Hey Mike,

Which Senn's do you have? Most Senn's are open air style, which is why I ask. You can tell if the outside of the ear piece is perforated or not.
The Open design of the Sony DS5000 is unique to the Sony. About 7 years ago they had out a similar pair called the VP 1000s that they used at their Sony store here in New York for demo listening in the CDs section. These were the most outstanding 'phones I'd ever heard. Imaging like I'd never heard before. But of course they'd been discontinued. Called Sony for a dealer list and called every name and nobody had 'em. Came very close to just cutting a pair off the demo rack.
Anyway, the design I think though is really predicated on a quiet environment. Which I guess it may be during the wee hours when you may not want to disturb the neighbors, but sometimes you just want to crank it during the day when and the girl friend/ wife yells to turn it down. So for those of us not yet blessed with dedicated rooms, audition carefully.

Paul