An excellent pair of closed headphones

note, this is remarkably similar to my review of the PX100’s because they are nearly identical headphones except that one is open, and one is closed. If you’ve already read my review of the PX100’s I suggest you head straight for the third paragraph of the opening, and the last paragraph of the sound quality section as that is where I describe the main differences between the PX100 and PX200. Also you might want to look at the second paragraph of the Aesthetic section.

I need to start with a small preface, I love sound, I’m obsessed with it, and I listen to sound all day and all night on all different speakers and TV’s and car systems. Due to my audiophile nature it is very possible there are things that would bother me in a set of speakers that most people wouldn’t notice, or care about.

The Headphones that are included when you buy a CD player usually cost the manufacturer about $2.50, and generally suck pretty badly. Considering you just paid between $30-$150 for a portable CD player, you should defiantly get some headphones that will do justice to the sound it produces.

The Sennheiser PX200 is a perfect example of a headset that combines a great price, great sound quality, and good portability if you have the money to spend. At an average of about $50 these are about as much, if not a little bit more money then I’d recommend that the casual listener spend on a pair of headphones for simple everyday listening pleasure. Unless you really want the sound isolation these provide then I suggest you just pick up a pair of those. They’re about 20% cheaper and most unless you’re constantly either in very loud situations where you need to block noise out, or very quite ones where you need to be sure to keep noise in, then they’ll suit you just fine.

There are two key areas to consider when purchasing a set of headphones.

Sound Quality
To most people, this is the most important element for obvious reasons. The Sennheiser PX200’s sound excellent for their price and purpose. For something that is this portable and in this price range the bass is usually okay, the highs good, and the mids really good.

The bass is the real shock value of these headphones. The bass sounds like it belongs on headset that is twice as big thanks to the, “twin damping” system that Sennheiser has mastered.

The mid range notes are very strong, but this isn’t very surprising. At this price, in fact at a significantly lower price, the consumer should expect and demand strong mid range sound. These also have an excellent blend at the bass/mid mix level. Sometimes headphones have trouble at the very bottom range of the mid and the very top range of the bass, but the mix here is perfect.

If highs are also fairly accurate and high quality, they don’t whine like many cheaper headphones have a tendency to do in portable headphones at the their higher ranges.

The major difference in these, sound wise, vs. their cheaper cousin the PX100 is in their ability to dampen out outside noises. The PX100’s are an open headphone which makes them somewhat more comfortable because the ears are less isolated, and more air can get between the headphone and the ear. However, that said, if you’re in an environment like, say, a church, it might not be a bad idea to have a pair of headphones that keeps the noise inside and doesn’t, “bleed” sound to the outside air like an open pair does. The same logic applies if you work next to a construction site, as these keep sound out as well as they keep sound in.

Aesthetic
In a portable headphone, such as these are designed to be, the aesthetic can be almost as important as the sound. I can say flat out that in terms of non-earplug transportation there is no way to make it easier then these headphones. They fold down and lock with a simply flick of the wrist, and come with their own small, compact carrying case into which they fit perfectly, and which will fit perfectly in your pocket. They are as transportable as any full band headphone I have ever seen.

In terms of comfort they’re not as nice as the PX100’s. Because they are a closed headphone, they tend to trap air in and there is less fresh air flow to the ears. They tend to make my ears heat up after couple of hours, and get uncomfortable more quickly then their PX100 brothers (but those are exceptional comfertable headphones already, so it's a high mark to try to match.)

They also have a pretty cool design on the headphone itself that is a nice added touch.

Bottom Line
Price:A
Sound Quality:A
Portability:A
Comfort:B
Overall:A-