacking anything... they just have a a really flat freq response compared to most other stuff. I like the Senn's a lot (not sure how close the 280's are to the 600's response-wise) the others I have owned were too bassy for me... I actually prefer a more flat and accurate sound.

Typically, a lot of stuff... especially widely distributed consumer stuff... is a bit hyped in the bass and highs. They do require some breakin to warm up as well (though I don't think that's going to be adding any great quantity of bass), but perhaps you're just used to the hyped sound of other stuff too.
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