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This has included in bed, while mowing the lawn, and on many camping and road trips. The ear pieces are also showing some wear and one of them is starting to tear slightly, but I honestly cannot believe how long these have lasted. I will not comment on the sound quality of these headphones, as there are many other reviews that have done so. I am writing this review now, because my cable has recently cut out the left channel and I needed to replace it. When I receive the replacement cable, they will continue to be used. I wanted to mention I have had these for 4+ years. I have used these everywhere.
As a closed design they do a decent job blocking minor external noise. This could be a plus but you may need to play with your equalizer.They can get hot and uncomfortable if worn for over an hour or so.I had to replace the cable after a few years. I like these a lot. They're a big step up from bargain-basement headphones.Their main drawbacks are:The bass is unnaturally strong. Fortunately it can be replaced separately from the main unit. The audio clarity is pretty good for the price. They produce plenty of bass.
This usually isn't a problem for me as I take them off and put them off throughout the day, but this could be something to seriously consider if you wear headphones for hours on end.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Durability - 10 of 10Another reason I wanted to get some nice headphones; I could never get a cheap $10 set to last more than a few months. When I'm not listening, I can just hang them around my neck, rather than coiling them up or stuffing them into my pocket. I bought these headphones simply wanting to be able to hear the bass guitar that was usually almost silent. This still provides the seal needed for better sound isolation and bass, and gives you a smaller profile (if you give a crap about that- I don't).
This is my first review; comments/questions would be much appreciated :) Music playing at medium volume is enough to render other people's voices too quiet to understand, though you can still hear them. These headphones serve my purpose very well.Also as mentioned, my source is an iPod. And the bass. This makes them a little more comfortable, but also makes them a little less sound isolating.
This isn't really a problem for me; I put a rubber band around the excess and attached it to the back of my leather iPod case (yes, my source is an iPod, please don't go on a discriminatory rant all you audiophiles). If you mainly listen to music without very much bass, or you wear them for extended periods of time (as stated above) you may want to look elsewhere.Definitely worth the money, I would have paid even more.Final rating: 9 of 10P.S. The ear cup popped right off; I snapped it right back on, and no damage was done whatsoever. But having the ear-cup rest partly on the ear rather than completely on the head comes at a cost: comfort.After an hour of wearing them without any breaks, there was slight discomfort; after another hour it was uncomfortable, getting close to painful. The Sennheiser HD 212's are semi-circumaural, which means they mostly surround the ear, but the bottom part of the ear-cup rests on top of the ear lobe. It isn't overpowering, and the quality (like everything else) is superb. Pros: good sound, great bass, VERY durable, decent sound isolation, lightweight, (relatively) cheap price.Cons: gets uncomfortable after a while, long cord (easily remedied), not fully circumaural (see below).------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sound - 9 of 10I've compared these to several sets of my old `phones (the nicest of which were a $20 pair of in-ear sony's that I still use occasionally), and I can really hear the difference. :)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Convenience - 8 of 10I think these are more convenient than my ear-buds, actually.
These have lasted 10 months (and still counting). Actually, it's almost a plus as now when I drop my iPod, the jack is not stressed at all; another durability plus.As a side note, these weighed in at 6.5 ounces. Supra-aural headphones only rest directly outside the ear, while circumaural (A.K.A full-size) headphones completely surround the ear. These are a lot clearer, and you are enveloped in the sound. The only ever-so-slightly annoying thing is the 10-foot long cord. I didn't notice much of a difference between them and my $20 'phones. It also gives the bass drum a nice full sound.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sound isolation - 6 of 10These headphones do an alright job of not letting noise in or out. Some people say to play music for 24+ hours at maximum volume to do this, but I think that would present a danger of blowing the drivers.
As if looks affect me in the least.The 212's also have a very useful feature; the wire actually unplugs from the ear-cup. Other headphones produced a sort of muddy sound, but with the Sennheiser's I can individually hear every instrument. A second possibility is that I have just become more able to hear the difference in the sound quality.Regarding the actual music, I listen to mostly alternative-metal (I think. I love it.Update: Just today, I was hit in the face with one of those bouncy-ball things that you sit on while these were around my neck. However, as time progressed I could really tell the difference.This seems to be evidence for the idea that most headphones require a 'break-in period'. Pretty good, huh.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Other considerationsThere is one very important thing you have to know.
Perhaps constantly playing music through them for a week or so at a more reasonable volume will more safely attain the goal. If you wanted to maintain the clampy-ness, you might be able to stick rubber bands around the head band overnight or something.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bottom LineThese are a great pair of headphones for those like me who love bass, want set of headphones that will last, and are not willing to drop $100+ just for a set of `phones.
While most audiophiles seem to think of it as a piece of garbage, I personally do not believe anyone at this listening level will notice a difference (I don't).It should also be noted that because I have owned these for a while, they've loosened up a bit and don't clamp my head quite as much as they used to. Yes, the paint is starting to chip, but who freakin' cares.
It's a confusing subject); mainly P.O.D., Pillar, and few other songs (like The Fashion by illScarlett, and a little bit of Authority Zero). I can finally hear the missing piece of my music.
When I first got these headphones, I was underwhelmed. That means whenever you stand up to find the cord caught on something, your nice headphones incur exactly ZERO damage.
Frankly, I don't really care if a little bit of sound gets in, and if you're the type of person who does you probably won't be getting these anyway.As for sound getting out, you have to play it rather loud for other people to get an idea of what you're listening to.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Comfort - 7 of 10Let me clear up an item of confusion (at least it was for me). through being dropped, yanked, and splashed (with more than just water).
Their frequency responses are very similar. I will update this if I ever get some Shures or any of the other expensive types.Generally, these are an excellent choice for both average listeners and audiophiles on a budget. They remain tight enough so that their weight doesn't rest squarely on the top of my head and mash my hair down. I would do a comparison to the HD201's if they either were not broken or if I could remember exactly how their sound quality was. I upgraded to these after my Sennheiser HD201's broke (the jack got bent and I wasn't able to fix it).
So far, no IEM's that I've been able to get my hands on sound anywhere as clear as the 212's. Sennheiser seems to be renowned for making durable stuff. That doesn't say much though, since I haven't used any that are over $25. Though there are better headphones out there, I am perfectly content with these and do not plan to get anything more expensive unless these spontaneously self-destruct. Of course, these have more bass (I'm used to IEM's that have high bass, so I can't say that these have a lot of bass though), but these can't reproduce a certain part of the mid-range as well as the 555's. The 555's give more of a sense of surround sound and "distance" between instrument types and such.
It was quite a leap I'd have to say.The 212's are very comfortable. I've dropped these multiple times and these still work like new. There's probably a better way to say this, but I lack the proper audiophile sense. They felt slightly tight when I first got them, but they got looser. The main difference between the two, far as i can tell, is sound depth. My audiophile brother has a set of Sennheiser HD-555's so I can give a comparison between the two.
The design of these allow for some sound isolation, though enough sound escapes through so that you can hear what's going around you to an extent. Sound quality on these is very high.
Much much better than my 25 dollar Sony and Koss headphones. I'm not an audiophile, but to me the highs and mids are very clear, and the lows are only slightly exaggerated but still sound great. You can usually find these for only 20-30 bucks more than your standard low quality headphones, and if you wear them for more than a few hours a month, you'll really appreciate what that 20 bucks gets you. After years of cheap headphones, I never knew what I was missing in sound quality and comfort. Now I'll never go back.
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