Towert7
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2005
- Posts
- 5,853
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- 38
These are my impressions on the Sennheiser HD201 headphone.
My listening has been done using a Mhdt labs Paradisea+ NOS dac with WE396A fed into a WooAudio WA6 headphone amp with 274B. These headphones belong to my dad and we have had them for about a year now. A quick check on bhphoto.com shows that these sell for a whooping 20$us.
Sound
The first thing that jumps out at me is just how incredibly detailed these headphones are. I’ve heard headphones going for a few hundred dollars that didn’t have the detail that these headphones have. I am truly impressed. I think this is at least in part due to the fact that these headphones are closed.
They also present a surprisingly spacious soundstage, especially for their price! I don’t get much vertical soundstage, but there is a noticeable depth happening. That’s more than can be said about most of the headphones in this price category.
One thing that I did not particularly like about the HD201 is how they present vocals. Vocals edge on the sibilant side. They also lack the lushness that other headphones can give.
The HD201 edge on the neutral to semi-bright side. I would classify them as being on the dry side of things. The bass is there and controlled. I never get the feeling that there is too much bass weight. The mids are there, but they lack a smooth sound that I am fond of. At times there is a little distortion creating a ‘cave’ effect to the mids, but this is the norm for budget closed headphones. It’s there, but it is not very pronounced. The highs are not present to the point where they become tiring for me, which I appreciate.
I do not find the need to apply any EQ. These headphones are quite neutral. My biggest quibble is that the mids sound ever so slightly distorted and in general dry. This is in absolute terms. Now considering that these retail for 20$us, I can’t think of a more neutral budget headphone.
Build Quality
These headphones are plastic and lightweight. They feel ok for daily use, but I would not feel comfortable throwing them into a bag with other heavy things inside of it. The cable is quite long and thin. It looks like the cable is not detachable. If these headphones would be used for a portable setup, something would need to be done to wrap up the excess cable.
Comfort
They are fairly comfortable owing to the fact that they are very light and do not have much clamping pressure. The ear pads go around my ears, not on them. The fake leather ear pads are stiff, but they don’t seem to bother me. I have hair, so I have no complaints with the headband. For fake leather, the ear pads remain relatively cool.
Misc
I was surprised at just how much I needed to crank up the volume on my amp to drive these little things!!! They require more volume than my HD580. Because of this they might not be the best choice for some low power portable sources.
They are closed headphones and attenuate the outside sound a little, but they still leak in a fair amount. If someone talks to me in the room I can hear them. I would not use these on a plane or in a noisy environment.
Conclusions
So, these are an entry level hifi headphone that can be had for 20$us. Light, somewhat comfy, quite detailed, neutral sounding… At 20$, these are very nice!
I would not use these for a portable setup. I would also not get these in the hopes to isolate myself from noisy environments.
I highly recommend the HD201 to people looking for a neutral and detailed headphone, perhaps for budget music editing / mixing or monitoring. Personally I would choose these over the AKG K240 monitoring headphones. They also would be a nice little thing to plug into a guitar amp or electric piano, etc.
I would also recommend these as a nice little budget computer headphone. Especially for gaming on a budget, where detail and soundstaging is very important. I think these would make a very nice gift for a teenager who enjoys playing computer games but who has not tried headphones.
Some pics:
As always, feel free to post any questions or comments.
I hope this was helpful,
~Drew
My listening has been done using a Mhdt labs Paradisea+ NOS dac with WE396A fed into a WooAudio WA6 headphone amp with 274B. These headphones belong to my dad and we have had them for about a year now. A quick check on bhphoto.com shows that these sell for a whooping 20$us.
Sound
The first thing that jumps out at me is just how incredibly detailed these headphones are. I’ve heard headphones going for a few hundred dollars that didn’t have the detail that these headphones have. I am truly impressed. I think this is at least in part due to the fact that these headphones are closed.
They also present a surprisingly spacious soundstage, especially for their price! I don’t get much vertical soundstage, but there is a noticeable depth happening. That’s more than can be said about most of the headphones in this price category.
One thing that I did not particularly like about the HD201 is how they present vocals. Vocals edge on the sibilant side. They also lack the lushness that other headphones can give.
The HD201 edge on the neutral to semi-bright side. I would classify them as being on the dry side of things. The bass is there and controlled. I never get the feeling that there is too much bass weight. The mids are there, but they lack a smooth sound that I am fond of. At times there is a little distortion creating a ‘cave’ effect to the mids, but this is the norm for budget closed headphones. It’s there, but it is not very pronounced. The highs are not present to the point where they become tiring for me, which I appreciate.
I do not find the need to apply any EQ. These headphones are quite neutral. My biggest quibble is that the mids sound ever so slightly distorted and in general dry. This is in absolute terms. Now considering that these retail for 20$us, I can’t think of a more neutral budget headphone.
Build Quality
These headphones are plastic and lightweight. They feel ok for daily use, but I would not feel comfortable throwing them into a bag with other heavy things inside of it. The cable is quite long and thin. It looks like the cable is not detachable. If these headphones would be used for a portable setup, something would need to be done to wrap up the excess cable.
Comfort
They are fairly comfortable owing to the fact that they are very light and do not have much clamping pressure. The ear pads go around my ears, not on them. The fake leather ear pads are stiff, but they don’t seem to bother me. I have hair, so I have no complaints with the headband. For fake leather, the ear pads remain relatively cool.
Misc
I was surprised at just how much I needed to crank up the volume on my amp to drive these little things!!! They require more volume than my HD580. Because of this they might not be the best choice for some low power portable sources.
They are closed headphones and attenuate the outside sound a little, but they still leak in a fair amount. If someone talks to me in the room I can hear them. I would not use these on a plane or in a noisy environment.
Conclusions
So, these are an entry level hifi headphone that can be had for 20$us. Light, somewhat comfy, quite detailed, neutral sounding… At 20$, these are very nice!
I would not use these for a portable setup. I would also not get these in the hopes to isolate myself from noisy environments.
I highly recommend the HD201 to people looking for a neutral and detailed headphone, perhaps for budget music editing / mixing or monitoring. Personally I would choose these over the AKG K240 monitoring headphones. They also would be a nice little thing to plug into a guitar amp or electric piano, etc.
I would also recommend these as a nice little budget computer headphone. Especially for gaming on a budget, where detail and soundstaging is very important. I think these would make a very nice gift for a teenager who enjoys playing computer games but who has not tried headphones.
Some pics:
As always, feel free to post any questions or comments.
I hope this was helpful,
~Drew
