Samson SR880 Closed-Back Over-Ear Studio Headphones with 50mm Neodymium Drivers
The SR880 is a closed-back studio headphone with large 50 mm neodymium drivers, made for long sessions where the same pair has to handle tracking, editing and general listening.
- Closed-back, over-ear design: circumaural cups that provide ample sound isolation, which is what you need when a microphone is open in the same room.
- 50 mm neodymium drivers: high sensitivity dynamic drivers delivering deep bass, clear highs and warm mids.
- 20 Hz to 20 kHz response: accurate reproduction across the full audible range.
- 32 ohm impedance: an easy load that runs properly from an interface headphone output, a laptop or a phone, with 97 dB sensitivity at 1 kHz and 1 mW.
- Comfort details: oval protein leather ear pads, a wide self-adjusting headband and a 5 N clamping force for a secure and natural fit.
- Cable and connector: a 2.5 m cable ending in a gold-plated 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) plug, with a 1/4 inch (6.3 mm) adapter included.
The headphones weigh 245 g. Samson positions the SR880 for audio professionals and music lovers alike, and notes that the closed-back design also delivers excellent stereo imaging for everyday use.
The SR880 is the closed-back model near the top of Samson's SR headphone series, and it is the one with the larger 50 mm driver. Samson describes it as offering absolute sonic clarity, designed for long listening sessions and everyday use. In practice it is a working headphone rather than a showpiece: the pair you put on to track a vocal, and then keep on while you edit the take.
Closed-back matters when a microphone is open
The closed-back design provides ample sound isolation. That is a recording feature more than a comfort feature. A performer wearing open headphones leaks the backing track into the microphone, and that spill cannot be removed afterwards no matter how careful the edit is. Closed cups keep the monitor mix inside the headphone where it belongs. The same isolation helps anywhere the room is noisy, which describes most home setups and every shared office.
What the 50 mm drivers do
The 50 mm high sensitivity neodymium drivers reproduce accurate audio over a wide 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response, with deep bass, clear highs and warm mids. Sensitivity is 97 dB at 1 kHz and 1 mW into a 32 ohm impedance. That is a light enough load to drive properly from an audio interface headphone output, a laptop or a phone, so there is no dedicated headphone amplifier hiding in the budget.
Built for long sessions
Comfort here comes down to three things. Oval protein leather ear pads sit around the ear rather than pressing on it. A wide, self-adjusting headband spreads the weight and removes the fiddling that comes with notched sliders. And a 5 N clamping force is enough to hold the seal without squeezing. Total weight is 245 g, which is modest for a 50 mm closed-back design.
Connections
The cable is 2.5 m long, enough to reach from a desk interface to a vocal position without an extension lead. It terminates in a gold-plated 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) plug, and a 1/4 inch (6.3 mm) adapter is included, so the same pair works with a phone and with a studio headphone output without hunting for a converter.