Product Review – Sennheiser eH150 Headphones

This will be the first of a review series I am writing. I was wondering what to start with after promising reviews in the last post about my tool kit. I decided to go with the most used and abused piece of gear I own, my Sennheiser eH150 headphones.

 

Product features

1. Supra-aural hi-fi stereo headphones for casual users and professional DJs
2. Dynamic, closed design enhances highs and mid-range frequencies
3. Ultra-lightweight, rugged housing enables comfortable, extended listening
4. Powerful neodymium magnets and lightweight diaphragms create 18 Hz to 18 kHz frequency response
5. 10 foot highly conductive OFC copper cable; 2-year warranty
6. 1/8 inch TRS connector with 1/4 inch TRS adapter

Simply put, the Sennheiser EH150 is a low cost, closed back, on-the-ear headphones that sounds decent for its price. It is ultralight owing to complete construction of good quality plastic. Fairly comfortable foam padding on the ear pieces and headband.

So why do I have these instead of all the better sounding cans available in the market?

I bought this 5 years ago when my last pair of very old, heavy, super trustworthy and expensive Technics died a sudden death. I was travelling and was low on cash so I bought this for about INR 1,500/- (Apprx USD 30) thinking I will buy a better one soon – when it dies in a couple of months. Little did I know that this was a stubborn pair!

What I like about it.

1. It very, very light
2. Long cable (10 feet)
3. Padding that looks like soft leather is quite comfortable. However, it eventually peels off and leaves a ugly rough cotton layer, which is still comfortable.
4. Decent isolation when pressed, which I anyway tend to do at gigs because I use it mostly on one ear.
5. Fairly accurate mids and highs, moderate lows (I don’t need lows on them because I’m always around large sub-woofers)
6. Strong cable and connector (Tripping on the cabe at the console is a very regular story and I still have them working 5 years later)
7. The ear piece comes off the headband and snaps right back on with a little press (this doesn’t let it break when packed or when dropped and stamped which happens more than often)

Removable ear piece doesn’t let them break

 

What I don’t like about it.

1. Looks cheap, very cheap
2. The earpiece comes off too easily and sometimes becomes a pain (Picture above)
3. No cable management provided with the 10 foot long straight cable
4. Lacks lows and gets a little vague at extreme high frequencies
5. Padding on headband and ear piece could have been of better quality

Padding worn out on ear pieces and headband.  Looks ugly but not as uncomfortable.

Will I buy this again?

I most probably won’t (I’m not sure if they are still being manufactured) but would surely recommend it to someone just starting off as a live sound engineer and is looking for a cheap and strong pair, or even as a backup headphone.

What next?

I haven’t decided yet but I’ve stuck to my word about buying the next one only after this one breaks. A couple of weeks back I was doing the monitor mix at NH7 Weekender festival and the cable got tangled with my boots. I tripped quite bad when I ran on to the stage and I felt the cable strain. I got up, dusted myself and found the jack still plugged into the Digico SD9, I almost did a victory dance. I went back and checked the headphones. Guess what- one side stopped working, finally made way for my long awaited new pair of headphones!

The next day, I was at home doing a last check before going out to buy a Sennheiser HD25-1 II or Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 Ohm. I plugged it into my iPod, pressed play and it wiped out the smirk from my face. It still works, only the 1/4 inch adapter (a cheaper replacement that I use to avoid leaving the original on boards) died from the accident, damn!