Sennheiser HD203 Closed-Back DJ Headphones

Sennheiser HD203 Closed-Back DJ Headphones
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
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Sale Price: $39.49
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  • Sennheiser HD203 DJ-Style Closed Lightweight Headphones
  • Closed, semi-around-the-ear dynamic headphones
  • Excellent attenuation of ambient noise
  • Powerful neodymium magnets and lightweight diaphragms capable of high SPLs
  • Extremely comfortable to wear for extended tracking or monitoring sessions
  • Replaceable leatherette ear pads

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Ive listened to these for a week already and tested these with various genres of music, including Rap, 80's Rock, Rock, Trance, House, Electro, Hardstyle, and Jazz. For reference purposes Ive hooked them up into my laptop with and without a 10 dollar portable amp purchased from Amazon. I also tried these on my Palm Pre Phone.

Basically on all these sources these headphones reached very good volume levels with and without a portable headphone amp. Of course these sound better with a headphone amp because youll reach much louder volume levels, but with these headphones an amp is simply an option and not a necessity(thank goodness).

Ive tried the bass capablities of these headphones with songs such as Snoop DoggGangsta Luv, David BannerLike a Pimp, JusticePhantom, MobyThousand, and Les Petits PilousWake Up. The Bass is truly amazing because it sounds clear, deep, and handles any bass thrown at it very well. The bass also never distorted on me even with the Amp connected and at full volume. The bass capabilities of these remind me of the Eh-150's performance except these are slightly stronger. Of course these do not thump like a subwoofer is inside but instead thumps good enough that its mighty impressive and is a good balance between the lows and highs.

The highs/Vocals of these are awesome as well. With these you may even hear things that you may have never heard in your songs.

These headphones sound quality are rich, deep, and satisfying. They are light and easily adjustable. The cord is a standard flat and long headphone cable with the connector being made up of regular sliver like metal so don't expect gold.

These headphones fit snugly much like the EH-150's and the HD 202's. You'll also need to give your ears a break for a minute usually every hour. But these do not fit so tight that it becomes unbearable though. But the advantage of this snug fit is that it effectively isolates outdoor sounds, which is very convenient if you are just trying to listen to your music and not be distracted by others loud conversations. Also unless you are BLASTING these they pretty much do not leak much sound, so you wont annoy the people around you either.

Simply put these continued to sound very good whether it was Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Justice, Snoop Dogg, The Cure, Lady Gaga, and everything else in between.

Finally if you were looking between the Sennheiser HD202's, Sennheiser Eh-150s, or these Sennheiser HD203's. I would recommend these ones. Simply because the overall these sound clearer than the Sennheiser HD202's and these have a slightly better amount of bass than the EH-150's(hey every little counts). In my opinion this is a perfect mixture of two top rated headphones which results in one heck of a great new headphone product. I would definitely recommend these to friends and family, believe me Ive purchased both the 202's and 150's and I wouldn't think of going back to either of them.

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These headphones cost me about $35 to $40 and I was honestly excited but quickly disappointed. The sound has lots of bass, strong loud mids too but lack in the highs; the highs are not as crisp or clear as the HD 202's. You will still hear details in your music that you might have not noticed before, especially if you've never owned a good pair of headphones. However, as I mentioned, they sound a bit muffled when compared to the HD 202's and therefore sound a bit unbalanced to me. These would have been an excellent set of phones if the highs had more definition, crispness or clarity.

The one thing that the HD 203's do have better than the HD 202's is the imaging (i.e. the 3D spatial sound). Instruments in the mids have a more 3D sound than that of the HD 202's. I still prefer the HD 202's especially for the price which is about $20 cheaper than the 203's!! I bought both of these models at the same time to compare. I gave the 202's as a gift to my brother (he thinks they are the most amazing headphones ever!) and the 203's I sold.

I honestly don't know why the HD 203's are labeled as studio monitor headphones as those type are usually very balanced, clear and don't alter the music. These sound like they are trying hard to accentuate the imaging but lack clarity! I own and love a pair of the famous HD 497's (which unfortunately are no longer available) which are better monitor headphones than these HD 203's!!

The HD 203's did not feel as tight around my head as the HD 202's, which I thought was interesting since its the same design but just a different color. If the tightness of the headband bothers you, they will loosen up as you break them in or you can loosen them by stretching them around a stack of books. Just carefully remove the ear pads (they snap off) before you place them around the books so the pads won't lose their cushioned feel while being smashed by the books! And you don't want to break the headband so use some common sense! Don't use too many books that the headband breaks!

Hope this review was helpful. I would definitely recommend the HD 202's over the HD 203's!

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First off, I just want to say what the design flaw is. There isn't enough space between the ear and the front of the speakers. What happens is that the ear makes contact with the front of the speaker, and after a few hours this can become a bit painful...however, it's a small price to pay for the sound.

Also, I got these at best buy...here are my impressions:

I was very reluctant to get them at first. Initially I was looking to see if I could quickly pick up a pair of the acclaimed SennheiserPX models. They didn't carry those. I mostly was reluctant to get the 203s simply because they are identical in appearance to the EH150s, which I already own (which aren't bad either). However, on impulse, I bought them, assuming they had to have at least a different driver type, just utilizing the same design.

Well, I've put in several hours of listening on them now, and I think I was right. I am pleased to say that while they share sound signature similarities with the EH150s, they are not the same pair of drivers. They sound too different to me to be the same.

The comfort is a bit better than the 150s, only because the ear pads on the 203s are a bit thicker and more rounded. But it's just enough extra distance between the outer ear and the speakers to make an appreciable difference. Otherwise, they are exactly the same. That said, while I can wear them a bit longer than the EH150s without feeling bothered, I still think this should be addressed.

The build quality, while all plastic, is sturdy and rugged. They can stand up to abuse pretty well. I'm not particularly careful with my stuff, and the 150s have stood by me for a couple of years through running and long trips.

Now for the sound. They have the characteristically dark Sennheiser sound. Where they differ from the 150s, (and the HD 205s as well) is that they don't have nearly as thick a veil over the sound. On those models, it has always seemed to me that the sound was hiding behind a thick coloring. I have never liked that. It's not too bad on the EH 150s, but it's noticeable. I barely notice any sort of sound coloration with the HD 203s. These headphones are actually very balanced from what I can tell. The Bass is very present, but it doesn't seem to take over other ranges. I can hear the details fine. The mids are actually quite extended and forward. This is especially noticeable with Metal or hard rock; the rhythm guitars in GnR (Guns n Roses) stand out incredibly well where with a lot of other headphones, they take a back seat to the lead guitar, bass, and vocals.

As I said, the sound is dark. However, it's also incredibly rich sounding. Not overly thick or colored, but everything just has a really nice, rich and colorful tone without sacrificing clarity or accuracy. The sound is crystal clear. The highs...well, they are there. They sound very neutral. But still clear. The place where the richness of sound stands out the most is in Jazz, with regards to the bass and drums. I was listening to an album called "a duke ellington songbook", an album where the duke's classics get modern facelifts. The sound was astonishing. I could hear just about every movement of the acoustic guitarists hands over the frets, every minute detail on the bass (timbre and the sounds of string muting), and the drums had a lot of depth without being grating to the ears (they could get quite loud!). On some of the recordings I could even hear notes of on the piano that were some sort of recording artifact where the notes that were about to sound were playing very, very quietly right before they sounded. I had never noticed that before.

They work well for any type of music. I listened to Beethoven's 6th symphony, and one thing that stood out is that I could almost get an impression of the individual playing of each bassist or each violinist. In lesser headphones I've owned, it would sound like one large mass of sound, as it should since it's a section. But I was able to pick out anomalies in the playing where I could hear one instrument stand out. The bass sound had a nice "thud" effect, and the violins had a very smooth, yet sharp quality.

One last tidbit: They are incredibly easy to drive. They can get very, very loud, and I have to listen at half volume most of the time.

I'm very happy with these, and I haven't had any time to burn them in. They set me back only $50. I would recommend them wholeheartedly! Bravo to Sennheiser for making an awesome product.

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I haven't been more impressed with a cheap pair headphones as much as I have these. These Sennheiser HD 203's have been my main headphones (I am on a budget, so I can't afford higher end headphones yet). Of course, these headphones can't compete with higher end products from their own company, as well as other brands such as Grado, AKG, Shure, etc. But I've had these for a year and use them CONSTANTLY, and I haven't been able to put them down or switch to any other headphones in the price range, after listening to tons of other headphones in the price range. Indeed, people say that headphones and the user sometime can become so ingrained it's hard to get used to anything else, and it sure has worked for me.

The sound of this is simply why I can't put them down. They have a very rich, and FULL, sound I always like, especially for music. I'm not really sure if they have higher treble or something, but frankly, I'm not a fan of speakers or headphones that constantly are built to give you extremely heavy bass, high treble, or something along those lines. I like a flat, straight, and rich sound from speakers and headphones, and I got this sound from here. It depends on what you listen to, yes, but the flat and balanced sound is always there throughout whatever genre I listen to. Listen to them first because you have to trust your ears before anybody else, but I'm just the messenger and I say these headphones and I haven't been able to part.

In fact, I was impressed that these headphones give a dynamic type of range for what you listen to. For rap, the rhythms and bass were full and I had no trouble dancing to them with ease. It also never washed out the vocals or the music in the background. Rock was great as well, effortlessly mixing the guitars, drums, and vocals into one cohernt whole. Listening to some Cowboy Bebop was great, and every instrument was all together, orchestrated into one into a dense, extremely rich sound. It sounds great for any type of music, really, and I haven't experienced sub par sound for any type of music I listen to.

I tried listening to them for movies, and the difference was great from the typical bass boosted, washed out noise canceling Sony headphones I was previously used to. I previously had some Sony headphones (I haven't really been impressed with many Sony headphones after listening to more highly regarded companies), and hearing everything in washed out bass was a shock when I first listened to these. Were those gunshots actually made up of higher range sounds? Do the sound of guns actually have a metallic tinge to their use, instead of an exaggerated and low sound? Indeed, I was very impressed with this. Leave it to a company like this to finally show how positively cumbersome the mass produced headphones of companies like Phillips, Memorex, and (at times) Sony can be.

The design is not as durable as you might expect, but really, I think that if they break, it's the user who needs to remember to handle a pair of headphones like these with care. It's easy to adjust, and they are quite comfortable to wear, depending on the size of your ears. Sometimes though, they hurt your ears if you don't put them on right, but they can fit your ears and break in fine. When I first bought these, my ears didn't agree with them, but now they do very well. It's really about the sound the most, but for what it's worth, you can wear them for a long time.

The closed also block out noise fine.

One thing I would like you know is that the cord is LONG. Be aware to use that handy plastic twist if you ever think about using this while running or anything where you will be mobile with these headphones.

Sennheiser is just a great company, and for the price, I can't recommend these headphones enough. These headphones really have convinced me that Sennheiser is a respected brand name for a great reason. Don't bother with junk like Skullcandy and stick with companies like this. I haven't been more happy with these headphones.

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As others have said, they are a bit tight around the ears. What nobody mentions is how the headband feels: like it doesn't exist. It appears that there is a method to the bulky plastic design madness. I think, given time, the cushions will soften and overall comfort will be excellent.

How do they sound? Perfect. The balance and detail afforded by these headphones is incredible and I've yet to run them through an amp. Most importantly, the sound is accurate. A bass kick sounds like a bass kick, not an anemic tap or over-exaggerated boom. Toms and acoustic guitars resonate beautifully and with proper authority. Highs are crisp and clear, as are vocals.

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