Sennheiser headsets

Lately, there has been an avalanche-like growth in the headset industry. This is in many ways a direct consequence of the increasing number of multiplayer games. In games like Counter-strike, for example, real-time communication is a vital detail, if you want to prevail. And what’s more, the audio quality has improved dramatically lately and you can practically get equal quality from a pair of €40 headphones like the quality you would get from a €400 HIFI system. Of course, the LAN culture has contributed in some ways as well; speakers isn’t very practical to haul around to LANs, so headphones are the obvious choice for a LAN addict.

Lately, there has been an avalanche-like
growth in the headset industry. This is in many ways a direct consequence
of the increasing number of multiplayer games. In games like Counter-strike,
for example, real-time communication is a vital detail, if you want to prevail.
And what’s more, the audio quality has improved dramatically lately and you
can practically get equal quality from a pair of €40 headphones like
the quality you would get from a €400 HIFI system. Of course, the LAN
culture has contributed in some ways as well; speakers isn’t very practical
to haul around to LANs, so headphones are the obvious choice for a LAN addict.

A pair of headphones is a very sophisticated gadget because, unlike a regular
speaker, a single headphone-basket can only contain one diaphragm, and this
diaphragm must be able to deliver the heaviest techno bass rythms as well
as the shrill cries of heavy metal, and sometimes all at once. A pitfall for
most headphones is the inabillity to play sereral varied frequencies at once
– a listner can spot this immediately since the sound gets flat and metallic.
This test will be carried out with different sound sources and different kinds
of music, and hopefully, we can recommend what "kind" of music that
goes well with which headset. Obviously, the headsets are going to be tested
with games even though it’s much harder to determine whether a headset is
apt for gaming or not. Microphones are hard to test but I will place them
inside a couple of studio headphones and record music through them, then I
will listen to see how accurate the recording is when compared to the original.

---

Sennheiser is together with Creative, Plantronics
and KOSS the leading actors in the headset business. Sennheiser’s headsets
are often light, good-looking and sound nice. They are often quite expensive,
but then again you are rarely left disappointed. At least, I have not been
so hitherto.

Headsets are created with two principals in
mind: closed air and open air. Closed air means that the ear-muffs shuts out
all noise around you. Closed air usually has more "punch" because
the ear-muffs works as an amplifier and is often used by DJs that do not want
acoustic feedback and the like. Open air lets the sound in and lets you be
able to listen to someone without taking your head phones off. Open air often
boast little less audio quality than closed air does since the ear-muffs let
surrounding sound pass through. On the other hand, they feel more free and
you can wear them for long periods.

We have recieved three new headsets from Sennheiser,
PC150, PC140 and PC130. They are of different designs; one neck band, one
regular open air and one semi-closed air. The microphone is identical on all
three, so we will only be doing one test of it.

Technical specifications
Sennheiser	PC130	PC140	PC150
Construction:	open air	neck band	semi closed
Frequency range:	30-18000 Hz	40-20000 Hz	18-22000 Hz
Impedance:	32 Ohm	32 Ohm	32 Ohm
SPL @ 1 Khz, 1vrms:	112 dB	109 dB	114 dB
Cable length:	3,0 Meters
Connectors:	2×3.5 mm stereo plug
Frequency range (microphone)	80-15000 Hz
Sensitivity 1 V/Pa @ 1 kHz	-38 dB
Impedance (microphone)	~2 Kohm
Warranty:	2 years
Weight (without cable)	100 g	70 g	170 g
Price	~44 €	~44 €	~70 €

---

Test system
Computer
Operating system:	Windows XP Professional SP1
Graphics card:	Gainward FX5600 128 MB
RAM:	Kingston HyperX DDR400 512 MB
Hard drive :	Maxtor DIAMOND MAX PLUS 120GB S-ATA
Mainboard:	MSI KN72-Delta-ILSR
Processor:	AMD Athlon XP 2800+ @ ~2200 MHz
Soundcard:	Soundstorm (Realtek ALC650 DAC)
Drivers:	DirectX 9.0b Detonator 53.03 AC 97 v. 5.10.0.5080 AC 97 codec v. ALC 650
PSU:	Cheiftec 360 W
Other
Amplifier:	Harman Kardon HK670 with tripple-shielded signal cable
Headphones:	Sennheiser HD-25
Software:	Winamp 2.91

Ok, finally time for some heavy testing!

Sound from the computer:
Sennheiser has always been well-sounding
with its headphones and this shouldn’t be an exception. The first evaluation
and maybe the most important is done by the computer. The testing machine
uses the integrated nForce2 APU, which is a very competent integrated audio
processor. Our mainboard uses the Realtek ALC650 DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter).
This integrated soundchip is of good quality and a good reference for most
consumers. It’s not impossible we may change our test suite for later benchmarks,
and use more advanced soundcards.
The songs used are encoded in the MP3 format with 192 kBps quality, if nothing
else is mentioned. Player is Winamp 2.91 and the equalizer is set to the specific
presets that are available for each genre. In other words, heavy metal is
played back with the rock preset and techno/trance with the techno preset,
respectively. During the bass test the equalizer is turned off. 

PC150: Heavy
bass, with only small tendencies to crack through, and the treble keeps up
without difficulties. The roomy feeling is bad, or non-existent, in the cups,
since they are very small and doesn’t create any reverb that you would want
in techno/trance songs. It pounds pretty good and since the cups are semi-closed
you get almost the same pressure as you do when using totally closed cups.
Clear sound! Best performance: trance/techno. Surprisingly low distorsion.

PC140: Tame
bass and lame treble, worst frequency range and it’s pretty obvious too. The
sound is certainly clear and not metallic in any way; still it’s very tame
with no remarkable bass or treble. The worst techno/trance preformance of
all three headsets.

PC130: A
set with open cups with good treble, albeit remarkably remarkably worse bass
then big brother Pc 150 though. The element in the set has a rather unforgiving
frequency range which makes the bass suffer in fast loops and tunes with lots
of treble. The overall sound quality is fairly good though – very clear and
pleasant.

PC150: Heavy!
Very good deep bass. Has no problems with playing treble loops simultaneously
with bass lines. This, however, is only fairly surprising since the cups are
semi-closed, which gives an extra touch to the bass. My well-trained ear can’t
detect any cracks in the bass anytime (during descent volumes). Wins by a
small margin to the Pc 130.

PC140: Ok,
this wasn’t much to write home about: the bass sounds "plop" and
the set is a flop. A clear loser in this test. Unbearable distorsion.

PC130: Suprisingly
reminiscent to big brother 150, although it do not provide the same depth
and the bass sometimes lose its grip and make plops. Very impressive results
for an open cup construction as is. Clearly better than the pc 140. Harmonical!

PC150: Heavy
sound with good range in the lower regions. Almost too well on some places,
as the singer’s voice is sometimes overcrowded by the distinctive bass. Not
as good as the 130 when it comes to playing guitar riffs, and that is according
to me the most important there is in heavy metal. Despite its pompous sound,
the 130 surpasses due to its well-balanced sound.

PC140: Clear
sound, but it won’t precisely blow you away. 140 loses ground in the bass
department and when the tempo increases (which means pretty much all the time
in this song). The voice and the solos are okay but as soon as the drummer
goes at it the sound cracks up. Worst also here.

PC130: Ohh!
Guitars, guitars and guitars – this was 130’s compartment. Very clear and
distinctive sound, just the right amount of drum bass is mixed with the wonderful
guitar solos. It feels like the 130 was made for heavy metal. Best sound in
this test.

PC150: Nothing
to complain about since pop songs aren’t very demanding. Can’t find any real
disadvantages. Very clear and harmonical, with just enough of everything.

PC140: Somewhat
worse bass than the 150 and the 130 on every account. The sound lacks nuances
and character. Very clear though, and should satisfy a regular pop consumer.

PC130: I
had to check once and twice that I wasn’t wearing the Pc 150. Practically
identical with big brother. Very warm and cousy sound with, once again, the
right amount of everything

I will also run a couple of songs in my HiFi
system. Because headsets are not supposed to be used in a HiFi system, I’ll
just test two songs. The CD player is a double-decked Denon player with a Harman
Kardon stage. The equalizer is off. It will be a real party song from "DJ
Hugge" and a song from the test in the computer. The most demanding song
is included to find out whether a high-end stereo performs better than your
ordinary computer with this headset. The songs are of course in CD quality.

PC150: Really
powerful sound with almost no distortion at all. It was practically possible
to increase the volume without limitations. Very clear sound with no buzz at
all. It will be rather hard to get more performance and quality of any other
headset.

PC140: Poor
bass with distorsion at lower sound volumes. No buzz. It is very tiring to listen
with this headset, mainly due to the trying bass.

PC130: Heavy
sound and low distorsion when the volume is loud. No complainments at all. The
sound is very clear, which we are used to when it comes to Sennheiser. No major
difference from PC150.

PC150: Groovy
sound with incredible bass qualities. This does not differ much from the MP3
version, with only a slightly more powerful bass. The sound is very clear with
non-existent distorsion at human volumes.

PC140:
Not much difference compared to the MP3-version. Clear and nice, but the sound
is still rather thin and lacks a lot of bass.

PC130: Very
powerful and clear sound. The distorsion is again non-existent on normal volumes.
As expected, here’s a more powerful bass compared to the MP3 version. Pleasant
sound.

Sound
in PC games:
It is hard to determine if headsets
are good for some games or not – they just do not demand as much as usual music.
But some of these headsets are targeted towards gamers, so a gaming test won’t
harm. The first game on the workbench is the currently most popular online game,
Counter-Strike.

PC150: According
to Sennheiser’s website this is the ultimate gaming headset – and it’s not far
from the truth. The sound is clear and effects are powerful, but PC150 does
not differ much compared to the other Sennheiser headsets to be worth approximately
€30 more.

PC140: The PC140 characterizes itself.
This headset has not performed very good during the audio tests. It feels like
the PC140 is tuned for this game in some way. The sound is as usual crystal
clear and the effects are represented exactly as they are meant to be. This
was a surprise to me.

PC130: Very clear sound. It is easy to
position the other players with the PC130. The gunshots are represented believeably,
and this headsets utilizes Counter-Strike to a 100 %. You can really feel it
when you’re shooting with the AWP.

PC150: Really good and realistic sound.
It feels just like you’re in the car. There’s nice beat music in the menus which
are represented pleasantly in this headset.

PC140: Not as realistic as the bigger
brother, but PC140 is not far behind. The rumbling sound (in NOS) is not as
powerful as with the others headsets. This headset has another tuning – it feels
like the middle-range frequencies are very strong which ruins this game somewhat.
This might be the experience of the terrific sound in Counter-Strike.

PC130: Good sound, although it is worse
than PC150. It feels better than PC140.

Conclusion –
Sound quality:

PC150: Very powerful sound with low distorsion
even at loud volumes. Very realistic and clear sound in games. The best sound
in the tests; warm and enjoyable. It suits all kind of music styles. The frequency
response is the highest, which is noticed.

PC140: A disappointment in the music tests,
but a lot better in the games. It feels suited for Counter-Strike. Bad bass
qualities and the distorsion occurs at rather loud volumes. PC140 got the worst
frequency response which may be noticed during the bass test. It is very good
for games with much middle-range frequencies. Playing music in this headset
is not a recommendation, though possibly popmusic can be withstanded.

PC130: The big surprise. PC130 does not
look as something special, but it got a crystal clear sound and OK frequency
response. The bass is powerful for an open headset. It is mediocre to good in
all tests and suits all styles of music. The distorsion is almost non-existent
at regular volumes.

Now to the hardest test today – the microphone.

A microphone is hard to test, but one of the
simpler and better solutions we came up with was the following: we play a song
in a pair of studio headphones, while the microphone is within its cover recording
the sound. Subsequently, we compare how much the original and recorded song
sounds alike. The microphone is the same on all the headsets so here is a joint
test.

The microphone has so called noise-cancelling,
which means that it only takes up sound that is precisely next to the membrane.
So no background noise will be heard at all. This is very good since it can
be noisy and messy at a e.g. LAN. The microphone is composed of three parts.
First, the microphone head at the end of the bar, then the middle part that
consist of a bendable rubber arm. On the earpiece there is the rotable plate
that the arm itself is fastened on. The arm can be rotated if you do not want
the microphone directly in front of your mouth but instead want to use the headset
as a regular pair of headphones. In addition, there’s a mute button on the volume
box so you can turn the microphone off fast if you need.

Recording quality: Now we are at the hardest
part to judge in the whole test: the microphone’s recording quality. We will
as told play a song in a pair of studio headphones and record this song with
the microphone placed in the earpiece. The song will be in ordinary CD quality
and the application that I am using to record is Windows’ own.

The song that was used in the test was Jennifer
Lopez – Jenny from the Block which we have used earlier during the sound quality
tests.

Impressive! This is the first expression that
pops up in our heads. This is actually very good and the song is much like the
original despite the conditions. You can notice that Sennheiser has worked a
lot on the microphone in their headsets. The sound quality is very good and
it is only the bass register that is suffering noticeably. This is of course
good news if you are using VoIP (Voice over IP) or talking to each other in
a multiplayer game where it is usually sounding rumbly. We can also add that
there was a lot of noise around when this recording test was performed but none
of it was included in the sample, so noise-cancelling worked perfectly. I can
not give anything but the highest marks on the microphone.

Ergonomics are very important on
a headset since your are wearing them during long periods of time. The headsets
I have tested all have similar estethics. All three have the same color; silver
on the michrophone head and cups while the rest goes in black. Also the volume
control on the cord is the same for all three headsets.
But the ergonomic design is not the same for all three.

PC150:
The is the largest, heaviest and most expensive headset of the test. The construction
is semi-closed which accommodates a powerful sound and keeps unwanted noise
outside the cups. I would have liked the cup to be fitted around the whole ear
and not on the ear, which is a bit demanding in the long run. The loop over
the head is made out of foam rubber, cloathed with some furry cloth, and the
same goes for the muffs of the cups. On the michrophone side, the capsule is
rotatable which makes it possible to have it pointed in different directions.
The weight is just right, and you can wear them during long periods of time.
PC150 is a lot heavier than the others, though. As you can see on the pictures,
the cord is only attached to one cup which is a convenient treat that accommodates
a feeling of freedom that you’d have missed out on with cords going into both
cups. The loop can be adjusted in height and the muffs are jointed which should
make them fit everyone.

PC150 seen from the side with the rotatable
michrophone arm folded in

PC150 from above, here with
the michrophone arm folded out to the max.

PC150 from behind.

PC140:
This headset is a so called "neck headphone", or street-style.
This technique was considered for freestyles and those who wears bike helmets.
As of today, neck headphones are a big industry. I can’t really see why though,
since I consider these types of headphones to be very uncomfortable. PC140 is
no exeption; you have to clip the phones on to the top of your ear, which can
become painfull in the long run. These muffs are made out of regular foam rubber
that you can usually find on cheap low budget headphones.
There are no adjustments possibilities on PC140, which in my case meant that
I had nearly 2 cm between head and neckloop. The low weight tends for long listening
sessions. Why Sennheiser has chosen the neck headphone design I do not know.
The only pros are that you won’t mess your hair up and that you can use it under
a helmet (who uses a helmet when sitting infront of a computer?). The big advantages
with PC140 are that they are easy to carry along, are very discrete in use and
that the cord only goes to one of the cups.

PC140 with the michrophone arm folded in.

PC140 with the michrophone arm folded out.

The squezing loop of the PC140.

PC130:
A good-looking, light-weight pair of headphones is our desciption of the
PC130. They sit perfecly on the head and weighs almost nothing, which makes
long LAN or chat sessions painless. PC130 has the same black/silver design as
the headset that makes this set very discrete.
The muffs are made out of the same foam rubber material as the PC140, which
is very comfortable but feels a tad cheap. PC130 is totally symmetric; in other
words identical on both sides. Since the set is symmetric there should be something
indicating left and/or right side, and since the arm can be rotated nearly 360
degrees you can’t use it as an indicator. A small miss by Sennheiser. But that
is the only negative to say about this headset.
The two loops over the head certainly feels a little unexpensive since they
are hollow and weirdly shaped (you can see the hollows on the pictures below).
The main loop’s height can, of course, be adjusted and the cup is split into
two pieces and jointed just as the PC150. In other words, PC130 fits everyone.
Reminiscent of earlier headsets, the cord is single-sided.

PC130 from the side with the arm folded out,
notice the two-part cup.

PC130 with the arm folded in, here ou can clearly see the loops hollow.

In common :
The three headsets have certain things in common. Mainly the microphone that
we went through on previous page, but also the volume control connectors. On
the volume control, there is a mute function for the michrophone and a volume
wheel. It sits ~60 cm down the cord and has a clip on the back so that you can
attach it to your clothes. The plugs are regular color-coded 3.5 mm stereo plugs
that fits any kind system and/or machine, so installing it is idiot-proof. The
long cord is also in common for all three – three meters are enough for most
occations. 

Conclusion design/ergonomics:
PC140 is definitly not a comfortable headphone, because of the neck-thing constuction.
The weight is low though and you won’t mess up your hair. PC150 is a really
comfortable set with generous stuffing, albeit a tad heavy. PC130 is on the
other hand a perfect combination of weight, stuffing and design. All three are
very good-looking, but PC140 is definitly the most discrete one.  

Without anymore interuptions, it’s
time to summarize our impressions of Sennheiser’s three headsets.

After dragging Sennheiser’s latest
creations through a series of hard and specific tests we are now ready to summarize
the results and impressions we have gathered. Even if we always try to announce
one single winner in our reviews, it has unfortunately been too tough this time.

I will announce two winners and a warning. The warning is issued to PC140. Why?
Well, first of all it costs approx. €40 (Exchange
rates) and you can get a lot better headsets for such amounts of money,
i.e. PC130. PC140 are not very comfortable (a purely personal opinion though)
and the sound is not really impressive either. The fact that it has the worst
frequency range and SPL (Sound pressure level) does not make things any better.

That was the dull part – now it is time for the praises.
PC150 and PC130 are both really good headsets, and the sound is really good
with both with albeit with a small advantage to PC150 because of its basic qualities.
The advantage is diminished though by PC130 due to its weight and price.

The microphone is identical on all three, and hence really good. The microphone
arm can be rotated nearly 360 degrees and the mic’s noise-cancelling works very
well.
The volume control on the cord works excellent and it is a dream with "in-game"
adjustment of the sound and that you can turn off the microphone to tell secrets.

If you are economically independent,
PC150 is a good choice (or an even more expensive set), but if you’re not that
lucky, PC130 is a really good choice as well. If you are the discrete type (without
any special demands in terms of sound quality) then PC140 is a good choice;
they are small, light and fits in any laptop bag.
If you are the kind of person who sits long hours in front of the computer,
it is of little importance if you chose 150 or 130. PC150 is softer than 130
but the 130 weighs less. If you are an audiophile (as yours truly) then PC150
is the given choice.
You have probably guessed by now that PC150 and PC130 are the winners of this
test. And a small warning has been issued for the PC140 that has ended up a
tad misplaced in this category.
Sennheiser’s headsets are good value and on par with the other manufacturers’
when it comes to quality, so it is really just a matter of taste when it comes
to picking out a headset, but if you buy a Sennheiser-headset you know what
you get!

Sennheiser PC150 Pro: + Microphone + Comfortable + Adjustments + Long cord + Rotateable microphone arm + Volume control on the cord + Looks good + Stuffing + Frequency range Con: – Heavy – Price – Small muffs	Sennheiser PC130 Pro: + Microphone + Comfortable + Light + Long cord + Rotatable michrophone arm + Looks good + Good value Con: -Only useful bass qualities – Bad loop -No marking for Right/Left side
Sennheiser PC140 Pro: + Microphone + Light + Small + Long cord + Discrete + Easy to carry along + You can wear them under a helmet.. Con: – Sound – Price – The contruction does not fit this category – No adjustment opportunities

You may experiencing problems
while trying to get your hands on these headsets since they are a part of
a totally new series. But I am sure that there will be many retailers of
this product soon though. Too eager? Contact contact Sennheiser Worldwide
using
this link.