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Sennheiser HD 238 vs Panasonic RP-HTF600 Comparison review
Intro
Hey Head-fi, I just want to start off by saying this is my first structured review contribution after years of lurking. I am a mid-fi'er at best: I have never had the pleasure to hear any summit-fi setups.
So here is the premise for this review: I have found that although my home head-fi station is much better than my at-work setup, I spend most of my time with headphones on at work (or on the commute). With that in mind - in addition to my usual basshead and other sound preferences - my main criteria are:
-non-isolating: I need to be able to hear if someone calls or pages me.
-inexpensive: I don't trust my coworkers.
For this battle, I have picked one of the most highly-lauded budget headphones with the Panny's, and put them up against a relatively overlooked pair in the Sennheisers.
My normal headphones of choice are Denon's D2000/D5000, and the amp/DAC I have at work is a Fiio E10. 90% of my listening is electronic, indie rock, or some combination of the two genres. The rest is movie or musical soundtracks, with the occasional classical or classic rock thrown in for completeness.
So let's get started!
Packaging/Accessories:
I am not too big on this category. Let's face it, you don't buy bang-for-your-buck headphones for the packaging and accessories. That said, the Senn's come with a cardboard box, and a carrying pouch; the Panny's come with a 1/4" adapter. If I didn't have about 5 adapters already, I would give the edge to the HTF600's because that's an essential accessory. But since I do, I'll take the cardboard box of the HD 238's over the all-plastic packaging.
Build Quality:
I feel that this category is a tie. Both are all-plastic, with small (but not annoying) amounts of creak and flex. The paint/coloration is superior on the HD 238's, but they have a flimsier cable and awkward plug. Neither are "tank-like," but both are more than adequate if you are smart with your gear.
Comfort:
This category is another tie for me. The HD 238's are lighter and less noticeable when you have them on. However, with the Beyer pad (~$25) upgrade, the HTF600's are pretty comfy too. I just like the feeling of circum-aural velour. It's like a hug for your ears. Both pairs can be worn for several hours without complaint.
Portability:
The edge here goes to the Sennheisers. Mostly because they are smaller and fold flat. In my case, as work 'phones, they never leave my office anyway, so this category is pretty negligible.
Isolation/leakage:
The HD238's are open-backed, and the HTF600's look closed back, but I would consider them open, semi-open at most. Again, in my case I don't want isolation, and neither headphone isolates at all really. That said, the HTF600's block out slightly more noise, mostly due to the circum-aural form factor. Both allow me to hear the outside world to a reasonable degree, and both leak.
Sound quality:
Now to the meat of the review. Let's start with bass. As far as quantity, the HTF600's have more, but the HD 238's definitely also feature bass in their frequency response. The HTF600's reach a tad deeper, but also have a little more bleed into the mids. Both headphones satisfy me here, but since I am a lover of sub-bass, slight edge to the HTF600's.
Mids. The HTF600's have more recessed mids to my ears, but I must point out: mids are the area of frequency range I feel the least comfortable reviewing. I'll just say that female vocals aren't as detailed and forward on the HTF600's. Even so, the mids are still a little recessed on the HD 238's. Edge: Sennheisers.
Highs. The HTF600's have a little sparkle and maybe even more reach, but the flip side is that they are more prone to sibilance. The highs are by no means weak on the HD 238's, but they are less dazzling. Edge: HTF600's.
Concerning presentation, I prefer that of the HD 238's. Directional control and soundstage is better on the HTF600's, but they sound more artificial than the HD 238's. I know this might sound contradictory, but I don't know how else to say it other than the the HD 238's have a smaller soundstage, yet sound more natural. Also, I find myself doing a lot of lower-volume listening at work than usual, and the more forward presentation of the HD238's does a better job at less-than-optimal volumes. Clarity and detail are comparable to my ears.
Overall, I would say that the HTF600's are more polarizing on a song-by-song basis. By that I mean when they sound good, they sound better than the HD 238's, but when they don't sound good, they are worse. Part of that is definitely attributable to the fact that the HD 238's are very forgiving: they sound decent no matter what you throw at them (lower-bitrate files and poorly-mastered tracks). They have a very laid-back sound, but can't handle complex passages as well as the HTF 600's.
Both headphones are easy to drive, but believe it or not, I find the Sennheiser's scale better with better amplification. In summary, both headphones have very good sound for this price range. In this price bracket, I could definitely live with the sound performance of either one, really.
Value:
This category was close as well, but with another slight edge to the Panasonics of course. I think I got the Senn's new for $50, and I see them for about $65, at the time of writing. The Panny's are $30 new. Looking at just these prices, it looks like the Panny's are a hands-down value winner considering the other categories. But, I had to add velour pads to the HTF600's to bring them up to the comfort level of the HD 238's. So with that in mind, it wasn't as much of a landslide. In other words, for $50, the HD 238's are definitely a great buy, even at $60 still a good buy. But at their current price, the HTF600's are an amazing buy, as has been well-documented on this website.
Conclusion:
Overall, this was a much closer battle than I thought it would be. But in the end, the Panasonic's won out with their bass and slightly better value. I think the HD 238's are very underrated, probably because they only fit a very niche usage scenario: open-back but portable. But for those who like the Sennheiser house sound and are seeking low-cost open-back headphones, the HD 238's are very solid. Hopefully this review brings some attention to them in the budget range, even though they "lost."
Thanks for reading, and happy listening!
P.S. I have not heard the newer HD 239 version, but I am going to assume that they are basically the same thing as the HD 238's, except more expensive. If that's the case, then this review still holds for those headphones, but their bang-for-buck is much worse.
P.P.S. Sorry for the crap photo, I am not good with a camera, and it's mostly included as an obligatory feature. I know I personally am more inclined to read a review with pictures.
Intro
Hey Head-fi, I just want to start off by saying this is my first structured review contribution after years of lurking. I am a mid-fi'er at best: I have never had the pleasure to hear any summit-fi setups.
So here is the premise for this review: I have found that although my home head-fi station is much better than my at-work setup, I spend most of my time with headphones on at work (or on the commute). With that in mind - in addition to my usual basshead and other sound preferences - my main criteria are:
-non-isolating: I need to be able to hear if someone calls or pages me.
-inexpensive: I don't trust my coworkers.
For this battle, I have picked one of the most highly-lauded budget headphones with the Panny's, and put them up against a relatively overlooked pair in the Sennheisers.
My normal headphones of choice are Denon's D2000/D5000, and the amp/DAC I have at work is a Fiio E10. 90% of my listening is electronic, indie rock, or some combination of the two genres. The rest is movie or musical soundtracks, with the occasional classical or classic rock thrown in for completeness.
So let's get started!
Packaging/Accessories:
I am not too big on this category. Let's face it, you don't buy bang-for-your-buck headphones for the packaging and accessories. That said, the Senn's come with a cardboard box, and a carrying pouch; the Panny's come with a 1/4" adapter. If I didn't have about 5 adapters already, I would give the edge to the HTF600's because that's an essential accessory. But since I do, I'll take the cardboard box of the HD 238's over the all-plastic packaging.
Build Quality:
I feel that this category is a tie. Both are all-plastic, with small (but not annoying) amounts of creak and flex. The paint/coloration is superior on the HD 238's, but they have a flimsier cable and awkward plug. Neither are "tank-like," but both are more than adequate if you are smart with your gear.
Comfort:
This category is another tie for me. The HD 238's are lighter and less noticeable when you have them on. However, with the Beyer pad (~$25) upgrade, the HTF600's are pretty comfy too. I just like the feeling of circum-aural velour. It's like a hug for your ears. Both pairs can be worn for several hours without complaint.
Portability:
The edge here goes to the Sennheisers. Mostly because they are smaller and fold flat. In my case, as work 'phones, they never leave my office anyway, so this category is pretty negligible.
Isolation/leakage:
The HD238's are open-backed, and the HTF600's look closed back, but I would consider them open, semi-open at most. Again, in my case I don't want isolation, and neither headphone isolates at all really. That said, the HTF600's block out slightly more noise, mostly due to the circum-aural form factor. Both allow me to hear the outside world to a reasonable degree, and both leak.
Sound quality:
Now to the meat of the review. Let's start with bass. As far as quantity, the HTF600's have more, but the HD 238's definitely also feature bass in their frequency response. The HTF600's reach a tad deeper, but also have a little more bleed into the mids. Both headphones satisfy me here, but since I am a lover of sub-bass, slight edge to the HTF600's.
Mids. The HTF600's have more recessed mids to my ears, but I must point out: mids are the area of frequency range I feel the least comfortable reviewing. I'll just say that female vocals aren't as detailed and forward on the HTF600's. Even so, the mids are still a little recessed on the HD 238's. Edge: Sennheisers.
Highs. The HTF600's have a little sparkle and maybe even more reach, but the flip side is that they are more prone to sibilance. The highs are by no means weak on the HD 238's, but they are less dazzling. Edge: HTF600's.
Concerning presentation, I prefer that of the HD 238's. Directional control and soundstage is better on the HTF600's, but they sound more artificial than the HD 238's. I know this might sound contradictory, but I don't know how else to say it other than the the HD 238's have a smaller soundstage, yet sound more natural. Also, I find myself doing a lot of lower-volume listening at work than usual, and the more forward presentation of the HD238's does a better job at less-than-optimal volumes. Clarity and detail are comparable to my ears.
Overall, I would say that the HTF600's are more polarizing on a song-by-song basis. By that I mean when they sound good, they sound better than the HD 238's, but when they don't sound good, they are worse. Part of that is definitely attributable to the fact that the HD 238's are very forgiving: they sound decent no matter what you throw at them (lower-bitrate files and poorly-mastered tracks). They have a very laid-back sound, but can't handle complex passages as well as the HTF 600's.
Both headphones are easy to drive, but believe it or not, I find the Sennheiser's scale better with better amplification. In summary, both headphones have very good sound for this price range. In this price bracket, I could definitely live with the sound performance of either one, really.
Value:
This category was close as well, but with another slight edge to the Panasonics of course. I think I got the Senn's new for $50, and I see them for about $65, at the time of writing. The Panny's are $30 new. Looking at just these prices, it looks like the Panny's are a hands-down value winner considering the other categories. But, I had to add velour pads to the HTF600's to bring them up to the comfort level of the HD 238's. So with that in mind, it wasn't as much of a landslide. In other words, for $50, the HD 238's are definitely a great buy, even at $60 still a good buy. But at their current price, the HTF600's are an amazing buy, as has been well-documented on this website.
Conclusion:
Overall, this was a much closer battle than I thought it would be. But in the end, the Panasonic's won out with their bass and slightly better value. I think the HD 238's are very underrated, probably because they only fit a very niche usage scenario: open-back but portable. But for those who like the Sennheiser house sound and are seeking low-cost open-back headphones, the HD 238's are very solid. Hopefully this review brings some attention to them in the budget range, even though they "lost."
Thanks for reading, and happy listening!
P.S. I have not heard the newer HD 239 version, but I am going to assume that they are basically the same thing as the HD 238's, except more expensive. If that's the case, then this review still holds for those headphones, but their bang-for-buck is much worse.
P.P.S. Sorry for the crap photo, I am not good with a camera, and it's mostly included as an obligatory feature. I know I personally am more inclined to read a review with pictures.
