Sennheiser HD205 II, Closed over ear headphone with rotatable earcup

Product Information

Owing to it's speed and precision, the HD 215 exhibits much better PRaT than the HD 205. In fact, the HD 215's surprisingly good PRaT is some of the best I've heard for it's price point in quite some time. These headphones are built great with a nifty rotating/swinging right ear cup. The 10ft cable- and screw on 1/4" adapter make this a great studio/DJ monitor set.

In reading on, I learned that Sennheiser USA was lending out a limited number of these to Head-Fiers for our impressions. Having spent quite a bit of ear time with the HD 215's little brother, the HD 205, I was naturally curious on several fronts. So of course, I jumped at the chance (you know, as you do) to spend some decent ear time with these as well. Most of the differences in function, usability and comfort have already been covered in the main review above (where the HD 215 won hands down), so this comparison will concentrate largely on SQ.I think the sound is nice - don't get me wrong - but it is a bit of a stretch from Sennheiser's reference-quality headphones. I feel that the mids come out somewhat suppressed with these cans, but the quality of sound seems to have greatly improved since I've started using an E17 with WASAPI from my laptop playing lossless audio files. The HD 215 has a much wider and more spacious soundstage than the HD 205. With the HD 205, it always seemed like the action was happening right next to me (or pretty darn close to me). And while I don't consider the HD 215 to have a particularly cavernous soundstage, it is nonetheless noticably wider and deeper than the HD 205 will ever be. Not wanting to be less than thorough, I fired up the old tone generator to give it a good listening to. Running a standard sine wave showed sub-bass levels dropping off significantly starting at ~45Hz. By the time I got down to 32Hz, there was negligible auditory and vibratory output. Yeah, I know I'm a bit of a freak for listening to tone generators, but don't we all do that from time to time? I wouldn't call it a glaring or outstanding flaw though, it's more like a curious sensation. As long as you intend to use the HD 215 for casual listening, your ears may easily gloss over it on a fairly consistent basis. And if you're a DJ in a working environment, I seriously doubt this will ever get in your way, so you needn't even pay attention to what I just said. But if you're looking to use these for critical listening, be advised that it is noticeable enough as to warrant a pointing out.

If you are a DJ with a pair of HD 205s, and you're considering upgrading to the HD 215, I would wholeheartedly recommend doing so. While it does fall short of DJ-headphone greatness, it is light-years ahead of the HD 205 in comfort, features & sound quality. There is very little variation between the HD 205 and the HD 215 in their mid-range presentations. Both have smooth, clear, and slightly-forward mids, though the HD 205's sounded slightly warmer IMO. Since this is a viewpoint that I share wholeheartedly, I was understandably intrigued. IMO, a pair of muddy basshead cans does NOT make a good pair of DJ headphones - and I'll have words with anyone that thinks otherwise. And whereas the HD 428's lush highs tend to drop out and roll-off sooner, the HD 215's top end is much brighter and extends higher (albeit exhibiting sibilance on occasion).

Sennheiser HD 205 - Technical Overview

The HD 215's soundstage is neither wide nor deep. Oddly enough, it's also not particularly close or intimate. Again, there's a very middle-of-the-road (or room) approach applied here. If you would like to know my impressions of the HD 215 vs. something else in my inventory, just ask. =D These days, it seems that every headphone manufacturer and their mothers have at least one pair of DJ cans out in the market.

In conclusion these more affordable cans from Sennheiser are good for several things such as home listening and DJing. The only significant issue with these headphones is they would not be recommended for portable uses considering the length of the cord and their overall size. If I had to rate this headphone 1-10 it would get a solid 8.3. In simplisitic terms, the HD 205 is going to sound like it has more bass. But the devil is in the details here... To facilitate DJ usage, the HD 215 features a swing-away right ear cup for one-eared monitoring/cueing. This is essentially the same swing-away mechanism that the HD 205 employed. However, this time around Sennheiser made it much better (and a little worse). Appearance-wise, the HD 215 shares many design elements with the HD 205 and the familial resemblance is hard to miss.

Often compared with Sennheiser HD 205

For me, the HD 215's bass response is a rather refreshing break from the current crop of bassy DJ-type headphones. Because the HD 215 is a fairly balanced and even set of cans without a significant mid-bass hump, I am fairly sure that most listeners will tag it as having anemic bass. Yet in my listening sessions, I have found that the HD 215 renders bass beautifully and smoothly without exagerration - and I like that. For the most part, the HD 215 maintains a smooth transition in levels from lows-to-mids. There didn't seem to be any annoying drop-outs or break-ups in the various organ and cello passages that I tested with. And again, while the HD 215 doesn't have a pronounced mid-bass hump, I nonetheless found the mid-bass to be both adequate and agreeable for most genres - with overproduced poppy pseudo R&B being the exception. Maybe in a future revision (like the aforementioned HD 215 Pro, or HD 215-II, or HD 215-1, or HD 215-1-II, or whatever Sennheiser is going to call it), they can apply some rubberization on the ear cups' external surfaces. That might be worth a few more dBs in isolation. Just a thought.

Overall, the HD 212 Pro has a much bassier and darker presentation vs. the HD 215's even-tempered and balanced presentation. So if you prefer the HD 212 Pro's sound signature, you probably won't like the HD 215 very much.And in case HD 205 owners are curious, the HD 215's isolation is noticeably superior. Combined with a quantum leap in comfort, that makes the HD 215 the clear winner in this contest. So if you've always liked the HD 428's sound signature, but wished that it had deeper bass and brighter highs, then the HD 215 might just be what you've been looking for. It's not as comfortable as the HD 428, but hey we can't have everything we want. I listened to a lot of other models in this range and in a range somewhat higher (up to 150 €): frankly, the HD 205 does not have to turn pale at slightly more expensive models.