Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones
by Sennheiser
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List Price: Our Price: $18.75 You Save: $11.20 (37%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $5.88 (click here) Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones
Customer Review: They make a great gift!
Summary: 4 Stars
With all the reviews focusing on the ill, let's focus on what these headphones do well, shall we?
1) Ambient sounds: I own a number of headphones in this pair's price bracket, and none of them pick up noises as faint as the "wmwm" noise of a guitar string after a strum quite like this pair. It was a nice surprise to be able to hear such subtle things with such a cheap pair of cans.
2) Build quality and feel: My only real concern with this pair is the cable - it feels rather thin and weak, though should put up with normal abuse admirably. The cans themselves are durable enough; they do not feel cheap or flimsy, the leatherette padding is decent, and the cans are comfortable. Though, they may feel loose if you have a small head. My head is not very large, but it's nice to have a pair of circumaural headphones that don't make my head feel as if it's in a vice.
3) Bass: This is subjective, but I'm glad to find a pair of cans that have a crisp bass response in lieu of an overpowering low-frequency drone. The crispness of the bass on these cans makes them especially nice for classical, but you may find them wanting when it comes to rock.
And now for the bad:
1) High-frequencies: High-frequency response is anything but clear. "S" sounds crackle and hiss, and others are piercing. TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THESE HEADPHONES YOU NEED AN EQUALIZER. I cannot state this clearly enough, as without doing so these headphones nearly gave me a headache. You MUST toy with an equalizer on frequencies above 1.8khz. Experimenting for a short time will eliminate the sibilance and piercing sharpness of high-freq's.
2) Isolation: It's there, but not strongly. At such a low price it may be difficult to fault them on this, but I would like more.
3) Sensitivity: Compared to other headphones I own, I have to have the volume about 50% to 75% higher to get the same loudness out of them.
4) Portability: These are not portable in any way. The cable is worryingly flimsy for "on the go" use, they do not fold, isolation is lacking, and the sensitivity is too low for portable media players. I would never use nor suggest circumaural headphones for portability, regardless.
5) Bass: As previously stated, it's crisp rather than strong. If you love your bass like I love my coffee, look elsewhere.
Finally, I'd like to add that for the price, I'm amazed. Don't count the numbers of pros and cons; take the (de)merits for what they are. When given the low price point, these are exceptional. When given that your wallet needs to go on a diet, go for more Sennheiser's higher-end.
Customer Review: Pretty slick for low bucks
Summary: 4 Stars
Lets get to the chase. For low bucks they're really good. Not like multi-hundred buck noise cancelling ones, but thats not the idea here. Its to get a pair of cans on your head without asking for a loan from your wife, husband, boss or your mom. I'm sitting here writing this listening to Stars from Ulrich Schnauss on iTunes from my basic sound card on my basic PC. I have the thing cranked up as high as I can get it and surprisingly, nothing is buzzing, distorting or howling...too much. For such little scratch you get cans that do a pretty nice job from garden variety audio that you'd get from your computer, iPad, iPod or Android phone. I have to get these onto something high-end to really test them out. But I'm not gonna bother. Why the heck would I expect these low buckers to live the live of big buckers? They're intended, at least for me for the job they're doing. Playing nice on my computer while I'm playing World of Warcraft or something.
The rundown...
Pros:
Really comfortable. I have a huge head and they fit nice. I have big ears and these things fit over them completely. The effect is that you're inside of the headphones and the world is outside...if you're in a quiet room. But hey, I usually play on the computer till all hours and everyone is asleep anyway. So these are comfy enough to wear for a long time.
Sound is decent. Really decent. From my built-in soundcard, I can get acceptable bass from a tune like Deadmau5 Ghosts n Stuff if I don't crank it up too high and distort the whole shebang. OK, maybe a headphone amp would really make this sound sick, but it would kill these cans I think. So keep it reasonable. Detected some ringing and a little scratch here and there, but for the money, they sound goooooood.
Con:
Man whats with the 10' long cord? Wrapped around my leg a couple of time.
Plasticky. Is that a word? The ear cushions are pretty good. Not super plush, but nice enough. Don't sit on them or you'll be buying another pair.
Overall, I'm winning. Too often I buy stuff and get screwed, but not this time. They are what I expected and I'm happy. BTW, listen to Carl A. Finlow's Definition loud enough to just the point where things go pear-shaped and then back off a smidge.
Happy happy, joy joy
Customer Review: Damn Good Budget Headphones.
Summary: 5 Stars
Ordered these as a way to alleviate myself from being subjected to my co-worker's poor taste in music, and compulsive need to listen to the same 25 songs every day over speakers instead of headphones of their own. I was using a seriously crappy pair of JVC earbuds before I got these two days ago, so my reveres for the Sennheiser HD201 headphones might be based slightly on the night-and-day difference, but I know good headphones when I hear them. I used to own a pair of Sony MDV-150's and I loved them. Looking back, I apparently didn't know a damn thing about sound quality. I've read some reviews of the HD201's saying the bass is lacking. I say HARDLY! In my opinion I feel the bass response actually represents a true definition of the intended audio. The fidelity and frequency response of these 'phones are quite incredible when you take into account the relatively low price tag. Now, while I wouldn't necessarily opt to use these for professional audio mixing, I can rest assured that they make headphones specifically for that. If I'd have to get critical about the audio in any way, I'd say the ultra-highs are lacking if anything. Other than that I've been using them on my iPod (with the EQ turned OFF) and on the computer to listen to audio from video, etc. The HD audio of YouTube videos makes so much sense now!
The comfort's also really noticeable right away too. Several hours and they feel just fine. They're not so light that you don't notice you're wearing them, but they're not annoying or painful either. The cups are nice and large too. My ears stick out a bit, so those old Sonys pressing against my ears all day would eventually leave me sore. These fit juuuuust fine.
For me, it was a toss-up between these and the slightly more expensive HD202's, only because I'd read that these lacked a good amount of bass. Boy am I glad I didn't listen. Any more bass that close to my eardrums would give me a headache after a few hours, like the old Sony MDV150's do. Don't get me wrong, I love bass. I have a 12" subwoofer behind the driver's seat in my truck! But any more bass to me would be excessive to me and probably more suited towards those that like to drive around with their windows down blasting whatever bass-heavy rap business to get the ladies a-runnin'.
Customer Review: Pretty darn good for $13 with free shipping
Summary: 5 Stars
Sound Quality:The sound from these cans is great. The highs are clear and not at all tinny, the mids are good, the lows are present, and very crisp, not overpowering and muddy as I tend to find the sound on many other headphones. It isn't the same sound you would get from a $100 pair of headphones, but hey, I paid 13 bucks for these and it is pretty darn close.
Comfort: These are by far the most comfortable full sized headphones I have ever worn, hours and hours of constant use and still comfortable. They are light on the head, balanced, and don't pinch too tightly. My only complaint comes when I am wearing glasses and then they can become uncomfortable after an hour or so, but that is to be expected. Overal, extremely comfotable.
Quality of Materials: Don't get me wrong, but I pretty much hate the plastic these are made of and the overall appearence, but they are duable. I carry these around in my backpack during school and it gets tossed around and such, not neccesarily handeled in the most careful of ways :) and these still don't have a scratch on them. I'm expecting these to last for a long time. Plus who cares what they look like, it is the sound that matters.
Noise Isolation: Here Sennheiser made some sacrifices in the name of comfort. These still do a pretty good job of isolating sound, as soon as you put them on, even without music plaaying, it muffels outside sound, but not quite as well as I would like. But one of the things that would have been done is have the phones grip your head tighter but this generaly proves to be uncomfortable so it is a good trade off in my humble opinion.
Overal: for $15 these can't be beat, they have a crisp, clear sound(I listen to a lot of classical music, these are great for that), comfortable even for all day wear, extremely durable, and cheap. These are full sized headphones and they don't fold, these were designed as monitor headphones or home stereo headphones, not portable ones. If you want something small, these are not for you. However if you want something that sounds great,is comfotable for hours on end, is cheap and is going to last and you don't mind the size, these are for you.
Customer Review: Well Worth the Money
Summary: 4 Stars
Got these from Amazon a few days ago and I gotta say I'm happy. My HD 202's broke (one headphone stopped working. The headphones kept getting tugged off my head by the uber long cord so eventually something disconnected.) and I bought a pair of Sony v150's but I missed my old phones. Since it was my fault that the 202's broke Sennheiser was still fine in my book so I looked to them again for good budget headphones. I remembered the 201's from the last time I looked for headphones and they seemed to fit the bill. In my eyes they're even better than the 202's because they surround the whole ear whereas the 202's would sit on part of my ear. I of course enjoy the closed design because of the noise isolation quality, not quite as good it seems in the 201's but certainly better than open phones. Remember though that you get a better sound with open phones so if you care about that don't go with closed phones. I'm not an audiophile myself so these headphones sound perfect to me. Not quite as much bass as the 202's, I think, but really I can't tell the difference. They look and feel solid, you might say they look and feel cheap since they're made of hard plastic but I like the words "solid" and "rugged" better. Padding on top is cool, but I didn't need padding on the top with the V150's so I'm not sure if it's needed on the 201's. I could wear these all day. The ear padding isn't as thick it seems as the 202's, but the material seems stronger. It could very well be the same stuff but the cushions are certainly firmer; as they might as well be since the phones aren't intended to sit on the ear like the 202's. My only complaint is the thickness of the cord. It's a thin, really long, cord. The length can be a cool trait and might be a selling point for some people but if these headphones start getting tugged off my head and the cord breaks I might have to pass on Sennheisers until I feel like investing some money in one of their higher end pairs. The cord just feels and looks fragile. By comparison the Sony V150 cord looks much better.
V150's are hooked up to my keyboard piano and these 201's are staying with my laptop. Really a truly great pair of budget headphones.