Headphone Head-to-head – Sennheiser Adidas HD 25-1-II

The first thing that strikes you about Adidas Sennheiser headphones is the box. A box with no hidden agenda; it’s just some packaging to get the product home safely. Sennheiser aren’t playing any of those Apple games over the packaging here, these cans live and die by their reputation alone. It’s some reputation.

The original HD25 came out in 1987, and at the time were about the best and most expensive headphones you could get. Back in those distant days I was a photographer’s assistant I could barely afford shoes and these were well beyond me. How I longed for a pair.

I acquired my first set just over ten years later when a camera crew left a pair on my desk after doing an interview with me and I have been in love with them since. Aside from the blue branding and ear pads and Adidas logos on the earpieces, the Sennheiser Adidas HD 25-1-II are almost identical in appearance to that craftily acquired pair.

Designed originally as professional monitoring headphones they’ve become the choice of film crews and sound professionals around the world and are and probably the world’s most popular DJ headphones.

Given the intended clientele they are naturally built like tanks, and that must be one of the reasons the BBC uses these. That old pair of mine have kicked about in the bottom of various camera bags for well over ten years and they hardly show it.

It also follows that they would be comfortable; they are. That’s because their lightweight construction combines perfectly with the split headband design and really works to everyone’s advantage.

That combination means there are loads of possible combinations and adjustments to accommodate all sized heads, making sure the all-important clamping pressure that’s essential for ensuring a good fit is just right. Whilst they are supremely comfortable headphones they can feel a little tight during periods of extended use.

This is a lovely rounded headphone that sparkles across the board
These are headphones that stand out for all the right reasons it’s not just the classic Old Skool styling, they built that Skool. The German designers may have only been following the design mantra ‘form follows function’ but in the process they created an icon.

So getting down to the nitty-gritty, how do they sound? In a word wonderful; but to elucidate further, this is a lovely rounded headphone that sparkles across the board.

All the subtlety a performer might provide in a recording there for the listening. The bass is punchy, rounded, tight and well defined. The mid tones and treble are articulate, polished and professional. I love them to bits.

OK they may not fold but they are small enough and robust enough to survive life like that in the simple supplied soft case.

They are great in loud environments like the Tube as they have a decent level isolation. Whilst they may seem expensive they do represent good value for money, for they are a truly mobile audiophile headphone.


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