So I was recently in the market for a pair of open back headphones, and after hearing praise of Sennheiser for their offerings, i decided to purchase the HD 518 with my budget of about 100 dollars.
I think that the design is something you love or hate, and personally i love it. The louvered sides look quite nice to me, and the Sennheiser logo in the middle just looks elegant. The earpads are made of what i can only think are some sort of cotton material, and they're exceptionally soft. They aren't the largest however, so if you have ears that stick out they might touch the drivers, but i didn't find this to be an issue. The headband is made of the same soft cotton material, and is just as comfortable as the earpads. I didn't find these headphones hot in any way (longest listening session this far being about 3 hours).
The sound, again, is something i think some people would love, but others might dislike. It's a very rich sound, not a reference type sound in any way, but it still sounds outstanding. The bass isn't overpowering, and isn't at all floppy. The highs are clear and detailed, and don't leave much (to me) to be desired, especially at this price point.
The mids, however, are where these headphones shine. Compared to the other frequencies, the mids are slightly elevated, which makes for a rich, warm sound, and very natural sounding vocals. Acoustic instruments like guitar and piano sound great on the HD 518, and I found myself listening to songs with these instruments more and more, because they sounded so good. Overall, the soundstage was average, but the separation of different instruments and sounds in music was better than I expected, and overall i'm very pleased with the sound on the HD 518.
My only minor gripe is the included cable, which is incredibly long (about 10 feet) and has a goofy 3.5mm adaptor for using on devices with that size jack. However, since the cable is removable, you can simply replace it with either a shorter cable directly from Sennheiser, or any number of aftermarket cables available on Amazon.
Overall, i don't think that you can go wrong with the Sennheiser HD 518, especially if you can get it for under 100 dollars. And if you're a fan of mids, like myself, than i really don't think there's a better option at this pricepoint.
I think that the design is something you love or hate, and personally i love it. The louvered sides look quite nice to me, and the Sennheiser logo in the middle just looks elegant. The earpads are made of what i can only think are some sort of cotton material, and they're exceptionally soft. They aren't the largest however, so if you have ears that stick out they might touch the drivers, but i didn't find this to be an issue. The headband is made of the same soft cotton material, and is just as comfortable as the earpads. I didn't find these headphones hot in any way (longest listening session this far being about 3 hours).
The sound, again, is something i think some people would love, but others might dislike. It's a very rich sound, not a reference type sound in any way, but it still sounds outstanding. The bass isn't overpowering, and isn't at all floppy. The highs are clear and detailed, and don't leave much (to me) to be desired, especially at this price point.
The mids, however, are where these headphones shine. Compared to the other frequencies, the mids are slightly elevated, which makes for a rich, warm sound, and very natural sounding vocals. Acoustic instruments like guitar and piano sound great on the HD 518, and I found myself listening to songs with these instruments more and more, because they sounded so good. Overall, the soundstage was average, but the separation of different instruments and sounds in music was better than I expected, and overall i'm very pleased with the sound on the HD 518.
My only minor gripe is the included cable, which is incredibly long (about 10 feet) and has a goofy 3.5mm adaptor for using on devices with that size jack. However, since the cable is removable, you can simply replace it with either a shorter cable directly from Sennheiser, or any number of aftermarket cables available on Amazon.
Overall, i don't think that you can go wrong with the Sennheiser HD 518, especially if you can get it for under 100 dollars. And if you're a fan of mids, like myself, than i really don't think there's a better option at this pricepoint.
