The Sennheiser HD 280 Pro is 64Ω at 113.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Sennheiser HD 550 is 150Ω at 98.5 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.
The HD 550 needs 14.5 dB more than the HD 280 Pro to reach the same loudness — 1.4 mW against 0.05 mW.
| Specification | HD 280 Pro | HD 550 |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 64 Ω | 150 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 113.0 dB | 98.5 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 124.9 dB/V | 106.7 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.05 mW | 1.4 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 57 mV | 0.46 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 0.9 mA | 3.1 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 8.00 Ω | 18.75 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. Sennheiser HD 280 Pro printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, that model needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.
Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.
17 sources are low enough in output impedance for the HD 550 under the one-eighth rule but not for the HD 280 Pro (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 14 more).
10 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the HD 550 but cross it with the HD 280 Pro (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 7 more).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.
The gap between these two in decibels does not change with volume — it is a property of the two headphones. What changes is the size of the numbers, and it changes fast: every 10 dB costs ten times the power. The row that matters is the one nearest the level you listen at, and for most people that is nearer the top of this table than the bottom.
The HD 550 is more demanding than 85% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the HD 280 Pro than 16%. Both figures use the same measure as the rest of the site: whichever runs out first against a 2 V, 100 mW dongle, voltage or power.
| dB SPL | HD 280 Pro power | HD 280 Pro voltage | HD 550 power | HD 550 voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.5 µW | 6 mV | 0.01 mW | 46 mV |
| 85 | 1.6 µW | 10 mV | 0.04 mW | 82 mV |
| 90 | 5.0 µW | 18 mV | 0.14 mW | 0.15 V |
| 95 | 0.02 mW | 32 mV | 0.45 mW | 0.26 V |
| 100 | 0.05 mW | 57 mV | 1.4 mW | 0.46 V |
| 105 | 0.16 mW | 0.10 V | 4.5 mW | 0.82 V |
105 dB is included because forum power figures are usually quoted there or higher. It is also a level that damages hearing in minutes — how many minutes is its own calculator.
| Source | Price | Headroom, HD 280 Pro | Headroom, HD 550 | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 24.8 dB | 6.6 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 33.0 dB | 14.9 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 30.0 dB | 11.7 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 62 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both — the rest either fail one of those or never printed the number at all, and 208 of them are in the second group.
The cheapest of the 62 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 24.8 dB of headroom on the HD 280 Pro and 6.6 dB on the HD 550, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 8.00 Ω and 18.75 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 10 dB and 29 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
Cheapest that satisfies three published numbers is not the same as best, and none of it is about how either headphone sounds. To put either model against a source this page does not mention, or to change the target loudness, use the amplifier matcher.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| HD 280 Pro | 8 - 25,000 Hz | not printed | not printed |
| HD 550 | 6 Hz – 39.5 kHz | not printed | not printed |
Sennheiser prints 8 - 25,000 Hz for the HD 280 Pro and 6 Hz – 39.5 kHz for the HD 550.
Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, and that is the whole of what this section can tell you. A wider range on one sheet is not deeper bass or more treble on that headphone: without a tolerance, neither number says how loud either model is at the ends of its own range, so the difference between the two is a difference between two pieces of marketing copy. A ±dB figure is what turns a range into a specification, and of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print it.
None of this is a measurement. What each maker publishes, and what it is worth, is set out in the frequency response audit.
Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Sennheiser HD 280 Pro and Sennheiser HD 550. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Sennheiser never published — what that maker publishes, counted.