[delenda est Sony]

Hello all---

It's now close to 3 weeks later after my initial HD 202 review and I thought I'd give an update.

Sonically, these phones are seemingly unaffected by burn-in. Nothing much happened even after the 100 hour mark.

In comparison to my other phones, the 202s are not the most appealing of the bunch. The bass on the 497 is much more developed and extends lower, and as mentioned earlier the 202s are not very good at reproducing treble. Basically the 497s do everything the 202s can and sound better at the higher and lower ends. However, the 202s cost half the price and are closed cans. The V6s are better sounding with lower bass extension, better treble reproduction, and more durable design. The Sonys have a shallower soundstage, are less musical, and cost twice as much though, so the 202 is not completely inferior, but I personally use the V6s a lot more in daily listening.

Really in the long view, the real appeal of the 202s is that they sound decent at a low price point. If you can afford $60 for cans, buy the 497s, SR60s, or V6s depending on your needs. However if you want a reasonably well rounded set of closed phones and can only afford $30, these are not only your only solution but also an objectively decent one as well.

In the $30 range, I personally like these phones better than the Sporta or Porta Pros (though the 202s are not portable.) I have not heard the vaunted KSC35 so I cannot compare the Senns to that Koss. I do like my Senn MX500s better than the 202s though, but the 202s are of course a completely different sort of design, and also have better bass, but the 500s edge the 202s in overall quality of sound and are also cheaper.

Some buyers from Virgin Megastores report buying 202s at a higher than list $40. My local stores in NYC show one being out altogether (14th St) and the other (42nd St) having a pretty large amount priced correctly at $30. Go get em! (if they suit you)

 

[violeta88]

Delenda, I have a pair of 212's on order and I am thinking about going into my local Guitar Center and doing a comparison between them and the MDR-7506's. I've never heard a V6 before and I'm curious whether my 212's will sound better or not. The driver design on them seems much more carefully designed for both reproducing treble and bass and Sennheiser even describes them as having a slight emphasis on the bass frequencies. While at the same time the driver is thinner and the frequency response at the top end is better, so the treble should be more detailed and better defined than the 202. I should be getting my headphones in about a week or two, the store had to special order them through Sennheiser. I wonder if they will be anything like my 497's?

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

Yes, finally someone is getting the 212! I've been waiting to hear a review of them. My guess is they're going to sound almost identical to the 497 but maybe a little warmer. That's assuming that the 202/212s are just closed versions of the 477/497s. I have the 477 and the 497, I think they sound almost identical except the 477 has less treble which diminishes the clarity and definition. It's not enough to make them sound bad, just a bit duller. I think that description of the 477 would fit closely with Delanda's 202 review.

One other thing about the 477, I think the "recessed mids" are more pronounced compared to the 497, it seems like certain sounds, particularly vocals, fall into a hole in places. Delanda doesn't mention this about the 202, maybe the closed design corrects this small flaw? (Assuming my 202/212=477/497 theory is correct of course.) That would make the 212s just about perfect, in the under $100 category anyway.

(HBZ)

 

[delenda est Sony]

Hey Violetta---I'd love to see a review of the 212s. Hopefully they will have all the virtues of the 497s but in a closed design. Senn hasn't commented on the 477/202, 497/212 theory. but I think it's more than likely. (Unless the 202s use the 457 drivers...

)
The V6/7506 are great phones to own, even if you don't like the sound at first listen. In terms of breaking music down into its core components, the Sonys are excellent. And the bass extension is a textbook example of how bass should sound in a headphone, IMHO.

If you do like em, get the V6s though--much cheaper! $55 from etronics.com. Unlike the Senns they are also nice looking, foldable, and tough as hell. Just not as musical!

Hamsterball, I think the mids are where they should be on the 202s. Haven't heard the 477s so I can't comment on the comparative sound, but the mids on the 497s and 202s are most comparable; neither is recessed or masked. The highs and more puzzlingly the lows are where the 497s strengths show up more...A closed headphone with below average bass is pretty rare, but the 202s seem to be exactly that!

Looking forward to the 212 review eventually!

 

[srapps55]

FYI, I found a retailer selling the Senn Hd202 for $24.99 plus $1.75 shipping (to Illinois) yesterday. Check Yahoo Shopping, but do the price search for the Grado SR80, and then go the site that lists the SR80 for $85.

 

[violeta88]

Hey guys, unfortunately you kind of scared me away from buying the 212's. Sennheiser had a part in it too. Describing a headphone as having a slight bias towards the bass frequencies just screams "boomy". And when I went to the store I ordered them from I found out that I would not be able to return them if they were crap, and luckily the order hadn't gone through yet, so I got my deposit refunded. So, I guess you'll have to find another brave soul to review the 212. Sorry. I didn't even buy a pair of headphones with the money I got back. I got some computer speakers with a subwoofer that sounded really nice (Creative Labs Inspire 2.1 2400) for $40 to replace the stereo system that I sold to get my "headphones". Or what were going to be my headphones. Oh well, I still have my 497's. Life goes on.

 

[ironchefm]

my thoughts on the hd 202's...

Southtronic was an interesting vendor to deal with. They could not process my credit card due to some problems with their equipment so I paid through paypal. After another 3 days, I received confirmation and the headphones, 5 days after that.

I have used these headphones for about 3 days now, so they are not "broken-in." However, they sound great already. Particularly I thought the treble was very distinct as compared to my computer speakers (Logitech Z560's). However, the bass seems very lacking at normal listening levels.

As for portable use, there is no difference in sound quality when plugged into my ipaq or when plugged into my system. The long cable is convenient... and perhaps annoying if not for the included plastic piece to take up slack.

My first complaint is that the earcups are just way too small. If your ears are larger than 2.25" by 1.25", you'll find that the earcups do not totally contain your ears. Second, the pleather material of the earcups leads to hot, sweaty ears after extended use. Does anybody know of replacement pads or mods to this type of earpiece?

However, overall I thought this was a great buy. More than I ever expected for $32 shipped. When I was shopping for headphones, my needs were (in the order of importance): closed (no leakage of sound whatsoever), sound quality, price, looks, comfort. Except for the last issue of comfort (which was still decent), the HD 202's fit my bill.

 

[delenda est Sony]

hey Ironchef---

yeah. banging on a kettle drum gives you more distinct treble than the Z560s!

They are marvelous speakers, but the bass needs to be turned allll the way doooowwwnnn if you want them to reproduce anything other than electronica accurately. Logitech took a page from the Klipsch "let them eat bass" approach to PC speaker design...

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

Hey delanda, I thought of a way to test the 202/212 = 477/497 theory, at least the 202=477 part anyway. Are you up for disassembling your 202s? It's very easy, the earpads are on a plastic disk that snaps around the driver housing. Just pry that off (there's almost zero chance of damaging it) and you'll see the four screws that hold the driver housing to the headphone cups. Remove the four screws and take out the housing. Take a look at the driver and tell me what the sticker says. If I'm right then it will say 425C1, same as my 477.

I've been playing around with my 477 and 497 to see what differences there are between them. The only things that stand out are the drivers and the ear pads. The drivers have different codes on them: 477=425C1, 497=425C0. The housing is the same, it's surprising how much plastic covers the driver, you'd think that would be a disadvantage. The driver is glued to the housing so I didn't remove it. One thing that surprised me how much difference came from swapping the fabric pads and the pleather pads. With the pleather pads the 477 is as loud as the 497 and the 497 loses it's volume advantage with the fabric pads. I haven't had much time to test but superficially I'd say the 477 with the pleather pads comes very close to the 497 sound, much more than it does with the stock fabric pads. I'm sure the 497's driver is still better but it's much less noticable.

(HBZ)

 

[delenda est Sony]

better living through pleather!!

I'll make inspecting the 202 drivers my weekend project next weekend and I'll let you know...I wonder what drivers the 457s use? 425C2?

 

[jjjonah]

on my head.

Just a few more short thoughts on the 202's:

1. Great For Blocking Subway Noise
2. Can Be Driven Without Much Compromise By A Portable
3. Inexpensive
4. Decent Sound (see inexpensive)
5. Light, Comfortable

Friend of mine first turned me on to this site when I mentioned my quest to overcome the noise on the F train in NYC.

These are what I considered and tried: Bose, Senn MX500 earbuds, Ety ER6's. From the marketing literature out there widely available to a novice, you might think you'd need to spend $300 or at least $130 on either the Bose or the Ety's. Now, I realized that the $300 for the Bose was ridiculous, and for my purposes, the Ety's just didn't do it for me (maybe will give another try someday.) The MX500's sound ok, but don't *block* noise -- I might use them in the summer, but the foam covers were confounding to put on, and then promptly vanished.

Got my 202's at the 14th St. Virgin after delenda est sony's review. I originally paid $40+ for them but noticed that there was an incorrect sticker placed on the packaging. I took the mess back and got the difference refunded. $30+ total paid.

To be certain, these are not the most detailed cans you're ever going to try, and I haven't tested every type of music on them, but I will say that electronica such as Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Aphex Twin seems to excel. The Circumaural, closed design affords me a train commute that is far less aggravating, more peaceful than it used to be.

Minor downsides to me were the extra long cord, which made accessing the minidisc remote a challenge, and a sometimes-noticable crackling when the wire near the plug is bent. But these aren't major and can be suppressed with a little cord wrapping and bag organizing.

Bottom line: I am very surprised that my search to block subway noise ended (for now) with a pair of $30 phones. But they are doing the job!

Nice going Senn! Now you should market these as commuting headphones, not DJ headphones! And yes, they are large, but I consider them portable because almost everyone in NYC carries a bag they can be stuffed into.

Cheers, JJJ

 

[HAMBURGER]

The Philips HP550's were priced at around $28 at my local Circuit City, how would the 202's compare to them?

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

I know some people like the Philips 550s but I couldn't stand them. The rolled off treble and the cupped, echoing sound of them drove me crazy. I also didn't think they sounded at all natural. The 202s may not be perfect but they've got to be better than the 550s.

Actually, I don't remember seeing anyone comment on this, delanda or jjjonah, do the 202s have a closed sound (cupped, echoing) or do they sound more like open phones (the 497)?

(HBZ)

 

[jpelg]

I pretty much tend to agree with HamsterballZ on this one. Maybe not so vehemently, but suffice to say that I was not all that impressed with the Philips cans, especially considering all the positive comments here. They are decent, but do not compare to the Koss 60ohm line.

The 550's are technically classified as closed, but let me tell you that "there's sound comin' outta them thar grills!" (offset holes in the outer grills). Also the earcups do have a less-than-conventional shape that may or may not comform to your ear shape. The result is usually not very good isolation/attenuation of outside noise. If the new Sennheiser line (2xx/4xx) share general size and shape, the earcups are larger and grip your head tighter, potentially isolating a bit better.

As always, YMMV.

 

[delenda est Sony]

I'd say more of an open sound like the 497s. However, good closed cans (like my V6s) don't have to sound cupped or echoey...these must be problems unique to the 550s.