[section_title title=Performance]Performance
Sound
To start with I decided to test the HD 335s with one of my favourite tracks from Bullet for my Valentine – Your Betrayal. This has some heavy riffing mixed with high guitar tones and low double bass drums pounding. On first impressions, I was very happy with how clear the mid and highs sounded, especially when high notes were being played on the guitar as well as the vocals. I was however disappointed with the lack of bass response and felt that the bass drums weren’t punchy enough to my liking. Don’t get me wrong, there is an ample amount of bass, it just didn’t really show as much presence as the highs did. This was the same story for other genres such as dance, indie and other types of metal. To give a more accurate testing of each range I decided to use www.audiocheck.net which tests the different components of sound.
I used the following tests:
Low Frequency Range Test
High Frequency Range Test
The low frequency test did somewhat change my feelings on the bass reproduction of the HD 335s and I felt it definitely had a good range of tone based on the test. It wasn’t so apparently when combined with the mids and highs during music though and I feel Sennheiser could have improved in that aspect.
The high frequency test which ranges from 22 kHz > 8 kHz in a sweeping motion became noticeably audible at around 16 kHz which is pretty good given that these headphones aren’t really classed as audiophile grade.
To add another dimension to the testing, I decided to throw in a couple of hours on FIFA 14 and Battlefield 4 to test the gaming capability of the HD 335s. In FIFA 14 it didn’t really blow me away although everything that there was to be heard, could be heard. The crowd was crystal clear and even random chants from the rabble of virtual football fans were very noticeable. Always a good thing and something Sennheiser have been fantastic at over the years; clarity. Battlefield 4 was a little bit of a different story, there was a lot more bass on offer here with explosions and different types of gun fire. My experience albeit short (only 1 hour) was enjoyable enough and is something the Sennheiser HD 335s coped with no problems. There are better solutions out there for gaming but when you take into account that these are designed for music and mobile devices, versatility is a good feature to have.
The last part of the audio testing is to ascertain the quality of the in-built mic and audio quality during phone calls. To test this, I made a couple of calls using my Samsung Galaxy S4 to call various people without telling them I was using the HD 335s (to make it non-biased). The general consensus was that although I did sound different slightly, the sound was concise and clear throughout. There is an adapter included for those smartphones that don’t support a direct input but I had no problems with my S4.
Overall the sound quality was great for the most part other than the bass which could be slightly improved. That is just my personal opinion though and for those that don’t really like a lot of bass but demand crystal clear mid and high ranges, then the HD 335s are really strong.
Comfort
With the padding being quite generous and lush on the HD 335s, I can indeed clarify that the headphones themselves are very comfortable. Although they don’t feel as soft as they look, they still provide ample comfort, even after hours of wearing them. My ears didn’t sweat and I had no problems with nipping or comfort which does happen quite a lot on headphones and headsets. The adjustable headband was also a joy to use but as previously mentioned I do feel an aluminium or metal would have been a much better choice, not only for looks when extended but for general build quality.
