Sennheiser HD 201 Headphones

I paid $15 for those headphones, and I did not expect anything great. They aren't as comfortable as you would expect, but it does the job. The sound separation is poor for Sennheiser quality. I own a pair of HD 212 pros, which can be purchase for around $20 now, and I have to say that they are much better in every aspect.
 
I don't recommend HD 201s.

This is going to be a short review.
 
-When I took them out of the box they felt like crap, like the smallest amount of pressure would snap the headband in two or more pieces.
 
-Upon first wearing they weren't nearly as tight or sweat inducing as the Skullcandy T.I.'s I had at the time.
 
The sound was nasty. I do not know if this "burn in" thing you people talk about counts with these things or not, but I didn't even want to try.
 
If you can't get them for less than twenty bucks then keep your money.

these are cheap, price and buildwise, but deliver decent sound quality. The bass is pretty much nonexistant, but the mids and highs are good. The one flaw I saw was the leatherette ear pads that are very prone to flaking off or tearing. They aren't bad for the price, and if you need a pair of cheap, replaceable headphones, I would recommend them.

Great headphones, after doing a few mods to them they sound incredible!
 

I was roaming the local music shop today and I saw that they were stocking Sennheisers for the first time ever. (It has been 90% Skullcandy and 10% China cheapo). Most of their Sennheiser stuff is pretty overpriced. Like $50 for CX270s.

However, they did have the HD201s for $20, which is the same, if not cheaper, than Internet pricing. So I bought them! I've heard mixed opininions on them but for so cheap, I had to give them a try!

Impressions:

Generally very clear mid/high range. No distortion and sounds crisp and as good as much more expensive headphones.

The bass is a bit lacking and a bit muddy at high volumes. Not terrible to my ears, but comparing to my CX300s and HD280 Pros, it definitely less satisfying. But, keep in mind, these cost a fraction of cost. I have yet to try these with an amp, so that might have an improvement.

Otherwise the sound is very good. I don't have much to comment about. They aren't the most revolutionary 'phones ever created, but they do shine through because of their value, which most vendors cannot match. Comparing to a Skullcandy Lowrider I bought for gimmicks ($30), they sound much better. More comfortable fit, and cleaner sound in all aspects including bass, which the SCs had 0 of.

One thing I've learned quickly is to not play with your EQ settings whether it be on your iPod, computer, or whatever other source you are using. These drivers are cheap and flipping on bass boost will simply give you a distorted ugly sound, so keep your EQs off and let it sound as it was intended.

Overall great value.

I was looking for a cheap headphone to carry with me in public, something that if lost or stolen would not be a big loss to me. I bought the HD201, and was pleasantly surprised. The highs are fairly crisp, the mids are very detailed considering the price, and the lackluster bass can mostly be resolved with an amp and a bit of equalization. They can't compete with more expensive headphones on any level, but one should not expect them to.
The earpads are not very deep, so unless you have tiny ears you'll likely find them pressing against the headphones in uncomfortable ways.
They feel cheap to the touch compared to sennheiser's higher-end headphones, but they seem solid enough to toss around without them falling to bits.
 
If you want a pair of headphones to lend to people you don't trust with your better headphones, or to carry with you in less-than-safe inner-city type places, I'd strongly recommend these.

Straight out of an mp3 player or pc these won't be that good. Coming out of something with more power however they really change and become fun.

Emphasis of the upper mids, which makes them slightly fatiguing, tight bass with decent extension (45hz before a dropoff). 

With extra power these are neutral with a bit of life to them. Without any extra power they are tinny and surgical, a poor combination. 

These are great headphones for the price. I could totally enjoy these on a desert island if they were all I had. They really need an EQ to get the best sound out of them and i have Rockbox on two of y DAPs so it works great. The bass is pretty good, and there are no glaring bad parts in the sound. 
 
One negative is that the drivers are mismatched and one side is louder than the other. I have to use the panning control in Rockbox or winamp. Other than that, they are great for the money and do 70% of a hundred dollar phone.

I have to say this, these are one of the worst headphones I have ever had.
 
To start the comfort is horrible. I have long hair, curly so it all bundles together. Older headphones slid through my hair, these grab every single lock and tear it off my skull. They are not slanted, to they can slid behind you head all the time. The cushions are cheap and won't last very long. They do not adjust easily, I have two clicks on one side and three on the other side. They will irritate your ears because of the non-slant in the design. The top pad is soft, yet because of the design, causes the sides to dig into your head anyways.
 
The cord is long 3 meters, 3 yards, 9 feet. That's abotu the only good thing. The cord doesn't wear out of that packaging crimps ever, the connections are cheap and the plug is cheap.
 
The sound took me a while to figure out. You need to boost your bass (I use a great soundcard on my desktop) and it took me a while to figure that out. The bass is simulated (fake BOOM) and the treble is low. Music starts to sound chippy and grainy at higher volumes. Sound leaks not too badly.
 
If you work with your soundcard and audio driver, you can make these things actually work well.
Realtek HD Audio Driver set to Underwater environment with Powerful set in Eualizer worked out the bass problems
 
They are nothing to walk around with.
 
Currently I have then handing by a line in my room that i can drop anytime and pop into my desktop to listen to at any moment with the long cord.
 
Personal Amp much needed
 
Through I hate them so much, I still use them for the cord length and price
 
If you want something you can throw away later without regrets or give to someone, these would be it.

Good, Cheap, Durable, Comfortable head phones with decent sound, can't turn them up very loud without an amp, still good for computer use.

It's funny to remember that when I bought these I thought they were good headphones, at the time all I had was CX300 and the fact that they weren't muffled, had good separation and had nice crisp highs that bought out drums nicely seemed enough to win me over. They aren't uncomfortable either. Let's face it for the price you have nothing to lose, I got mine for £12.
But now, with some real headphones under my belt, they sound god awful. There is really nothing good about these. That's being unfair. There is no bloating or distorting across the spectrum and separation is actually very good. But the whole sound is artificial from the weedy almost non-existant bass through to the metalic, robotic mids. The treble does the best but who cares about a nice snappy drum track when the rest of the sound is so unnatural?
What has frustrated me the most is that nothing can save these. My girlfriend has an awful pair of low end Sony fart cannons, but I was able to open them up, add some dampening, tape up the vents and bring them under control a bit. With these phones nothing seemed to improve them and nothing bought any bass out of them. It's not an issue of a good driver in a cheap case with no dampening - it's a case of a bad driver.
Frustrated, I finally binned these. 
But if you have £12 to spend and you want something better than the stock buds on your DAP, they are certainly worth the asking price. My advice is to bite the bullet and up your budget.

These are great headphons if you dont want to spend very much but still want a capable pair of headphones. They produce strong bass but if you try to put on a more bassy equaliser you might find them distorting. They are comfortable and tough with my only dislike being the length of the cable, even with the provided tool to wind them up onto they are still unweildy if you plan to take them away from home.

I bought these with the intention of replacing my Plantronics Gamecom 367 closed ear gaming headset and they are doing an excellent job thus far. They sound great (need a headphone amp btw if you dont have a decent audio source).

I bought a pair of these during my vacation in Hong Kong, and I must say that I was amazed on the first listen. These cans offer immense precision when it comes to the mid and upper ranges. This is especially evident when you hear the crisp snaps of the snare drums in an audio recording.
 
However, the bass is there, just not as upfront as you would expect from Sennheiser. The bass is VERY tight, and provides an overall well-balanced sound. Some people say that the bass is lacking, but they are incorrect. This headphone has a lighter bass load, but not enough that it bloats over the track.
 
These headphones are improved GREATLY when you add in a Fiio E5 into the mix. With a proper amp to drive these cans, they sound absolutely marvellous! The bass range is definitely upped, and now you have crystal clear highs with plenty of warm, undistorted bass.
 
Definitely needs to be amped, but a great budget headphone overall.

First off, these Sennheisers are super value. I paid £12 and for that price, you can't get a brand new pair of on-ear headphones that can beat this. The highs and lows, treble and bass is well balanced. The clarity far surpasses anything in the same price range. Clearly not Sennheiser's masterpeice, but they seem to be aimed at the infrequent user, who is simply looking to go one up from the poor stock earphones that came with their mp3 player (mp3/ipod compatible, very low impedance @ 24ohms).
HD 201's become uncomfortable and it gets hot under the pads after about 30mins of use, though this will keep you warm in the colder outside air..
For myself, comfort means alot. What's the point in a great set of headphones if listening to your music after half an hour become unbearable. Other than that, these would be a highly recommended bargain.