Digital Trends

Sennheiser HD435 May 17th, 2006 | by Brandon King

Testing Cont'd

For movie watching, the HD435's performed well. The strong lows added plenty of atmosphere, and special effects reverberated during action sequences. Dialogue was a little overpowered, especially during scenes with background commotion, but even without 3D sound enhancement, the scene envelopes the listener. For gaming, sound localization was very good, but slightly too dispersed for us to close our eyes and accurately target a sound source. PSP games sounded clear but seemed to lack detail; however, the design of the HD435 does not make them conducive for on-the-go gaming, so this is a forgivable drawback. Doom 3 and City of Villains sounded excellent. More subtle sounds (like jumping and water splashes) were underrepresented, making invisible targets somewhat tough to find.

Conlusion

The Sennheiser HD435 is a great all-around, everyday-use headphone. While the design is not geared toward portable listening, it can be easily driven from most MP3 players and portable gaming devices. Some listeners might find the bass overwhelming, but for gaming, action movies, and high energy music, these cans shine. Music comes across as detailed and strong, but there are some minor peculiarities in the sound signature. Regardless, anyone looking for a good set of sub-$100 headphones should definitely consider the HD435.

Pros:

• Strong bass
• Good Value
• In-line volume control

Cons:

• Minor low-end distortion at high volumes
• Significant burn-in time