Review: Sennheiser PX 200 Mini-Headphones

Time for a review...

I've owned a pair of these for 5+ years now. I use them pretty much every day at work; they are light, comfy on the ear, they don't feel like your head is in a vice and they are still to show any major sign of wear (with the exception of the ear-pad covering which is starting to flake a little but as this is a material that is in constant contact with your skin it's no surprise and certainly not worthy of a detrimental point of view).

Also being closed back you shouldn't get complaints from the person next to you on the bus or train (unless you have your player maxed out).

The product page fails to quote the frequency response - my box stated 8Hz-20kHz. If you turn your music up, you ~will~ feel it in your head. I listen to a range of styles including rock, metal, electronica, country ~and~ western (give yourselves 5 points if you get the movie reference) - Massive Attacks Unfinished Sympathy, QotSA Song for the Dead or Elbows MirrorBall, will leave you with no doubt over their bass reproduction. With a top end capped at 20kHz, some crispness could be claimed to be lost over other headphones but in my opinion not enough to mark them down and if you're still reading this review, you're probably here for the bass anyway.

Ultimately, of course, your sound maker (amp / mp3 / mp4 player) will have the last say on the balance. Hooked up to both my ageing brick of an iRiver iHp400 with a flat EQ and Yamaha AX630 (yea, that's ageing too) I've never regretted buying this model and with the EQ tweaked to your preference, heaven.

I just wish they made a pair of desktop speakers that sounded the same.

Pros:

1. Very light - you barely know you're wearing them.
2. Fantastic bass range and power.
3. Folding with protective case for easy packing.

Cons:

1. Ear pads / covering are not "user serviceable" so some amount of care should be taken with them, but again, 5+ years of use and still quite wearable.  That said, ear-cup and headband pads can be replaced at a dealer, apparently.
2. At 1.4m, some may prefer a longer lead.

When I bought these originally they cost me £40.  Looks like the current model is the PX200II which have a single cable entry point, weighing in at £50 - comparing the price to the how they look, don't be fooled.  They're worth it.