• expired

DSE Sennheiser HD 201 Headphones $24.99 Delivered or Price Match OW $23.74

440

For those who don't know about these, they're pretty much the best bang-for-buck headphones down around this price level (and still embarrass a lot of much more expensive headphones).

We use 100's of these for our business in film/video viewing libraries around the world and we wouldn't consider using any other model.

They are very well balanced, not bass heavy, - and I'll let the gazillion reviews of them on the interwebs fill in the rest.

This is better than what we pay when we buy them in the bulk 10 packs.

Currently 'half price' at DSE, with free shipping for today (Friday 18th only) - Officeworks has them at $35 and will price match down to $23.74

Related Stores

Dick Smith / Kogan
Dick Smith / Kogan
Marketplace

closed Comments

  • +1

    Great first up post!

  • +9

    For those who don't know about these, they're pretty much the best bang-for-buck headphones down around this price level (and still embarrass a lot of much more expensive headphones).

    Nope. Sorry. Not even close.

    They suck. And there's better alternatives for this price.

    • But that's expired

      • Shop around on Ebay for some Philips SHP 2000/2500/3000 or SHL 3100/3300.

        They're within the range of $20 - $30 typically and sound a great deal better than HD 201s.

    • +7

      I've owned a pair for the past ~7 years, so I'll comment on the points from your other post.

      • Narrow oval instead of circular ear cup shape. Great if you have cat-like ears that just fold back. Otherwise for humans and particularly humans with big ears, there just isn't enough clearance, particularly for the top of your ear so they end up squashing the cartilage of your ear, making them uncomfortable for extended periods of time.

      Agree with this 100%. They're actually pretty comfortable for about 20 minutes, and then they start hurting.

      • Shit-house construction. Go read the Amazon reviews. A pretty much universally-regarded fault. The headband is very prone to cracking because of the brittle plastic used and because the ear cups are connected to the headband on stupid pivoting joints (unlike virtually every other monitor headphone which has FIXED joints) they are not very durable. They also make getting a good "seal" on your ear to reduce background noise harder because they sit unevenly.

      Can only partially agree with this. Mine are still sturdy and strong with no sign of cracking. They also don't feel like they'll break any time soon. There is one exception to this though; the covering material on the foam pads has flaked off.

      • Horrible tinny sound, heavy distortion with highs and almost no lows. I mean no bass; forget the whole "natural sound" vs "studio sound"/"you listen to too much Techno" argument that audiophiles have, these drivers are physically incapable of going below 20Khz.
        Everything I listen to with them sounds like someone has fiddled with the treble setting on my Audio panel. I guess they may tolerable for movies, the dialogue does come across crisp and very clear, but for anything else that veers either towards the low or high frequencies of the spectrum, it just can't do it.

      Subjectively, I don't think they sound bad at all. It's true, they do lack bass, but I prefer it that way. As for the heavy distortion with highs, I haven't noticed it to be particularly heavy to be honest. I actually find that the right speaker seems to be quite a bit worse then the left one though.

      • Crap noise isolation. They use some kind of imitation leather as the padding instead of the usual budget headphone velvet-coated padding stuff, which to me doesn't seal an ear quite as well because it's incredibly soft. It's also more prone to tears, rips, smudges, etc.

      Once again, I'll agree with this, but I'll say it's not exactly as bad as you make it sound.

      Despite their shortcomings, they have served me well for the past ~7 years, and I'd say ~$20-$25 is a fair price for them. Having said that, if you can find better ones for the same price, you should get them instead.

      • I appreciate your elaboration, but I stand by what I said.

        I can't ever remember owning a more disappointing pair of headphones in my life after buying the HD 201s solely due to the masturbatory-worthy stories perpetuated about them in budgetphile circles.

        • I agree - I bought them too, and I was assured (because I couldn't try them out at the store) that they were great especially for the price. I think I paid $40 some years ago.

          Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

          Long cord is pretty good though…

  • Would these be good for PC use? My current ones hurt my ears after a hours or so.

    • These are perfect for your PC too. I use mine to listen to music and watch videos. You can also plug it into your tv.

      • -1

        They are perfect for PC use if you like horrible sound quality and don't need a microphone inbuilt.

  • +2

    I love these ones. Great price!

    Perfect for long haul flights. I used mine to London and was so glad to have it on board.
    The noise of the plane's engine will drive you nuts!

  • not great head cans

  • +1

    Great headphones if you're not an audio perfectionist (nut!). Unbeatable price performance. I use on long haul for hour after hour, comfortable, reasonable noise exclusion, sound is fine, mine have lasted two years so far with no issues. Recommended :-) !!

  • Tried this head phone before and found the sound quality is very average, not much better than the $8 Kmart ones.

  • +1

    Certainly not the best out there but value is there.

  • -1

    Pretty terrible sound quality. I bought it for $150 from JBHifi several years ago before I was an OzBargain faithful. Still kicking myself. Not even worth $25 IMO

    • +2

      You're joking! The 212 Pros were out a couple of years back and much better for $120.

  • Just an FYI, I've owned two of these so I can say that these are part of the headphones and not a fault.
    Will get uncomfortable from pressing ears against head.
    No bass at all. If your speakers have a bass dial, turn bass to 0. That's what it sounds like, but worse.
    No quality at all. Forget gaming, forget watching movies, forget music. The only thing it's good for is listening to excel tutorials on youtube when you've left your other pair of headphones at your mate's house and your speakers blew up from a power surge.

    Do not recommend.

    Of course this is all subjective, so take it with a grain of salt.

  • The HD201s earned their rep back when pretty much all low-priced headphones with a closed-back design really sucked. These appeared and were a standout among that bad lot. But that was almost ten years ago, and expectations have changed a bit since.

  • Happy to add my no vote to these as well.

    Construction of the case and cord make them very noisy which constantly intrudes on your listening pleasure.

    Bought my pair on basis of "awesome" feedback on ozbargain about 2 years ago but have been bitterly disappointed.

  • If you want awesome sound + comfort + build quality + design just buy SteelSeries Siberia V2…

    Absolutely brilliant! 2 years and going strong!

  • +2

    I know this deal is expired, but if anyone wants another review, I'll add my 2cents.

    I bought these quite a number of years ago because of all the glowing reviews. I do NOT recommend. This has got to be the worst headphones I ever purchased. Even the iphone ear buds sound better (and I hate them).

    The sound is terrible, i agree that any positive reviews online was done by people who are badge snobs and have never listened to this before. Its an utter disgrace to the Sennheiser name.

    There is NO BASS at all. Any attempts to increase the bass via amplifier or EQ just ends up distorting the sound. It is hopeless for movies, games, music, pretty much everything except listening to 2GB. The soundstage is pathetic, the build quality is rubbish. My foam disintegrated after 5 weeks of light usage and then the right side died. I couldn't even be bothered with getting a refund and just chucked it.

    Right now I'm listening to the Philips Shibuya that everyone seems to have gotten instead of the Pioneer. I only just starting using it 10mins ago, not that impressed yet (mids are recessed) but will wait for it to burn it before I can further comment. Its not the worst, not that best, but for $8, I can't complain.

    • +1

      I think that a big cause is because a lot of those commenters genuinely don't have the ability to differentiate between bad, decent and good sound. It's not just that they are badge snobs. That tinny quality with a limited range that sounds like it's coming from earbuds held a few centimetres away from their ears may sound full and encompassing to them as though they were listening to a symphony within an acoustically perfect auditorium, so it must sound good to everyone (they think).

      You say that the HD201s are a disgrace to the Sennheiser name, but I would go as far to say that there are very few Sennheiser headphones that are a good buy in their price range and that most of their headphones are a disgrace as a result.

Login or Join to leave a comment