[akash neagi]

I've been hearing a statement from when I joined head-fi,
Sennheiser has only a few good cans and a lot of bad ones.......
All I want to do in this thread is confirm or bust this myth.......
I kind of see that some cans are controversial,
For example some say that the HD215 II have a wierd sounding low end and some say that is perfectly normal......
I've also seen seen people compare the HD600/HD650 to below $100 cans!!!!!!
And the HD4xx series is one the most controversial cans I have vere seen......
There are people who love the HD439 to bits and some think that it overpriced and worth only $30!?!?

I just wanna say that I ment no offence to anyone when I wrote this......
It is just me trying to understand the Sennheiser lineup better........

 

[GREQ]

This has a lot to do with expectation bias ("I paid $200 more, so it MUST be better than your cr***y headphone), illogical comparisons ($500 vs. $50 headphone) and many new members with an enormous lack of experience, but with a lot of words to say.
 
Sennheiser are a big company that produce A LOT of headphones to fit practically every price bracket - a lot are made seemingly to simply fit into a hole in the market.
This is where comparisons are made, and suddenly something becomes a lemon because it's $30 'over-priced'. 

Also a lot of reviews are based on OPINION and TASTE - some people here like to state opinions as fact - this can create a lot of confusion for new readers. 
A big problem on headfi is that you don't know where ANYONE is coming from, what's their history, experience, professionally and personally.
Some people here just have more money than sense, some are poor and frugal, some are sound engineers, some are professional musicians and some are just kids that want BASSSSS!!!!!!!
 
Then take into account that personal taste is important - then add to that the shape and size of your ears can greatly effect the sound (especially on-ear headphones as the seal changes with ear shape/size which affects sound).
 
These are all factors we must review when trying to understand why someone CAN love a $50 headphone and another will state plainly that it's the worst they've heard in their life and is unbearable to wear - there are a lot of glasses wearers that are on a perpetual quest for comfort. 
 
But this goes for all headphones ever.... not just Sennheiser.

 

[Tsujigiri]

They do make a lot of cheap headphones that aren't very good, to satisfy a broader market.
 
The HD6x0 series, though, is one of the good ones. The people who say they've found sub $100 headphones that are better either have a high psychological bias for some reason or have poor taste in sound. Any headphone will have its detractors, and there are plenty of users here who think they've found the new $50 giant killer. Don't take too much stock in the few extreme and inaccurate opinions out there.

 

[HamilcarBarca]

Quote:

I've been hearing a statement from when I joined head-fi,
Sennheiser has only a few good cans and a lot of bad ones.......
All I want to do in this thread is confirm or bust this myth.......

 
There's no myth busting here. Good and bad, for headphones, is nothing more than a matter of personal taste.
 

I've also seen seen people compare the HD600/HD650 to below $100 cans!!!!!!

 


I've done it myself by comparing the JVC HA-S500 with the HD-650. I thought it compared well; considering the price, I thought it did even better. I did like and still like the '650 quite a bit more than the 'S500, but is it worth, at retail, seven times as much?

 

[akash neagi]

hey thanks guys
I was really confused and thought that maybe all cheap sennheisers were bad.....
I personally want to get a hd215 II....
as i found a brand new pair for $60, i would say it is a good deal.....

 

[AzN1337c0d3r]

I don't think Sennheiser has many "bad" products. They're all pretty much average for their price or better. It's just that their "good" products just make the average ones look bad. If there was one company that I'd recommend to buy a headphone from without specifying a model, it would be Sennheiser. Their house sound tends to be quite neutral.
 
Here's what I think of their cans I've heard so far compared to other stuff I've owned/listened to long term in order of absolute sound quality:

Absolute crap:
Beats Solo, iBuds
 
Bad:
Beats Studio
 
Ok:
HD201, HD437, Grado SR225i
 
Good:
HD202, HD497, Sony V6, Ety ER6i
 
Excellent:
HD280 Pro, HD558, AKG K702, Ety ER4P, Shure E3c
 
Exquisite:
HD580, HD600, HD650, Shure SE535, Denon D2000
 
Edit: Added a couple more other phones in for reference.

 

[syryanyang]

They don't have many "bad" phones, they have exceptional phones like HD600, 650, 700, 800 and mediocre phones(most low-end ones).

 

[ThinkAwesome]

They do make a lot of cheap headphones that aren't very good, to satisfy a broader market.

The HD6x0 series, though, is one of the good ones. The people who say they've found sub $100 headphones that are better either have a high psychological bias for some reason or have poor taste in sound. Any headphone will have its detractors, and there are plenty of users here who think they've found the new $50 giant killer. Don't take too much stock in the few extreme and inaccurate opinions out there.

"poor taste in sound"

Or possibly just different. You know, because your taste in sound isn't the best or anything...

 

[vid]

Quote:

The HD6x0 series, though, is one of the good ones. The people who say they've found sub $100 headphones that are better either have a high psychological bias for some reason or have poor taste in sound. Any headphone will have its detractors, and there are plenty of users here who think they've found the new $50 giant killer. Don't take too much stock in the few extreme and inaccurate opinions out there.

 
You forget that there are other headphones available besides the ones on store shelves. Having heard a number of these, it doesn't surprise me that some people claim to have found great phones for less than $50 even in comparison to some of the more expensive ones.

 

[Tsujigiri]

Quote:

"poor taste in sound"

Or possibly just different. You know, because your taste in sound isn't the best or anything...

You can justify that to a certain extent, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Art is subjective, too, but that doesn't mean that you can't produce something that is undeniably bad art. I'm open to a range of tastes in sound, but when someone walks in and says something like "the XB500's totally kill the HD650's because the HD650's have NO BASS," it's pretty safe to say that person does not have very refined taste when it comes to headphones.

 

[HamilcarBarca]

Quote:

Quote:

"poor taste in sound"

Or possibly just different. You know, because your taste in sound isn't the best or anything...

You can justify that to a certain extent, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Art is subjective, too, but that doesn't mean that you can't produce something that is undeniably bad art.

 
There's no need for justification or deniability: Qualities like 'good' or 'bad' with art, music, or headphones, are purely subjective.

 

[Satellite_6]

Other way around. :\

 

[ThinkAwesome]

You can justify that to a certain extent, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Art is subjective, too, but that doesn't mean that you can't produce something that is undeniably bad art. I'm open to a range of tastes in sound, but when someone walks in and says something like "the XB500's totally kill the HD650's because the HD650's have NO BASS," it's pretty safe to say that person does not have very refined taste when it comes to headphones. :rolleyes:

You can't produce something that is undeniably bad art. I dare you to try. Paint anything, if you act hipster enough and die really poor, eventually an art museum is going to do an exhibit about your pitiful life and how great of an artist you were.

It's all about preferences. We often *What* at others' preferences, but its just preferences. No one is right or wrong, its just some preferences in audio quality tend to be worse on the wallet and better for the economy than others.

 

[Mach Supremacy]

I love my HD 439's to bits, but, it's the best I got but hey, money doesn't grow on trees and I don't have anything to compare it to

But I love them to bits.

 

[-xX-Mew-Xx-]

It is based on the way you comprehend the sound and put it into words, some people use the word "bright" to describe the high-end but some may use it to describe the mid-bass to mid-range. Ive seen that example many times before! But instead of trusting every word someone says, just try the cans out for yourself!