Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones
by Sennheiser
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List Price: Our Price: Calculated in a shopping cart Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones
Customer Review: The S in Sennheiser Stands for Superb
Summary: 5 Stars
Basically, I needed a new pair of headphones after I got tired of the Sony MDR-V150s that my roommate lent me. I did not like the idea of having the "cups" right ON my ear, and honestly, they did not sound all that great so I decided to do some searching. I looked at Koss(I did not like any of their models) AKG( I love them, but, for $100, I did not get involved with them.) So, I decided to search some more..
I totally forgot about Sennheiser headphones. I heard them once at an ultra high end home stereo shop in Tampa, Florida and they sounded damn good. So when I saw these for less than $20, I decided to buy them..
First of all, they arrived sooner than usual. I put them on and I noticed something...I could not hear any outside noise. These "cans" really kept outside sound out. They sat comfortably on my head and the "cups" covered my ears. Score!! Now, for the sound..
I listen to a lot of music that I have on my pc. I have a Dell Dimension E310 with the ORIGINAL sound card and I have the Mp3s on Musicmatch WITHOUT any equalization. First of all, I chose tracks at random, all kinds and I heard things that I never heard before. I noticed tiny "cracks" on Avenged Sevenfold's "Seciond Heartbeat." Something I did not notice with the Sony's. I listened to all types of music and found the sound TOTALLY clean. No hissing, no muddy or "sour" midrange. Female vocals sounded great. Even the low end sounded great, specially with house and trance music that have a lot of heavy bottom end to them.
BUT, I decided to try them on my Panasonic SA-XR55, which is a digital receiver, and I decided to "crank" it up. As I reached the higher volumes, the bass was lost, it sounded weak and muddy, but that WAS when I was pushing the receiver to its limits.
These "cans" are great for listening to music at REGULAR volumes. If you want a pair of headphones that you can crank them up loud so they can sound like a car audio bass challenge, go for something like the AKGs.
Great "cans" for the money, I TOTALLY recommend them.
So here we go:
Pros:
They fit great, with even a leatherret piece on the top band of the headphones to keep things cushy.
Great sound isolation. I can't hear squat once I put them on WITHOUT music.
Gorgeous sound at "normal" levels. I do not care if you listen to Rap, Christian, House or Trance, you will get a great sound out of these.
Built very well. They look like they do not move or swivel in the picture, but they do, and are very comfortable.
Cons:
NOT made for LOUD listening.
Not really digging the double cord that comes out of the headphones. Single sided would be better, but that is just me.
And to be honest, I cannot find anything else wrong with them.
So, if you just want to get some "cans" that are great sounding, without breaking your wallet, get these.
Trust me.
You will thank me later.
Customer Review: Best pair of Sennheisers I've ever owned
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had Sennheisers that cost me hundreds, some that cost me $50 or less, and then...there was the HD 201's. Why are these better? I couldn't tell you the technicalities of it all, because to be honest it defies logic.
First of all the headphones don't use just one wire, they use the dual wire which is notorious for failing on even the best of headphones rather easily. Second, they aren't exactly the top of the line model of Sennheisers, and for $20 you don't really expect much.
Regardless of the facts, these headphones have seen me through about a year or more of pretty heavy duty use and still work just as good as day one. Considering I've owned Sennheiser's in the HD-500 series, it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to sound quality, and I can honestly say that yes there is a difference -- these aren't as good as the expensive stuff...but they are about as close to the expensive stuff as you can get without spending the big bucks.
Whatever looks like a design flaw on these puppies actually ends up making the suckers work even better than you'd expect. Listening to high quality audio with these headphones is incredible.
I have to admit though, even though you'll see Sennheiser boasting about their Bass all the time, they don't offer the best Bass in the game. However, they do offer the most detailed bass, so you don't feel like you're missing out on much. IMHO it's the way Bass is meant to sound. If you want headphones that pump bass so loud that it shakes your ears or worse, ends up screwing up the headphones you just bought, you probably shouldn't be investing in headphones. However, if you want good clean bass that offers a kick without kicking your speakers into submission then these headphones will be a godsend to you.
For $20-25, HD201's are the BEST and most affordable high quality well built headphones on the market, bar none. Considering they also come with Sennheiser's standard 2 year warranty, you can rest assured these headphones will not let you down.
I've gone through more headphones than I like to count, at times in my life going through 5-6 pairs a YEAR just because they'd blow out on me, or the wire would get screwy, or the sound would go out in one cup....The fact I've owned this one pair for a year and haven't required any others is a tell tale sign of the real quality behind these headphones.
If you're low on cash and you need a pair of replacements, these are replacements that will not disappoint and will last you a long time -- long enough to save up for an even better pair if that's what you're out for. Regardless, the price is hard to beat for what you get.
Which is it? $100-200 a year constantly replacing poorly built crappy headphones or a one time $20 for a warranty guaranteed 2 years of quality headphones? The Choice is yours.
Customer Review: Perfect for me.
Summary: 5 Stars
For $20 or less these headphones are great. I wanted good headphones for about $20 or less and these seem to be among the best at this price range. I was trying to avoid lower quality ones at the $10 price range like the JVCs. For $10 more these headphones were definitely worth it. The other ones I considered:
Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones
I passed on these slightly more expensive Sennheisers because they didn't get good reviews for comfort which was really important to me. These HD201's are very comfortable, my ears never hurt nor have I had any other type of discomfort and I have used them for as many as 3 hours in one sitting.
Sony MDR-XD200 Stereo Headphones
I passed on these Sony's mainly because the last Sony headphones I had broke, and looking back they weren't nearly as comfortable as the HD201's. However those were different headphones then the one listed above. The MDR-XD200 look like huge cans.
Yes, there is a long cord which can be a pro or con. I see it as a pro, worst thing that has happened is it has been run over by my chair a few times, but no problems really if your somewhat mindful of it.
The other concern, the volume isn't loud enough. The volume is fine with me, last Sony headphones I had I cranked a little to high and have read listening to music or whatever at high volumes can be harmful for your ears. Since that is something I wanted to avoid anyways, the volume level their at (which can be fairly loud) is fine with me. At the highest level volume these headphones will not hurt your ears. If you need loud music to pump you up while your working out or something, you may want to get different set of headphones as that is the only reason I could see where it would matter.
For games they're perfect, every footstep or action can be heard with clarity such as in Modern Warfare 2. I've tried playing Left 4 Dead 2, and for that game for some reason the volume can be a tad loud, I like it though as it heightens the intensity. If your going to use voice chat then you'll need to get gaming headphones with a mic attached, the Tritton's are fairly decent. However if you don't need a mic, I'd recommend these.
I think I've gotten spoiled with these headphones because after using them almost exclusively with anything I do with the computer, my normal speakers sound horrible in comparison.
I've had these headphones 5 months and used them for gaming, listening to music, & watching movies, and they're still doing great. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: Why These Headphones Deserve Five Stars
Summary: 5 Stars
Although there is still some small room for improvement with the Sennheiser HD201 Headphones (see below), they definitely exceeded all of my expectations, especially considering their ultra-low price. I've only owned a single pair of headphones that I felt were equal to these in quality, and those were Pioneer Studio headphones that I paid a small fortune for in the 1970's. Here's a quick rundown of the pros and cons of the product:
PROS:
- Price: You get a LOT more than you pay for. Excellent quality at any price.
- Great dynamic range: FULL bass, excellent frequency response across the entire audio spectrum.
- Very comfortable: I've never seen this before, but the earcups actually swivel to give you a true "custom" fit.
- No skimping on cord length: Not sure of exact length, but is at LEAST 6' long.
- Great external noise cancellation: The custom fit helps to block out more outside noise than probably 95% of other headphones.
- No skimping on construction: Both the earcups AND top of the headband are well-padded. Adds to comfort.
- Quality plug: Unlike most brands, this model has flexible, molded strain relief for the plug. Should prevent fraying of wires due to strain placed on the cord.
- Simple packaging: Cardboard box with small amount of foam to prevent damage. Hassle-free to open, and environmentally-friendly.
CONS:
- Would be nice if the label for the right/left earcups were a different color, easier to see.
- Would be nice to have manual volume or mute control along the cord.
The "cons" are more nitpicking than anything else, or I wouldn't still give this product five stars, obviously. I almost picked the cheaper ($15) Sony headphones on Amazon. I'm glad that I "splurged" and spent the extra $5 to get the Sennheiser HD201 Headphones though. I've never heard of the company before, but I've bought a lot of "name brand" products as of late that were absolute junk, so I wouldn't hesitate buying these due to their lack of brand name recognition.
I also personally prefer the fact that these headphones surround your entire ear(s). I have NEVER found a pair of "earbud" headphones that provided decent audio. Most of the models that just barely cover your ears (that don't use what I refer to as "earcups") not only have horrible ambient noise cancellation, but lack bass response to the point where serious adjustment to a graphic equalizer is necessary to hear anything beyond the middle-range (vocals). Most of them are painful to wear and you are SOL insofar as getting anything close to quality sound if your listening device doesn't have an EQ. Not so with these.
I highly, highly recommend them.
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'.