Over the previous few years, competitors has been rising in the professional audio house. With an increasing number of manufacturers increasing their portfolio throughout worth factors, discovering the excellent pair of headphones to your use that provide the greatest stability between worth, efficiency and high quality might be exhausting to come back by. Most pairs, particularly in the ₹20,000 vary, are inclined to tick two of the three factors.
So, when the Sennheiser HD 300 PRO headphones confirmed up at Digit’s take a look at middle, I used to be curious to see what number of fields they might stand up to. Touted as a few of the greatest that Sennheiser has to supply, their choices are rounded off with the PROtect variant of the identical headphones, which the model says characteristic ActiveGard to make sure your ears are shielded from sound. Stress ranges (SPL) above 110 dB.
After utilizing the Sennheiser HD 300 PRO headphones every day in the workplace for 15 days, I had some observations. Some good and a few not so good. Here is a full report on my expertise with these headphones and the way they carried out after I put them by means of our rigorous testing course of.
Sennheiser HD 300 PRO: development, design and luxury
The Sennheiser HD 300 PRO headphones impress with class and high quality as quickly as you’re taking them out of the field. The development is totally plastic, however the plastic used is of wonderful high quality. The headphones are made of top quality and are virtually excellent. My fellow audio reviewer, Driti, put them by means of her signature “squeak take a look at” and these headphones did not make the slightest sound.
The headscarf of those headphones can also be fabricated from plastic, which didn’t encourage a lot confidence in me at first. Nonetheless, after the “squeak take a look at” and every day use (considering the incontrovertible fact that my head is a bit bigger), all my doubts about the sturdiness of the headphones had been knocked out of the park. The cable additionally has thick shielding round it, and the 3.5mm jack is gold-plated. Even the quarter inch adapter is gold plated.
Though gold plating has not been confirmed to have a lot of an impact on the sound high quality of the headphones, it does have an effect on the sturdiness of the connectors. Gold protects in opposition to corrosion, which is a troublesome enemy of your headphones. So, gold plating on the connectors of your headphones is all the time helpful.
Going again to the cable, it can’t be changed. In case you take a look at the connection between the headphones and the cable, the connector is screwed into the headphones. Due to this, you’ll have to take them in for service at Sennheiser in case your cable by accident will get twisted. When you have screwdrivers, you possibly can attempt changing the cables your self. However do you need to threat breaking an costly pair of headphones?
As for the cushioning of the ear pads and headband, the viscoelastic materials utilized by Sennheiser makes carrying the headphones extraordinarily comfy. I put on glasses and use these headphones for a minimum of 7-8 hours a day, and I expertise virtually no discomfort. The headscarf did not dig into my cranium, nor did the ear pads trigger ache round the place they sit.
The rotation of the ear pads could seem restricted at first. However when you begin utilizing the headphones, you will notice simply how nice it’s. The restricted vary of movement of the earcups does extra good than hurt, making certain that the headphones sit properly on your head and will not fall out, even whenever you resolve to play your head to your newest creations.
One factor I favored about these headphones is you can substitute not solely the cushioning on the ear cups, but additionally the cushioning on the headbands. It is all the time good to have simply replaceable components that we all know for certain will break.
There may be not a lot to say about the design of those headphones. They’ve the quintessential studio look and also you would not need to put on them in public until you need everybody to know what interest or occupation you’ve. The earcups and headband have a matte end with two shiny squares on each earcups. There may be Sennheiser branding embossing at the base of the headband and basic branding round. Nothing too fancy to put in writing dwelling about.
Being wired headphones designed for studio use, they have no of the fancy options we see in shopper grade headphones. In case you get the PROtect choice, there’s ActiveGard, which I’ve talked about earlier than. Now on to the efficiency a part of the overview.
Sennheiser HD 300 PRO: Efficiency
By way of efficiency, these headphones immediately compete with their 400-series cousins, the Sennheiser HD 400 PRO, which price solely Rs 2,000 greater than these headphones. Having examined the Sennheiser HD 400 PRO, winner of our Greatest Purchase Awards final yr, I had a good suggestion of what to anticipate from these headphones. Nonetheless, I used to be additionally confused as to why Sennheiser would have two headphones in the identical worth bracket? Let’s go away the reply to that query for final, and for now let’s focus on the 300 PRO headphone sound efficiency graph.
As you possibly can see, the sound signature is generally fairly impartial. All the approach from 20 Hz to 1000 Hz, the line parallels our baseline and benchmark pink noise readings. However as quickly as we cross the 1000 Hz mark, there’s a slight dip, adopted by a large spike in the low to excessive treble vary (ie the 3 kHz to 10 kHz vary). That is fairly regular in Sennheiser skilled headphones. Nonetheless, on this case, the enhance was a lot bigger than anticipated. There may be additionally a dip round 1kHz, which was additionally current in these headphones, however not as important.
On account of the large enhance in frequencies, we get a hiss. That is an extreme amplification of the sounds of the letters “S” and “T”. And if this occurs for a protracted time period, individuals are inclined to really feel drained and a few excessive instances additionally find yourself with complications. However if you need, you should use a third-party EQ and cut back this achieve to do away with the hiss.
On a regular basis listening to music and consuming content material. On songs like Selkies: The Countless Obsession from Between the Buried and Me, all the quintessential steel devices had their presence firmly established and each stood out amongst the others. Bass was a bit muffled, so bass lovers keep away. In the take a look at middle, we play Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars as a normal to check the bass and bass sharpness. And the bass was current in these headphones, and anybody who likes a impartial sound will be capable of really feel it immediately. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re searching for the punch that many shopper headphones have, you will not get it right here.
These headphones are closed, which generally limits the sound stage of the headphones. Nonetheless, these headphones have a soundstage similar to some open-back headphones. Some is a key phrase.
These headphones do not have energetic noise cancellation, however the passive isolation works wonders. In the workplace, I used to be listening to tracks at about 30 % quantity, and my colleagues needed to faucet me on the again to get my consideration. And given the wonderful isolation, sound leakage can also be minimal due to the match. Till I elevated the quantity to 50 %, there was no leakage. After the 60 % mark, there may be important leakage. Nonetheless, I can not consider any state of affairs the place you’d hear to those headphones above the 25-30 % quantity mark for prolonged durations of time. Particularly in case you are in a studio the place there may be virtually no background noise.
As we’re players, I’ve additionally performed Counter-Strike: International Offensive, TrackMania, Guild Wars 2 and F1 2022 utilizing these headphones. And from the second I obtained into my first recreation of Counter-Strike, it was apparent that they weren’t meant for gaming. Though, as soon as I obtained used to the moderately empty sound of those headphones, I actually favored how they sounded. However that is purely my sound selection, and for many players, these aren’t the proper headphones.
Sennheiser HD 300 PRO: Verdict
So let’s get to the query I opened the efficiency part with – why launch the HD 300 PRO when you have already got the HD 400 PRO? That too at a worth that’s round Rs 2,000 greater than these headphones (at the time of writing).
From what I might inform I used each headphones, they aren’t aimed toward the identical viewers regardless of being in the identical house. Sennheiser HD 400 PRO headphones have an open design, with the next frequency vary (which explains the worth) and are supposed for professionals who work in closed areas. They don’t seem to be as transportable as the 300 PRO and the open design leads to much less isolation and extra sound leakage.
With the HD 300 PRO you get a extra transportable design with a closed development that has higher isolation and fewer sound leakage in comparison with the HD 400 PRO. The one trade-off is a narrower frequency vary, however I suppose if you happen to’re on the street, you are not searching for perfection. 99.99% of what you possibly can obtain in a studio setting can be excellent. And that is what you get with the Sennheiser HD 300 PRO.
Is it value going for it? So. In case you are knowledgeable who works in the music business and is all the time on the go. The reasoning is obvious. The headphones sound nice, are transportable and have a closed design that minimizes sound leakage and offers wonderful isolation. Nonetheless, if you happen to largely work outdoors the studio, I would say pay the worth distinction and go for the Sennheiser HD 400 PRO.
