Customer Reviews

Sennheiser HD 205 Studio Monitor DJ Headphones w/ Swivel Ear Cup

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The Sennheiser HD 205 is great value for money. The design is not only comfortable, but takes out a lot of ambient noise. This headphone does not have active noise reduction but does a good job with its closed design headphone.

The right-side is able to swivel backwards, so you can answer a phone call and not need to remove the whole headphone. This swivel was designed for DJ's to do sound mixing, but works well for other purposes as well.

I also like its strong bass and great clarity, where I could hear sounds in music that I did not hear before. This headphones not only works well for music, but does great with your favourite action movie. You will hear how close the sound is, and have bullets whizzing past you and swords meeting like they are just around you.

Below are the technical specifications:

Acounstic principle: Dynamic, closed
Ear coupling: Supra-aural
Frequency response: 14-20,000 Hz
Max SPL at 1kHz, 1 Vrms: 112 dB
THD at 1kHz, 100 dB SPL: < 0.5%
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Weight (without cable): 206 g
Singnal cable: 3 m copper cable (OFC), single-sided
Connector/adapter: 3.5 mm stereo jack with 6.3 mm adapter

This headphones comes with a 2 year warranty and a protective pouch for the headphones.

While there are unquestionably better-sounding headphones available, you'd be very challenged to find something better-sounding at this price point. Other pluses include deep, powerful bass response without being "boomy," the closed-back earcups provide excellent isolation & makes the HD205 a good choice for use in noisy environments or when others around you might be disturbed when you crank the volume, & the 32-ohm, highly efficient drivers make this a good match for iPods & other portable music players - lets you play 'em loud, while still being gentle on the battery! I have a moderately large head (Size 7 1/2) so I initially found them too tight, as some other reviewers have mentioned. Sennheiser tech support suggested gently stretching the headband by placing them over something slightly larger than my head (sofa arm, computer tower, etc.) and leaving overnight. That did the trick for me, although I needed to repeat the procedure once more, about a week later.

I've just purchased a pair of these and have been using them for about a week now. I use them for mixing and mastering music in my studio. The sound quality is great; very clear and good frequency response. The 1/4" adapter screws into the 1/8" plug which is fantastic for what I'm doing. (I'm a little rough with cords when I'm working) They are a bit tight on the head and a bit small in the ears. I don't have a very large head or ears, so it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, it's nice to have them a bit tighter so I can thrash about and they won't fly off my head easily. I was a bit concerned about my ears hurting from the small cups, but I have not experienced any pain yet and I generally spend anywhere between 2 to 8 hours with them on. All in all, these are a fantastic deal for the price, but I wouldn't buy them if you've got yourself a decently-sized to a large head. Small heads only.

They are adequate. Nothing great, I wasnt blown away so to speak.
About the headphones being too small, hmm dunno, I found them adequate, yes they are tight, but I having them looser would make them constantly slip from the head.

Pros:
1. Good ambient sound blocking. If you wear them without any music playing, it feels as if you have cotton stuffed in ur ears.
2. Cheap
3. Long cord. Nice carry pouch.
4. solid contruction.
5. Nice crisp sound output.

Cons:
1. The hollow spot at the center of the ear cup that is supposed to cover ur ear is small, about 1 1/2 inch by 3/4th inch. This puts some pressure on ur outer ear as the headphones fit quite snuggly. Extended use causes a bit of discomfirt.
2. Sound is a bit flat for me. the bass wasnt deep and the trebles werent sharp enough. I need to play around with the equalizer to see if I can fix this.

Let me start off by saying that you should come to a GRIP with what these headphones are. They are intended for studio monitoring and DJ mixing. THESE ARE NOT SUPER BOOTY SMACKING BASS. You won't find "monitors" that are really meant for that. Monitor/DJ Headphones are for the purpose of hearing every single "detail." You cannot achieve this with heavy bass taking over sound that you would otherwise mix. So the reviews on "where is the bass" I will gladly tell you its there. BUT you don't get it just with plain headphones. You have to boost the bass if want you want is some good heavy bass. Now sound quality is unreal. I heard pieces in songs I had never heard before, and with these I was able to fix a mix of mine that I had been troubled with for weeks now. At the time making them I was using Apple Ipod headphones and wouldn't you know they have some heavier bass than normal. If you are looking for hard hitting bass, these are not for you. Any good or decent monitor/dj headphones will not fulfill this. Now onto the tight fitting. The only backdrop is its tight fitting on the head. But this is more of an up than down. Say your mixing, its midnight in the club, we all know how loud it gets around that time. That is what the tight fitting is for. With it tight onto your skull you won't have an issue hearing what it is you need to hear. Mixing has been a joy with these with detail, super clarity, and PLENTY of bass. For the price they cannot be beaten and personally I don't see the point in buying 200 dollar headphones at the moment. If you got a big head then stretching them out over time will suffice which I found I was able to do within a few hours. Great headphones, good for the use, and plenty of sound.

The Sennheiser HD 205 is great value for money. The design is not only comfortable, but takes out a lot of ambient noise. This headphone does not have active noise reduction but does a good job with its closed design headphone. The right-side is able to swivel backwards, so you can answer a phone call and not need to remove the whole headphone. This swivel was designed for DJ's to do sound mixing, but works well for other purposes as well. I also like its strong bass and great clarity, where I could hear sounds in music that I did not hear before. The package also comes with a protective pouch for the headphones.

Below are the technical specifications:

Acounstic principle: Dynamic, closed
Ear coupling: Supra-aural
Frequency response: 14-20,000 Hz
Max SPL at 1kHz, 1 Vrms: 112 dB
THD at 1kHz, 100 dB SPL: < 0.5%
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Weight (without cable): 206 g
Singnal cable: 3 m copper cable (OFC), single-sided
Connector/adapter: 3.5 mm stereo jack with 6.3 mm adapter

This headphones comes with a 2 year warranty.

Do not get these headphones, as they are way too tight. I have been using them for a month now, hoping they would break in more, but they have not. You can only have them on for 20 minutes or so before your ears hurt so bad you have to take them. Im not sure why they made them so tight, but they would probably best fit a 10 year old.

After a mere 3 days, I am disappointed. I had a $20 pair of Aiwa HP-X222 headphones that died after 7 years. They were cheap and unexpectedly great. When they died, I thought I'd try something from a stronger name brand, like Sennheiser.

The sound quality is about the same as my old Aiwas. It's definitely good. I have no complaints in that area. I also like the nice long cord.

But there are a couple of things I really don't like. Note that these are supra-aural rather than circum-aural, meaning they sit on your ears rather than around them. My old headphones were circum-aural and I did not realize how much less comfortable the Sennheisers would be. They press my ears against my head, which is uncomfortable anyway, but it's made worse by the fact that I wear glasses, which are now pinched between my ears and my head. I'm hoping that after a few more days I'll get used to the feel and it won't be so uncomfortable, but I'm not optimistic.

My other complaint is the noise-blocking. I was expecting these to block out a lot more noise than they do. They're not bad, just not as good as my old ones. When I'm playing music at a reasonable volume, I can still hear people talking near me, which was not the case with my old headphones. This is particularly disappointing since I bought these based on Sennheiser's claim that they provide "brilliant shielding of ambient noise."

I read reviews for a lot of Sennheiser headphones. It seems like overall people love them. Maybe the problem is just that these are the entry-level Sennheisers. I bet the expensive ones are really nice. I also bet that you can get non-Sennheiser headphones for half the price that have similar sound quality but are more comfortable and block more background noise. So even though this is a decent pair of headphones for some uses, I wouldn't recommend them if you want to escape from your coworkers' noises for long periods.

Very good sound, but a little lacking in bass. An amplifier would help. Also very tight on the head, uncomfortable. I left them stretched over three large books and that has helped.

First, fit and comfort are related with these cans for sure. I have been breaking them in playing sound and stretching the plastic headband overnights gently stretching around books with some improvement though more time should do it, so 3-4 stars. However, they do feel very nice now, still cut 80% of the ambient sounds and are light enough to be comfortable.

Sound quality is interesting as my ears know there are issues without EQ but often am surprised how long I wear them meaning they must be very enjoyable to listen to. After two weeks of playing the best EQ settings I found are almost straight line ramped down from a high of +7.6db @ 30hz to 0db 310hz, 0db 1k 1.5k, 2k-8k @ -3db, 10k and up at 0db. Funny, I found that my ATH-AD700s and Senns HD518 sound best with a similar settings on low end only although they are another level of phones for imaging detail (= distortion).

BTW I used Infected Mushroom's Converting Vegetarians disk 1 tracks 1,2,3 at least, a great test of full range dynamic sound reproduction and layers of sounds to challenge any audio transducer. If they can reproduce this album well they can do well with full orchestra and pipe organ too.

EQ brings the phones to be very close to many more expensive models. Without EQ there is way too much "presence" (mid range) week low bass, however, when EQ's bass becomes evident, strong all the way down and clean not boomy. They seem to have that Sennheiser clean mid to high end similar to my HD448s in character but sit on the ear not totally enclosing and still make great bass. Might call it "Sennheiser" bass, clean well controlled solid but not over the top. Must mention that hair and of course the amount of hair can reduce the low end of many phones that require a good seal, not so much with the 205s on the ear type.

With the 205s or any really good low distortion phones there is a common issue, that one enjoys the music so much, must turn up the volume then one may not notice just how loud they really are. Clean low distorted sound at high intensity (sound pressure) over prolonged sessions can injure hearing - not the headphones fault. But they are in my opinion that good to justify a warning esp for the young no matter how old you are.

I find each model Headphone brings another sound personality that becomes difficult to compare between models but does come down to how enjoyable the sound thus music becomes. Sort of like the differences of rooms or theaters each may be fine in there own settings, but certainly not the same. All in all I use these as much as other favorites esp at the office often for hours and love 'em! And you don't need to worry about spending $300.