Sennheiser HD205 II, Closed over ear headphone with rotatable earcup

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Curiously, the HD 215 seems to excel at placing sounds along the Y-axis better than it does along the X-axis. I'm not sure what this is about. Maybe some strategically applied crossfeed will compensate for it, but it is a bit irregular. We used the HD 205 II headphones in conjunction with a Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q880 laptop (with Dolby Home Theater technology), an Onkyo TX-L5 receiver, and the Apple iPod Classic, Creative Zen: Vision M, and Zune HD MP3 players. With a 32-ohm impedance level, it takes little power to drive these headphones, so they're easy on the batteries in portable devices. 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. These phones have a very low threshold and give you a big bass bump at about 70-120hz and you don't want any of that when you are buying a set. I think that headphone mixes are important. Isolation was not that bad when cutting drums and that is unusual for a set of cans like this. The audio quality of the headphones you she looks good (serious overall balance, mid, treble, stereo)?

In terms of sound quality, the HD 215 is clearly a superior and more sophisiticated unit compared to its little brother, the HD 205. You see, I am a big fan of tight, fast, punchy bass. Bass that leaves you shuddering from the first hit, and then escapes like a bandit before you can react. I do NOT like warm, fuzzy, lazy-ass, boomy, wooly, loosie-goosie, overblown, ghetto-car-audio-that-just-rattles-license-plate-frames bass that can't decide whether it's coming or going. So along those lines, I just want to say that the HD 215 exhibits some of the best bass characteristics that I've come across in a long time. Let's get one thing straight right away: the HD 215's comfort is leaps and bounds better than the HD 205 in every perceivable way. Here's how (and possibly why)...

Sennheiser HD 205 - Q&A

Appearance-wise, the HD 215 shares many design elements with the HD 205 and the familial resemblance is hard to miss. The HD 205 and HD 215 can be considered "brothers" in Sennheiser's DJ line-up in more ways than one. They share the same basic design. They have somewhat similar sound signatures. And they are relatively close in terms of pricing (at least when compared to HD 25s). 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? 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.

Highs are noticeably sharper, crisper and brighter in the HD 215. This is not to suggest that the HD 205 is muffled or closed-in, but the HD 215 clearly reproduces more of the top end since the HD 205 rolls-off sooner. And finally, if you're a noob and don't know what to get, ask around here for help, advice, and recommendations. If this might be the right model for you, then someone will mention it. Whereas the HD 205's right ear cup could only swing forward/aft by 60 degrees, the HD 215's right ear cup has over 90 degrees of swing from the center detent! This is a HUGE improvement because a 60-degree swing is not enough to clear most ears (including mine). As a result, using the HD 215 in a one-eared configuration for extended periods is far more comfortable than the HD 205 ever was.

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And yes, the title is true. I've gone through three pairs, and they're all broken. But more on that later. Special thanks to TheDeliveryMan and Sennheiser USA for being cool enough to lend out the review sample, and for being patient. If I had to make that choice, I will take the same, but if I have much more clearly I will budget for a higher range. This is a much tougher comparison because the HD 215 and the HD 428 actually sound similar in many ways. The main differences between them both deal with extension at the two ends of the spectrum: 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.