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Sennheiser HD25-1 II Review

When you’re shopping for something and you see it’s been available for a decade, you’d normally be drawn away from it. This shouldn’t always be the case, and we have the perfect example to show you why. The Sennheiser HD 25-1 II headphones are over a decade old. “Wow, over a full decade ago and this is still selling?” With how fast technology advances you’d think that, but headphones really haven’t changed much in a price/performance ratio in the past few decades. The headphones retail for $299.95 USD, but the street price is much less. You can easily find it for around $200. While, even at $200, this may seem like a ridiculous price for headphones considering your iPod came with free ones, you should really try them out first before so quickly judging them. We discuss why the Sennheiser HD25-1 II are definitely worth it in this HD25-1 II Review.

These are labeled as “DJ” headphones by Sennheiser, but really could be and are used by many average people. In our review of the HD25-1 II, we found that you can definitely use it at home or on the go with your iPod, computer, or anything for audio/music. Now you may have seen these before without knowing it. If you’ve ever watched football or even “The Longest Yard” you may have noticed the headphones that announcers wear. These are a full black color with a microphone sticking out and wires hanging down from the side. In our review, we found that HD 25-1 II (not to be confused with the similar looking, but different sounding HD 25 and HD 25 SP) doesn’t have a microphone, but otherwise is the exact same thing they’re wearing. That really says something doesn’t it? It’s been adopted as a standard for announcers and here’s why. In my HD25-1 II Review, I found that the announcers definitely have a good reason to use this pair of headphones over others.

The 5 ounce headphones are portable, and this is emphasized very much by Sennheiser and also understood by me, as I did this HD25-1 II Review. These are considered the flagship portable headphone by European audio company Sennheiser. There are two versions, the original full black version and the Adidas version which is black and has blue designs on it and a blue cable. Both are the same in everything except appearance. These headphones feature an on-the-ear design. A unique feature of the HD 25-1 II is the headband. In our HD25-1 Review, we found that it has pleather pads to cushion your head but the unique feature is that it can split. Normally, headphones have one headband that arcs on your head, but this has two. This can be useful for adjusting the comfort when it is on your head. The ear-cups are length-adjustable and the left cup has a swivel feature which allows you to listen to audio on one side and listen to outside noise on the other. The cable which has a 3.5mm end (works with most audio sources including computers/laptops, iPods, iPads, media players, amplifiers, and more) comes out of the right side only, which can prove useful to some people. These headphones have a feature which is very important, but only to some people. They are very adjustable; you can change the ear-pads, the cable, the headband, and even the ear-cups themselves. It’s pretty much adjustable from the bottom up. You can pretty much take apart everything and replace parts to your desire (although most probably don’t need to do this).

From my review of the HD25-1 II Review, I found that the sound is exceptionally good for the price of $200 and can beat much of the competition in the same price range. Now these may not be as good as over-ear headphones, but who wants to wear over-ear headphones in public? (If you plan to only wear these headphones at home I suggest you look for over-ear headphones instead). At low volume, these headphones do not sound very good. It’s at higher volumes that they really bring out the sound and you can have a fun time listening to these. The sound is clear and does well with highs, mediums, and lows. The bass is great and will be exceptionally fine everyone except maybe some bass-heads, but don’t worry; these headphones will deliver a fine amount of heavy yet non-distorted bass unless you really can’t live without bass that shakes your head. The headphones overall sound very smooth which can be good for most people, but it also can give a negative effect to the clarity. The main problem is in the highs and mediums. I really enjoy clarity in the highs and mediums but this gives a little bit of smoothness which makes sounds such as the cymbal and piano sound smoother than I think they should. The soundstage is decent and can be fine for most, but for some it can be too narrow in that there isn’t a very clear separation between different instruments and voices. These can sound fine with ipods and average media players but am improvement in sound and soundstage may be noticed if an amplifier and aac/flac (and other high quality audio files) are used. Overall, the sound of these is very good for the price and can sound great with all genres from hip hop to rock, to electronic, but for those who enjoy classical music, the smoothness may affect many instruments.

Package contents are basic, nothing too special. The original black version has the headphones themselves with the 3.5mm (1/8^th inch) plug cable, black pleather pads (already on the headphones), black velour pads (not in all versions), a 6.35 mm plug adapter to put on the included cable’s 3.5mm plug in case you want to use it with devices that only have 6.35 mm (1/4^th inch) slots, and a carrying case (which doesn’t really provide much protection, but does allow you to carry it while keeping it lightweight and small). The blue Adidas version has the same contents but with a blue cable, blue pleather pads, white velour pads, and come in a blue box designed to look like an Adidas shoe box. Pleather is artificial leather and velour is a plush, soft fabric.

The Sennheiser HD 25-1 II headphones are considered by many to be one of the best portable on-ear headphones released. I myself prefer earbuds for portable use but after these HD25-1 II Review, I’ve began to reconsider. I use these headphones at home but don’t plan to be using them on-the-go often. The reason why is because mainly I’m not into wearing headphones in public as an accessory. Some people can pull it off, but I’m not sure about me. These headphones definitely do look great though. They don’t look too flashy and aren’t too bulky and big. If you want extra style points you can go for the Adidas version if you’re willing to spend around an extra $30-$50 bucks USD. Secondly, while these are certainly smaller than many of the over-ear headphones, they’re still not very convenient for me. I’d congratulate you if you could put these in your pocket. The only time a carry around a bag is usually at school, and in which case, my time to wear these is limited and I’m not a fan of pulling out headphones for every minute of free time I get, I like to sit down and enjoy, not rush and try to finish a song before class starts The swivel design is not useful to me. I struggled to find pros about this. There are no cons about it, it’s more neutral. I prefer leaving the two headbands together. The pleather pads were alright but can be uncomfortable to many. I prefer the velour pads as they are soft and also reduce bass and give the highs more strength. I do enjoy the sound but I prefer on-the-ear headphones more due to the wider soundstage and more clarity in most of them. The comfort of these headphones is decent for most, but can be too tight on the head for some. The tightness may go away after the headphones adjust to your head. If they don’t, you can do some adjustments and try to widen the headband. The durability of these headphones is great. Even though they don’t look very expensive and are made out of mostly plastic, these are very durable. People have even owned these for a decade and claim they’re still functioning. These are the kind of headphones you could just throw in a bag without having to worry about them breaking. Overall, these are great headphones for the price. I do recommend these headphones to most people. The only people I don’t recommend these to are people who enjoy clarity over anything else and people who would only use these at home (in which case I would recommend over-ear headphones).