Sennheiser HD205
This is a much-needed review of the relatively new HD205 headphones. It’s not so much a replacement for the 201 or 202 as it is meant to be a step up in Sennheiser’s lineup.
Quick Specs:
Response: 14-20,000 Hz
Impediance: 32 ohm
Sensitivity: 112 dB
Design and Build:
Frame is the same as the HD215 (from before the 205’s time) but the cups appear to be a new design for 2006 (similar to the 415 and 435 also released this year). This has complications with it but I'll get to that later.
It uses a single-sided cord coming out of the left cup, and the right cup can swivel out for some reason, supposedly for previewing sound to go along with the DJ theme I guess. A gimmick mostly, I don't find it very useful, but then I'm not a DJ...
The structure is quite strong, the design is closed, and it isolates very well. You won't be hearing anything outside of the unit. These make for a good portable headphone.
Comparison:
The best I've got to compare with these headphones (which I got for my dad) are the Sennheiser eH350. For those unfamiliar, the eH350s are the spiritual successor to the much-popular and discontinued HD497. Unfortunately there is a significant price difference between these, I got the HD205 for $45 and the eH350 for about $60.
I like the method of comparing headphones song-by-song, and then talking on the overall sound of the headphone. We'll go by genre, but first a description of the inherent differences in design and emphasis of the two headphones.
First it's very likely that either headphone will appeal to completely different needs. The eH350 can work as a portable headphone, it uses the very common "arch-band" design (as I like to call it) where the top of the headband is elegantly curved and the drivers are detachable. The wires are also replaceable, so the headphone is very durable. The only thing that would make it unappealing as a portable headphone is its open design. Both headphones are very easy to drive, however the HD205 is meant for different genres of music than the eH350. It's very bass heavy, while the eH350 is more treble-focused with an emphasis on extension and detail. The HD205 is a closed headphone, so it will tend to sound more up front and intimate than the airy and open eH350. The results of these different attitudes you'll see below, when I evaluate how either headphone sounds in different genres (and songs).
Test system is my computer. Most music is MP3s, which reflects what the average person would be listening to with these level of headphones, especially under portable circumstances. I'm running foobar 2000 v1.92, kernal sampling (or sometimes bit accurate mode in the sound card drivers) with 96KHz resampling (ultra mode), under 24-bit mode. Phones are connected directly to an Audigy 2 Value (from the ZS generation) sound card, volume is set at 65%.
Classical
George Carlaw - Air
-HD205 - A tad muffled. The HD205 lacks a lot of soundstage to make classical music sound airy (excuse the pun) and give it the desired presence. The HD205 is more in-your-face, which is not particularly suited for this genre in general. However, instrument placement is noticeable, certain elements like stringed instruments sound distinctly behind the wind instruments. You also get just a little of the underlying details such as at the beginning with the piano, hearing the pedals being pressed and such. Stringed instruments have a lot of warmth and fullness to them, which is good.
-eH350 - Much more open, extended, light, restrained, quite the opposite of the HD205 (which makes this interesting for me). Less emphasis on the little details such as the aforementioned pedals, but you do hear people breathing in more. The eH350 is more quiet, literally. But when the volume of the music perks up the eH350 does rise to the occasion suitably. Slightly dryer than the HD205s. MUCH more emphasis on the higher end of the spectrum. Stringed instruments have so much texture to them, that it's almost like the headphones really wake up when they're playing. The cellos are deep, but overall there is a bit less fullness.
Jazz
Frank Sinatra - Fly Me to the Moon
-HD205 – A surprising amount of atmosphere, echo effect is pronounced, possibly because of the extra volume. The background static as mentioned below can still be heard. The initial drumming at the very start has a lot of thump to it, which helps with the presentation of the song. The extra bass really helps with the beat of the song, and the bass line. The blasting trumpets are just slightly less climatic than the eH350.
-eH350 - Everything has a lot of texture to it, especially his voice. It borders on graininess (but not as bad as all that). You hear static from the bad recording in the background before the background instrumentals really kick in. The big band trumpets are really loud with lots of presence. A lot of airiness which is good.
Cowboy Bebop – Tank!
-HD205 – Very good headphone for this song. Trumpets sound great, bass contributes nicely to the song, and you can hear airiness where there needs to be (such as when the bongos are playing). You really get the sense of the old school big band jazz style of the song with these. Sax sounds a tad recessed though. The whole song just sounds like a mess, which is entirely the intention of it (in other words this is a positive).
-eH350 – The texture and detail is there again with this one, the cello (or whatever it is) at the beginning sounds excellent, very detailed. The airiness is present too, but less forced, more natural. Elements of the song sound further apart, more separated. Everything sounds very real, almost live. Substantially less bass, but the song is still fun in its own way with this headphone. The sax is more appreciated here, partly due to how the surrounding elements sound (and the separation). The bongos aren’t as noticeable during the really noisy parts with this headphone. This headphone isn’t as well in tune with the intended style of the song.
Blues
Renee Olstead – A Love That Will Last
-HD205 – Bass is a tad overwhelming, strings sound a bit more fake. Her voice sounds more like it’s coming out a speaker, sort of conditioned (by the headphone). It sounds less open, very little airiness, and more in-your-face, which doesn’t suit this song. I have a crappy MP3 version of this and the FLAC rip from the CD, and they almost sound the same; the loudness takes away from the dynamics.
-eH350 – Her voice sounds very good. Strings also sound good, and ambience is very natural and airy, and the rhythmic brushing in the background has a nice presence. The piano sounds very real here. More detail. The FLAC sounds much better than the MP3. The nod goes to the eH350 for this song.
Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why
-HD205 – Dynamics are better with this example. In other Norah Jones songs, the bass can be overwhelming, but not with this one. Voice is nicely restrained, not simply loud and in your head.
-eH350 – More detail. Her voice sounds more natural. The bass line is pushed back more, and more precise, with a lot less volume and punch. More dynamics, when her voice raises, you feel it more, it seems to have more emotional significance. For a brief moment cymbals go off and you notice it more, there’s more treble sparkle and extension.
Dance/techno
ATB – A Fine Night Tonight
-HD205 – Wow, the bass… It really pounds on your ears, not sure I like it. The treble is rolled off in comparison to the eH350. It has the feeling that it’s being played in a much smaller room, which doesn’t necessarily suit this song. The bass gets a bit more tolerable as time goes on, and other elements of the song start playing. I’d say the mids have more loudness, the echo effect, while not as natural, is surprisingly more present, so that shows that the phone has flexibility with genres of music. Separation is about the same as the eH350, but detail is either there or it isn’t, the headphone doesn’t accentuate it any, or actively bring it out. Bass isn’t as deep, just extremely punchy, which makes it feel shallow.
-eH350 – In general, not an ideal headphone for this genre of music. However, my eH350s have over a thousand hours of use, and therefore the bass presence is a lot more apparent than when you hear it out of the box. The bass is precise here, and surprisingly punchy. It also has good depth which I think helps in making it satisfying enough. The treble also has nice precision, and really brings sparkle to the song. Despite this being a relatively slow headphone, the rhythm is good here. The open and airiness is great for the ambience of this song, the echo effects especially applied to the female voice. The main synthesized theme also sounds good. Sounds sort of meld together, but I’m listening to it on these before I’ve heard it on the HD205, so it might be worse there.
Kraftwerk – Popcorn
-HD205 – Now it should be noted I don’t have a good copy of this song, it’s highly compressed, no dynamics to speak of, just loud and raunchy, with teeth-grinding treble. However, it’s a fun song, and a good techno example. I had to lower the volume some to listen to it though. The rolled off highs of the headphone don’t make the highs in the song as bad (they’re still bad), so points for the headphone attempting to redeem the MP3’s faults. It’s hard to pick out details in this song because of the compression, but there’s more to the bass rhythm that’s noticeable on the eH350, on the HD205 you just get the main punch of the beat. The backup synthesizers are hardly noticeable, so the song has less layers. Overall, it’s just OK. Nothing special.
-eH350 – The extension of the highs of this headphone is really brought out by this song. It goes HIGH, it’s impressive, and slightly icy at the same time (because of the overwhelming treble presence of the song itself). Synthesizers sound a whole lot better, because of the way this headphone brings out details, the compression is more tolerable on this song. The “spiraling” back up synthesizers in between the chorus iterations are a lot more mystifying and enjoyable. The bass is more enjoyable to me, the depth and precision to me is better than punch (possibly because the eH350s are my main headphone, and I’ve grown so used to them). Now some people may not agree with that approach for this genre of music, so this is up to you.
Rock
Muse – Assassin
-HD205 – Upfront and in-your-face presentation suits rock better. Feels slower though. Drums have major volume. His voice sounds pushed back from the instruments, which I don’t prefer. The punchy bass is OK, but easily overwhelming on a rock song like this. But again, the unfront presentation does make it fun. Doesn’t multitask as well. Now, while the voice is somewhat subdued, the treble sounds of his mouth when forming S’s and T sounds jumps out, which doesn’t make for an even and consistent presentation.
-eH350 – Surprising speed on this one. Everything together feels very dynamic on this headphone. As typical, this headphone doesn’t excel in shoving it in your face, the presentation is more laid back. Still very enjoyable. Again, the ability to bring out detail and treble extension makes things feel more layered. The depth of the bass gives it meat, and its pushed back presence suits this genre much better. Stereo effect sounds good.
Filter – Hey Man Nice Shot
HD205 – Beginning mike sounds sound more like they’re coming out of an amp (karaoke, or whatever), so the sound rings truer to its intention, and that continues for the rest of it as well. The drum beat in the beginning has a nice punch. Overall it’s like this headphone was made for this song. And wow, when the guitars start roaring, the upfront presentation and loud mids makes it very cool and exciting. Not quick though. Luckily none of the treble jumps out like the last song. The presentation is just perfect for this song, laid back when it needs to be, upfront when it needs to be. And this is the one rock song where punchy bass is appreciated. It also multitasks well with this example. Just great synergy.
eH350 – The beginning sound effects and such have good ambience and more ghostly presence, so that also rings true to the intentions. The bass is deep, and when the kickdrum hits you know it, but overall less punchiness with the drums. The ambience is somewhat lost when the singing starts. The roaring guitars have a lot of treble, they’re loud, but less midrange presence, not as exciting as with the HD205 (more hollow). The treble extension comes out again in this song, but unfortunately it doesn’t suit the music as well, it just creates piercing loudness. More detail, a bit more speed, but it just doesn’t “get” the presentation like the HD205 did.
Rap
DMX – Party Up
HD205 – WAY better than the eH350. The punchiness of the bass is massive, it helps the voice in sounding tough and authoritive. The treble of the whistling blowing and such effects just isn’t there, and so it doesn’t hurt the song. Instead you’ve got the emphasis on the mids, which is much better suited. Speech intelligibility is good, so that advantage on the eH350 isn’t really standout. Because the headphone is closed, it sounds more like it’s in a room, again, much better suited for this song. The eH350 is just completely shot down by the performance of the HD205 with this song.
eH350 – Doesn’t suit this song. The treble pierces, his voice doesn’t sound big and tough, bass is deep, but much too recessed. Airiness doesn’t suit it either. Detail helps with speech intelligibility, but that’s a small point that doesn’t make up for the drawbacks.
Nelly – Country Grammar
HD205 – This song will make the HD205 sound like a freakin subwoofer, because of the deep, reverberating bass of the song. Tonality of some of the musical effects is good, but they lack presence, the voice and bass is pretty much all you really hear. I wish there was more treble, the mids call all the shots with this one.
eH350 – Unlike the previous song, this doesn’t work the upper bass, this works the deeper levels, and that’s what the eH350 does well. Sound effects, tunes and rifts sprinkled here and there in the song sound really good, detailed, sparkly, with excellent tone and presence. This also adds to the ambience, which alone is something the eH350 does well, and that gives the song a magical quality that doesn’t hurt this particular rap song. The balanced nature of the frequency response doesn’t actually hurt the song surprisingly. SO much more treble than the HD205, which adds to the aforementioned sparkle and also speech intelligibility. I guess when the HD205 has to deal with a lot of bass, it pretty much drops treble altogether. The bass is a lot more present in this song on the eH350 than Party Up, but still so much more lacking after hearing it out of the HD205, and a tad disappointing.
General Notes:
Now I’ve talked about how much the bass stands out in a lot of music with the HD205, but this wasn’t really put into perspective until we got a pair of HD212 Pro in the mail for my sister. I knew the HD212 Pro were known for having somewhat overwhelming bass, and the response in the lower register on graphs at HeadRoom was off the charts, so I was expecting to be blown away by the bass. I was surprised to find that in actuality the HD205 were MUCH bassier than the HD212 Pro. This really showed me what we were dealing with here, the HD205 could be equated to the subwoofers of the mainstream headphone world. In other ranges the HD212 Pro were much more similar to my eH350 (possibly due to the very similar housing design) than they were to the HD205, even though from what I could gather they were both designed with the same goals in mind, a closed, traveling headphone with oomph to appeal to mainstream music listeners. The HD212 Pro doesn’t have the even bass (in relation to the other frequencies) that I’d call natural sounding like the eH350, but it’s still much more balanced than the HD205.
One of the first things we noticed when we got the HD205 was that it sounded louder than the eH350. More efficient, perhaps? (It should be noted that the HD212 Pro was noticeably less efficient than either of the other two.) After reviewing the sound I’ve come to the conclusion that this may only be part of the equation, really it’s the presentation that gives it that impression. The HD205 is more up-front in general, giving more sounds equal reign and giving a sort of “loudness” effect. The cups have tremendous isolation as well, allowing very little sound to escape, focusing more of it into your ears.
The comfort is a bit of a problem. This is not a headphone you can leave on your head for long hours, not without some serious loosening up first. This isn’t an issue though for a headphone intended for short periods of listening, such as at the gym, on the bus, traveling, or outside on a jog or a walk. The headband is shaped somewhat triangularly, flattened at the top, with relatively little padding on the inside. Unless you’ve got a boxy-shaped skull, this will become noticeably uncomfortable (and often painful) after less than an hour, where then you’ll be forced to shift it or take it off entirely. Because of the aforementioned triangular shape, the drivers come in at an angle, and the cups don’t have a lot of room to move or pivot. This results in the cups being forced on your ears at an awkward position. Like most headphones, it’s understandable that straight out of the box they’ll have quite a strong grip on your head. Unfortunately even after using them for over a month they still feel like a vice. Unlike the “arch-band” design, the headband on the HD205 has a much thicker build, making breaking in and loosening the fit much more difficult. On the bright side it would take a drop from the Empire State onto solid concrete to damage these headphones (I don’t condone you trying this).
Conclusion:
In my opinion the eH350 is better, it’s more refined, detailed, extended, and capable of more multitasking than the HD205. It’s also more expensive than the HD205, and positioned at a higher level in the lineup. But the eH350 also suits me more, and my tastes in both sound and the genres of music I listen to. It’s also what I’m used to.
The HD205 is a completely different animal, it appeals to a completely different kind of consumer, completely different kinds of music, and seemingly does everything well that the eH350 can’t do well, and doesn’t do well what the eH350 excels at, so by definition they are polar opposites. But in some cases neither headphone does things better than the other, they simply do it differently, and it’s up to you which approach you would prefer.
Looking over the results the HD205 generally does rap better, and I’m sure R&B better too. It does rock well, in fact for the most part better than the eH350 even if the eH350 is faster, because of the attention to the mids and upfront presentation – it’s just got more fun factor. Dance could go either way, if all you care about is punch, you’ll prefer the HD205. If you like good detail and balanced presentation, with excellent sounding synthesizers and ambience, deep and precise bass, the eH350 would suit you better for that genre.
I’d say pretty much anything acoustic, orchestrated, with strings, brass, and female voices in genres such as classical, jazz, blues, orchestrated movie soundtracks such as those by John Williams, the eH350 is better. That’s simply its realm, what it was made for.
I realize because of the price difference these aren’t the most likely contenders a prospective buyer will be deciding between, and therefore this comparison isn't extremely valid among most people. I’m simply making the comparison because the eH350 was what I had on hand (didn’t get the HD212 Pro until later), and it was fun comparing them because of how different their designs are. One might be deciding whether or not go make the jump from the HD201 or 202 to the HD205, or they might be deciding between the HD205 and the Beyerdynamic DT231, or the AKG K26P. The K81 DJ or the Grado SR60 would be better competition for the eH350. In any of those cases I couldn’t help you, but I hope you find that this review still gives you an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the HD205 when put against tough competition, and the nature of its sound and what genres it does well.
Happy listening!
This is a much-needed review of the relatively new HD205 headphones. It’s not so much a replacement for the 201 or 202 as it is meant to be a step up in Sennheiser’s lineup.
Quick Specs:
Response: 14-20,000 Hz
Impediance: 32 ohm
Sensitivity: 112 dB
Design and Build:
Frame is the same as the HD215 (from before the 205’s time) but the cups appear to be a new design for 2006 (similar to the 415 and 435 also released this year). This has complications with it but I'll get to that later.
It uses a single-sided cord coming out of the left cup, and the right cup can swivel out for some reason, supposedly for previewing sound to go along with the DJ theme I guess. A gimmick mostly, I don't find it very useful, but then I'm not a DJ...
The structure is quite strong, the design is closed, and it isolates very well. You won't be hearing anything outside of the unit. These make for a good portable headphone.
Comparison:
The best I've got to compare with these headphones (which I got for my dad) are the Sennheiser eH350. For those unfamiliar, the eH350s are the spiritual successor to the much-popular and discontinued HD497. Unfortunately there is a significant price difference between these, I got the HD205 for $45 and the eH350 for about $60.
I like the method of comparing headphones song-by-song, and then talking on the overall sound of the headphone. We'll go by genre, but first a description of the inherent differences in design and emphasis of the two headphones.
First it's very likely that either headphone will appeal to completely different needs. The eH350 can work as a portable headphone, it uses the very common "arch-band" design (as I like to call it) where the top of the headband is elegantly curved and the drivers are detachable. The wires are also replaceable, so the headphone is very durable. The only thing that would make it unappealing as a portable headphone is its open design. Both headphones are very easy to drive, however the HD205 is meant for different genres of music than the eH350. It's very bass heavy, while the eH350 is more treble-focused with an emphasis on extension and detail. The HD205 is a closed headphone, so it will tend to sound more up front and intimate than the airy and open eH350. The results of these different attitudes you'll see below, when I evaluate how either headphone sounds in different genres (and songs).
Test system is my computer. Most music is MP3s, which reflects what the average person would be listening to with these level of headphones, especially under portable circumstances. I'm running foobar 2000 v1.92, kernal sampling (or sometimes bit accurate mode in the sound card drivers) with 96KHz resampling (ultra mode), under 24-bit mode. Phones are connected directly to an Audigy 2 Value (from the ZS generation) sound card, volume is set at 65%.
Classical
George Carlaw - Air
-HD205 - A tad muffled. The HD205 lacks a lot of soundstage to make classical music sound airy (excuse the pun) and give it the desired presence. The HD205 is more in-your-face, which is not particularly suited for this genre in general. However, instrument placement is noticeable, certain elements like stringed instruments sound distinctly behind the wind instruments. You also get just a little of the underlying details such as at the beginning with the piano, hearing the pedals being pressed and such. Stringed instruments have a lot of warmth and fullness to them, which is good.
-eH350 - Much more open, extended, light, restrained, quite the opposite of the HD205 (which makes this interesting for me). Less emphasis on the little details such as the aforementioned pedals, but you do hear people breathing in more. The eH350 is more quiet, literally. But when the volume of the music perks up the eH350 does rise to the occasion suitably. Slightly dryer than the HD205s. MUCH more emphasis on the higher end of the spectrum. Stringed instruments have so much texture to them, that it's almost like the headphones really wake up when they're playing. The cellos are deep, but overall there is a bit less fullness.
Jazz
Frank Sinatra - Fly Me to the Moon
-HD205 – A surprising amount of atmosphere, echo effect is pronounced, possibly because of the extra volume. The background static as mentioned below can still be heard. The initial drumming at the very start has a lot of thump to it, which helps with the presentation of the song. The extra bass really helps with the beat of the song, and the bass line. The blasting trumpets are just slightly less climatic than the eH350.
-eH350 - Everything has a lot of texture to it, especially his voice. It borders on graininess (but not as bad as all that). You hear static from the bad recording in the background before the background instrumentals really kick in. The big band trumpets are really loud with lots of presence. A lot of airiness which is good.
Cowboy Bebop – Tank!
-HD205 – Very good headphone for this song. Trumpets sound great, bass contributes nicely to the song, and you can hear airiness where there needs to be (such as when the bongos are playing). You really get the sense of the old school big band jazz style of the song with these. Sax sounds a tad recessed though. The whole song just sounds like a mess, which is entirely the intention of it (in other words this is a positive).
-eH350 – The texture and detail is there again with this one, the cello (or whatever it is) at the beginning sounds excellent, very detailed. The airiness is present too, but less forced, more natural. Elements of the song sound further apart, more separated. Everything sounds very real, almost live. Substantially less bass, but the song is still fun in its own way with this headphone. The sax is more appreciated here, partly due to how the surrounding elements sound (and the separation). The bongos aren’t as noticeable during the really noisy parts with this headphone. This headphone isn’t as well in tune with the intended style of the song.
Blues
Renee Olstead – A Love That Will Last
-HD205 – Bass is a tad overwhelming, strings sound a bit more fake. Her voice sounds more like it’s coming out a speaker, sort of conditioned (by the headphone). It sounds less open, very little airiness, and more in-your-face, which doesn’t suit this song. I have a crappy MP3 version of this and the FLAC rip from the CD, and they almost sound the same; the loudness takes away from the dynamics.
-eH350 – Her voice sounds very good. Strings also sound good, and ambience is very natural and airy, and the rhythmic brushing in the background has a nice presence. The piano sounds very real here. More detail. The FLAC sounds much better than the MP3. The nod goes to the eH350 for this song.
Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why
-HD205 – Dynamics are better with this example. In other Norah Jones songs, the bass can be overwhelming, but not with this one. Voice is nicely restrained, not simply loud and in your head.
-eH350 – More detail. Her voice sounds more natural. The bass line is pushed back more, and more precise, with a lot less volume and punch. More dynamics, when her voice raises, you feel it more, it seems to have more emotional significance. For a brief moment cymbals go off and you notice it more, there’s more treble sparkle and extension.
Dance/techno
ATB – A Fine Night Tonight
-HD205 – Wow, the bass… It really pounds on your ears, not sure I like it. The treble is rolled off in comparison to the eH350. It has the feeling that it’s being played in a much smaller room, which doesn’t necessarily suit this song. The bass gets a bit more tolerable as time goes on, and other elements of the song start playing. I’d say the mids have more loudness, the echo effect, while not as natural, is surprisingly more present, so that shows that the phone has flexibility with genres of music. Separation is about the same as the eH350, but detail is either there or it isn’t, the headphone doesn’t accentuate it any, or actively bring it out. Bass isn’t as deep, just extremely punchy, which makes it feel shallow.
-eH350 – In general, not an ideal headphone for this genre of music. However, my eH350s have over a thousand hours of use, and therefore the bass presence is a lot more apparent than when you hear it out of the box. The bass is precise here, and surprisingly punchy. It also has good depth which I think helps in making it satisfying enough. The treble also has nice precision, and really brings sparkle to the song. Despite this being a relatively slow headphone, the rhythm is good here. The open and airiness is great for the ambience of this song, the echo effects especially applied to the female voice. The main synthesized theme also sounds good. Sounds sort of meld together, but I’m listening to it on these before I’ve heard it on the HD205, so it might be worse there.
Kraftwerk – Popcorn
-HD205 – Now it should be noted I don’t have a good copy of this song, it’s highly compressed, no dynamics to speak of, just loud and raunchy, with teeth-grinding treble. However, it’s a fun song, and a good techno example. I had to lower the volume some to listen to it though. The rolled off highs of the headphone don’t make the highs in the song as bad (they’re still bad), so points for the headphone attempting to redeem the MP3’s faults. It’s hard to pick out details in this song because of the compression, but there’s more to the bass rhythm that’s noticeable on the eH350, on the HD205 you just get the main punch of the beat. The backup synthesizers are hardly noticeable, so the song has less layers. Overall, it’s just OK. Nothing special.
-eH350 – The extension of the highs of this headphone is really brought out by this song. It goes HIGH, it’s impressive, and slightly icy at the same time (because of the overwhelming treble presence of the song itself). Synthesizers sound a whole lot better, because of the way this headphone brings out details, the compression is more tolerable on this song. The “spiraling” back up synthesizers in between the chorus iterations are a lot more mystifying and enjoyable. The bass is more enjoyable to me, the depth and precision to me is better than punch (possibly because the eH350s are my main headphone, and I’ve grown so used to them). Now some people may not agree with that approach for this genre of music, so this is up to you.
Rock
Muse – Assassin
-HD205 – Upfront and in-your-face presentation suits rock better. Feels slower though. Drums have major volume. His voice sounds pushed back from the instruments, which I don’t prefer. The punchy bass is OK, but easily overwhelming on a rock song like this. But again, the unfront presentation does make it fun. Doesn’t multitask as well. Now, while the voice is somewhat subdued, the treble sounds of his mouth when forming S’s and T sounds jumps out, which doesn’t make for an even and consistent presentation.
-eH350 – Surprising speed on this one. Everything together feels very dynamic on this headphone. As typical, this headphone doesn’t excel in shoving it in your face, the presentation is more laid back. Still very enjoyable. Again, the ability to bring out detail and treble extension makes things feel more layered. The depth of the bass gives it meat, and its pushed back presence suits this genre much better. Stereo effect sounds good.
Filter – Hey Man Nice Shot
HD205 – Beginning mike sounds sound more like they’re coming out of an amp (karaoke, or whatever), so the sound rings truer to its intention, and that continues for the rest of it as well. The drum beat in the beginning has a nice punch. Overall it’s like this headphone was made for this song. And wow, when the guitars start roaring, the upfront presentation and loud mids makes it very cool and exciting. Not quick though. Luckily none of the treble jumps out like the last song. The presentation is just perfect for this song, laid back when it needs to be, upfront when it needs to be. And this is the one rock song where punchy bass is appreciated. It also multitasks well with this example. Just great synergy.
eH350 – The beginning sound effects and such have good ambience and more ghostly presence, so that also rings true to the intentions. The bass is deep, and when the kickdrum hits you know it, but overall less punchiness with the drums. The ambience is somewhat lost when the singing starts. The roaring guitars have a lot of treble, they’re loud, but less midrange presence, not as exciting as with the HD205 (more hollow). The treble extension comes out again in this song, but unfortunately it doesn’t suit the music as well, it just creates piercing loudness. More detail, a bit more speed, but it just doesn’t “get” the presentation like the HD205 did.
Rap
DMX – Party Up
HD205 – WAY better than the eH350. The punchiness of the bass is massive, it helps the voice in sounding tough and authoritive. The treble of the whistling blowing and such effects just isn’t there, and so it doesn’t hurt the song. Instead you’ve got the emphasis on the mids, which is much better suited. Speech intelligibility is good, so that advantage on the eH350 isn’t really standout. Because the headphone is closed, it sounds more like it’s in a room, again, much better suited for this song. The eH350 is just completely shot down by the performance of the HD205 with this song.
eH350 – Doesn’t suit this song. The treble pierces, his voice doesn’t sound big and tough, bass is deep, but much too recessed. Airiness doesn’t suit it either. Detail helps with speech intelligibility, but that’s a small point that doesn’t make up for the drawbacks.
Nelly – Country Grammar
HD205 – This song will make the HD205 sound like a freakin subwoofer, because of the deep, reverberating bass of the song. Tonality of some of the musical effects is good, but they lack presence, the voice and bass is pretty much all you really hear. I wish there was more treble, the mids call all the shots with this one.
eH350 – Unlike the previous song, this doesn’t work the upper bass, this works the deeper levels, and that’s what the eH350 does well. Sound effects, tunes and rifts sprinkled here and there in the song sound really good, detailed, sparkly, with excellent tone and presence. This also adds to the ambience, which alone is something the eH350 does well, and that gives the song a magical quality that doesn’t hurt this particular rap song. The balanced nature of the frequency response doesn’t actually hurt the song surprisingly. SO much more treble than the HD205, which adds to the aforementioned sparkle and also speech intelligibility. I guess when the HD205 has to deal with a lot of bass, it pretty much drops treble altogether. The bass is a lot more present in this song on the eH350 than Party Up, but still so much more lacking after hearing it out of the HD205, and a tad disappointing.
General Notes:
Now I’ve talked about how much the bass stands out in a lot of music with the HD205, but this wasn’t really put into perspective until we got a pair of HD212 Pro in the mail for my sister. I knew the HD212 Pro were known for having somewhat overwhelming bass, and the response in the lower register on graphs at HeadRoom was off the charts, so I was expecting to be blown away by the bass. I was surprised to find that in actuality the HD205 were MUCH bassier than the HD212 Pro. This really showed me what we were dealing with here, the HD205 could be equated to the subwoofers of the mainstream headphone world. In other ranges the HD212 Pro were much more similar to my eH350 (possibly due to the very similar housing design) than they were to the HD205, even though from what I could gather they were both designed with the same goals in mind, a closed, traveling headphone with oomph to appeal to mainstream music listeners. The HD212 Pro doesn’t have the even bass (in relation to the other frequencies) that I’d call natural sounding like the eH350, but it’s still much more balanced than the HD205.
One of the first things we noticed when we got the HD205 was that it sounded louder than the eH350. More efficient, perhaps? (It should be noted that the HD212 Pro was noticeably less efficient than either of the other two.) After reviewing the sound I’ve come to the conclusion that this may only be part of the equation, really it’s the presentation that gives it that impression. The HD205 is more up-front in general, giving more sounds equal reign and giving a sort of “loudness” effect. The cups have tremendous isolation as well, allowing very little sound to escape, focusing more of it into your ears.
The comfort is a bit of a problem. This is not a headphone you can leave on your head for long hours, not without some serious loosening up first. This isn’t an issue though for a headphone intended for short periods of listening, such as at the gym, on the bus, traveling, or outside on a jog or a walk. The headband is shaped somewhat triangularly, flattened at the top, with relatively little padding on the inside. Unless you’ve got a boxy-shaped skull, this will become noticeably uncomfortable (and often painful) after less than an hour, where then you’ll be forced to shift it or take it off entirely. Because of the aforementioned triangular shape, the drivers come in at an angle, and the cups don’t have a lot of room to move or pivot. This results in the cups being forced on your ears at an awkward position. Like most headphones, it’s understandable that straight out of the box they’ll have quite a strong grip on your head. Unfortunately even after using them for over a month they still feel like a vice. Unlike the “arch-band” design, the headband on the HD205 has a much thicker build, making breaking in and loosening the fit much more difficult. On the bright side it would take a drop from the Empire State onto solid concrete to damage these headphones (I don’t condone you trying this).
Conclusion:
In my opinion the eH350 is better, it’s more refined, detailed, extended, and capable of more multitasking than the HD205. It’s also more expensive than the HD205, and positioned at a higher level in the lineup. But the eH350 also suits me more, and my tastes in both sound and the genres of music I listen to. It’s also what I’m used to.
The HD205 is a completely different animal, it appeals to a completely different kind of consumer, completely different kinds of music, and seemingly does everything well that the eH350 can’t do well, and doesn’t do well what the eH350 excels at, so by definition they are polar opposites. But in some cases neither headphone does things better than the other, they simply do it differently, and it’s up to you which approach you would prefer.
Looking over the results the HD205 generally does rap better, and I’m sure R&B better too. It does rock well, in fact for the most part better than the eH350 even if the eH350 is faster, because of the attention to the mids and upfront presentation – it’s just got more fun factor. Dance could go either way, if all you care about is punch, you’ll prefer the HD205. If you like good detail and balanced presentation, with excellent sounding synthesizers and ambience, deep and precise bass, the eH350 would suit you better for that genre.
I’d say pretty much anything acoustic, orchestrated, with strings, brass, and female voices in genres such as classical, jazz, blues, orchestrated movie soundtracks such as those by John Williams, the eH350 is better. That’s simply its realm, what it was made for.
I realize because of the price difference these aren’t the most likely contenders a prospective buyer will be deciding between, and therefore this comparison isn't extremely valid among most people. I’m simply making the comparison because the eH350 was what I had on hand (didn’t get the HD212 Pro until later), and it was fun comparing them because of how different their designs are. One might be deciding whether or not go make the jump from the HD201 or 202 to the HD205, or they might be deciding between the HD205 and the Beyerdynamic DT231, or the AKG K26P. The K81 DJ or the Grado SR60 would be better competition for the eH350. In any of those cases I couldn’t help you, but I hope you find that this review still gives you an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the HD205 when put against tough competition, and the nature of its sound and what genres it does well.
Happy listening!
