Sennheiser HD-515 Classic Affordable Entry to Audiophile Headphones

Rating:
Summary: Professional Audiophile Quality
Review: These new model Sennheiser headphones HD-515 sound have a sound that has much depth and richness. There are no others in their price range that sound as good. These are really very comfortable, lightweight, and reasonably priced. They are easily adjustable to comfortably fit any type of head!. The quality of the HD-515 construction is an obvious upgrade when compared to many less expensive models of headphones. The headband pad on the HD-515 is a comfy foam padded cover. At 9oz the Sennheiser HD-515 headphones are fairly light-weight. The ear paddings are comfortably large and are made of soft velour. Long use comfort of the HD-515 is very high. Thanks to the new ultra-efficient drivers it doesn't take much amp power to drive these Headphones to give you a full loud sound. So they should work well with portable audio devices. They are perfect for the high demands of audiophiles who listen to CD,SACD,DVD Audio. Sennheiser is right to call the HD-515 audiophile quality. These headphones are also the first to incorporate a new feature that Sennheiser calls Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement system. Which slightly angles the acoustic baffle within each ear cup to assure that sound projects precisely parallel to the ear. This improved acoustic coupling is meant to help optimize the ergonomic participation of ears in the listening process. The bass is very clear and not muddy like some headphones in this price range. But it is not really deep sounding bass. Treble is sharp, crisp and clean,not too forward. For best results I really recommend giving any headphones a break in period of a minmum of 40 hours. After this break in period you will fully appreciate these headphones outstanding sound quality.

Rating:
Summary: Professional Audiophile Quality
Review: These new model Sennheiser headphones HD-515 sound have a sound that has much depth and richness. There are no others in their price range that sound as good. These are really very comfortable, lightweight, and reasonably priced. They are easily adjustable to comfortably fit any type of head!. The quality of the HD-515 construction is an obvious upgrade when compared to many less expensive models of headphones. The headband pad on the HD-515 is a comfy foam padded cover. At 9oz the Sennheiser HD-515 headphones are fairly light-weight. The ear paddings are comfortably large and are made of soft velour. Long use comfort of the HD-515 is very high. Thanks to the new ultra-efficient drivers it doesn't take much amp power to drive these Headphones to give you a full loud sound. So they should work well with portable audio devices. They are perfect for the high demands of audiophiles who listen to CD,SACD,DVD Audio. Sennheiser is right to call the HD-515 audiophile quality. These headphones are also the first to incorporate a new feature that Sennheiser calls Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement system. Which slightly angles the acoustic baffle within each ear cup to assure that sound projects precisely parallel to the ear. This improved acoustic coupling is meant to help optimize the ergonomic participation of ears in the listening process. The bass is very clear and not muddy like some headphones in this price range. But it is not really deep sounding bass. Treble is sharp, crisp and clean,not too forward. For best results I really recommend giving any headphones a break in period of a minmum of 40 hours. After this break in period you will fully appreciate these headphones outstanding sound quality.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: After much research and deliberation I decided to pick up a pair of the HD 515's through target.com Put simply, these headphones are extremely comfortable, stylish, and produce a phenomenal sound with rich treble and bass when connected to either a home stereo or computer system. I originally bought them thinking they would be driven and sound adequate with my 15gig ipod, however, the ipod doesn't seem to have enough power to fully exploit the headphones. Again, great for home stereo, not so great for portable audio...*I would recommend the sennheiser pmx60's* however, as a great headphone for portable audio!

Rating:
Summary: Great with Home Stereo, Not So Great with portable Audio
Review: After much research and deliberation I decided to pick up a pair of the HD 515's through target.com Put simply, these headphones are extremely comfortable, stylish, and produce a phenomenal sound with rich treble and bass when connected to either a home stereo or computer system. I originally bought them thinking they would be driven and sound adequate with my 15gig ipod, however, the ipod doesn't seem to have enough power to fully exploit the headphones. Again, great for home stereo, not so great for portable audio...*I would recommend the sennheiser pmx60's* however, as a great headphone for portable audio!

Rating:
Summary: Sound good, but sound is flawed and headband is cheap
Review: Even though these headphones felt VERY comfy, looked good, and had a nice long straight cord, I wasn't very satisfied with them after an hour or two of listening. I noticed right away that even though the sound was good on the low and high end, the mid-range sounded weak in comparison. I experimented with a few different things to change this, including changing the equalization, etc., and wasn't happy.

My girlfriend was also complaining about the sound escaping from the headphones, so just for kicks I covered the outside of the earphones and I immediately noticed an improvement in sound quality... Eh??? And when I uncovered the phones again, the sound quality dropped back down and now I really noticed that the mids sounded like I was listening to the music through a tin can - a nice comfy tin can with good highs and lows and mediocre mid-range, but still a tin can.

So I was prepared to send these things back, but started setting them up for a continuous break-in session on my stereo just in case this would improve the sound quality. After setting it up and testing them out one last time, I casually pulled these cans off my ears as I've done with every set of headphones I've ever worn, and one of the earpieces snapped off right at the connection to the headband. I hadn't carelessly yanged these things off my head, I just grabbed the cans with both hands and pulled them off, and SNAP! I looked closely at the break point, and the connection to the headband is a 1/4" wide thin strip of plastic. Cheap!! That ended that - I sent these back and will get something else.

Rating:
Summary: Great value, great sound.
Review: I bought these as a replacement for my far inferior Koss UR29 headphones. All I can say is I'm very glad I did.

For both music and movies, these headphones are excellent, especially for the price. I did have to tweak some of my EQ settings on my stereo, but that goes with every set of headphones or speakers.

Nice ten foot straight cord.

About the only drawback of these 'phones from a consumer perspective is that the plug is a 1/4" plug with a 1/8" plug adaptor. This can lead to a fair amount of stress on either the plug itself or the jack in which it is inserted. An easy fix would be to get a corded adaptor as opposed to the solid one that's included. Sennheiser has these available on their site for about nine bucks, which I personally think is rather steep. I would think one could fine one online somewhere else for much less.

Overall an excellent investment!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent headphones
Review: I got these specifically for mixing raw audio files and recording. These do a phenominal job of that, and they are comfortable enough for 5 hour listening sessions. There are probably better phones for mixing at this price range, but these phones are also extremely versitle. I'm at college, and having a nice pair of headphones to listen with while working is a definite plus. A huge improvement over my $20 Sennheisers.

At full volume, I don't hear any distortion. The package says that the parts are interchangeable in case of breakage---as headphones do break, so that's a definite plus.

Also, the reviewer who said that the sound quality improves when the ear pieces are covered---in my experience---is incorrect. The sound gets muddy, and the layers merge together. The headphones are of an open-design, and sound is supposed to leak out. These are not meant to prevent everybody else from hearing you---they are meant to sound phenominal. The mid-range is far superior to my friend's $140 Sony headphones, and the mids and the highs are on par (Sorry I don't have the Sony model #). After using them for mixing, I am glad I treated myself to them. My final recordings sound better because of them.

For versitle, quality headphones with excellent balance, layer separation and bass response (and overal tone), these are excellent headphones. For the price they are unbeatable in my book. They do leak out sound, however---as do many of Sennheiser's headphones. If you're looking for a closed design Sony makes very nice ones, but these sound incredible and are by far the most comfortable headphones I've used.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing but the best!!!!
Review: I just got these a couple days ago. Wo!!!!!!!!! This was good stuff. Let me tell U. The sound is incredible like your really at a concert. I used them for this one classical song and I could have sworn I heard people pressing down the valves of their instruments. These are great for the price!

Rating:
Summary: Hear The Difference
Review: I've read some different opinions of these 'phones and people have said they don't fit your head (this is ridiculous since they're adjustable) or that they are very easy to break, which in my experience it has been the exact opposite. I've caught the cord on things numerous times, had somebody knock them off of my desk, somebody even sat on them and they still remain the same as when I first purchased them. No scratches, cracks, disconnections or breaks of any kind. I would actually inform people that these are quite sturdy and durable instead of making it seem as though they will snap with the first wrong move.

The sound quality is just amazing for the price and as others have noted, they're much better all-around headphones than the Sony brand in the same price range. I tested both for long periods of time and gave them each a fair amount of burn-in. In the end the Sennheisers are a much bigger bang for your buck. As for them sounding like tin cans or even more laughable: sounding better when they're cupped by your hands, those statements are just entirely false as another reviewer has already pointed out. The sound becomes much worse when this is done because it takes away from the sonic accuracy and spatial experience. Maybe the reviewer who said this needs some new equipment or a better understanding of the way these headphones are supposed to work. When you buy open headphones (which, by the way, reproduce better sound than a closed pair) you should know what you're getting and the fact that people will be able to hear what you're listening to if they're close enough. The quality is much better, that's the difference and it's the reason they are made this way. If you're looking for privacy, grab the Sony V6.

All in all these are well worth the price tag and will definitely bring a smile to your face if they're your first, second, or even third dip into audiophile territory. However, you must keep moving up the line if your expectations become too high. Headphones in this range can only do so much and these most certainly get the job done for the tag attached to them. Be sure to give them a fair chance and a lot of burn-in before you judge them.

Rating:
Summary: True Audiophile Quality
Review: There are so many different models of Sennheiser headphones. So finding an economical pair of medium priced, high quality, great sounding headphones is not that easy.

However, I found that for the price, these new model Sennheiser headphones HD-515 sound had much depth and richness. There were no other headphones that I had listened to in their price range that sounded as good. These are really very comfortable, lightweight, and reasonably priced. They seem to fit a little too tight. But that is probably because they are so new.

The quality of the HD-515 construction is an obvious upgrade when compared to many less expensive models of headphones. The headband pad on the HD-515 is a comfy foam padded cover. At 9oz the Sennheiser HD-515 headphones are fairly light-weight. The ear paddings are comfortably large and are made of soft velour. While most of the other headphones in this price range have earpads made of plastic or foam. So long use comfort of the HD-515 is very high. The HD-515 is optimized mostly for people who primarily listen to stereo (not surround sound) music and sound sources. The frequency range of 14,000Hz to 26,000hz offers excellent accuracy throughout.

Thanks to the new ultra-efficient drivers it doesn't take much amp power to drive these Headphones to give you a full loud sound. So they should work well with portable audio devices.

After auditioning as many headphones as possible from the new Sennheiser HD-500 series. I found the HD-515 to be the best value for their price. They are perfect for the high demands of audiophiles who listen to HDCD, SACD, DVD Audio. Sennheiser is right to call the HD-515 audiophile quality.

These headphones are also the first to incorporate a new feature that Sennheiser calls "Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement" or the("E.A.R.") system , which is supposed to slightly angle the acoustic baffle within each ear cup to assure that sound projects precisely parallel to the ear. This improved acoustic coupling is meant to help optimize the ergonomic participation of ears in the listening process. Sennheiser is incorporating other improvements within these headphones to help take full advantage of that. Such as new diaphragm improvements to help give an enhanced low-bass range.

The bass is very clear and not muddy like some headphones in this price range. But it is not really deep sounding bass. Treble is sharp, crisp and clean,not too forward. For best results I really recommend giving any headphones a break in period of a minmum of 40 hours. After this break in period you will fully appreciate these headphones outstanding sound quality. I paid $79.00 for these on sale from J&R Music and Computer World.