Sennheiser has been in the Audio Electronics industry for almost half a decade. The name Sennheiser became a staple brand in the audiophile community for manufacturing one of the best sounding headphones without your wallet screaming at you like a madman.
I owned 2 Sennheisers before this one and all of them made me love listening to music-on-the-go. I’ve had the HD201 and the HD228. I’ll be reviewing the HD229, which is the HD228’s reincarnation in a loud and proud iteration.
Design
Shying away from Sennheiser’s traditional dark motif, the HD229 is loud and expressive. If white and orange is not your type, it’s also available in Black/Magenta. The headband is very light and durable; I’ve owned the HD228, which is the same build, for 2 years and it experienced the worst in my daily commute. I can honestly say for a pair of portable, lightweight on-ear cans it’s definitely worth the price and I’m not even at the sound quality yet.
One problem that I noticed is the wire and the plug. The first thing that gave in from all the abuse was the plug. The wire is thin and the 3.5mm jack is too chunky and became problematic after a few tugs and pulls here and there. But it’s easy to fix, you just need some soldering skills and a replacement plug which you can buy at any hardware store.
Weighing in at 92g, it sure is a perfect partner for commuters and there is little clamping force so it’s really comfortable for long periods of time. The faux leather doesn’t heat up as much as you’d think it would.
Sound Quality
Don’t get mislead by the packaging as it says “œDeep Bass Kick”. These headphones are not for bassheads. It has a bright and warm tone to it and certainly the signature Sennheiser dark sound in the low end. The low end of this pair is different as you can really distinguish it against other “œBOOM BOOM” bass kind of headphones. I tried to play bass heavy songs and it’s still very enjoyable albeit lacking in bass because the overall quality compensates for it. It really is a different experience especially when listening to high bitrate mp3s/FLAC files. The highs are definitely there and when listening to female vocals or in my case, listening to Eric Martin’s (Mr. Big) voice, it’ll make your spine shiver as it really sounds crystal clear. The mids are warm and adds color to the overall soundstage with good distinction of instruments. I really recommend listening to high bitrate mp3s/FLAC or if you have the CD, go for it for studio-like quality. For a closed-back headphone, the soundstage on this one is wide and lets you enjoy music on your own without disturbing the person beside you.
Price
The Sennheiser HD 229 has a retail price of Php3,490 which is not unusual for Senn-quality on-ear headphones for your everyday use.
Sennheiser HD 229 Specs:
Frequency Response: 18-22,000 Hz Cable length: 4.5ft
Transducer: Closed, dynamic Weight: 92g
Impedance: 16ohms
Max SPL: 110dB
