wink

I didn't see the users manual anywhere. I had a look on the top of the phones, but there was nothing there....... The top arc was covered as far as I remember...

I don't know if I would be allowed, as I just dropped in out of the blue. Perhaps I should geve them a call to see if I could drop in with a Carbon, YGGY, and SR-007 & SR-009. They might kidnap 'em for a ransom. The venue is Len Wallis Audio in Sydney. This appears to be the set that has been doing the rounds down here in the antipodes. I didn't see a serial number on the phones, and didn't want to disturb the equipment to look for a serial number on the amp.

I had a chance to spend a bit over an hour and a half with one this afternoon. First off, it was powered by a laptop PC and running 44.1K 16 bit flac files. I didn't look to see whether they were using the internal DAC or a Music Fidelity DAC sitting on the shelf below the PC. There were sometimes multiple copies of the same ripped CD on the PC, other times they had the same track from different CDs. Initial impressions were that the treble was a bit on the bright side and the mids were a little too recessed. I listened to Rebecca Pidgeon on both the CHesky Demo CD and Rebecca's "The Raven" CD and they sounded indentical. I also listened to Buddy Holly on two different CD rips and they sounded different. One was bright and lifeless whilst the other was far more balanced. I also listened to Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra (First 2 tracks). The first was Karl Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orch. This sounded bright and paper thin in the mids. Switching to von Karajan version was a much better presentation albeit still a little thin, Bass was pretty good on both, but better on Karajan. I tried Mahler's 5th, and was left disappointed. Rimsky-Koraskoff's Scheherezade was much better on both recordings, but one was noticably better than the other. I then tried various tracks by Roy Orbison, Kate Bush, Nilsson, Moody Blues etc. and they varied greatly. Some tunes were very good. A couple just "sang" such as Johnny Mathis's "What Will My Mary Say" The Diamonds' "Little Darlin'" was another disappointment. I put most of the failures down to the Flac files. A couple times I had the volume control maxxed out, and I am not a loud listener. Some of the midrange euphony could be had at a louder volume but the treble became just too hot to handle. In summary, I am glad I have a Carbon and a SR-007 and SR-009. I would like to try my own WAV files through my YGGY as I truly believe it would sort out most of my grievances. Don't expect that to happen............

Yep, they're so cool that they're numb to what good sounds like.....

...and here I thought it wuz:-

I find all these reports of the HD250 very interesting. Firstly, as far as I can remember all the ones I have had were the older version. Seondly, the HD600/HD650 with new pads were definitely tighter on my scone than the HD280. Thirdly, I have bought and given away all my HD280's to friends who wanted a 'phone with good isolation but didn't want noise cancelling. The first HD280 was bought for US$70 brand new and sounded like cardboard until they were used for over 20 hours. Then other 4 were a mix of new and used units and pretty well sounded the same as a good run-in set from the get-go. They were IME pretty good sounding phones for mixing desks. In fact, going from memory, they sounded better than the AKG K240SS I heard at a meet on Saturday. I also once bought a HD380 which was extremely coloured, and a real disappointment, It would probably suited a person who wanted to upgrade from the original Beats to something a bit better without the woeful doof doof bass. Hope this helps....

I have a sinking feeling that you may be right.....

If you really think it's worth it, may I recommend the Chord Dave & MSB DAC1 , or the more emminently price conscious and sonically superior offering of a Schiit Yggdrasil...? Yeah, yeah I know.... I'm biased..... (very deeply into Class A)

Yep, platinum gear never sounds good to tin ears........ just sayin'.... You still get the peeps who prefer the doof doof bass of the original Beats over the tight sonic signature of a real drum.... Like what you want, just don't call substandard sonic musical furniture as being high fidelity equipment.

Without sub-bass it's sub standard

Funny that.... I have owned a pair of these, and know of others who own them, and have never heard from any of them with problems with the HD280 pro. I have read on different forums that they were fragile and sounded like cardboard, but have also heard of many other headphones which were destroyed by neanderthal owners. How many HD600/HD650 headphones had their headbands broken? What about the SR-007 with a ding in the cup. It seems that the cheaper 'phones are treated like dirt whereas the more expensive are likely to be more mollycoddled. Since you used to be able to buy a HD280 pro for much less than $100 it certainly lends to them to be abused and neglected as well being employed as toys for your recalcitrant pets and feral kids.....

The Senn HD250 pro had about 32dB isolation. "HD 280 PRO These rugged, comfortable headphones are designed for professional monitoring applications. Features include single-sided coiled cable, rotating ear cups and up to 32 dB noise attenuation."

... plus 3 more sub-bass.....

Here's a Tesla Driverless....... https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/videos/autopilot-self-driving-hardware-neighborhood-short?redirect=no

Shoulda got a YGGY........

I used to get severe headaches after a migraine aura which started when I was 16. Second event happened 1 month later, and the headache was worse than the first. Third episode was 2 months later and the headache was worse again. Ditto the fourth and fifth episodes at 4 and 8 month intervals The fifth episode had me looking through a severe mist for over a couple of days after with a mega headache that only lasted a few hours.. I went to the company mediic after the first episode, and he didn't believe me about the aura. I was really dreading the sixth episode as the time approached, and it came ons Saturday morning. I ended up just relaxing and waiting for the process to go through it's cycle of aura, then headache, but the headache didn't come. Since this sixth episode, the migraines come at randon times, even when I don't think I am overly stressed. I found out that with me the episodes come when I am stressed, or even after a stressful event, but not always. I usually get a feeling of mild euphoria before the aura starts out as a fuzzy spot in the centre of my vision. It then grows out into an expanding arc of white zig-zagging light until it travels beyond my field of vision. Then the headaches used to come. This arc is usually about 270 to 300 degrees, but never a full circle of light. It usually travels to the top right of my field of vision. Only once did it go to the top left. If I relax and take a few deep breaths as soon as I detect the srtart of the visual disturbance, It goes away. Once the disturbance grows to a diameter of about 25mm, it just goes through it's cycle of visual disturbance no matter what I do. The visual disturbance phase lasts for about 1.5 to 2 hours, and you know that it is still there when it is out of your field of vision. I have had a period of about 15 years without an episode, and a month where I had four episodes.

You need one of these

... and, it has a lifetime warranty worth zip......

Three's a crowd, perhaps.....?

Interesting piece by Rob Watts from Chord https://www.head-fi.org/threads/watts-up.800264/page-23#post-13772429