I've owned 2 pairs of these headphones over the past 10 years so feel I've gotten to know them pretty well. Apart from the cheaper SP version these are the only decent headphones above a budget level that I've really tried.
Looks
I don't think this headphone is for the fashion conscious but they do have a cool look of its own in an industry standard geeky DJ kind of a way.
Durability
This is a mixed bag for me although maybe it is harsh to complain about a pair of headphones that last so long. Overall they are pretty indestructible and I regularly take them to the gym and put them in there and take them everywhere without a second thought. You don't need to treat them nicely for fear they will break. I've never had any problems with the headbands or drivers. However there is a fundamental design flaw with this product that has occurred with both of my units and is well documented by other users. After a while (often many years) one of the cups will develop issues with intermittent sound requiring you to wiggle the connector cable to try to make it work again on a regular basis. The problem is that the spring inside the ear cup which the headphone connector is placed inside become faulty. If it wasn't for this i'm pretty sure they would last forever which I doubt sennheiser would want - they want you to buy another set. I'm sure it could be easily remedied if they slightly altered the design.
Replacement Parts
It's a positive that so much of the headphone is user replaceable. However, although readily available, they are also ridiculously expensive such as the £40 price tag for a new cable.
Comfort
There are definitely not the most comfortable headphones out of the box. They exert a significant amount of pressure on your ears although the do loosen up after a time and become comfortable. That coupled with their lightweight design does mean when they have broken in I do find the comfortable to wear for sustained periods.
Impedance
These do go very loud when using a dj mixer, a sound card or my macbook pro laptop. When using portable devices such as android phones I find that they are only just loud enough for me so I need to push the gain of my music app to its maximum before distortion to get the level I desire. They are loud enough to use but I would prefer quite a bit more headroom so I would only half recommend them for portable devices. Something designed to be so portable and durable really should have been updated to be more compatible with phones and portable music players.
Sound
I do like the sound and they offer excellent isolation. They sound exciting but a bit harsh in the highs and boomy in the bass. They have almost a dark sound and sound very full and not at all tinny. I wouldn't call the neutral. They are great for djing especially since the kick is emphasised in the low mids but for producing I'm not convinced. When mixing with them I find I tend to end up with mixes that are dark in tone, overblown in the bass and quite dull and lifeless in the highs. I really find it hard to make informed decisions about what is happening in the low end and mix the bass and kick particularly. Maybe high end harshness is part of the problem that leaves me with dull mixes.
Conclusion
I need to replace these now and I am tempted to get another pair because they are very versatile in that you can use them for djing, sport, sound design, and to a limited extent mixing. They are also durable, lightweight and comfortable after a while of breaking them in. However I can't help want more from them - a pair that are more comfortable from the outset, that I can reliably mix on and that don't develop a fault after so many years with the ear cup connectors. Maybe I should buy these for recreational/dj use and then another pair for mixing as I could end up disappointed trying to improve on them.
Looks
I don't think this headphone is for the fashion conscious but they do have a cool look of its own in an industry standard geeky DJ kind of a way.
Durability
This is a mixed bag for me although maybe it is harsh to complain about a pair of headphones that last so long. Overall they are pretty indestructible and I regularly take them to the gym and put them in there and take them everywhere without a second thought. You don't need to treat them nicely for fear they will break. I've never had any problems with the headbands or drivers. However there is a fundamental design flaw with this product that has occurred with both of my units and is well documented by other users. After a while (often many years) one of the cups will develop issues with intermittent sound requiring you to wiggle the connector cable to try to make it work again on a regular basis. The problem is that the spring inside the ear cup which the headphone connector is placed inside become faulty. If it wasn't for this i'm pretty sure they would last forever which I doubt sennheiser would want - they want you to buy another set. I'm sure it could be easily remedied if they slightly altered the design.
Replacement Parts
It's a positive that so much of the headphone is user replaceable. However, although readily available, they are also ridiculously expensive such as the £40 price tag for a new cable.
Comfort
There are definitely not the most comfortable headphones out of the box. They exert a significant amount of pressure on your ears although the do loosen up after a time and become comfortable. That coupled with their lightweight design does mean when they have broken in I do find the comfortable to wear for sustained periods.
Impedance
These do go very loud when using a dj mixer, a sound card or my macbook pro laptop. When using portable devices such as android phones I find that they are only just loud enough for me so I need to push the gain of my music app to its maximum before distortion to get the level I desire. They are loud enough to use but I would prefer quite a bit more headroom so I would only half recommend them for portable devices. Something designed to be so portable and durable really should have been updated to be more compatible with phones and portable music players.
Sound
I do like the sound and they offer excellent isolation. They sound exciting but a bit harsh in the highs and boomy in the bass. They have almost a dark sound and sound very full and not at all tinny. I wouldn't call the neutral. They are great for djing especially since the kick is emphasised in the low mids but for producing I'm not convinced. When mixing with them I find I tend to end up with mixes that are dark in tone, overblown in the bass and quite dull and lifeless in the highs. I really find it hard to make informed decisions about what is happening in the low end and mix the bass and kick particularly. Maybe high end harshness is part of the problem that leaves me with dull mixes.
Conclusion
I need to replace these now and I am tempted to get another pair because they are very versatile in that you can use them for djing, sport, sound design, and to a limited extent mixing. They are also durable, lightweight and comfortable after a while of breaking them in. However I can't help want more from them - a pair that are more comfortable from the outset, that I can reliably mix on and that don't develop a fault after so many years with the ear cup connectors. Maybe I should buy these for recreational/dj use and then another pair for mixing as I could end up disappointed trying to improve on them.
