Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones

The value on these is just incredible. I'll be the first to admit that my headphone knowledge is not the greatest, but it's 7 months in and I'm still surprised by these phones, which are still working perfectly. The design is simple and relatively comfortable, even for glasses wearers. (I currently wear pretty thick plastic frames too.) The isolation is not bad but outside sounds are still clearly noticeable. This is also a reason for these being not the best choice for activities because eventually the sweat and buildup will make you want to slip them off quickly.

Comfort is great for the first 20 minutes to an hour, but after that there is a buildup of overall tightness that eventually makes you want to revert back to speaker listening.

 

SQ is the biggest surprise because these $20-30 phones sound great across the board. In my eyes at the $20 I originally paid it's the best deal in everyday consumer cheap phones. We used them in my college radio station and I was floored at some of the sounds I was hearing out of these cheapo studio phones, even in comparison to the far more cumbersome hd280 pros!

 

But why in the heck is the darned cord so long??

 

All in all, you get what you pay for. These are a great cheap headphone choice for general listening for short periods.

Alright, so I bought these because I needed to replace my broken Superlux HD699s since I accidentally dropped them because the wire snagged the chair. I did some research on these cans, and most of the reviews I have seen are positive and they were right.

 

Here's my review:

 

Sound:

The sound itself is flat, the bass or the treble is balanced. The mid-range is also well balanced. When I first wore them, I listened to some songs, from drum n bass, rock, to dubstep. They sounded well, the treble is not as sharp as the one from the HD669s.

 

Comfort:
I find it comfortable, even if I wear glasses. I can wear these without feeling any pain outside my ears for long periods of time. The only thing is, when you wear them for long periods of time, your ears will sweat and I also find it hard to fit at times.

 

Portability:

These headphones' is too long to be portable, even with the accessory that shortens the wire. But in terms of carrying it around, it's not too bad, since you can remove the earpieces and them stow them away in a bag or a carrying case.

 

Design:

One of the main reasons why I bought them. The thing itself is sleek black, just sleek black...

 

Bottomline:
A good pair to start with if you want to DJ or just want a pair that reproduces the music well.

 

 

I just recieved the Sennheiser hd 202 ii headphones at my door step. I have to say that after visiously ripping through the plastic packaging, these are pretty good headphones. They're definitely not the best, but tor only 20 bucks, they're decent. I'm no audiophile, but I think the bass is great. However, something I dislike about these is that they don't sound very good with soft music, forexample I listen to a lot of Taylor Swift, the audio didn't impress me. When I listened to a song with more bass, the audio was pretty good.

Comfort. They're not very comfortable in my opinion. I think it puts a little too much pressure on my head, but that's probably just because they're brand new. It does allow you to adjust the headphones, but it's such a hassle because you move the earcups themselves, not the headband.

Comparisons to other headphones. Right now the only other headphones that I have listened to and can remember are the Bose Oe2i, the Beats solo hd, and the Beats studio. Compared o the Bose, these hd 202 headphones suck. But hey, that's comparing a 20 dollar headphone to a 150 dollar one. Comparing these to th Solo HDs..... Haha everything is better than the Solos. Comparing these to the Studios, I'd say that they're about as good as the Studios. I haven't listened to the Studios very much, Ive only heard one song using them, so I may be wrong.

Build quality. These headphones feel pretty cheap, like every time I put them on Imscared they'll break cheap.

Overall, these headphones are fantastic for only 20 dollars, you can probably get better ones for just a couple dollars more. Do I suggest these? Well, if you are on a budget, sure. I would suggest these. But if you can spare another 20 or 30 dollars, keep searching. While these headphones are good, they're not the greatest.

I will say from the beginning, do not listen to other reviewers who are addicted to some other headphone or have some esoteric piece of crap from some unheard of company, i've listened intently to all the lauded headphones up to $1000 and there seems to be some misnomers, bad hearing, generalisations, or misinformation happening. Anyone  who says these 202 mk II's are "Just OK" or "Good but not that good" has no idea what they're talking about, they have either got rocks in their head or need to get their ears cleaned, or else they have a severe case of denial.

 

These HD 202 mk II's, seriously, I think i'm having a demented dream, or else i've just realized the saying which states you get what you pay for is a load of  *#!*%^&#%!@#$%^ 

 

I've been sitting in my room A/B-ing lots of headphones for hours on end, this was due to my quest to find the best headphones...Beats By Dre Pro's ($699) Klipsch Image-One's ($250), Sony digital ES ($599) AKG K518 DJ ($199) Sennheiser HD 25 SP II's ($299) and several others, I have been sitting here comparing back and forth between multiple different genres of music comparing bass, mid-range detail, treble accuracy, openness and realism of sound-stage, plus subtle details and natural warmth. I own 5 pairs of headphones and have never really been satisfied with any of them except my Sennheiser 439's, but these 202 mk II's deserve a gold medal, they are friggin amazing, i'm not lying, if you don't want to be wasting money like me looking for the ultimate pair then let me save you the trouble, GO IN AND BY THE SENNHEISER MK II 202's, they are fantastic!

Because i produce music on the computer my quest was to find top notch sound for essential monitoring and i was willing to spend what i had to, but there it was all along, I must have passed by these 202's a hundred times PRESUMING they could not possibly compete at that price, and thus never even bothered to take a listen, i was wrong, if only an angel could have came and pointed them out to me before i spent months of searching and hundreds of dollars.

 

Let me put it this way, if you're on a budget and want Top Notch sound, simply go in and get these! And if you don't think they are absolutely brilliant, i'll call you a liar, simple as that.

 

Tight punchy well-controlled bass with just the right spread and yet it does not overcrowd the other frequencies, detailed midrange with natural tone (The vocals sound ultra real and sit perfectly in the mix), plus authentic treble sound with more than adequate detail. I think Sennheiser has made a stupid marketing mistake...the sound i needed is here, finally...i can now go to my grave in peace.

But do yourself a favour, make sure you buy a Go-Vibe - Mini-Box-Amplifier to drive them, since without a good portable amp you will not hear the true quality of the 202 mk II's. I still love my Sennheiser 439's for very good reasons, however if you don't have money to waste buying several pairs of headphones, you know what to do, don't make me say it again, plus they also have no apparent distortion.

 

By the way, it doesn't matter if you listen to Orchestral, R&B, Rock, Electronic, or heavy metal...THESE SUIT ALL MUSIC! They suit any genre, trust me, i don't know what else i can say to convince anyone who might still be pessimistic or cynical about what i am saying except to say that my opinion is not based on bias or individual taste, any one with half a brain cell knows "uber good" when they hear it.  What, you don't believe me? Get your ass into the store, then come back and tell me different...i dare you!

And I am only in the first 10 hours of burning them in...it just keeps getting better doesn't it.  I rate these 9/10  

                              

 

EDIT: For those out there who don't amp there headphones, you are missing out, some of the best headphones in the world sound like crap without amping, that's because they are designed to be amped, its not the headphones fault if they are being driven from a sh_t source, they need quality amping to show what they are really made of. Why do you think some people will spend $10,000 on a pre-amp, plus an amp on top of that for their home Hi-Fi, because that is a major factor in bringing out the speakers true capability. So anyone who comes in here adding their opinion on what they think of the 202's but haven't actually amped them, then i'm saying AMP THESE FRIGGIN THINGS, then you can comment knowing what they are truly capable of. I just did it now at the computer, played them without amping and they sound reasonable, but then i plugged in the amp and BANG! where in audiophile territory, simple as that...NOTICEABLE STEP UP IN QUALITY. Even other headphones that sound good without an amp sound MUCH BETTER with a quality amp, however some maybe not, but in this case amping makes these little babies shine like the sun, do you understand? An amp is not there to only increase volume, it is to drive the signal through the impedance coils and thus stimulate how the headphone is actually designed to perform. If you think someone with Sennheiser 580's or a Grado 125i has got you beat, we'll really they haven't, once you amp these little beauties then you've got those others cornered, i guarantee you. But remember, this does assume quality amping, i use the Go-Vibe - Mini-Box-Amplifier $60, now that's a small price to pay for turning a good pair of headphones into world-class audiophile headphones, don't you think?    

 

Note: To a large extent everything I have said in this review applies also to the Sennheiser 439's. These compliment the 202's perfectly, if you are a stickler for luxurious classy ultra-detailed audio performance which is not too bass heavy, the 439's with their exquisite presentation are fantastic, but if you want slightly more punchy bass and a tad more overall attitude with a "slightly" narrower sound stage, but still with good detail, then the 202's have got you covered, they may not be literally perfect, but from what I can hear they come damn close.

If you have a bit of extra cash to burn then i can say that these two headphones should more than suffice to cover your needs, my search is now over after listening extensively to most of the so-called best out there, you will not be disappointed. I think a lot of reviewers have got their head in the clouds, why on earth they haven't cottoned on to these two yet is beyond me.

I cannot recommend these headphones.  When shopping for some replacement phones a couple years ago, I had the name Sennheiser on the mind.  I had read lots of great things about the company and their headphones.  So when I went to Future Shop to look for a replacement, I saw the HD-202s priced at about $80, and they looked alright, so I picked them up.

 

I have never hated a pair of headphones so much!  While the sound is clear and decent, it's certainly not a high end sound.  It's flat and boring, no life/air, no dynamics to speak of.  Bass is weak.  On the other hand they go fairly loud with no distortion, so they were great for bus rides.

 

On the comfort side of things, the cups are on a unipivot mount, and it just feels sloppy when on my head, won't stay put.  The clamp is very tight and uncomfortable, I assume this is to counteract the wobbliness of the unipivot cup but it doesn't work.  The headphones are both uncomfortable and unsecure when on the head.

 

Then the cable, it's flimsy and very prone to tangles.  BUT, the phones were 80 bucks so take all that how you will.