Sennheiser HD 202

Finding a decent-sounding sealed headphone is difficult, finding a cheap sealed headphone that sounds tolerable is almost impossible. Almost, because the HD202 is extremely tolerable compared to many others models around this low price point. Although they do exhibit the typical (for inexpensive cans) slight “honkiness” in the mids and a rolled-off upper treble range, these flaws are fairly modest given the pricepoint. These lightweight, tough-built cans are great for keeping the kids’ video games/ DVD watching/ loud music at bay OR for ramping down the dorm room noise while not spending a big wad of cash in the process.

The HD 202 use a 'closed/sealed' almost-circumaural earcup design. They have mid-sized, circular pleather earpads that nearly surround the ears, but are not quite large enough to prevent the flat part of the earpads from resting gently on the outside part of the earlobes. The result is headphones that have the desirable light weight and small size of a supra-aural design, but have the secure fit and comfort of a larger circumaural model.

The HD 202 are black in color and use a very simple three-piece construction consisting of the two earcups and the headband assembly. The earcups attach via little ball-like protrusions that ride in a small groove within the headband; the detents in this groove allow you to adjust the fit slightly. This design also allows one to remove the earpieces from the headband for compact storage or traveling purposes, although too much disassembly/re-attachment could potentially cause premature wear on the grooved detents. The detachable cable is approximately a 3-meter long 'Y'-type attaching to both earpieces via 1/8" [3.5mm] mono mini-plugs whose bodies fit tightly into a hole in each earpiece —- its actually a rather nice bit of engineering for a pesky cabling widget. At the other end, the headphone cord is terminated with a 1/8" (3.5mm) mini-plug. A 1/8” to ¼” adapter is handily included in the packaging. A 2-year product warranty remains standard with all Sennheiser headphones.