Sennheiser HD 215 Headphone Review

 Product Name: Sennheiser HD 215
 Price: £70 (Down to £50 on Amazon, gogogo!)

Sexy, aren't they?

Well, it's my birthday today, and as such I was given money, and I bought myself a lovely lovely pair of Sennheiser headphones. After spending some time with them, comparing them against the various headphones I have around the house (including a pair of studio quality reference monitor 'phones) I think I am ready to give my verdict.

OMIGOSH AWESOME

Ahem. *Straightens smoking jacket, pats down slacks.*


Allow me to explain. I have generally been wary of the stereotypical audiophile's love of Sennheiser headphones. Indeed, when I first listened to a pair of Sennheiser HD 555s, I was unimpressed. Admittedly, they were mostly broken from overuse by Joe Public. But while wandering around PC World aimlessly, I spotted a pair of HD 205s that were for testing, and seemed pretty new. After trying them and comparing them to the chunky Sony headphones I had with me, I knew I had to try something better. They were good, but clamped down on my head painfully. And then I spotted the £70 HD 215 headphones. They were locked in a box with no demo pair, but I knew I would be buying them. I had to try them.

I called over a PC World flunky, and by some mystical moon rays, got a competent one. She asked around and was allowed to open the security seal and box for a demo for me, as they would need to be put out on the demo racks anyway. I had to save these poor babies. They could not endure the ears of so many unenthusiastic youths. With the packing stripped away, I flicked out my iPod nano. Black, battered, but a trustworthy companion. More to the point, I knew what the songs on this thing sounded like on a lot of systems, and I had a good reference point to work from.

I fired up a few of my own tracks, and found myself hearing things I had not heard previously. Not even during recording! Excited, I changed to a few higher quality songs from professional artists, and marveled at the sheer depth of the sound, and the super clear bass. I had to have them. I took them off, and watched as the woman packed them back into the box, willing her to speed up so I could rip them back out and get another taste of musical nirvana. I barely survived the queue. And I'm British.

Walking quickly through Leeds, knowing I could have waited another day and bought them cheaper online, I pondered if I could stop to open the box now, but resisted until I was sat waiting for my bus. Sliding the snug headphones over my head, and dropping the excellently coily cable between my t-shirts, I entered a near soundless world that was instantly filled with the sweet rumblings of a deep bass. I sat there, fiddling with the EQ and staring at the wordless mouthing of the passers-by, enjoying the wall of sound. The passive sound isolation on these is remarkable.

As I got home, I started up the Roland recording desk that my dad used to record his songs, and we did a direct like-for-like comparison against his professional monitor headphones.

We both agreed that the Sennheisers won.

They didn't add or take away like normal headphones, and they were able to provide the same flat sound that engineers love, to mix the sound as well as they can. When you listen to music, you want to hear what the producer was listening to as he said, "This song is done."

I fired up the PC eagerly, and got Foobar2000 running, hunting down the various .FLAC files I had stored on this computer. I had previously barely noticed the difference, but as the sound came through the Sennheisers, I knew I had made the right choice. The music was far louder than what had come through the iPod, and I expected this. I have always been told that higher quality headphones really need a more powerful output to really push the headphones. The Muse tracks went from beautifully atmospheric to ear-bashingly furious. The Decapitated songs were heavier and heavier, and I felt that I could hear the more subtle tones they put behind the wall of guitars. Well mic'd acoustic tones revealed more depth then I ever expected. Blues became a masterclass of raw tone. Classical music was like having an orchestra in my head.

After enjoying these headphones immensely, I am ready to give my verdict.

This is how music should sound.

Wait, no.

This is how music should be listened to.

sleepygamer