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Over the last five years, I’ve watched numerous iconic studio headphones make their way onto the recommendations lists of reviewers and into the hands of everyday audio listeners.
Many of these products have some amount of obvious crossover appeal. Sure, they were originally built for working environments, but a headphone is a headphone. They’ve got pads, a headband, and a “flat” sound signature…isn’t that what you’d also want for a casual listening environment?
The M50X, 7506, DT770, HD600, and many others have found their way out of the pro audio world, thanks to straddling the line well enough to work for all sorts of use cases. The M50X even got a consumer-focused Bluetooth release.
Sennheiser’s HD25 couldn’t be farther from having crossover capability. Its wonderful sound signature would probably please most consumer listeners, but everything else about it screams “professional, working headphone.”
It’s weird and idiosyncratic in so many ways, and sticks out compared to the rest of Sennheiser’s product lineup. I kind of love it.
