Why is Sennheiser HD250 Mr.Slee's favorite?

A question concerning personal taste. But I am really curious to know why HD250 is one of Mr.Slee's personal favorites. I read in an interview that Mr.Slee said he thought HD250 suited vinyl better than HD600 and HD650.

The "mark 1" was discontinued quite a while ago and re-emerged as the 250 linear II a few years ago due to demand from professional broadcasters and studios.

I probably used the HD250 "mark-1" at some point in the past but can't remember too much about it, but having worked in professional broadcast audio in design I recognise that products like the Sennheiser HD250 linear II are made to fulfill a proper purpose. In the case of the HD250 it was for sound engineers to monitor the quality of broadcast and studio audio. The more mundane daily tasks like checking for feed by station engineers would be done with *better not say - don't want to upset folk!*

I'm very sorry to have to say this, but Hi-Fi and sound engineering are very different. Hi-Fi is what people think sounds correct where professional sound engineering is what is correct. Hi-Fi is also a bit like eating chilli or curry - the hotter it is the more the consumer can brag to his pals! Professional sound engineering is done by people with trained hearing who work with or alongside performers and musical directors - you know, the people who actually produce the music we listen to?

So when I say the HD250 II was the choice of the professional sound engineer but not the Hi-Fi enthusiast it should send out a few shock waves...

I don't want to boast idly, but the "miraculous" Era Gold V, as Michael Fremer wrote, was developed solely with the Solo and HD250II's! Just like much of professional broadcast and studio output was quality checked using the HD250II. All these things have been found to be worthy by the customer/listener, but at the same time, the thing that made it all sound good to their ears, they have rejected. It is completely beyond my understanding.

At the opposite extreme the hot curry brigade shout how good headphones like the K701 are! I would not give that headphone house room! If I had done my development work with them I would be stacking shelves in the local supermarket by now! The K701's are the most awkward and difficult as well as HF distorted and bass shy headphones I have ever come across - and I've built one heck of a lot of different amps but none are able to give "a jot or tittle" with it of what the HD250II can do. I do not usually comment about other manufacturers if I can help it, but I just don't know what AKG were thinking about.

Perhaps most Hi-Fi headphone amps are that skewed that the K701 sounds good with them? I know that any professional broadcast or studio booth "out" could never drive them. On the other hand, the HD250II works great with professional gear (I'm talking about proper professional - not that of bedroom wanabes).

Vinyl is a very naturally balanced sound and has much more of the original signal qualities preserved in it: Phase is much more faithfull if using a low inductance phono cartridge (high or low output moving coil) - the power bandwidth is 25kHz but the roll-off is 20-40dB per decade - not "brick-walled" as with digital. With vinyl there is no need for crossfeed as the crosstalk is only 20-30dB, so there is, as it is termed in the studio: "side tone". With digital there is a real need for "side tone" and it can be easily done with 4 resistors - it simply doesn't need the frequencies friggin about with like the indignant folk would tell you.

If people quoted phase response instead of frequency response, digital would not be classed as high fidelity - it would never have caught on! With a bandwidth of 20kHz (even with oversampling) it's phase response is only up to 2kHz! But even then it's a poor accuracy: each filter pole introduces 6 degrees phase shift at one tenth the turnover frequency - that's 18 degrees if 4x oversampled and you use a third order Butterworth. With vinyl the phase response is 2.5kHz - not much better? Yes it is! With a 1st order filter slope it's only 6 degrees out.

So what's phase got to do with it? Timing! Move the phase and the harmonics play in a different "time-warp" and that's not music - it's an excuse for music!

So, I guess the truth of the HD250II meant it would never sell well to the digital user, but hey Sennheiser! You sold it for the professional - the real professional, did you expect big time sales? And that's why the world has lost an excellent headphone - the "voice of the indignant" added to the pressure to make money.

I will be trying to obtain another pair of HD250's before they are gone for good - how else can I keep plying my trade?

Graham, Stone Audio claim to have stock, at a slightly inflated price.

I fear my pair will break... though spares are still listed.

I enjoy K701 for vocals & RS-1 but I always know where I am with the 250.

James

Graham - or anyone else who may be interested - I've just noticed there are 4 pairs listed on eBay at the moment (all from the same seller) - see here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=320556737178&Category=3274&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2