Sennheiser HD 205 Headphones

skaterman665

New Head-Fier
Pros: Audio Quality is not bad at all, Style, chord length (depending on where I am),
Cons: Death grip on your head, Ear pads
 I got a pair of 205 ii's for christmas. I enjoy them quite a lot. They sound great through my setup (Asus Xonar dg 5.1 sound card --> Bravo Audio V2 w/stock tube). They sound like poo through any mobile device however. These headphones lack greatly on the comfort side of the spectrum. I can't wear them for more than an hour strait before feeling nauseous. The band is so tight it actually broke. I zip tied them back together and they are the same again, but man they squish your head. The chord is nice because I can move about my room, or I can have it wrapped up with a rubber band if I'm going to be at my desk for long periods of time. The style looks good. Very clean looking. I love the white Sennheiser logo on the band. Over all I enjoy them. Dispite all the pros, I really wish there was a way to up the comfort.
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thatBeatsguy
thatBeatsguy
Stretch the headphones over a sofa arm or even its box, then leave it there for several hours. It should loosen up that way.

Myerus

New Head-Fier
Pros: Impressive highs and lows; long cord; twistable right headphone; stylish; simple design; cheap price; noise isolation
Cons: Mids seem a bit recessed; cord gets tangled EXTREMELY easily; dislike supra aural design, uncomfortable for long wear, high clamp force
These were the first 'decent' pair of headphones that I purchased, and my sentimentality towards them may cause some amount of bias.



I found these headphones to be a bit bassy when I first bought them, but at the same time, I feel now that the amount of bass is quite reasonable. Most devices will let you manually alter the levels these days anyway.


 


I think that the rotatable right headphone feature is a bit of a gimmick, but it's somewhat handy in keeping the headphones on and being able to hear outside sounds as well, like if you're a DJ.


 


I think the sound is nice - don't get me wrong - but it is a bit of a stretch from Sennheiser's reference-quality headphones. I feel that the mids come out somewhat suppressed with these cans, but the quality of sound seems to have greatly improved since I've started using an E17 with WASAPI from my laptop playing lossless audio files.


 


It's nice that these are a bit cheaper than what I first purchased them for, and if you're looking for a somewhat portable, somewhat good, somewhat stylish and reasonably priced headphones, it would be worth looking at these.


 


The long cord is a bit of a pain though, since it is ten whole feet long! I can see how this would be effective if you were zipping aroung in a music studio with these on, turning knobs and adjusting levels, but to be honest, these aren't really good enough to be used for that application. I guess it's handy to be able to move freely around my room with these on though, so you could either love or hate the enormous, thin cord. Not to mention the painful, vice grip clamping that it comes with.


 


In summation, although the mids sound a little flat, the cord is long and the harsh clamping needs to be adjusted at home via basketball, I love these headphones, and I think you would too.
cronnin
cronnin
OK, now I'm wondering if there are fake 205's on the market because mine are exactly the opposite. The have a weak bass, and pronounced mids.

jds491r

New Head-Fier
Pros: Sound Quality, Price
Cons: Long Cord, Uncomfortable with long use.
I bought this pair Refurbished and it was an incredible deal. My first pair of real nice headphones. Overall I'm impressed. Excellent sound with great value. You can listen to almost anything with these and it'l sound right. Bass isn't overdriven and you get good highs and mids. Unfortuntely with long use it's tight on your head and can cause ear pain. The cord is extremely long which makes portability a pain in the butt. I mostly have them hooked into my Desktop though so it's all good for me. If you're just getting into audiophilia I recommend these for the man or woman on a budget. Can't go wrong with Sennheisers.
XxDobermanxX
XxDobermanxX
Seems like a good headphone for those people would love bass and want a headphone under 50 bucks(refurbished), i wonder how these stack up to the koss porta pro?

Jlox1

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Volume, Bass, Design, Value
Cons: Comfort, Cord Length (for people who use portable)
 
A few months ago I purchased a pair of Sennheiser HD201’s, I liked them enough to buy a pair of HD202’s, Which soon led me to buy their “older cousin” The Sennheiser HD205’s so far I have mostly positive comments about these headphones and I think they are a good deal for the money.

First off lets start off with the price, they retail for around 50-80 USD. I picked them up for about 21 USD off of Amazon. When I saw this ridiculously low price I knew I had to get the headphones and take one step closer to seeing what Sennheiser is really all about. My first impression of the headphone was the over look of it. I feel like the design on the headphones was well thought out although obviously modeled after their big brother the HD215’s. The all black with silver accents really adds to the style of these DJ/Home Cans. A pretty nifty feature that these cans offer is a rotatable right earcup. Which can be beneficial to both at home listeners and DJ’s, as you can lift the earcup to be able to hear outside noises better. A bag and a 1/4th in. (6.55mm) jack that screws onto the 1/8th in. (3.55mm) attached to the headphone by one very nice cord coming out of the left earcup. By the feel of the cord I felt like it was a disappointing attempt at “tangle-free” I don’t find them frequently tangling but have found them to tangle much more than other headphones with the same claim. 

On to the more “technical” side of this review. For how nice these headphones look and feel they are considerably light weighing in at just 7.3 oz. At 32 Ohms these headphones can be driven by most phones/ mp3 players. Now to the bass! I think that these headphones were made to satisfy people who listen to hip-hop, rock, RnB, etc. because the bass on these headphones is very bunch and apparent. The frequency response on these is between 14hz-20000hz meaning in all technical terms the bass doesn’t get as low as some other closed cans you can get for a price only a little, such as the Shure SRH750DJ’s that go from 5hz - 30000hz that you can be purchased for at least 109 USD. In my opinion listening Hip-Hop, RnB, and Pop, the bass is at a perfect level. If it were anymore it would be overpowering (Beats By Dr. Dre.) and if it were to low it might not be enough to satisfy an avid hip-hop listener. The actual earpads themselves are circumaural meaning although they are on-ear headphones the pad still goes around the ear, which in my opinion allows for a more clear and punchy feel to the music. It also allows for extra comfort, although I wouldn’t necessarily call these headphones “comfortable”. A comfortable headphone to me would be one I can wear for a while without any discomfort. The feeling I felt with these headphone wasn’t discomfort but at all times they felt like they were on my head. For example most comfy headphones one puts on sometimes they might not realize they are wearing them because of the comfort, and mostly because of them getting into the music they are listening to. After a good while (i’ll say one or two hours) the top of my ears started hurting from the earpads on these. 

In conclusion these more affordable cans from Sennheiser are good for several things such as home listening and DJing. The only significant issue with these headphones is they would not be recommended for portable uses considering the length of the cord and their overall size. If I had to rate this headphone 1-10 it would get a solid 8.3.

Sound Quality: 8

Comfort: 6.5

Design : 9

Value for Money : 9

Ease Of Use: 9 
 
P.S. I am an aspiring reviewer, meaning if you guys have any connections that can get companies to send me things to review that would be great.
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kiteki
kiteki
Nice review Jlox.
Something you will realise soon is that the specs of the frequency extension is usually just made up by the manufacturer.
Looking forward to your next youtube review.

SkitZ0

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: very nice sound for the price
Cons: not for bassheads, can break easily, painful to wear
These were my third pair of headphones that were of higher quality than your typical, horrible, "shouldn't-even-come-with-an-MP3-player" iPod earbuds.  You all know what I'm talking about...those white earbuds that not only hate staying in your ear, but serve a better purpose in your garbage can.  So it's only natural for someone like me to toss them aside and use a better pair of earbuds.  However, I HATE earbuds, and after realizing that I also hate noise-canceling, on-ear headphones (the comfort is non-existent with the JBL's I had), I decided to give these a pair back when I was in high school.  
 
And yes, the title is true.  I've gone through three pairs, and they're all broken.  But more on that later.
 
First off, the sound.  While I lack the knowledge of your typical audiophile linguo, I can say that these headphones are about as clear as you're going to get for the $50 I paid for them.  The newest editions (last I checked) went up 20 bucks, but you can always to go Amazon and nab a pair for around $40.  But from the JBL Reference 410(?) I had before, they were lacking in bass......a little bit.  It's there, and when you burn them in, you'll notice it.  But it's not something that's going to make your ears vibrate like crazy.  Bassheads, look elsewhere, unless you're like me and are impressed with being able to hear more than you could with your typical "basshead" cans.  Then these will be the cans that'll turn you to the dark side (or bright side.....whatever) of clarity.  Things I couldn't hear with other headphones can be heard with these.  For example, my JBL Reference 410's were very VERY bass-heavy, but while playing "Wassup (Crookers Remix)" by Diplo & Rye Rye, I couldn't hear the other melody playing because the bass drowned it out.  That wasn't the case with these cans.
 
However, when it comes to the headphones as a whole, I can't say I would buy a fourth pair.  The first pair ended up leaving the very tip of the plug into my old iPod Classic (......yea, that was fun), the second had a cord that went bad, and the third suffered the same fate.  You might say "Well why don't you just take better care of your headphones?" and make a good point.  But if you're like me and will leave them somewhere and forget where you put them, your plug might end up being bent....and bending it back is A BAD IDEA!!!......and that I learned the hard way.  The cord is also very very VERY thin, and super easy to break.  That's how I broke cans 2 & 3.  But my main reason as to why I wouldn't purchase another pair of these is the comfort.  I cannot believe how bad they press against your head.  The Audio Technica ATH-M40fs I have on right now (granted, the MSRP is more than twice the H205), are the most comfortable closed cans I have ever owned.....with the HD205's being the most uncomfortable.  I would have a pain in my ear(s) just from being on the school bus for a half-hour.  The noise-canceling, on-ear headphones I had before these were more comfortable.  Not only do they literally CLAMP to your head, but the sound leakage is HORRIBLE.  You would think that, because they're so tight on your head, they would at least keep most of the sound to themselves, right?  WRONG!  You all remember how close the seats on a school bus are, right?  Well, basically anyone sitting at least two seats away from you, in either direction, can hear what you're listening to.  Not that I personally care, but something to consider if you're one of those "I need cans that don't annoy people" type of people.
 
So overall, the sound quality, while amazing at their price point, cannot save the easy-to-damage cord, high sound-leakage, and being extremely uncomfortable.  You'd do much much better looking for something else at just a few bucks more than what you'll find them on Amazon.

atapgenteng

New Head-Fier
Pros: The plastics not look cheap, overall this body looks more expensive than hd 458
Cons: cannot perform extreme bass
This headphone looks like have better plastics build quality compared to sennheiser hd 438.
 
Sounds:
hd 205 should be a dj headphones!, but the fact this headphone cannot deliver booming bass performance. (*note: similiar with hd 438 that was claimed have powerfull bass performance, but the fact is NO!)
koolkat
koolkat
Hi atap, if you want to compare Sennheiser bass and bass on other headphones made from other brand, Sennheiser's bass might seem less powerful. My buddy's says (from personal experience) Sony has boomier bass than Sennheisers and some accounts from owners seem to confirm these as well.
It depends on what you like, really. But if you were to be a Dj or producing music, you should be going for headphones that offer the least bass enhance or treble enhance. They should have the "flattest" frequency response. Take for example a certain Mr A. He gets his bass enhancing cans on, makes music, and when his audience listens to it, it comes out less bassy. Get what I mean?
=D
atapgenteng
atapgenteng
Sorry my review do not point to music experiance, but for "movie" sound track, fx inthe studio eg: like explosions, etc
Ruben123
Ruben123
Hi there, Ive gone to 4 of these and I have to say:
Only one pair I have has good, strong bass. The other pairs lack bass in all ways, even after burning in maybe 150 hours. Can you explain 'which' or 'what' bas you experienced? Or how you did of course.

meizumintyboi

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Amazing sound for the price, fairly decent isolation, excellent build quality
Cons: Very tight clamping on head, more on ears than over ears
Amazing sound for the price, fairly decent isolation, excellent build quality. Quite a strong punchy bass, not overpowering. Mids are smooth maybe slightly forward. Highs sparkle, can be slightly bright. But at this price who's to complain, jus do not buy if you have a bigger than average head. I also like the design, quite cool and stylish.
 
Very tight clamping on head, caused an unbearable pain after wearing for more than 10 minutes. more on ears than over ears.
 
Cable was a bit on the thin side, jack bent slightly during use.
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