This product is one of the best bang for the buck items I have ever owned. They may end up costing me a bundle, however.
The HD201 came to my attention after reading a little debate on headphones on a bulletin board I frequent. Someone recommended the HD201s as being phenomenal for the money.
I'm not an audiophile, but I do enjoy music and computer games where sound is important, so I thought I'd give them a try. The only other "cans" I've used have been the cheapos that come with portable CD players and a pair of Coby CV-200s that I bought seeking something cheap that would be better than the poor quality phones I have had in the past. The Coby units were a minor improvement, but bass rumbled like crazy.
Enter the HD201s. These closed phones (they cover the ear with a foam pad instead of sitting on top of them) have a padded plastic headband, a long 10' cord that terminates in a mini jack (it comes with a 1/4" adapter). The earpieces have some swivel to them, and they fit my rather large head and ears just fine. Comfort level was as good as any headphone I was used to. I plugged them in to my computer (with a decidedly basic 5.1 soundcard) and began to listen.
The sound is jaw-dropping if you are used to the garbage that ships with portable music devices. I popped in some CDs, from classical to metal, and the lack of rumble in the bass and the clear highs were a treat. Remember, I'm no audiophile (yet) but even to my tin and uneducated ear, the difference was easy to hear. Violins in "Adagio for Strings" were strong and clear, gone was the low rumble in the deep bass of Zep, and I even began to truly note the shortcomings of the audio in some MP3 and "oldies" recordings. Sound in games was great, and I caught some nuances in first person shooters that improved my play.
I was now aware of the shortcomings of all the other cheapo headphones I had used, including the Coby unit, that until now I had considered "good enough". They just flat out sound better across the full range of sound, from low to high.
I was a bit surprised that I could max out the volume on my computer without making the HD201s too painful...perhaps they are designed with more power in mind than my system delivers. My portable CD player drives them to about the same volume levels, loud, but not ear shattering. They might not satisfy those looking for super booming bass or earsplitting volume, but perhaps an amplifier might change this.
I can't give your an expert review of the HD201s, nor translate what the tech specs on the box mean. I can tell you that for the price, I am deeply impressed with the quality of sound. I would be impressed if they cost a few times as much.
A true bargain, but I worry that this might be the launching point in to a world of audio gear that I can scarce afford. If these things sound this good, perhaps I really need headphones made by Grado or the high end Sennhieser stuff, a new soundcard, probably an amp, and about the system in the living room..... Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones
In summary this headphone has one general strength:
1) Decent sounding depending on your tastes and needs, given the price, and given the kind of sound you get from most other closed headphones of similar price.
However, the Sennheiser HD201 has 4 important weaknesses:
1) Has very low sensitivity: it takes a lot of volume/power to bring them to satisfactory or normal loudness levels.
2) It's a bit bright, bass is slightly lacking, making them sound slightly thin or "weak".
3) Has a tendency to be SSSSSSSibilant with some female vocals.
4) For a closed headphone, doesn't isolate that much.
Weakness #1 is critical if you are considering these headphones for listening to music from your laptop or portable players. If that's the case, it's very likely you won't be happy with the sound even at max volume. These headphones are REALLY hard to bring up to normal loudness levels. If you will use them with the headphone out of a receiver, or maybe with an electric piano (as I am), then you are probably ok.
Weakness #2 is very important if you are what's called a "bass-head". These headphones won't give you slamming rich bass. Bass is (slightly) on the weak side.
Weakness #3 is critical if you listen to a lot of female vocals, and you find it particularly annoying when your playback system enhances the letter "S" as in SSSSSSSay, SSSSSSilver, SSSSSSpoon, preCCCCCiSSSSSe, etc.
Weakness #4 is important if you are expecting these headphones to block all noises around you, you might be slightly dissapointed, it does block a bit but not too much.
If you don't care about isolation I would highly recommend the Koss KSC-75 instead of these Sennheisers. If you do want a closed headphone (either you want some isolation from outside noise, or you don't want to bother anyone around you with your music), and are willing to spend a little more, you should consider the Sennheiser HD280 or maybe the Audio Technica AT500.
The above sounds like a massive critique, and I'm giving it 3 stars because really for music these are not that great sounding headphones to me. However, these headphones sound relatively OK compared to how boomy or treble-happy are most other cheap headphones, whether open or closed. Compared to that trend, these are relatively decent. Yet, compared to other very inexpensive headphones known for surprisingly good sound (e.g. Koss KSC-75) these are not that great really.
PS. Another suggestion in general, if you are looking for any headphone related information you must check www.Head-fi.org, it's really the place online for anything headphone-related. - Comfortable - Sennheiser - Best Value - Audio'
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