Have your say & ask the experts

Hey guys anyone with experience of these two headphones?  Im looking for a set that will be good with music, movies and gaming.  Iv heard the soundstage on Grado headphones is quite narrow so maybe not as good for positional audio when it comes to gaming! Is this true?

Has anyone tried the Sennheiser PC 350 headset? Iv read are the best for gaming but the bass is really flat on them and since they cost £115 i dont want to waste money on them if they dont sound good for music too!

Oh and i want to use them for Xbox360 so i cant adjust the sound EQ!

Hi Ginder. I dont know about the sound of the Senns, but since the HD380s are £118 I would look to the SR80is over the SR60is as they sound fuller, wider soundstage and more dynamic.

If you are going to be wearing cans for long time periods bear in mind; the Senns are closed back so may cause sweaty ears and the Grados sit on the ear and some do find that very comfortable, or secure. The Senns will also leak far less noise and isolate you better than the Grados from external noise.

Thanks for the reply, iv been doing alot of research and have found that Grados dont sound very good for gaming as they dont seem to be able to get positional audio right. 

I was hoping someone had used the Senn PC 350 as they look very similar to the HD380s but with an added boom mic which is meant to be excellent..

Has anyone tried the Senn HD555 or HD595's?

I got the 595's from play when they were half price, I love them.

 Sound is amazing and the bass is as well.

Only niggle is eveyone can hear what you are listning to, so not good for outside.

I have also auditioned the 595s and agre with the above. I found Grados have more dynamic and AKG more detail and are more musical. But if I were gaming (which I dont) I suspect I would use the 595s as they will saty put on your head better than the Grados, which will move all over the place and the AKGs which are a bit top heavy so will go backwards and forwards.

Hi Ginder. As it happens there is a pair of HD380`s upstairs in my wifes wardrobe but as you may have guessed I can`t have them until the 25th of next month. I did audition them though and I was very impressed. Very sharp and well detailed and decent bass. They were very comfortable but because they are closed back it`s quite possible they won`t be quite so comfy after a couple of hours or so. I won`t be able to review them properly for awhile of course so my post may not be of much use to you. My current pair of Sennheiser 590`s are very open back and leak sound dreadfully so the 380`s will stop me from being asked to turn the volume down when it`s not actually that loud in the first place. If you go down the Grado route then I would spend the extra and get the SR80i`s. I`m sure I don`t need to tell you they leak sound or perhaps that`s not an issue for you?

Thanks for the replies guys.  I dont think il be going down the Grado route as i have read on a few sites that they produce a very narrow soundstage and are not good at all for positional audio. 

I have narrowed my choice down to Sennheiser HD555, HD595, PC350 or the HD380's also i dont mind sound leakage at all to be honest.  Aslong as the sound quality is good, soundstage is good and positional audio is good i dont mind spending about £100 or even abit more.

The only thing with the game dedicated PC350s is that iv read they dont produce much bass unless you open them up and do a little mod which i dont mind doing but if some headphones already sound better then i could just avoid the hassle.

survivor:

..... As it happens there is a pair of HD380`s upstairs in my wifes wardrobe but as you may have guessed I can`t have them until the 25th of next month.......

Reminder survivor for a full review of the new cans!

idc:

survivor:

..... As it happens there is a pair of HD380`s upstairs in my wifes wardrobe but as you may have guessed I can`t have them until the 25th of next month.......

Reminder survivor for a full review of the new cans!

Sure thing! I haven`t had the chance to have a proper listen as yet and in an hours time I shall be off to Lapland for a week so it may be sometime until I can give you a decent review. I`ve had them plugged into my headphone amp whilst I`ve been playing Christmas records in the background for most of today to help `settle` them in. Naturally I couldn`t resist a very quick listen and I must say how strange it felt to listen to closed back headphones after so many years of listening to open backed. I have had closed back in the past but it`s been awhile. There wasn`t much in the way of mid-range but it`s way to early to judge. In the short demo I had before purchasing (on behalf of my missus) they sounded really good so I have quite high expectations. See you in the New Year!

Thanks for the taster survivor. Happy New Year and stay off the reindeer!