Customer Reviews

Sennheiser HD 238 Open Aire Stereo Headphones Optimized for iPod/iPhone/MP3/and Music Players

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought these headphones to replace my close-type Sennheisers. HD 238 has a terrific life-like sound which surrounds you and provide a perfect range. Bass is very deep and strong, mid/high ranges are very clear and crisp. I am amazed with the sound, and truly satisfied.

The build quality is perfect, lots of nice touches like metal trims, high-quality cloth padding. HD 238 is one of the most comfortable headphones that I ever tried. It is lightweight and perfectly sized, sits on your head comfortably. Single side cable is a perfect touch to the design.

Just note that HD 238 is an open air headphone and leaks sound both ways (but thanks to this design the sound is crisper and bass is deeper than closed types). If you are a commuter I suggest you to go for HD 218 or 228...

If you're like me and lots of other people who are used to bargain-bin phones or those little white iEarBuds, I guarantee you've never worn headphones this comfortable and good-sounding at the $100 and under price-point. These are open supra-aural (on-ear), meaning a few things:

1. The earpads fit on the ear rather than around. These are nice cushy pads and are incredibly comfortable even for long listens.

2. The back of the phones aren't closed, so at high volumes you get outward sound leakage, and at low volumes you can hear a lot of what goes on around you.

If you want highly accurate listening at low-to-mid volume in quiet environments, where outside noise is unlikely to be an issue, then this is the right format phone for you! I find myself constantly wearing these while studying at a library, where there's no reason to be pumping my volume to leakage-level anyway. I've never been able to listen to these phones at a high enough volume to cause distortion so I am willing to bet this isn't an issue.

Now let's talk about sound quality. These phones will BLOW AWAY whatever came with your portable listening device. The sound may be a little "smaller" than a full-sized earphone. That being said, the open-air design means that the sound much more approaches listening to live instruments in a room than having a pair of tiny speakers posted by your ears. These headphones produce such realistic sound and are so comfortable it's easy to forget you're in your bedroom and not in Symphony Hall.

Compared to cheaper headphones, the HD 238s are surprisingly transparent, natural-sounding phones, with BIG bass response that doesn't boom too badly thanks to an open design, clarity in the mids, and crisp highs. Due to their good sound and open design, these earphones never sound boomy or tinny and never have problems with strange echos that plague cheap closed phones. I would describe the sound as balanced toward the lows, relaxed (never overly sparkly or punchy), and pretty detailed.

Highly recommended. Best applications: Portable device listening in quiet environments. Also work pretty well for mixing recordings in a quiet location. Don't bother if: You listen in noisy environments like airplanes or you are a DJ, or if big bass bothers you.

About a week ago I purchased the newest Ipod Touch 32 gb. The Touch is not noted for having the greatest sound (Sony Walkman, Zune w/ the Wolfson DAC chip are better), but the iTouch has so many great features. So, I wanted to get the best headphones possible to maximize the sound the iTouch could produce.

I wanted the most performance for a reasonable amount of money. With the Sennheiser HD-238, I got excellent sound for a reasonable amount of money.

It takes about 20 hours of burn-in before they start to open up. At around 30 hours they started to show what they could do. The iPod Touch can power them, at about 60% of its available volume range. The HD 238's are the slightest bit warm, but they are detailed and the low end is strong and not sloppy. I am a classical listener, could be called an audiophile, and was somewhat shy about making my music listening a portable experience. But, the iPod Touch, with the Sennheiser HD 238's, has created a very nice listening system.

Any headphones will sound better with a small/portable headphone amp. I don't feel the need to spend the additional money, but for those who want to get an amp, you can expect sound to improve even more. The HD 238's are an open headphone, which is why they sound so good, but they do bleed some sound. This is not a problem for me at home. I got a smaller pair of noise canceling headphones to use at work.

Very pleased with these. Treated with care, I am sure they will last a long time.

When the ear buds packaged with my iPod classic broke (good headphones in their own right), I decided to find a nice pair of headphones. I'd never owned a "quality" set of headphones. I'd always bought what was cheapest and loudest and never cared much for sound quality. So I bought these, hoping to discover something new.

I was impressed immediately by the quality of the materials and the build of the headphones. They are extremely comfortable and seem to be very well made. I've only had them a few days but I think that durability wise, it's a safe bet that these things will last for a long time. They are very comfortable. It took me a while to find the sweet spot on my ears but once I did, they felt very cozy on my large ears.

I must say that at first I was very annoyed with the sound quality when listening to my iPod. I was listening to some rock and roll and some metal (All That Remains and AC/DC) and it just wasn't loud enough. The quality was great but I wanted noise! Where was the bass and the loudness that used to filling my ears? Then I put on some instrumental music (Sigur Ros) and I started to hear things I hadn't heard before with my old headphones. I listened to some jazzy/indie rock stuff (American Football and then Death Cab For Cutie) and things weren't as loud as they had been, but they were clearer and sounded better.

I became mildly impressed after a few hours of listening. I went to sleep and woke up the next day to go to the local coffee shop to write. So I plugged my new headphones into my computer and turned on the AC/DC and WOW did it sound good. I switched to my metal and I was clearly hearing the bass notes and the pedals and the guitars instead of just hearing the CHUG CHUG CHUG loudness and bass that muddled up my old headphones and my car speakers. Then I started listening to Mae and I heard piano and nuances I hadn't heard before. The ultimate test was listening to Low Level Owl 1 & 2 by the Appleseed Cast, music littered with tiny samples and dozens of things going on at once. With all the other headphones I was hearing only a couple of things and not much else. With these headphones I heard EVERY LITTLE DETAIL. Now I'm hooked on these things.

The only negative thing about these is that they do not block outside noise very well at all, as others have mentioned. But I don't think they were constructed with the intention of blocking outside noise completely. It's not like you can still hear people talking when they are turned up to full volume, they aren't that bad, but you can still hear some surrounding noise if you don't have them cranked up pretty loud.

For the longest time I was more concerned with loudness than quality. I just wanted to blast my music into my ears and drown out the world around me. It wasn't until I gave these headphones a try that I realized I was missing out on so much. Before, I was looking through a foggy window and now things are crystal clear.

I'm a budding audiophile that was tired of listening to my music loudly. I wanted to listen to my music, not just hear it. With these headphones I am able to finally listen fully to my music. I'm not sure why the sound quality is better on my Mac (old power PC) than my iPod classic. Perhaps it's the sound chip or the power or something. If I hooked these up to my nice amp at home and listened to this stuff, I'm sure that these headphones could easily blow me away even more than they already have.

Overall I'd say that these are great headphones and would recommend them to most everyone. There are better headphones for noisy places or different situations but overall I'm very very happy with these.

This is my second pair of HD 238's, and it'll definitely be my last.. The first set stopped working completely after only 2 months, presumably due to a loose connection in the extremely thin wire after I laid a magazine and a few small pieces of mail on top of them on the front seat of my car for a few minutes when I came out of the post office.. Maybe the weight of the mail bent the connection area of the cord, I don't know.. I'd used the first pair to watch movies on my computer and listen to a few acoustic type compact discs on my portable CD player, and was satisfied with the sound for the price I paid... (I use more expensive headphones with my home equipment, but I wanted a lightweight open air set to use when I'm running, biking, or driving, so I could still hear environmental noise...)

After listening to multiple audio sources with this new pair though, I have no desire to listen to rock or blues music with them, because the bass response is usually so exaggerated that the mids and highs are overpowered... At first I thought I accidentally had the maximum bass boost on my portable CD player turned on, but I didn't have it turned on at all... My cheaper Sony MDR ER71 earphones, my Grado 325is, and two other sets of phones I have sound good or great with my portable player and actually have me turning mild bass boost on, but the HD 238's just emphasize the bass too much for me no matter what setting the CD player is set to, and I've tried comparing headphones with the same recordings and it's always the same: Too much bass with the HD 238's...These phones are good for devices that only provide weak bass, and possibly for watching movies or television on a computer, and for those who love booming bass... But me, I prefer my music to sound the way it was recorded, I like to hear each instrument, and I don't like artificial booming bass, so I won't be using these much.

After owning several headphones for my multiple Ipods..(the Itouch is my current favorite), including the Bose Triports, the Koss PortaPros, and the Sennheiser 100's, I was intrigued by the design of the Sennheiser 238's.

Thus, I ordered a pair. These headphones, IMO, are THE best for the following reasons:

1. They are the most comfortable and the most compact of all my headphones.

2. The cord connects only on the left side, thus avoiding tangles.

3. The sound is the best balanced and most natural of all my headphones...(I listen to many varieties of music, including classical, jazz, and country.

4. The price is right at the Amazon.com vendors.

5. They are the only pair that I own that hang comfortably around my neck when I am in the mall and not able to listen to music, i.e. while shopping, etc.

After owning these for three weeks, I ordered a second pair; one to hang on my wall next to my Ipod, and the other to keep in my camera/accessory bag to ensure that I shall never forget them when I go out.

I also own a set of Bose QC 2's, which are excellent, but for a specific purpose....when travelling on a plane. The 238's are definitely not suitable for this purpose. They do leak sound, both in and out and would annoy fellow passengers. They are also much larger and far more expensive.

Give these a try. Odds are that you will agree with my assessment.

Dan

Danbury, CT

I had the Sennheier HD 414 headphones for years and loved them! These were the classic headphones with yellow foam earpads that were often used by DJ's and radio hosts. I loved these headphones and because of that was reluctant to switch to the Bose headphones now that I listen mostly to my iPod. I'm glad I was patient. Sennheiser has a headphone that compares favorably with those popular headphones in the HD 238. They are comfortable and can be worm for long streches of time and provide an equal distribution of both deep bass and crisp treble at any volume. I highly recommend these headphones!

The first time I had tried these headphones was at an Apple Store which was hooked up with an iPod. At first try, I was impressed with the deep bass and clear mid-range sound. I had to look at them again after trying them feeling amazed with the sound. I even asked the salesperson if the iPod was hooked up with an amplifier and he just clapped his hands laughing at me! The other headphone I tried with an iPod that had similar deep bass sound was the Bose QC3 noise-cancelling headphone but they were much more expensive ($349) and these HD238s are slimmer and lighter. I knew right then I had to get these. I looked at Amazon and was surprised how inexpensive it was. Well, I just got it to today and tried them on listening to my songs on iTunes on my black MacBook and sure enough delivered the same sound quality when I had first tried them on. There is padding on top of the headphone band and the well-padded earcups swivel adjusting to your ears very comfortably. Plus it comes with a canvass storage pouch (bag). One thing I would recommend though is to be careful and gentle with them. I wouldn't throw them around even on something soft like on a bed or pillow. These phones should last you a long time but again take care of them. It is Made in China and the band is made of plastic but it seems Sennheiser has spared the cost with some of the parts but certainly not the sound quality. These are, I think, the best sound for the price. I don't think you will be disappointed. Listening to C'est Dans L'air and the bass rocks!

This is my first pair of Sennheisers, and I don't normally write reviews, but I feel I have to because of how amazed I am with them. I've always been a fan of earbud style headphones after trying several sony on-the-ear sets and having been disappointed, and have owned several pairs of shures and ultimate ears triple.fis, but these on-the-ear HD238s are miles ahead in terms of sound quality. Bass lovers will appreciate the out-of-the-box full bass that really envelopes you in the music, while those looking for a more toned down experience can easily tweak the profile with an equalizer. I regularly switch the EQ up for different music I listen to (primarily between Acoustic/Rock and R&B) Mids are relaxed, not recessed, but are very distinct and not in any way drowned out by bass, even with an R&B EQ setting. Finally, trebles are crystal clear, though be warned that they may be uncomfortably sharp for a few hours (as mine were), a short ~5-10 hour burn-in eliminates this completely, but the tones remain appreciably distinct and clear.

I have absolutely no reservations in recommending this to anyone!

I still dont understand how these so called audio heads can say these arent great.I followed advice of many and bought the koss porta and let me tell or nothing compared to these.These seperate the instruments well dont sound muffled and keep the highs.Best headphones ever the sound is something else and well worth the money.