Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones

Sennheiser HD 202ll Headphones
 
 
 




Features
Closed, supra-aural, dynamic hi-fi stereo headphones.
Frequency Response 18Hz-18KHz.
For DJs, ideal for both mobile sources and home mini hi-fi systems.
Good attenuation of ambient noise.
Earcups can be removed from the headband.
Specially designed damping perforation ensures powerful bass response.
Lightweight diaphragm material with “turbine” embossing for extremely low bass.
Powerful neodymium magnets and lightweight diaphragms for high sound levels.
Powerful bass and increased signal levels for modern rhythm-driven music.
Clips to the belt: cord take-up for adjusting the cable length when listening on the move.
Rugged outdoor design with durable and flexible headband.
3 m highly conductive OFC copper cable.
Extremely comfortable to wear due to ultra-lightweight design, even for extended listening.
Replaceable leatherette ear pads.
2-year warranty.




The Sennheiser HD 202ll Headphones

A one year of ownership review:






Physicality:
Considering what these are, they tick all the right boxes. Let's just start out by talking about what's cool here. The Sennheiser HD202lls are great looking. The headband sits in a slightly different place than most headphones placing the band in a slightly forward position. At the correct placement position the small oval ear-cups cover around your entire ear, making these enjoyable closed back dynamic driver portable headphones. Still the size seems to add to the general fit and comfortable feel in the end. Having a low-weight full-size headphone out and about greatly reduces the tendency for the headphones to move around on your head, also reducing the amount of head clamping force needed. As far as fit goes, these earn a solid 10 out of 10! For some unknown reason (maybe undisclosed lost Nazi technology) they simply remain cool and comfy all the time, a pure joy to wear! They are also the best looking headphones I own. The benefits here are that you have a portable sound blocking headphone which stay in place as you walk around town.



Genuine Sennheiser Plastic Construction:
Yes, they are 100% plastic and proud of it. The key here is a combination of both flat textured and shiny finished components.





Unique Modern Design Elements:
They also have a distinctive set of bumps which allows a tactile message telling your fingers which cup is the left side. Combined aspects of the design are both revolutionary and different. The leatherette padding really helps keep an airtight fit, only increasing the ample bass response. They even boast a small area of leatherette (fake leather) headband padding around the top of your head. The padding is almost overkill when you consider how light the headphones are, though I have come to learn headband inner padding is a personal preference which becomes super important to some. The best part is maybe the simplicity of design allowing the cups to swivel on a single contact point finding the perfect fit, every time you put them on. For such a sparse and simple design they do the trick with style. They are feather-weight, strongly built and easy to use. They actually have a surprising classical look, which only starts to become a value after you study the over-all character and feel of what else is out there at this price point. They are stealthy and sleek, understated but slightly flashy in an exotic way.

Clamping force seems just about perfect, not too little, not too much.



The Extras:
The package comes as a bubble wrap, enclosed is a cord management system (more on that to come) a 1/8 to 1/4 inch silver chrome plug adaptor and the headphones.

Sennheiser offers a two year warranty, something special in this level.









The Silly Cord:

These come with a 10 foot cord. The material is nice because it seems to hold it's character of flexibility over time. There are stress relief components in all the right places. The only question is why we end up with a ten foot cord on a pair of portable headphones? I feel Sennheiser was really trying to be all things to all people with this design move. They give you a cord management device which amounts to a coiling spool which your are supposed to wear attached to the top of your pants pocket. See photograph. All and all the spool is a hassle. Other folks have come up with different cable management options using rubber bands and the like. It's not a deal breaker for me as I just stuff the cord in my pocket and I'm on my way. I found the enclosed management system to be an extra just not needed. If Sennheiser decided to give you a removable cord and included two sizes, 5 foot and 10 foot, we would obtain even more win! Still when you consider what these headphones are, the cord is not that big of a deal.



The Sound:
These are bass heavy headphones. I have noticed a large number of videos which show the 202s have found common recording studio use. So maybe the long cord goes in extra handy in that senerio? They're probably loved in the studio because they are low weight and block out any sound made by the other musicians during the recording process. They block out an amazing level of outside noise considering how simple and small the cups are. This black background just goes to emphasize the level of sound quality these produce. Nice treble and slightly pulled mids, we are left with a dramatic V sound signature, with a mid level soundstage character. The lower mid bass offers a slightly woolly distortion which adds to the warm color these headphones naturally have but also distract from the full amount of detail at times.

Focusing on the lower mid distortions can be a slight annoyance at times, when that same warm color may have been the one character that had the awe factor upon first hearing the Sennheiser HD202lls? What can you get for $29 that does what these do?


Final Thoughts and Ramblings:
I find the headphones on the slightly dark side of character but do get into the bass with bass heavy genres like EDM, or Sludge Metal. They just do the timing of rock music well. They are not audiophile headphones by definition but find a place of value for price. For whatever reason I ended up really liking the sound of these after a year. Listening to the 16bit 44.1 MHz FLAC files out of my main home system is very enjoyable. Out of most home stereos your soundstage will expand to an amazing large level. Out of a home rig the bass actually becomes quite detailed and fast. We still have that lower mid woolly tone but it can actually be looked over due to the headphones doing so much right. The treble has a warm lush almost dark smooth character which ends up being something endearing at the price point. At first I was a little weary that they had no capacity to scale up on a home system, though in the end with the right files, they become a fun experience.The Sennheiser HD202lls are maybe on the medium level to drive. They get loud enough straight out of a phone, but still scale up with better home equipment!. They are not the last word in high detail and definition out of a phone but considering the price, I would think most buyers would know that. All and all we have a fun sound signature encapsulated into a great looking and super comfortable headphone. They offer a complete value especially if noise reduction is a primary concern.

Amazingly I purchased both these and the upper line Sennheiser HD439 headphones at the same time. Doing a side by side comparison straight out of the box, the 202lls had a charm and character I first enjoyed the most. Only later did I start to understand why the HD439s were the more expensive headphone. If I was to attempt to single out two sonic pitfalls, in a perfect world the HD202lls could benefit from the complex and greater soundstage detailed treble which the HD439s seem to pull off effortlessly. The second area for sound Improvement would be that slight muddy frequency in the lower mids. Still in ending having a nice slightly rolled off treble, which never becomes piercing or harsh is a joy at this price. Also getting this style of bass extension is really cool for a number of musical genres at hand. At the prices you can obtain a pair for with free shipping on Amazon.com, Sennheiser has done it again, providing a great design with value and the build quality you need out and about in the world.
 
 

To Review:
They have a super long cord which may be useful if needed
They have a slight area of distortion in the lower mid signature
They are not the last word in detail and definition

A pure joy to wear, they stay in place just like paint
Built really well
They somehow pull-off an amazing soundstage for a closed-back dynamic driver, depending on source
Contain a smooth relaxed treble signature allowing hours of listening
Looks cool on everyone, including pets
Scales-up to somewhat audiophile levels on a nice home system, though not their intended primary use
Blocks-out all outside noise with passive noise reduction, great for ignoring loud talkers
A perfect solution for full-size portable use
Complete Sennheiser 2 year warranty care
 
 
 
 

Equipment Used:

iPod Touch Generation 5

Cambridge Audio DAC Magic Plus

Schiit Asgard One
 
 
 
 
 

Music used:

320kps MP3 and 44.1 kHz-16bit FLAC Foobar 2000 WASAPI







Disclaimer:
The headphones were purchased by me for my own use. The headphones are stock without cryogenic treatments or modification.





Disclaimer:
There are lots and lots of headphones out there which are clearer than these. Some of those headphones cost more, some cost less.



YMMV
To like these means getting used to their character. Your opinion may vary from mine.

In the end just remember these cost as much as lunch out with a friend.

First pair of Sennheisers. First day of use.
 
Really good sound quality, trebles and mids are extremely nice, but...
In my opinion bass is not enough. Don't get me wrong, it has a really nice and clear bass.. It's just not strong enough.. As an electro lover, I'm looking for that sub punches that make my head blow up, for
those 808's that make me want to put my hand on the cans, and feel them vibrate on my ears. If you're not looking for extreme bass, those headphones might be perfect for you. 
They go louder than most of the low end headphones I used until now, and noise cancellation is really good. At some songs, if the volume is at maximum, there might be just a little bit of distortion for the really picky ears.
 
If I hold the headphones in the air and shake them a bit, cheap plastic noises come from the cans' "angle" adjusters. Foam pads look just a little bit cheap aswell. After some time using them, my ears sweat a little. They are comfortable and light. The plastic doesn't feel cheap in my opinion.
Ignoring the lack of power in bass, sound quality is amazing for this price. (38$)
 
So, if you're a basshead, don't buy them, otherwise, they are a really great choice.

Introduction
 
This is a review of the Sennheirser HD 202 headphone. At the time of the review, the cans were at eleven months of near-continuous use. Bear with me, as this is only my second review on Head-Fi. With that, let's proceed.
 
Design
 
The HD 202 is a circumaural, closed design with pleather pads. The primary construction material is some sort of plastic. The cans are very lightweight, which makes them quite comfortable, as the pads are very soft. Clamp pressure is moderate, in my view as is depth. That said, they are not very large in absolute terms and my ears touch the pads at times, rather than being totally enclosed by them. In this sense, the headphones are, for me, almost on-the-ear at times. Adjusting the cans is simple with a plastic slide that moves easily. Overall, for this price point, design is about as good as can be imagined. Just a note, too, that my cable broke recently and had to be fixed.
 
Comfort
 
As I've said, comfort is quite good with these cans due to the light weight and the soft ear pads. No complaints here after nearly a year of use.
 
Sound Quality
 
These cans are, first of all, burned in for nearly a year of constant use. I listen to rock, country, jazz, bluegrass, and edm. In general, I would characterize the sound of these cans as very musical. Are they the final word in transparency and detail? No, definitely not. Still, they manage to communicate the emotion of music in a fairly profound way. A good example of this is Britney Spears' Everytime, in which the vocals are, indeed, haunting, delicate, and beautiful. The emotion in her voice is perfectly communicated. Still, there are issues. For one, the treble is markedly rolled off on many recordings. Often, this manifests as difficulty hearing ride and hi-hat cymbals, while still being able to hear the crashes. On The Eagles' Heartache Tonight, this is particularly evident. Ditto on Judas Priest's Electric Eye, in which the hi-hat is severely recessed. That said, on some recordings, in which the ride and hi-hat are cranked up, they can be heard just fine. Sugarland's From the Beginning is one of these. This recording was mastered with hot ride and hi-hat, and they are therefore easy to hear on the HD 202. On most recordings, however, I would say that the treble roll-off on the 202 means ride and hi-hat are going to be difficult to hear. I don't like this, personally, but keeping price in mind, I am willing to live with it. Bass, in the main, is quite solid on the 202, if not the last word in detail, harmonically. On LZ's Immigrant Song, the bass is solid and present as a foundation for the tune, but it lacks the richness that is present with my 681 Evo's. Vibe 2's, or Crossfade m100's. Still, this song shows the 202's remarkable knack for rhythm and pacing and just plain musicality. I find myself tapping my foot constantly when listening to these cans. Ozzy's Devil's Daughter is another example of this foot-tappingness. I guess what I am saying is that these headphones just seem to rock. They convey the emotion of music very, very well, especially for their ridiculous price. Do they deliver on the nth degree of detail and soundstaging? Of course not. The soundstage is quite small here. Still, I am tapping my foot. They don't sound like headphones, they sound like music being played. And that is quite an accomplishment. Lastly, there is very much present in these cans the Sennheiser veiling, in which it sounds a bit like there is a veil or scrim or something similar between me and the music. There is an absolute reduction in transparency. This is quite noticeable when switching to my Evo's or the v-moda's, where this veiling just isn't present. Still, for the money, it is hard to complain. They are very musical and enjoyable cans with limitations one would expect at their price. They are just plain fun to listen to.
 
Summing Up
 
Overall, these are very enjoyable cans on which to listen to music. Their rhythm and pacing are excellent, even while there is some veiling present. It doesn't seem to get in the way of enjoying music on these cans. They are a remarkable achievement at this price and I recommend them highly. You may find more detailed cans in this price range, but I doubt you will find more musical headphones. These cans have music all over them.