Sennheiser HD 457 Traditional Open Hi-Fi Stereo Headphones (Silver) Reviews

• I love Sennheiser

  
  By A3HVFNVL0S5ZT1 on 2003-10-30
  WOW!! I'm an ex-band guy. I grew up on Altec Voice of the Theater speakers. My best friend in high school turned me on to Sennheiser headphones when I was still using my pair from Sears. I've been using a pair of Sennheiser 455's for the last 15 years. I just bought these 457's. WOW!! Better response in all ranges than I hoped for. Light weight and great price too. Don't hesitate. I'm buying a second pair.
  
  

• All bass all the time...

  
  By A2SEHOBX4M0OZ0 on 2004-12-31
  Pro: I really prefer the fabric covered ear pads. Very comfortable.
  
  Con: The sound of these headphones is very disappointing.
  
  The package says "Enhanced Bass" and the bass is definitely enhanced; to the point of being ridiculous. These provide indistinct, throbbing, muddy bass that makes you ears hurt after a short time. You can correct some of this with drastic EQ settings by why should you have to do that?
  
  Other users say that a 12+ hour break-in period helps, but if anything, that made things worse.
  
  I think this is an attempt by Sennheiser to satisfy the same people who think good sound means rattling windows....quantity instead of quality.
  
  If you think over-driven car stereos that make the ground vibrate are cool, these are for you. But if you prefer balanced sound with rich bass, look elsewhere.
  
  

• These are Super Bass headphones

  
  By AUIQ6MN46LS5U on 2005-07-26
  If you like way too much bass then these headphones are for you. Otherwise get something else. I will be returning these for that reason only, otherwise they are OK (made in China, real Sennheisers are made in Germany).
  
  

• Solid sound, solid value, extra long cord.

  
  By A1ALGLEYDUGP10 on 2005-05-16
  If you are an audiophile, go spend $150 on some overpriced headphones that sound 8% better (I recommend the Grado SR series). For the rest of us, these will do nicely. I have found them very comfortable for long music or gaming sessions. In fact, my housemate borrows my headphones whenever I am out of town because his Sony headphones (around the same price) are uncomfortable. You may have a funny shaped head, but most should find these pleasing to the ears in terms of sound and comfort.
  
  The sound quality is very good. Not audiophile quality, but solid and clear. Very strong base response. If you are used to cheap headphones with no base, you may need a few hours to adjust.
  
  "Mere mortals" should be very pleased. Those with golden ears, save your comments for the outrageously expensive stuff!
  
  Last note: These things are larger than they appear in the photos. They are great for use at home, but they will look goofy if you wear them on the bus with your portable MP3 player!
  
  Highly recommended for home use. And the long cord is great!
  
  

• uncomfortable and disappointing

  
  By AFWHNNL6CRCPF on 2004-11-07
  Well, everything is relative and headphones (and speakers) are very subjective items, but I was pretty disappointed after getting these for use with my iPod. First off, as someone else mentioned, your ears get really hot when wearing these. I think that it's partly because it seems to squeeze your head a bit.
  
  Soundwise: for $30 it's in some ways better than, say, the iPod earbuds, however I found the bass so muddy and so distorted, that it's tough to listen to these things. For some music (say techno), it might be fine. For music with bass guitar, I found that the bass was often just a big mush.
  
  Also, I should qualify all of this by saying that I often use a $300 pair of Sennheiser HD-600's. So I may have been ruined by good sound, but I find the iPod earbuds listenable and not these headphones.
  
  I'm hoping that you can do better for under $50, but I'm not sure where.
  
  
• Tiny head article.
  By A1HW4M029I31C8 on 2006-06-27
  The sound is fine and they are very light. Unfortunately they are light because
  Sennheiser didn't use enough plastic to make the phones large enough for most heads. These things are really small.
  If you are anywhere above size 7 hat, try something else
  
  
• low quality
  By on 2003-12-31
  I recently purchased these headphones and must say that I am dissapointed with their sound quality. While the range and volume is fine--bass response is ok and highs play without distortion--the overall sound is muddled. The sound is not crisp and clear. Rather, it sounds as if my music has already passed through some heavy object before reaching my ears. There is no problem understanding the music, don't get me wrong. Compared to the Coby headphones (bought at around the same price) that I was trying to replace, however, these headphones are simply not very good. I think Sennheiser makes good headphones, but I wouldn't waste any money on these. If you want a pair of Sennheisers, pay a little more to get one of their better models.
  
  
• Buy different headphones!
  By on 2003-10-25
  I bought these headphones because they are bigger than the ones I have and thought the sound would be clearer. Well, it was, until the tiny wire snapped and there go the headphones. The wires that lead into the headphones are too small to accomodate the heavy headset. Look for another if you want long lasting headphones.
  
  
• Whipped In! Sucked in!
  By A2KDECVWHNMSFG on 2005-08-12
  That's how you feel, literally sucked into the game or movie or music or whatever you're using these headphones for. They simply rock! I was able to hear several notes in some of my music cd's that I never knew existed, upon using these headphones.
  Another plus is that they're amazingly comfy, most of the times you wont even know they're there. And even though it's not wireless, the cord is pretty long so that it wont get in the way.
  All this and it costs just $26 (that's how much I got them for!)
  Go get it!!
  
  
• Great price for the value
  By A2L7UPG50FIE0G on 2005-08-17
  I got these things a few months ago, and boy, am I impressed with its performance. Compared to other headphones I've tried the Sennheiser HD-280, and I'd have to say that bearing in mind the price difference, the 457 is comparable in performance. My only concern seems to be durability, the actual speakers on the ear pieces look fragile.
  Great Buy.
  
  
• Great value for money....
  By A1O6ZWHQV10NEI on 2005-11-03
  Great pair of headphones at such a good price. However, I would recommend spending an extra $25 and getting the next generation HD 597. Sennheisers rock!
  
  
• Really sweet sound
  By A37ZCE7BNBNW5T on 2004-04-17
  I'm really impressed with these headphones. This is my first pair of Sennheiser headphones, and unlike other headphones I've had throughout the years, I use these for a variety of purposes: watching movies, working at my computer, or rocking out at the office. They're great sounding, but best of all they're really comfortable. These headphones never get uncomfortable on my head, so I can get the ultimate experience while watching The Wall, The Song Remains the Same, or the Godfather Trilogy. Don't matter. These things are a great set of headphones, especially for the price.
  
  
• If you like Bass, these are for you
  By A1LB8H7AJOA1HI on 2005-10-30
  These headphones were my first pair of Sennheiser's, and i LOVE them! The bass is incredible, and it doesn't block out the highs and the mids. When it comes to sound for me, i can never get enough bass. These Headphones fit my needs perfectly. The price for these is outstanding!! If you are looking for a good pair of headphones, go for these, cheap, and sounds GREAT!!
  
  
• Hearing Aid use w/Sennheiser HD 457 Headphones
  By A1ZZ4MU4S7ANCG on 2006-07-25
  I have two sets of hearing aids. One BTE and one ITE. These headphones work wery well w/ITE aids, but don't ask me why. I really enjoy these headphones with my 30 GB iPod especially. If it matters to anyone, I am an active octogenarian and a former music instructor. I like 'em.
  
  
• Sennheiser HD 457 -good pair for about 40 USD / 25 GBP
  By on 2003-06-21
  -Bought my HD 457s at [a store] in the UK, where there is a great selection of Sennheiser headphones. I selected them over other Sennheiser models based on comfort and my budget... my last pair of cans sounded good, but were unbearable after a couple hours. I have worn these continuously for several hours daily without any discomfort, a very light pair indeed. Their bass response surprised me at first, compared with open-air design cheap pairs that are thrown in with walkmans that are just [bad]. No gripes about the highs or mids either. I have already referred others to check out the Sennheiser line. ...
  
  
• Bang for the buck.
  By A2DOWKUN0OXG4X on 2005-01-24
  These headphones are very comfortable if you know how to adjust them correctly.People talking about muddy bass are right if you play it extremely loud. You dont want to do that. Music played in excess of 95 decibels can cause u to go deaf. The maximum of decibels on this is 114 so yeah these can make u deaf. So play music lower than 95 db if u wanna hear for the rest of your life. If you play music very low to moderate like me the bass is perfect. The belt clip that stores extra cord is very handy because i have a ipod that doesnt require much cord at all.
  
  
• The Best Headphones I've Owned
  By AXJLS6H1WC765 on 2006-01-31
  These headphones sound great. For the money these are better than anything I've listened to. They are 10 times better than the earbuds that come with most MP3 players. They are not small by any means but if you want great sounding music, these are for you. When people say you hear things in the music you haven't heard before they aren't kidding.
  
  
• More than I was expecting
  By A1S7J1UVKPWM9M on 2006-02-07
  I bought these headphones a week ago and I am very pleased with them. At the electronic store, I listen to 3 pairs of Sennheiser (HD-433 ; HD-437 and HD-457). I hesitated between the 437 and the 457 but went for the 457 (10 more buck$). At the store the sound was OK as they were playing from the Sennheiser display rack. When I got home, I plugged these in my computer soundcard jack and the sound was a whole lot better. I am very impressed of the volume and sound quality I can get from them on my computer. My soundcard is an onboard Soundmax AC97 on an Asus K8V-X motherboard. I set the sound option in Windows XP on "headphones" and played "Metallica- Nothing else matters" with WinAmp. WOW !!! I was really impressed with the bass response and sound clarity in general. I only use half of the volume available in Windows XP and it`s more than enough for me.
  I do agree with some other reviews that the bass could be more precise but I found out that it varies a lot depending of the sound source you`re using. The sound is better on my computer than on my Harman Kardon amplifier and is a lot better on my MP3 player than with the earbuds that came with it.
  Overall, I would say that these headphones are very good for the inexpensive price. They blow away all the competition in the same price range. Compared to my old Panasonic, it`s a drastic improvement especially for the bass response.
  When it comes to music, I love bass a lot but I would recommand to others that you would listen to them from a source that you could adjust the bass level (bass knob or equalizer), so that way you won`t get too much bass from them.
  Very good headphones ... Go get a pair ... at this price you can`t go wrong. I highly recommand them for computer users (music, DVD movies and games).
  
  
• Sound = pretty good, comfort = horrible
  By A3IA2BX9S8IFIE on 2006-05-04
  I would have to agree with most of the reviews below, the sound quality you get from these headphones is pretty darn good; however, they have one major flaw: it is IMPOSSIBLE to wear these things for mare than 20 minutes without accquiring a massive headache. The people that designed these things must have been too focused on sound quality to pay any attention to comfort (or even style for that matter, these things look cheap and clunky on your head). I dont care how great the sound is on these things, they were useless to me because I couldn't listen to anything for an extended period of time. I'm returning them asap and getting myself a pair of sonys (yah, I'm a sell-out, but atleast they're comfortable). I would suggest the MDR-V300's, my roommate has a pair and I really can't tell the difference in sound quality when I compared my Sennheisers to his Sonys (after playing around with the EQ of course, and they're about the same price as these too). Might I also suggest the MDR-XD300's (they're the ones I ordered as a replacement for these, and I'll be writing a review for those monstsers once I get a chance to try them out). Two stars instead of one only because I admit the sound quality was decent (not spectacular like many of the reviews said, however).
  
  
• Way too much bass
  By A2XC2FU0751E6X on 2006-11-26
  I've owned and used Sennheiser headphones since the 70s. These are by far the worst Sennheisers I've owned. Put simply: they are way too bass heavy. And it's not even punchy bass, it's real boomy and muddy. You'll need to EQ the bass down just about as low as you can to get accurate musical reproduction. If you like unnatural, overemphasized, boomy bass these are the headphones for you. If not, stay away.
  
  
• Great headphones, just wish they lasted longer
  By AYF6EOLARMK48 on 2003-07-09
  These headphones were my main set for use for the past year. Immediately I was very pleased with the rich bass and crisp treble these phones produce. They were also quite comfortable, they had an open air design but I never had much of a problem hearing my music in noisy places as I do with most headphones.
  My main gripe is durability. Recently the sound went out in the left channel, and when I inspected the set the wire had fallen off the left side. For just barely a year of use (and not heavy use) I had to get rid of them? Would I buy another pair? Probably not, unless they came with a lifetimes warranty.
  
  
• Great Headphones
  By A27R0AM5H0REOO on 2005-02-06
  Tired of the stock iPod earbuds, I decided to get these headphones and I'm satisfied with the purchase. At first I was a little disappointed in the sound, but after giving it a "burn-in" period they have improved greatly. The sound is very clear and rich, I'm hearing parts of songs that were inaudible before and enjoying more bass. The only downside is that because they are open headphones they allow exterior sounds to seep in, making it hard to hear some songs in a loud area unless you raise the volume a bit which could damage your hearing. They're most ideal at home or a quiet area, but good enough to use on the go.
  
  In terms of portability the cord is extremely long, but I keep it tied up and have not had any trouble.
  
  Overall, they're great headphones, but be aware that open headphones allow sound to seep in.
  
  
• Great Sound for the Money
  By A1ZHNB2TK9UQR on 2006-02-07
  Good sound for the money! Tired of earbuds but didn't want to spend a lot of money. Oh yeah baby, rock-n-roll!!
  
  
• Not Sound Savvy But..
  By APLJIF7A7ITUS on 2003-10-16
  These are very confortable and have better sound than the ear buds I was using. They're adjustable and I think it was a good purchase. Only complant is that they don't cup the ear so they don't keep noise out as well.
  
  
• The pinnicle of auranautical excellence
  By A26AVAZ192DPNI on 2005-04-22
  The absolute best headphones I've ever owned. The bass is incredible,like subwoofers in the ear. The midrange and high tones are perfectly reproduced. I first tried them with fable on the Xbox and you can hear things sneaking up behind you and it sounds like they are behind you.
  They fit really well and I can use them for hours on end with no discomfort. The main thing is they pound out bass like there's no tomarrow,gotta love German engineering.
  
  
• NTA
  By AGRANDAXGLX19 on 2005-07-20
  When I first got these I would have given these bad boys a 4-5 stars. However, after a few weeks the damn things started crackling in the higher octaves. bummer. I will not be replacing this pair with another set of 457's....Maybe I'll try the 497's...But if they fail I'll re-think ever buying Sennheiser again.
  
  
• Excellent headphone
  By AJZHLHTCAW2Z on 2008-02-01
  I own a Sennheiser HD477 and a HD202 for 3 years. Recently I wanted to buy another Sennheiser, tried HD280 and returned it. Finally got HD457 and am very satisfied.
  I will review each one of them below.
  
  (1) HD 202
  The sound is very dull, lacking details. Not worth the money even it is cheap.
  
  (2) HD477
  I like its sound very much. Its spectrum is well balanced, rich low and high sounds. Very comfortable to wear. This one is discontinued though.
  
  (3) HD280
  Very dispointed at this one given all those good reviews. Maybe the one I tried is a defective product, the two ear pieces are not matched, sound image is a little bit biased towards one side, which is annoying. Because of this mismatch, the positioning of instruments, vocals are not desirable. Many complained about the wearing, which I agree. It is a bit tight, keeps drawing your attention when you listening to music.
  
  (4)HD457
  It is similar to HD477 in design, as well as in sound, rich in low and high freq. HD457 has stronger low freq output. I totally understand why some users saying the sound is 'muddy'. I have a old cd player that has a bass boost, when I turn it on, the bass sound is just too much. Drums sound is a bit distored. But nowadays, music players almost all have multi-band EQ, so it is easy to get a balanced bass sound after some tuning. I managed to get very good sound from another CD player with such EQ. I tried this headphone with other music sources, all sound good.
  The wearing is also quite comfortable.
  
  Lastly, I want to say the sound of HD457 may be a little bit colored. But to me it is clored in a desirable way. In the end, I am looking for the sound I like, it is a subjective thing. So try a few pairs of headphones, judge by your own ears.
  
  
• Perfect Sound
  By A26KXNN6H1IL0I on 2008-05-14
  I use these headphones with my MP3Player around the house. Tried some smaller headphones, but those are mostly not comfortable to wear (I hate having this clip thing over my ears and I can't stand having something in my ears ...) and usually don't deliver the sound quality I want. So I went back to a full siye model, and having used Sennheiser for the last 25+ years, it was a natural thing to look what they have to offer these days.
  The HD457 delivers a superb audio quality.
  It is very comfortable to wear and actually relatively lightweight.
  It comes with a nifty little device that lets you stow surplus cable length when you only need the short cable to a MP3 that's clipped to your belt.
  And that is it. Just a perfect gadget for everyday use.
  Well, maybe there is one tiny contra: It has a distinctive plastic look and feel to it. But when I'm wearing it, I don't see it ... :).
  
  
• great earphones
  By AMON6VZPAM5LT on 2004-01-08
  Very comfortable, blocks other sounds, wonderful fidelity, great price, I love them!!!!!
  
  
• Great Headphones!!
  By A1PL3GRNSCWB0Y on 2004-10-14
  I just got these headphones, and so far they have been very good. When I was looking for headphones, I did not want something too expensive, but I did want good quality for computer games and music. These have been perfect so far, and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for headphones.
  Key Features:
  Noice Canceling- Although they are not called noise canceling by Sennheiser, they do a decent job of blocking out ambient noice, without putting too much pressure on your ear.
  Sound Quailty- They have very good sound quality. The base is strong, and the treble is clear.
  Portability- They come with a small plastic thing that does a good job at coiling up the cord when you want to minimize space.
  Great headphones, great value, highly recommended.
  
  

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