The Pinnacle of Portable Stereo Has Arrived!

Ahah, Sennheiser, audiophiles expect the best from them and they have never failed to deliver; Well most of the time anyway!

The PX 200 is a beautiful looking and sounding testament to the legendary Sennheiser namesake. It looks sorta flimsy and may even feel flimsy to the most discerning [or rugged] individuals but it sounds very much like some of the best headphones Sennheiser has offered.

SOUND
Ok, did I mention that these headphones sound beautiful? Yeah, these headphones do not compare to its huge cousins very well but they hold their own in the small & compact arena. They're small but they sound at least twice their size. Drums sound bigger, louder and more atmospheric than they did on your old headphones (by old I mean anything you've used before by some really humongest Japanese corporation), guitars actually sound real and vocals seem to have a little bit more resonance to them. I swear I'm not just making this stuff and am not really an undercover Sennheiser representative trying to pass himself off as a regular everyman reviewer. Here's one thing that will prove I'm not. There is a tiny flaw in the bass section of the PX200. They sound great at low volumes but if you listen to a really low bassy track (tracks like these are very rare even in Trance music) you hear distortion if volumes are above 2/3 of the maximum. Well this only happens if you have a portable music player that pumps out bass in access -like my Sony CD Walkman...sigh=(-. Other than that, the bass from this thing made my other [rather cheap] Sennheisers, the HD433 and all my Sony Earbuds sound obviously inferior. Well, I'm not sure how much of a weakness this distortion thing is, but I found it a little annoying so I'll let it be.

LOOKS
Alright, these headphones don't look super-cool or anything, lets get that straight. They look very nice but nothing fantastic. Brushed dull silver plastic is all there is for aesthetics and these look like plastic all right. The Sennheiser brand on the headband part of these phones is quite pleasant to look at as it is at least printed on metal and has a nice brushed aluminium look. This will definitely make you proud of your investment everytime you remove them from your ears and fold them up.

Oh I didn't mention a rather crucial thing: These phones are foldable and they fold quite neatly too. There is a rather huge case supplied as well which I'm sure few people will actually find good use for.

BUILD
Quite a solidly built pair of foldables I must add. The parts that the speakers are attached which twists to make the headphones flat for storage gives me some doubts because it is rather loose for something in this price range but I don't think its a cause for much concern unless you're a pro-wrestler in a hurry or something. All folding parts are made of reinforced stainless steel so I guess they should last a while PLUS Sennheiser provides a 2 Year Warranty which should definitely give you some peace-of-mind.

COMFORT
I don't think Sennhesiser has ever really made a pair of headphones that were anything but a pleasure to wear but I'll just cover this aspect for a while. There are foam pads everywhere on these things and this is quite surprising considering that these things are so small to begin with. The ear-pads comprise of foams rings with a 'leatherette' sheath over them. Now, not exactly sure why they're called that but I guess its because its not real leather and sorta feels like it! Lol Anyways, these make your ears feel as if they were tiny earmuffs. They're really, really soft.(Sounds like a body lotion commercial now doesn't it) The headband had a pair of soft pads to prevent them from hurting the top of your head I guess. I've never had a problem with this because I have medium length hair and can't really feel the the band but I think that this would probably be more useful if the headphones were heavier and were able to create sufficient pressure on your scalp. These headphones are 60g! You really don't need so much padding but I understand that the pads must have been some sort of bonus for the price-range this things fall in and besides, they make these Sennheisers look more like Sennheisers.

CONCLUSION
If you're just plain sick of the headphones you use to listen to Eminem on your way home, don't get these, you'd be wasting good money. If you listen to music outside a lot and want to get a more immersive experience out of your portable music player that could possibly rival many entry-level HI-FI systems, you should run down to your local electrical superstore and grab a pair.

SPECIFICATIONS
Nominal Impedance: 32 Ohm
Jack Plug: 3.5mm stereo
Transducer Principle: Dynamic, Closed
Ear Coupling: Supra-aural (That means they go on your ears and not over which is kind of a given since these are portables after all.)
Cable Length: 1.4m
Weight w/o cable: 60 g
Frequency Response: 10-21000 Hz (Yowza, you gotta love the fantastic range and keep in mind they improved the bass response just for us portable music junkies. Regular Sennheisers have less exagerrated bass.)
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.1% (This isn't entirely accurate but is really close.)


-TJ-