Headphones

Sennheiser HD 280 PRO Closed-Back Studio Headphones

★★★★☆ 4.0

✅ In stock — 12 available

The Sennheiser HD 280 PRO has been the default tracking headphone in project studios for two decades, and the reason is unglamorous: it isolates well, it is comfortable for long sessions, and every part of it can be replaced. It is a working tool rather than a luxury, and it is priced accordingly. ISOLATION IS THE POINT The HD 280 PRO is a closed-back, circumaural design offering around 32 dB of passive attenuation. That number is what makes it a tracking headphone rather than a listening headphone. When a vocalist sings to a backing track, any sound leaking out of the headphones gets picked up by the microphone and printed onto the recording. With good isolation you can run a loud enough monitor mix for the singer to perform properly without bleed contaminating the take. The same isolation works in reverse for engineers recording in noisy environments, videographers checking audio on location, and broadcast operators working next to a live PA. KEY SPECIFICATIONS Type: closed-back, circumaural, dynamic Transducer principle: dynamic, closed Frequency response: approximately 8 Hz to 25 kHz Impedance: 64 ohms Sound pressure level: approximately 113 dB SPL at 1 kHz Passive attenuation: approximately 32 dB Cable: coiled, approximately 1.3 m extending to 3 m, single-sided Connector: 3.5 mm jack with a screw-on 6.3 mm adapter Folding: collapsible, with rotating earcups Weight: approximately 285 g without cable Replaceable parts: ear pads, headband padding, cable, capsules THE 64 OHM IMPEDANCE IS DELIBERATE At 64 ohms the HD 280 PRO is easy to drive properly from an audio interface headphone output or a mixer, while still being high enough impedance to avoid loading down the amplifier. Very low impedance headphones can sound thin or distorted from weak outputs; very high impedance models need a dedicated amplifier to reach usable volume. This sits in the practical middle, which is why it works reliably plugged into a Focusrite interface, an Allen and Heath mixer, or a camera. EVERY PART IS REPLACEABLE This is the feature that justifies the price over its working life. Ear pads perish, particularly in a hot climate, and on most headphones that is the end of the product. On the HD 280 PRO you order pads and fit them in a few minutes. The headband padding, the cable and even the drivers are available as spares. A studio that treats these as consumable will keep the same pair running for years at the cost of a set of pads occasionally. THE HONEST CAVEAT ABOUT MIXING These are tracking headphones, not mixing headphones. The frequency response is not perfectly flat, the closed-back design creates a bass presentation that differs from a speaker in a room, and no headphone gives you the spatial cues you need for a final balance. Use them for recording, monitoring, checking takes and editing. Reference your final mixes on studio monitors, and check them on a phone speaker and a car if you can. Anyone who tells you a closed-back headphone at this price is a mixing reference is selling you something. WHO THIS IS FOR Home and project studios. Churches recording services. Podcast and radio production. Videographers and camera operators monitoring on location. Music students. Anyone who needs to hear clearly in a room that is not quiet. They are also the sensible headphone to buy several of. Because they are affordable and repairable, a studio can keep four pairs for tracking sessions without the cost of four premium headphones. PRACTICAL NOTES The clamping force is firm out of the box. That is what delivers the isolation, and it eases over the first few weeks of use. If it is uncomfortable initially, leave them stretched gently over a box overnight rather than forcing the headband. The coiled cable is single-sided and detachable at the earcup on current versions. Keep a spare if the pair is being used by multiple people, since cables are the first thing to fail in shared use. Store them folded in the supplied position rather than leaving them hanging on a mic stand where they get knocked. WARRANTY, DELIVERY AND ADVICE Genuine Sennheiser stock with a 12-month warranty, delivered nationwide, paid on delivery by M-Pesa or cash. If you are choosing between these and an open-back model, tell us what you are doing: if there is a microphone anywhere near, the answer is closed-back and it is this.

• 🚚 Countrywide delivery (flat KSh 350, KSh 200 within Nairobi)
• 💳 Pay via M-Pesa on delivery — no upfront payment needed
• 🛡️ Genuine products with warranty