Sound quality, comfort, sound dampening, price, replaceable parts

A little big, especially if you are wearing a hat

I've had these headphones for almost 7 years now, and I can tell you they are the best thing to happen to my music. Wore them all the time walking around campus (made it dangerous, you can't hear bikes flying up behind you on the sidewalk) in the rain, in the snow, in the sun...
The ear pieces are a little warm, and they do seem to drain MP3 player batteries quick, but it is more than worth it. The sound is great- I would notice parts of music I had never heard before while listening to assorted cheap in-ear phones when I got self-conscious about the size of the 212. They are big on your head, but comfortable enough to wear walking 45 minutes across campus.
About two months ago, the wire gave out, and I am about to buy a replacement wire, even though shipping is $8 on an $8 wire...

Similar Products Used:

Variety of cheap in-ear phones

Good sound, low pitch notes can be heard, comfortable even if used for long periods.

it eats power from ur portable device faster than u can say Gr8 Headphones, didnt work with my W550i phone. too bassy atleast for my liking.

overall the headphones are good, i was able to hear many low pitch notes which i had never heard before.....these 'phones are too bassy for my liking but i guess after some burn in-time, it should go down.

Customer Service

not yet needed..

Similar Products Used:

Sony in ear headphones which came with my W550i phone.

Good sound, low pitch notes can be heard, comfortable even if used for long periods.

it eats power from ur portable device faster than u can say Gr8 Headphones, didnt work with my W550i phone. too bassy atleast for my liking.

overall the headphones are good, i was able to hear many low pitch notes which i had never heard before.....these 'phones are too bassy for my liking but i guess after some burn in-time, it should go down.

Customer Service

not yet needed..

Similar Products Used:

Sony in ear headphones which came with my W550i phone.

212's: - Bass - Noise reduction - Full sound - Lightweight - Inexpensive - Replacement parts available for any model 280's - Comfort - Even more noise reduction - Full sound, albeit less on Bass - Relatively inexpensive - Folding design

212's - A little tight - Maybe too much bass? - They are warm - like wearing ear-muffs indoors - Not much else 280's - Little light on bass - Don't seem to want to stay on - A bit heavy - Also warm on the ear

I have a pair of the 212's and I recently bought a pair of the 280's. I use them almost exclusively for listening to either ipod or dvd's on a plane. The reason I bought the 280's in the first place was that the cord on the 212's broke, the replacement (yes - they sell one) was out of stock for two months, and I figured if I liked the 212's I'd love the 280's. I bought the 212's after listening to a bunch of different phones. They are for DJ's, not sure what that means... but they work incredibly well with portables. Truth is they are both excellent, great natural noise reduction (closed cell), very good range, response, low distortion. Better than any Sony or Bose set that I heard. Even up, I prefer the 212's. MUCH better bass, almost too much - which is a nice luxury to have on an ipod. Part of it has to do with the way the phones fit. The 212's are tighter on the ear, sometimes a little uncomfortable after a couple hours, but putting it that close keeps the sound tighter. The 280's have a bigger, more comfortable earpiece, but it sits farther away and takes more to drive. They are also heavier and don't seem to want to stay on my head as well. The 212's are lighter and about half the price. Either one makes a great set, and I suspect that the 280's are better with a home stereo that has more bass and more power than a portable. I can't imagine a better set of phones for portables than the 212's.

- Excellent bass response (Not cheap,faked EQ type bass boosts but professional increases in the lower frequencies) - Very clean mids and a laid back but full treble - Aesthetically pleasing - Portable and very easy to drive

- They tend to reveal quite a bit of background noise in the music if turned up very loud. - the cord is surprisingly long but this is only a weakness to me...others may appreciate this

After searching for a decent pair of headphones here in Canada ($$$$$$$$$!!), I decided that my best option was to order some Senn's online. The HD-212s seemed to fit into the niche of what I listened to so I gave them a shot. After saving an exorbant amount of money getting these from the US, I plugged them in first to my workplace PC. I was impressed right there. The music (MP3s mainly) was clearer and felt like it had more impact and slam. Right there, I felt my purchase was justified. Then I took them home..... Plugging these cans into a full fledged headphone output yielding some of the best sealed headphone sounds I had ever heard. Every aspect of the music was better than the PC's performance for obvious reasons of course...CDs vs. Mp3, better output, etc) Regardless, I would be surprised if any headphone under $100 US could give these HD212-Pros a performance/compromise value.

Similar Products Used:

Sony MDR-V700DJ, Grado SR-60, Sennheiser HD-202

Reasonable price Sound quality Comfort to wear Stylish look Very long 6+ foot cord Replaceable parts for long life

Uncomfortable with my new glasses (fine with old ones, which curved around my ear. new ones similiar to oakely style).

Great way to start getting into hifi. I had owned a MD player for about half a year, before finally giving up on the crappy headphones that came with it. I had a gift certificate at circuit city, and ended up over paying for these headphones, but whatever, they were still worth it. Before getting these headphones, I had no conception of what Hifi was, I couldn't even notice differences between music from cd's or lp's, and crappy 128kbs .mp3's. These headphones produce music in a way that sounds great, and is easy on your ears. These perhaps are not the most natural headphones, specially designed for dj's, they do have a bias that favors the bass, but regardless the sound is wonderful. I'm now finding myself spending lots of money on hifi equiptment, because these headphones opened my ears. Never again will I buy crappy audio equiptment. Note: I was initially very disappointed with these headphones. Out of the box they sounded very unimpressive. After a 24hr break in time, they had achieved their full potential, and are still sounding great. Just keep in mind, like speakers, good headphones need at least 20hrs burn in time to sound good.

Comfort, price, lightweight

Not the most attractive, but acceptable.

These are great! I picked up the Sony MDRV300s and they absolutely made me suffer. Bad sound and terrible with comfort. BUT after reading about the HD 212 Pro here on AudioReview and headphones.com I was actually able to find a pair and I have never looked back. Now that I have them, everyone is starting to carry them. They are comfortable, the slightly tend to bass frequencies - something that I like. In fact, they are gently caressing my right now as I write these words and rock out with STP. They are also very light and can be taken completely apart into the cord, the ear cups (?) and the headband thingy - great for travelling if you're not actaully listening to them. Anyway, if this is your price range and your looking for a closed headphone, buy these - it's that simple.

Similar Products Used:

Sony MDRV300 (for a few days), earbuds, and other junk

lightness, extremely comfy, looks, clear sound with solid bass(plays well any music style however)

made of cheap plastic

i bought the senn 212Pro just two days ago, i'm very impressed with them; i already have the beyer dt431 which are flat-response cans, they sound neutral and detailed; the 212 are something quite different, they have solid bass and soft highs and have good level of detail(for the price) but the point here is to enjoy the music. Ok, this is not a purist thing but it works very well with pop/rock, gaming, watching movies on the computer....for a relaxed listening of jazz i stick on my beyer

Similar Products Used:

beyerdynamic dt431, sennheiser hd490(broke recently)