Sennheiser HD25 / SP / ii

Guest2 · 12 Dec 2011 at 06:53

Could someone explain the differences between the Sennheiser HD25s please. I have recently ordered some HD25-SP from ebay for £64 inc.

I understand these are the cheapest but am not really sure what the differences are. I found hd25, hd25 sp, one pair with a number after like 160 or 130, and the latest ones HD25-1 ii

So far the only differences I can find is the headband splits, cord length and the latest have a better response rate but cant find hardly any info on differences. On the Sennheiser site or when searching the web

Sennheiser HD25
Sennheiser HD25 SP
Sennheiser HD25 160 (or 130?)
Sennheiser HD25-1 ii

Shamrock · 12 Dec 2011 at 13:23

The variants are explained here...

http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheise...dphones-headsets_headphones_502188?Open&row=4

The "normal" one you want is the HD25-1 II which is 1.5m steel cable and right-angled plug.

The SP is not a variant but a budget model with single headband and different drivers afaik.

Marsman · 12 Dec 2011 at 13:32

Yes, the SP is a budget version. Sound quality will probably be good for the money paid, but not as good as the 25-1 II.

Never heard of the 130 or 160 variants. Might be the price. 25-1 II's retails for around £130-£160.

Guest2 · 12 Dec 2011 at 14:00

Marsman said:
Yes, the SP is a budget version. Sound quality will probably be good for the money paid, but not as good as the 25-1 II.

Do you know how much better the 25-1 II would be over the SP? I dont want to feel like I have bought headphones that wont sound anywhere near as good as the model above... However I will only be using them with my ipod, getting light use on my PC playing FLAC files, 320kbps mp3s through my Xonar essense ST card

In short, will they sound more than twice as good (based on the price being twice as much for the model up)

thewanted · 12 Dec 2011 at 14:15

I have the HD25-1 IIs for DJing and due to their high impedance, they don't work fantastically well with iPods, laptops etc.

You would probably need a headphone amp to get the most out of them.

Shamrock · 12 Dec 2011 at 14:29

The HD25 is very easy to drive and doesn't improve that much with an amp IMO. Impedance isn't the full story, you also need to look at the sensitivity and the HD25 is very sensitive at 120dB SPL. Iphones and ipods can definitely drive the HD25 to deafening levels.

Without hearing the SP to compare I couldn't really say, but the general opinion is that it's worth skipping the SP and going for the HD25-1 II.

thewanted · 12 Dec 2011 at 14:31

Shamrock said:
The HD25 is very easy to drive and doesn't improve that much with an amp IMO. Impedance isn't the full story, you also need to look at the sensitivity and the HD25 is very sensitive at 120dB SPL. Iphones and ipods can definitely drive the HD25 to deafening levels.

Without hearing the SP to compare I couldn't really say, but the general opinion is that it's worth skipping the SP and going for the HD25-1 II.

Interesting! My HD25-1 IIs don't sound nearly as "full" if I don't run them through my mixer.

Shamrock · 12 Dec 2011 at 14:44

I guess it's possible the additional power supplied by the mixer over an ipod could improve things, I've just not noticed anything personally. It also could be colorations in the mixer that make it sound different. Every bit of audio gear will have it's own sonic character unless it's totally neutral (difficult to achieve unless very expensive!)

Marsman · 12 Dec 2011 at 15:03

Guest2 said:
Do you know how much better the 25-1 II would be over the SP? I dont want to feel like I have bought headphones that wont sound anywhere near as good as the model above... However I will only be using them with my ipod, getting light use on my PC playing FLAC files, 320kbps mp3s through my Xonar essense ST card

In short, will they sound more than twice as good (based on the price being twice as much for the model up)

I've only heard the 25-1 II's, so I can't comment on how much better they are. The only thing I can say, is similar questions have popped up before, and those who have used both, feel the 25-1 II's are worth the extra.

Although, you have got the SP's for a good price. Normally, the price difference might be £40-£50.

If you bought some 25-1 II's, you might pay £150 on average, depending on where you can get the best price. Had you paid £100 for the SP's, then looking at all other opinions, I'd say yes, the 25-1 II's are worth the extra. As you paid £64, it's harder to say without personally hearing both.