The Good: The 335’s provide excellent comfort, premium sound quality, and superior build quality, plus some cool features like a built-in volume dial and a twisting ear cup for DJ use.
The Bad: The design is not too appealing to the younger generation and the volume dial does not change the device’s volume, but adjusts the volume input within the headphones. Also slightly overpriced.
The Bottom Line: Although they’re slightly overpriced, I’d recommend them as a great pair of over-ear headphones for DJs and consumers alike.
When I bought these, I wasn’t even really in the market for new headphones. I came across them on SlickDeals for $33. Only 33 bucks! Sure, they’re refurbished, but they’re refurbished by Sennheiser which [essentially] means they don’t have their original packaging. All of that to say that I wasn’t even planning on buying new headphones but I’m still 100% pleased with the purchase.
Design
Headphones & Cable
I feel the target market for these headphones is not the hipsters of the world nor the average consumers, but instead the DJ’s and the music creators. This results in a design focused more on practicality than fashion, which actually turned out to be pretty nice in my opinion. (However, if you’re looking for fashion, check out the Sennheiser Momentum Family).
The 335’s are made from a hard black plastic, and overall feel very durable. No amount of stretching or pulling (to a reasonable extent) could break them. There are also some silver plastic/metal accents around the headphones that help to make them look nice, and on either side you’ll find a metal strip with “SENNHEISER” or “HD 335” engraved on it.
The cable is just classic rubber, with an inline remote+mic that controls play/pause and phone calls. When I first tried these out, I was very disappointed due to the lack of a volume control on the remote. But then I discovered another sweet feature — there’s a rotation control knob built-in to the right side ear cup! You can twist it around with your finger to adjust volume. The problem: rather than adjusting volume directly on your device, it simply lowers the volume coming to the headphones. The good thing about this: it is compatible with all phones and MP3 players, regardless of make and model. The standard configuration is a straight-jack, but Sennheiser also included a straight-to-90-degree adapter which was fantastic.
One of the cool things about the 335’s (and one of the main reasons I say they’re for DJs) is that the right ear cup can pivot, allowing you to listen to music through your left ear and hear outside noises on the right side. This is great for (again) DJs or people who work in an environment where total self-isolation isn’t an option.
Pivoting Right Earcup with Volume Dial
Comfort
These are the most comfortable headphones I’ve used in a very, very long time — hands down. They go completely around your ears, so nothing is constantly pressing against them, and the foam that is there is very soft and squishy. The only issue I’ve found is that my ears start sweating after a couple hours, but I usually don’t use these for more than 2 hours anyway.
Audio Quality
As I’ve said in previous reviews: I’m not an audiophile, but here’s what I think anyways. The Sennheiser HD335 headphones sound amazing! First of all, their design creates a great seal around your ears that prevents leaking audio (in to and out of the headphones).
The bass response on these headphones isn’t the greatest, especially compared to headphones like Beats, but it sounds clean and crisp, without all the unnecessary vibrations that headphones like Beats bring to the table. I listened to songs ranging from the not-so-bass-heavy “Uptown Funk,” all the way to the bass-heavy “Turn Down for What”, and didn’t have any problems with either side. The mid and high range of sound also sounded nice, and wasn’t distorted when played at high volumes (which is a problem with most lower-end headphones).
Sennheiser lists the specs of these headphones to be:
- 32 ohm impedance
- 13 – 20000 Hz frequency response
- -39 dB sensitivity
- 112 dB sound pressure level (SPL)
- 3.5mm, 4 pole plug
The Verdict
Nice, Well-Rounded Headphones With a Decent Price Tag
Overall, I’m very pleased with the Sennheiser HD335 headphones. They have excellent sound quality, a much-appreciated utilitarian design, and a fairly decent price tag compared to others in the range.
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