Sennheiser HD-280 Headphones Review

I was looking for affordable headphones for personal listening while traveling that could also be used for work in the studio and in the field.  I purchased the HD-280's after several months of research, and I am extremely happy with my purchase... so much so that I will be outfitting the studio with several more pairs.

Most of the headphones I own are for "professional" application, and thus require more power to drive the speakers. At 64 ohms, these cans are easily driven by my iPod and sound great without requiring a headphone amp.

There are a lot of reviews regarding the sound of these phones, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on audio "flavor."  The HD-280's are nice and flat --minimal audio coloring, which makes them perfect for a studio tracking situation.  There is plenty of bass, but they aren't bass heavy. After a lot of research, I don't think there is a pair of headphones out there that can stand up to the "true" audio quality of these phones at this price point.  They could be used for mixing in a pinch, though I will always use a higher quality set of headphones for mixing (I rarely mix with headphones, but for reference, when I do I use Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO’s at 250 ohms).

For tracking, the HD-280 can't be beat.  And at under one hundred dollars, there is no question that these are the most affordable, quality option for outfitting a studio.  However, even if I had unlimited money, I can't imagine purchasing anything but these in quantity.  The attenuation is fantastic (they are tight to the user's head and leak almost no audio), and I get little to no audio bleed even when tracking super-close vocals.  While they *can* take a lot of abuse, at this price, they are practically disposable (even though the ear pads, cord, and headband pad are easily replaced), so I don't have to get so testy with the jackass lead guitar player tossing them on the floor after a session. [smile]

Because of this fantastic attenuation, we will also be using these to record audio in the field for film and video applications.  I first received these while on vacation, and I was actually using them NOT PLUGGED IN to simply create silence.  They are on par with the ANSI ear protection I use while working in the woodshop.

The coiled cord will keep the cord alive longer, but it is a little annoying because of its weight. If one is not careful, they will also tangle more easily than a straight cord. I will likely explore options for a straight cord, especially when using these while traveling.

The cord is made to be easily changed, and the included instruction manual has clear and specific instructions for how to do this.  However, it's not as easy as simply unscrewing or unplugging the cord (my Beyer-Dynamic DT-150’s have a 6 pin connector you simply unplug); you need to take apart the housing of the left speaker and unplug the cord from the inside.  There is no soldering involved (the end of cord plugs into a spot on the inner board), and the entire process should only take a couple of minutes.

There seems to be a lot of disagreement as to whether these phones are "comfortable" or not.  I chose to ignore the people complaining that they were uncomfortable, even painful, after about an hour of use and decided to take a gamble.  Due to the tight compression of the pads against the head, the complainers were right.  While I don't think my ears stick out abnormally far, I do find that the inside of the headphones (the speakers) press up against the top of my ears, so I do need to take a break every once in a while.  I would say this is simply the price of such a tight seal against the head (and worth the trade).  It's actually also a good "timing device" to remind the user to take a break every once in a while; when they start to get uncomfortable, it's probably time to give your eardrums a break anyway.

I will eventually have to purchase more appropriate "personal travelers" that are a little more comfortable (lighter, less pressure on my ear tops), but for now these are fine --I just have to give my ears a chance to breathe a little more often. They definitely aren’t the best choice for traveling phones (too heavy, too bulky). Perhaps the "in-ear" options can never be beat for this reason (weight, comfort, and size).  Luckily these will continue to fulfill a role in the studio and in the field, so I don’t need to worry about buyer’s remorse regarding personal headphones.

The padding is leatherette (like all of my Beyer-Dynamics) and will likely need to be replaced after a couple of years (I recently had to replace my DT-150 pads), but due to the popularity of these headphones the replacement pads are readily available (have been for years, and likely will be for many years to come).  The padding for the headband is made of the same material, and also readily available.  There is a "Ziploc" type fastening system that runs the length of the entire headband (on top) for easy and secure fastening.

I love that the speakers are rotatable 90 degrees.  They lay flat on the table when you set them down, and you can solo one side or the other (though they don't flip 180 degrees as some reviewers have suggested so you have to pull them away from your head a good deal to do this).

While they don't get "tiny," its nice that these full-size headphones can collapse to about the size of a 750ml bottle of Crown Royal (though I prefer Pappy Van Winkle bourbon).

Go-Pass.com May Be Charging You More Than You Owe for Tolls

There are evidently two companies that control the tolls on Denver’s E-470.  Most of the road is controlled by ExpressToll.com, but the North West corner, called the Northwest Parkway, for some reason is controlled by a different company called Go-Pass.  Not only is this terribly inconvenient (having to have two different accounts and/or getting two different bills to pay tolls for simply driving in a circle –even on just one outing), but the real insult to injury is that it would seem Go-Pass likes to charge you for things that may not have transpired.

We picked someone up at the Denver airport and drove them to Boulder on E-470.  I received our bill from ExpressToll.com, logged on, and paid the $3.15.  There were no fees, and it was very simple (actually, the online billing system was screwed up and they kept trying to charge me $6.30 even though the bill was only for $3.15 so I had to call and get that sorted out, but that’s another story…).

A month later we received a bill from Go-Pass.  The toll was $3.20, yet the bill was for $4.55.  I’m sure they count on people going, “Meh, it’s only a couple of bucks,” but I called the number on my bill.

First of all, there is a $.15 processing fee.  Why in the world would this not be included in the toll?  Not only that, but there is a $.60 mailing fee.  Here’s the kicker though… they charged me two “mailing fees,” claiming to have already sent me one bill.

When I called to get this corrected, I think the person on the phone was rather surprised that I was complaining about $.60 (again, I think they make money off most people just saying, “Meh, it’s only $.60”).  I told her I had never received a previous bill.  She told me I had.  I asked if I was just supposed to believe her and accept her word as fact.  She said they keep very specific records.  So I asked her to prove it.  She put me on hold for quite a while, but when she came back she let me know that she had spoken to her supervisor, and when they looked it up it turns out that even though the bill had been generated, “for some reason” it hadn’t gone out.

WELL IMAGINE THAT.

I am so sick of companies nickel and diming me for fees and services, and then on top of that charging me for services that I DIDN’T RECEIVE, because they don’t think I’m paying attention.

I know most people don’t.  But the point of this post is: PAY ATTENTION… YOU’RE LIKELY GETTING SCREWED.

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SMS via WiFi for Travel

I am currently traveling in Europe.  No phone sucks (I’m on Verizon, which is CDMA, so I can’t use Europe’s cell towers).  At least I can connect every once in a while, when I stumble onto a WiFi hotspot and at my hotel.

Without going crazy, I spent a little time researching how to SMS over WiFi.  What I REALLY want is for my Android device to utilize WiFi for SMS so my texting threads (and contacts) still work, but that doesn’t seem to be an option (though there may be some promise when using Google Voice if you’re willing to integrate your “real” phone number with your Google Voice number).

The best (at least easiest and most apparent) solution I found was an app in the Market called textPlus.  I set up an account that allows me to text over WiFi; they actually assign you a phone number and associate it with your account.  Thus people can text you at this physical number, and you receive it through the app.  I do have to import individual contacts into the app (hopefully this information isn’t being harvested by the app), and when I text people, they need to respond to this new number (all they need to do is respond in their texting app).

On the Google Voice front, below is a video showing how to use your Google Voice number to go back and forth with SMS and e-mail.  This means you have to use your Google voice number for texting (not your phone’s actual number) and it doesn’t really get the messaging to streamline in your Android text threading.  This may change if you integrate your actual phone number with Google Voice and then use your Google Voice number as your main device number, but I’m not willing to let big brother get that kind of a hold on my communication structure just yet.

Google Voice SMS to e-mail conversion

Time Zones with Google Calendar and Synced Devices

I take a call in Denver from someone in LA who wants to set up an appointment (in LA) with me at 3pm.  I put it on my Google Calendar which syncs to my Android phone.  When I get to LA, Android/Google thinks they’re doing me a favor by “updating” all my appointments with my phone’s new time setting, so now my calendar is telling me the appointment is at 2pm (since I placed it on my calendar in Denver, where the time is off by an hour).

Why won’t Google fix this massive problem?!  Why did they set it up WRONG in the first place?  Everyone is complaining about it.  Who doesn’t travel these days?  Why would you ever enter an appointment time into your calendar for the WRONG time (to adjust for time zone shifts)?!  This issue is a result of Google “helping” us, when in fact it ONLY causes problems.

I can’t think of a time when this “shift all my appointments” could POSSIBLY be helpful.  If I place an appointment on my calendar, it’s for the time zone of where I’ll be for that appointment.  I’m not ever going to “accidentally” be in a different time zone.  I guess MAYBE this could be helpful for a phone appointment, but not so helpful that it’s worth screwing up the rest of my appointments as soon as I land in a different time zone (you SHOULD just be able to tick a box to select a time zone for an event if you want it to shift according to whatever time zone you’re in).  I also shouldn’t have to set up an appointment and think, “Hmmm.  Now what time zone will I be in compared to the one I’m currently in?  Now, adjust for the time zone, and I should actually enter the appointment into GCalendar at XX:XX time.”  Stupid.

There is a new “world clock” plug in that will display multiple time zones, but it does nothing to fix the issue of Google adjusting all your appointments when you enter a new time zone.

This seems like an INCREDIBLY easy issue to fix, so why the eff isn’t Google fixing it?!

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