[McRat]

Well I finally took the plunge and purchased the Sennheiser PX200!

I had real doubts about "getting the seal" because I had tried them on several times in the shops demo and wasn't that convinced that they would actually fit on my ears. Especially the bass was missing altogether and I could only get them to sound good by pressing them against my ears. So I went and bought a fresh set of PX200s, just to find out that they fit perfectly and sound astonishing!
It seems that the pair on demo had lost some of its clamping force, probably through customer abuse and I just couldn't get a decent fit with them.

I have to admit, although loving them already, the mids were a bit harsh, the highs were missing and the bass was still a bit congested. So I read some of the comments here about these phones requiring a serious break-in period to open up.
I have to confess, I haven't had that much belief in equipment break-in, but only after some 24 hours of Madonnas bass-heavy album "Ray of Light" the sound was definitely opening up. The bass was gaining strenght and control while the treble lost the veil it was hiding behind, catching up on the overpowering mids and smoothing out the entire frequency range. Now the sound is clearly more balanced and I'm loving it!

Well, gotta keep'em burnin' for a couple of more days and see if they can get even better. Can't wait to feed some nice jazzy females to them!

I'm listening to them straight from the Sony CDP-XB930 headphone output as I'm still waiting for my first headamp and I think they sound better than my first hifi-phones, the Sennheiser HD570. But the really delicious combo is the PX200 with Sony D777. The sound has a very juicy character, delivering more detail and a better grip to the music than the full-sized XB930. I can't wait to get a decent amp! Then I would be set up for the DT880 or HD600/650, although then I'd really have to update my source to match the much better phones...

"The road goes ever on and on..."

Best wishes,
[TV]

 

[Jasper994]

Congrats on your new cans! I love my PX200's as well.

If you like the PX200's you might try the HD280 Pros as well. They have a very balanced sound that edges on analytical kinda like the PX200. Similarly though, they require a lot of burn in.

 

[metal_monger]

I own a pair of 200's and I think they sound great overall, and for their price they are pretty good. The only true sonic flaw that I can find is that sometimes some really low bass will get all grumbled. If you have access to the song by a band called Sentenced, get a track off the "cold white light" album called "you are the one" there is a guitar riff about 2 mins and 40 secs into the song where its playing a slow "chug chug" type riff and it comes off really dirty and muffled. .

Adimitilly(sp?) I have yet to hear this track on another set of decent headphones, so it could very well be the recording (i have some cambridge speakers this piece does not come off AS dirty, but nor does it come of sparkling clean).

I'll try it out when I get my Grado 225's.

 

[McRat]

Thanks Jasper, I'll keep the HD280Pro in mind if I ever need closed phones for home or studio use, maybe some long-distance travel. I would be hard-pressed to use phones that big walking down the streets of my small scandinavian town

, where the only phones commonly used are chepo earbuds and pads. The biggest I have seen here have been some sony VxxxDJ's and that poor teenager got some weird looks from other people

metal_monger: I haven't yet experienced the problem you were describing, althought the critical listening sessions are still pending. I may very well try the song you had problems with. I think that it won't be too hard to find Sentenced music around here, as they are a local band

I have heard some songs from them, but I'm not too fond of that type of music. I really think you should try the song with some better gear, I wouldn't be too surprised to find out the fault is actually on the recording. Another Finnish metal band Nightwish also has some very low rumble on their songs and I'm yet to hear it played out clean.

[TV]

 

[Taurui]

I'm just playing Nightwish's Century Child through my laptop sound card (which is actually ok, I've yet to hear any interference or serious flaws) and then straight to my well burnt in PX200s. From what I can tell, the riffs sound impressive as hell. Not only do they slam as they should, they're really audible as the instrument and not just as "bass"

cheers,
taurui