Customer Reviews

Sennheiser HD 202 II Professional Headphones (Black)

5 star:		(245)
4 star:		(127)
3 star:		(47)
2 star:		(27)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

Sennheiser is known for professional grade headphones and even one of their cheapest models stands up to whatever music you throw at it. Bass and mid tones sound excellent while not becoming too muddled. I've tested these headphones with rock/pop (Arcade Fire, Broken Bells) and rap/hip-hop (Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) with great results. As long as you have high quality files there is no hiss (I mainly have 256-320 kbps files with some 192 kbps files). Sound leak was not evident because these are closed headphones (as opposed to the Sennheiser HD555's which are open). I have a medium size head and these headphones fit me perfectly. They have a slight warming effect on the ears which is not bothersome at all. Just to clarify, these headphones (HD 202 MK II) are the same as the original HD 202, with different packaging. These will work out of the package with any iPod, laptop, desktop and include an larger adapter for other uses. If you are still using the standard Apple earbuds or cheap earbuds (Joby, Skullcandy, etc.) and have never experienced the sound of a over-the-ear headphone, buy these for an inexpensive (but not "cheap") intro into an audiophiles world.

EDIT: For those who are having problems with the cord length - use the included cord take-up. There is a notch on each side to clip the cord into. The cord looks like it won't fit but it will if you position the cord sideways and insert it.

Sennheiser is a great company that manufactures headphones that even Santa Claus sometimes drops these off into chimneys during Christmas Eve. Note the word, "sometimes." While these headphones produce a favorable quality of music, the comfort level is low. After about 45~ minutes of usage, my ears began to hurt and I had to take it off to cool off my ears for a bit. Let me review the pros and cons of this set:

PROs:
-Cheap. You won't be able to find most headphones that can produce quality music at this price range ($30~).
-Durable; when you hold it in your hands, it feels it can last quite a while. The build is strong, unlike Bose.
-Quality; if you've been listening to your sub-$10 earphones or your Apple iPod earbuds, then this set of headphones will seem almost too good to be true.
-Cord length. The cord length stretches around six+ feet.
-Portable; you can hang it around your neck, stuff it (carefully) into your backpack/purse (i've never had purses, mind you), etc. Just have common sense not to place it in unfavorable places.
-Hear outside noises; you can partially hear outside noises. This characteristic can be useful to you if you set a timer on stove and need to hear the alarm, if you have sleeping babies in the other room, or in case you hear thieves break into your house.

CONs:
-Quality; if you've owned above average headphones such as Bose or the more advanced Sennheiser, then this pair will sound absolute trash to you. You will immediately notice that these lack clear sounds and tend to "mix up" the sounds.
-Comfort; as I mentioned, the comfort level can become frustrating after half an hour of continuous use. If you have medium-large ears, then look for something else. If you have small ears, get these at your will.
-Barely any noise-isolation; if you wish to focus on the music, movie, or games without noises to interfere your experience, these will disappoint.

Here are some alternatives (better alternatives, I say):

*Panasonic RP-HTX7
*JVC HA-S700

If you can dish in some extra cash...

*Audio-Technica ATH-M30
*Beyerdynamic DT235

Im a 58 year young guy whose favorite music is music of the 60's,70's, 80'a with a little Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Elvis built in for good measures on occasion. I like the old music. I could afford a pair of $200 headphones, but I decided to give these a shot for $14.99 special on Amazon. A great deal I just had to try. I have tested these on a MacBook Pro, a 4th generation iPod, and a Motorola Droid X. ABBA, Queen, Traveling Wilbury, heard notes I have not heard before. I must also mention that I am starting to get a wee bit hard of hearing and when my equalizer is properly set, these phones are awesome. For comfort they are ok not great, you certainly know they are on. I have to fiddle with them every so often as they seem to warm my ears a little. The cord IS long and a bit thin, but if you are careful it should be fine. I would definately recommend these if you are just starting with headphones and want a good deal for the money which I dont think can be beat.

I am a casual music listener with a varied taste in music. I most commonly listen to classical, jazz, or movie scores while I'm studying, but I have a large library of classic rock and pop music that is on quite frequently.

I bought these headphones because I was sick of wearing my earbuds for long periods of time. It was irritating to have to stop listening to my music every couple hours because of the discomfort in my ears. I searched the internet thoroughly to find a pair of cups that would fit my needs on a college student's budget, and these seemed to fit the bill.

I'm no expert on headphones, but these are great! I immediately noticed a HUGE difference in quality from my earbuds - the bass sound is fantastic, giving every genre of music a fuller, more robust sound. I can hear so many more details in my music that I didn't notice with just my earbuds. I don't know how they compare to higher-priced headphones, since I haven't tried any, but for my use, they're perfect. They are extremely comfortable. They are fully adjustable, and fit on a wide range of heads - my Dad tried them on, and he didn't even have to use the largest size to make them fit (he normally has trouble buying hats unless they're custom-made because of his big noggin). I wear them on and off for the majority of the day, and they haven't yet gotten uncomfortable. I think the longest stretch I've ever gone with them on is about 5 hours.

Bottom line: Comfortable, affordable headphones that bring up the quality of any genre of music you prefer. I highly recommend them!

Just received these Sennheiser HD202 headphones from Amazon.com. Sound quality is good, with a rich bass, slightly brittle treble, but pleasant mid-range (presence) for classical music. Too soon to tell if there will be wearer fatigue or excess ambient noise in the closed headphones, but seems a good value for the price. However, do not bother paying extra for the newer HD202MKII version -- Amazon ships the older version even if you pay the higher price ($26.88 vs $31.48), which I did. I saw this warning before in these reviews but did not heed it. I assumed Amazon had corrected the problem by now. Unfortunately the return postage will eat up the difference in price. Caveat emptor!

I basically just want to echo the review from "DeafInOneEar," who was writing about the HD203s. I owned two pairs of those headphones and have had four pairs of these HD 202s. As far as I can tell they are almost identical...especially in that all of them have eventually lost sound in one ear.

I keep buying them because the sound is really great, as many reviews have explained. And they are cheap. And the extra long cord is wonderful for my purposes. I have earbuds for walking around and a pair of the HD 428s for when I don't need a long cord and/or want more oomph in the bass.

But to reiterate....all SIX pairs of this style Sennheiser headphones have died on me in one ear, sometimes left and sometimes right. I don't yank them or mistreat them. There is no inciting event...one time a pair died while I was sitting at my desk, I just moved to grab the remote and it cut out. Two or three pairs have died while I was walking around outside in the winter...I live in Maine, and I'm guessing the cold makes the copper very brittle.

The point is that the cords are thin and cheap, so don't expect these to last longer than six months.

There are two excellent things about these headphones...they sound great for the money, and they have a TWO YEAR WARRANTY.

I just figured this out last week, and I feel like an idiot. I could have saved like $100, though the inconvenience of warranty returns is considerable.

So buy them, by all means, but print out your receipt and print out the Sennheiser service request form, staple them together and tuck them away. You're going to need them.

These are easily the best headphones I've ever owned. I wanted something higher quality than ear buds that could reduce outside noise without having to spend a ton on expensive noise cancelling headphones. I also was looking for headphones that would be comfortable to wear for very long periods of time (like all day long) and had a longer than average cord so I wasn't tied really closely to my computer. I was expecting to pay around $100, but I'm glad I didn't because these are an amazing value.

Sound quality:
Their sound is all around amazing, I'm not an audiophile but I do notice the amazing quality from these headphones. I never knew what I was missing from my music and games until I put these on. The first difference I noticed that set these apart from any headphones I've had before was the bass. They actually have really good bass, but the mid and high tones are equally as impressive. There isn't any sacrifice in any area of sound quality.

Build quality:
I don't doubt these will last me for years to come due to their durable design. I've owned headphones in the past that wore out from plastic fatigue where they had to bend a lot, not going to be a problem with the 202 MK II. These headphones are designed in such a way that there is no major stress point to fatigue and weaken.

Smart design:
There are a couple of design features that I really love about these particular headphones. First of all, it is simply 3 pieces: two earphones and the piece that goes over your head. The earphones adjust on the headpiece in such a way that my hair doesn't get caught and pulled like many headphones tend to do. The pair I got are also exactly as pictured, the ear pieces do not touch when I'm not wearing them, so I don't have to pry them apart a long way to get them over my head, which means they don't squeeze and hurt my head like some other headphones. The cord is also very long, like over 5 feet, but the headphones come with a nice spool you can wind the cord up on and it has notches cut out so you can stick the ends of the cord though and it won't unravel. The spool also has a clip so you can hook it to your belt or clothes.

Comfort:
I'm a male with an average sized head. Unlike other headphones I've owned, these can be worn for several hours without even noticing them. The earphones and headpiece are all padded with a very light and airy padding that does not cause me to sweat. The padding does not have memory, meaning the foam returns to its original shape and doesn't become squished down and less effective. The only complaint that I have is I would like there to be a little more padding around the earpieces because they don't quite hold themselves off my ear lobes. If I don't have them positioned correctly they can hurt my lobes after a while. However, once I took some time to get used to them, I learned to position them correctly and now can wear these all day without any discomfort at all.

Best use:
These are great for people who want great sound while sitting for long periods of time. Movie buffs, gamers, or music fans will not be disappointed. I would not recommend these headphones for active people, as they are large (obviously since they are over-ear headphones) and the very long cord+cord spool may be inconvenient for walking or jogging around.

I've been using these headphones for about six months now. I mostly have these connected to my computer for watching videos, listening to music, or playing a game. They've been great for everything I've used them for.

PROS: They're comfortable to wear due to the simple but nice cushions on the ear pads and on the plastic connector that wraps around the top of your head. They come with an adapter to connect to stereo systems too, which is nice. They also do a decent job of drowning out external noise; I live in a busy area, and these headphones do a nice job of drowning out sounds like my computer fans. They seem fairly durable, not easily breakable and I'm confident they will last for a few years. The cord is about 10ft. long, which is good (I'd rather have too much than not enough). I'm not sure how to word this, but I've had other headphones where, if you so much as touch the cord, you instantly feel/hear it in the earphones, like tapping the cord with your finger causes a bass-kind of sound to come out in the earphones; but with these headphones, that does NOT happen, so you simply hear what you want to hear. For only $30, they are a very good value IMO.

CONS: (really these are just things to note, not necessarily cons)

-The volume can be VERY loud if you don't turn volume down on your computer. Basically, if I want to play a video game or watch a video, I have to turn the volume in Windows down to somewhere between 10% and 50% depending on what I'm listening to. That's not a big deal for me since I can quickly do it with my keyboard, but it's still worth noting.

-(this one may not apply to you) If I use them for an extended period of time (more than an hour), my right ear starts getting somewhat irritated. However, this is because my right ear is weirdly shaped and sticks out a bit more than my left ear does (you wouldn't know it to look at me, but w/e). This happens no matter what headphones I use, so don't look at this point as a con, it's just worth noting if you have semi-unusual ears like me.

I'm sorry that I didn't try these as soon as I received them, because I would definitely have returned them. I needed to replace an older Sennheiser (the HD201). Seeing that there was now a model HD202, and that it had good reviews, I bought one HD201, and also the HD202 as a spare. I wish that I had simply purchased two of the HD201's. As some other reviewers have written, these are too tight! I'm a female with a small head, but cannot wear these for more than about five minutes. No matter how I adjust them or try to stretch them, they hurt! I do feel that the sound is a step up from the HD201, but what good are headphones if they're not wearable? If you decide to purchase them anyway, I strongly suggest that you test them out during the return period.

These headphones were a complete bargain at < $40, and I would recommend anyone on a budget to grab a pair and enjoy. My music collection includes jazz, afrobeat, hip hop, soul, punk, ska, reggae, and country, and there isn't a genre in which these headphones didn't perform well. The bass response is strong (but not so strong it drowns out other frequencies), and the mids and highs sound great too. I never would have thought music could sound this good in sub-$50 cans. I am listening to Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On album in them as I type this and it sounds perfect. The sound is spaced out nicely and every frequency is clear and well-represented. Every instrument in the mix shines like it should and the headphones grasp all of that warm analog goodness of the amplifiers and recording equipment used when Marvin made the album. Buy these headphones and love them. They sound great and they are ridiculously durable. I am a graduate student and these phones go everywhere in my messenger bag and get at least eight hours of burn every day.