Sennheiser HD280 Pro

Lightweight and comfortable design; sealed ear cups isolate wearer from ambient noise; headphones fold for compact storage.The Sennheiser HD 280 Pros also brought out the details in rock-and-roll CDs such as the White Stripes' Elephant. Oh boy, Jack White's buzz-saw guitar sounded gloriously distorted, and Meg White's heavyweight drumming kicked butt. And since the ear cups are sealed, you can crank your music as loud as you want and never disturb other people in the room.

These headphones are a lot of fun yet still have enough suave refinement to sound right with classical music. The delicate interplay of harpsichord and strings on Vivaldi's The Four Seasons CD was utterly beautiful, demonstrating the HD 280 Pros' versatility with all sorts of music--a rare feat.

If you're thinking of using the HD 280 Pros with an iPod, you won't be disappointed. The headphones' resolution came through loud and clear with ours. That said, Sennheiser's HD 555 headphones sounded bigger and richer, so if portable use is a priority, we'd go with them. sennheiser hd 280 pro