Sennheiser HD25-1 II for location sound and rough post-sound editing?

Q

qwerty123

Well-known member
My MDR-7506s are falling apart, and have some distorted sound now. And I'm eyeing the Sennheiser HD25-1 II as my new pair.

I'm looking for a pair of headphones that could do double duty both for location field monitoring and for rough Pro Tools sound editing (not mixing!) in non-quiet spaces.

I'm curious if anyone has experience with the hd25-1 II for the kinds of applications I want to use them for.
 
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I think you'll find them a suitable alternative - but they do sound 'different'. You'll need to play some old CDs you're very familiar with first to acclimatise your ears.
 
More std kit and most recordists use them here in the Uk they are excellent and I find better for location and accurate monitoring than the sonys.
 
qwerty123 said:
My MDR-7506s are falling apart, and have some distorted sound now. And I'm eyeing the Sennheiser HD25-1 II as my new pair.

I'm looking for a pair of headphones that could do double duty both for location field monitoring and for rough Pro Tools sound editing (not mixing!) in non-quiet spaces.

I'm curious if anyone has experience with the hd25-1 II for the kinds of applications I want to use them for.
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The HD 25-1 II are perfect for what you want to do.

My own HD 25-1 are about 22 years old and have worked perfectly all that time.

They are great for location recording and great for listening to detail.

They are also very efficient (120dB efficient) and will give a good leven even from weak battery headphone amps.
 
Personally, I would go with 2 sets of the Sony 7506 or Sennheiser HD280, and have one set dedicated for field, and the other for studio work. Same cost as one set of HD 25 II, and then you have a backup pair in case either stop working.
 
I prefer a HD25 over Sony. The Sennheiser sounds great and keeps disturbing sounds out of the monitoring. Pretty comfortable even after a while on the skull.
 
My personnal advice is to go with an HD25-13-II.

They are the 600ohm and better sounding version of the HD25 as the 70ohm are more brightly sounding and more tiring for your ears.

It's also a great improvement over the MDR7506 which I had too as wall as half a dozen of other headphones.

One last thing : if I remember correctly you also have the suede earpads in the box : change the plastic ones for these immediately and you'll find an improvement in both comfort AND sound !

Cheers.
 
Gohanto said:
Personally, I would go with 2 sets of the Sony 7506 or Sennheiser HD280, and have one set dedicated for field, and the other for studio work. Same cost as one set of HD 25 II, and then you have a backup pair in case either stop working.
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The Sony is a lot less efficient than the HD 25-1 - the Sony is only 106dB efficient, the HD 25 is 120dB = 14dB better.

The HD 280 Pro is even worse - only 102dB efficient.

The HD 380 Pro is better at 110dB and I prefer this over the 280.



editman said:
I prefer a HD25 over Sony. The Sennheiser sounds great and keeps disturbing sounds out of the monitoring. Pretty comfortable even after a while on the skull.
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I agree - I use my HD 25-1 with the optional velour earpads which are even more comfortable (delivered in the box with the HD 25-1 II).



S.Blanchardon said:
My personnal advice is to go with an HD25-13-II.

They are the 600ohm and better sounding version of the HD25 as the 70ohm are more brightly sounding and more tiring for your ears.

It's also a great improvement over the MDR7506 which I had too as wall as half a dozen of other headphones.

One last thing : if I remember correctly you also have the suede earpads in the box : change the plastic ones for these immediately and you'll find an improvement in both comfort AND sound !

Cheers.
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The HD 25-13 II should sound exactly the same as the HD 25-1 II - the only difference is the impedance.

The HD 25-13 II are really designed for mains equipment with a decent headphone amplifier - I would not recommend them for camcorders or battery powered equipment.

There are no suede earpads available for the HD 25 - they come fitted with the leatherette ones (which seal better, but are less comfortable) and the supplied velour ones are in the box (NB: velour, *not* suede). The earpads for the new Amperior are microfibre ones and these should also fit the HD 25 if wanted.
 
John Willett said:
The Sony is a lot less efficient than the HD 25-1 - the Sony is only 106dB efficient, the HD 25 is 120dB = 14dB better.

The HD 280 Pro is even worse - only 102dB efficient.

The HD 380 Pro is better at 110dB and I prefer this over the 280.
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Sensitivity is almost irrelevant when reviewing headphones though. In my experience, any sound mixer or sound recorder that cost more than $50 has WAY more than enough power to run any set of headphones you plug in, regardless of how "sensitive" the drivers are. Really not worth considering when comparing two sets of headphones imho, unless your headphone amp extremely underpowered...

I won't try to say that a set of HD 280s or 7506's will sound just as good as HD 25s (they shouldn't, they cost 1/2 as much), but my point is mainly how much quality you really need.
- On set, you just want to hear the dialog. Get something that's nice enough to get the job done, and cheap enough that it's easily replaceable when it breaks. No one is making mix decisions on-set (that comes later), all that's generally needed is good enough headphones to hear if something's gone wrong and they need to re-shoot, or loop the line.
- In post, I mainly just do sound editing (dialog editing, SFX, backgrounds, etc...) with cans. Serious mixing on headphones is impossible (and even simple mixing is very difficult if you don't have lot of experience comparing headphones mixes to mixes through monitors). Headphones are fantastic for editing though, since they naturally compress the sound you can hear all the tiny errors that might get missed when listening through studio monitors.

Where the quality of sound becomes extremely important is during the mix though, where the room acoustics & sound isolation of the space, combined with the quality of the sound system installed really can affect the final quality how the movie sounds. Whether the film's being mixed in a bedroom studio or on a Warner Brothers stage, all those factors are still considered.

I just think the convenience of dedicated headphones for field and studio work outweighs the value of better sounding headphones for location sound & sound editing though.
 
Thanks all for the valuable feedback! I managed to get a barely used HD 25-1 II AND a barely used HD 25 SP II (as a back-up / 2nd pair) for the price of a new HD 25-1 II.
 
Gohanto said:
Sensitivity is almost irrelevant when reviewing headphones though. In my experience, any sound mixer or sound recorder that cost more than $50 has WAY more than enough power to run any set of headphones you plug in, regardless of how "sensitive" the drivers are. Really not worth considering when comparing two sets of headphones imho, unless your headphone amp extremely underpowered...
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Not true really.

I have seen several recorders where the headphone amp. has been designed so as to be as low a current draw as possible to maximise battery life.

The Fostex FR-2 was certainly like this (and this is no cheapie) and I found that the HD 25-1 was by far the best headphones to use because of their sensitivity and they gave a good level at a reasonable volume setting. Less sensitive or higher impedance headphones needed a higher level and began to drive the amp. into distortion.
 
As a side note keep an eye out of for sennheiser aviation headsets as they can be cost effective as presentation kit as they are virtually the same.

I just got two nearly new HME-26 KA sets from e-bay for £90 each, cut off the two jacks and solder an XLR-M and a 6.5mm stereo jack and you got a very useable presenter or commentator headset.

I prefer the HME-26 for in vision as they look nice and the automatic headband is great for quick rigging, the electret mic also gives a sweeter tone for presentation but the HMD dynamic is better for commentary.
 
The HME and HMD 26 are excellent.

But you do not need to cut anything at all as they have interchangeable leads - so all you do is to get the broadcast version from Sennheiser.

For the HME the broadcast version has an XLR-3M for the mic. - this incorporates a circuit to balance the mic. and to convert 48V phantom power to the plug-in power required by the mic.

The headphone side has a ¼" jack.
 
The HD 25-13 II should sound exactly the same as the HD 25-1 II - the only difference is the impedance.

The HD 25-13 II are really designed for mains equipment with a decent headphone amplifier - I would not recommend them for camcorders or battery powered equipment.

There are no suede earpads available for the HD 25 - they come fitted with the leatherette ones (which seal better, but are less comfortable) and the supplied velour ones are in the box (NB: velour, *not* suede). The earpads for the new Amperior are microfibre ones and these should also fit the HD 25 if wanted.
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Having both I can assure you that the 600ohm version sounds better. I doubt you've tried both John.

The difference of power consumption is marginal, I use them with portable equipment without worrying for my batteries.

Sorry, velour pads, not suede, anyway I maintain my point on the sound differencies.
 
S.Blanchardon said:
Having both I can assure you that the 600ohm version sounds better. I doubt you've tried both John.
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Yes I have tried them both.

After all, I was Technical Manager at Sennheiser UK for many years.

If they sound different it would be more to do with the length of burn-in and the headphone amp. preferring the higher impedance version than the headphones themselves, I think.
 
I know about the leads John but Sennheiser want nearly £120 for the one with XLR and 1/4" jack so cutting the ends of a £90 aviation headset and getting the soldering iron out is way better for my wallet.
 
GaryNattrass said:
I know about the leads John but Sennheiser want nearly £120 for the one with XLR and 1/4" jack so cutting the ends of a £90 aviation headset and getting the soldering iron out is way better for my wallet.
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Well - the headset *does* actually cost £500-600 normally (depending on version), so £120 for a cable is not expensibe - especially as the XLR does have a 48V phantom circuit inside it - that XLR is about £80, I think, bought on it's own.
 
Sony MDR-7506.

I have a pair of the Sennheiser HD-280 cans; they sound good, but I really hate the way they fit.
 
I switched for a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x.

Flatter in frequency response than a pair of HD25, good isolation but a bit more heavy. They can fold nicely in the sound bag too. Comes as standard with a coiled cable where you need to buy one for the Sennheiser.
 
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