Sennheiser HD 25-1 II Professional Headphone

The HD25-1 has been my favorite (trans)portable headphone for quite a few months. I spend a few nights a week away from my home rig and the HD25 works wonders with my iBasso D10 and netbook. Hi-fi on the go has never been so rugged and simple. Best of all is their sonic versatility – though my backup portables, the AKG K181Dj, excel with certain genres and recordings, the Sennheisers perform more than adequately with anything I can throw at them.



Build Quality: When it comes to build quality, Sennheiser’s flagship portables can do no wrong. The structure of the HD25 is painfully elementary. They are neither flat-folding nor collapsible, with very simple rotating joints and removable metal hardware. The rough black plastic is resistant to cracks and scratches. A thick and sturdy steel cable, terminated in a beefy L-plug, completes the picture. The headphones are also very light and not likely to get damaged from falls. Lastly, every single part of the headphones is user-replaceable. From the detachable cabling to the headband padding to the cups and joints, the HD25 can be disassembled completely in just a few minutes.

Comfort: The HD25 is surprisingly light compared to headphones such as the AKG K181 and M-Audio Q40. The adjustable dual headband exerts very little pressure – the majority of the force is applied by the supraaural coupling. Though clamping force is fairly strong in the HD25, the structure does a great job of distributing it over the entire surface of the pads. The cups have a good range of motion despite lacking any joints whatsoever and conform very well to the shape of one’s head. Vinyl pads come installed on stock HD25s but some versions include the optional velour pads as well. Even if that isn’t the case, at $7+shipping the velour pads are a worthy investment, providing a comfort improvement at the expense of a tiny bit of isolation. Overall comfort falls just behind the likes of the impossibly light Senn PX100s and the circumaural CAL!.

Isolation: Though in general portable headphones can never isolate as well as IEMs, the HD25 can compete with certain shallow-insertion in-ears. While the vinyl pads isolate just a bit more than the velour ones, the tradeoff is unlikely to be worth it for most users. Even with the velour pads the isolation crown of the HD25-1 can be usurped only the hard-clamping AKGs and only if you’re lucky enough to get the AKGs to seal properly.

Sound: Upon first hearing the HD25-1 I was absolutely convinced that I would be giving them a perfect score in sound quality. Having owned them for a while, however, I can’t help but notice that for $200 headphones they are just slightly lacking here and there. But the fact that I am still using them as my primary portables is certainly telling of the fact that they are a competitive product. They are well-balanced, have good clarity and detail, and are quite transparent when it comes to sources. The bass is tight and accurate. It’s hard-hitting in character and more punchy than powerful as opposed to something like the K181Dj or M-Audio Q40. It has impressive extension, though it won’t keep up with the M-Audios down to the lowest reaches. It is also well-textured and does not bleed into the midrange. For a portable headphone the quantity of bass is just right – a bit more than what one would expect from an analytical headphone but far from AKG K81/K181 quantity.

The mids are neutral, clear, and detailed. Articulation is very good and sounds are well-separated. However, the HD25 is lacking noticeably in both soundstage width and depth, at least when compared to most full-size headphones. Most of the other closed portables I own don’t exactly shine in soundstaging either but I can’t help but be disappointed that the smaller and cheaper PX200-II has a more spacious sound. Sheer size aside, soundstage positioning is fairly precise and instrumental separation is excellent on all but the densest tracks. Towards the upper midrange the HD25-1 struggles to stay smooth and as a result is very unforgiving of sibilant tracks. The high end is quite present and reasonably extended but comes off a bit edgy and clinical at times. The overall sound, though, is quite pleasant and works particularly well for genres not dependent on soundstage size for the full experience. All of my quibbles aside, the HD25 is as good for use on the go as any portable headphone I have heard.

Value. (MSRP: $299.95; Street Price: $199) By far the most expensive headphone of the bunch, both in street price and MSRP, the HD25-1 is on another level in terms of balance and detail compared to all of the other featured portables. Compared, however, to full-size cans in the price range, as it sometimes is, the HD25 can come off as dull and rather compressed-sounding because of the narrow stage. The hard treble can also be a bit fatiguing for home use. But of course such comparisons are unfair precisely because I am not comfortable wearing my full-size cans outside while using the HD25 comes naturally. It is this versatility that makes the Sennheisers well-worth the $200 price tag and one of the easiest portable headphones to recommend.

Manufacturer Specs:
Frequency Response:16-22,000 Hz
Impedance:70 Ω
Sensitivity:120 dB SPL/1mW
Cord:5ft (1.5m), single-sided; Angled Plug
Space-Saving Mechanism:N/A

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To see how the HD25s compare to the other portables in my collection please see here.

I have previously owned a lot of headphones, but I felt the need of an all-in-one solution that I could use at home or on-the-go. So I scoured and found that the Sennheiser HD25-1 II is the perfect headphone for my needs. It is a small, supra-aural pair of headphones with superb sound quality in its price range and category.

Construction:

The HD25-1 is a very rugged set of cans. Although lightweight and looks flimsy, it actually holds well against constant abuse and wear. The split-headband design allows for both a secure and comfortable fit, perfect for lengthy listening sessions. The earcups themselves are made of hardened plastic, and do not easily scratch or dent when hit by an impact force. Lastly, the provided stock steel cable has great tensile strength to maximize longevity. All of these parts are easily replaceable, so the headphone can last for years and years of usage.

It may not be the best when it comes to isolation, but it does its job well in blocking out external noise like the bustling city, airplane engines, and so on. Although the clamp is fairly tight, it's not as bad as the one from the AKG K518 DJ. The pleather and velour pads also add to the HD25's comfortable fit.

Sound:

As I write this review, I have already clocked in about 200 or so hours with this pair of cans. Overall impression, the HD25-1's sound quality is excellent for a closed headphone. Although there is some slight sibilance in the high treble frequencies and soundstage is a bit closed-in, it still sounds great straight out of a DAP or from a headphone amp.

It retains the classic Sennheiser laid-back house sound, but adds a generous bit of Grado's upfront, edgy kick to it. The result is a pleasing mix of smooth-yet-aggressive sound signature that's hard to come by in other headphones; it reproduces lush vocals, deep, controlled bass, and detailed highs for a can of this size and type. Suitable for almost all genres of music, the Sennheiser HD25-1 is a very flexible can that's sure to please a lot of people.

Conclusion:

Although a bit pricey at $199.99 in most stores available online, in my opinion the Sennheiser HD25-1 is a great buy in this price category. If you are looking for a portable headphone with sound quality rivaling full-sized cans, I strongly recommend getting the HD25-1's.

PS: I have included pictures of my HD25-1 II as seen in the product photos, to better judge its design and construction.

The HD 25 series has been around for 15 years and this has been my 2nd purchase of the famed dual-band headphone.

Value: 10 years ago, if you are purchasing a $200 headphone it would've sounded absurd. Thanks to Beats by Dre, $200 headphones are now a steal. For $200, you get 2 pairs of ear pads (1) velour and (1) synthetic, also you get a nylon carrying bag, and of course the star of the show, the HD 25-1 II.

Audio Quality: HD25s are a favorite among DJs and broadcasters, although it is primarily designed for studio use, I rarely see this headphone used for mixing and remastering. The most common headphone, I see in studios are the ATH-M50 and SRH-840s.

Bass: It is there, present and just about right for a variety of tracks such as rock, hiphop, jazz, RnB, acoustic. But, if you are a basshead, this might not be for you. Bass is not deep as the ATH-M50s and the pacing is not as fast. This headphone will suffer from house music and dubstep. 

Mids: Now this is HD25s cream, the mids are very revealing, it is an ENG headphone after all, it will be unforgiving on bad recorded tracks as you will hear all the pops on the vocals. This is great if you like absolute precision when mixing. And, those who love vocals will definitely enjoy this.

Highs: Average, rolled-off in some tunes, very common in studio headphones. Purposely done, not to fatigue your ears for long listening session.

Design and Comfort: HD25s are a ruggedly designed headphones, they are used almost everywhere by professionals. It is a favorite among DJs because of its isolation. This headphone can cancel out 20db of noise, better than those noise-cancelling headphones with batteries. Standing right into a noisy washing machine, I can't hear a thing with only 60% volume from an iPod, that's amazing. With isolation, you lose comfort. But in my case, I find this headphone very comfortable, the padding are well-balanced to distribute the clamping force of the band.

If you have a small ear, then it be uncomfortable. For medium and large ears, they'll be comfy since they will sit just on the inner side of the ear. Build quality is very good, plastics are tough, but not as polished as say Audio-Technicas. The plastics on the HD-25s are unpolished and raw. But, since I own this for 10 years, they are very reliable.

Split band will secure the headphone better, although, I'm not a fan of it. I use them as a single band. Also, there are a lot of aftermarket parts for this headphone, no worrying in breaking them. Replaceable ear cups, headband, cables with different flavors, ear pads and more.

Overall: The past 10 years, nothing has changed. But, this little headphone will continue to wow new enthusiasts and it will continue on production forever. If there is something to improve, it is to polish the plastic make it look more presentable and classy. Overall, it is still a highly recommended headphone, and it is my favorite DJ headphone for the clubs and commute.