Yamaha is a big Japanese brand in instrument manufacturing, no question here. Its Piano is famous and maybe the Motorcycle of it is what people know about it,but head-fi stuff? I first know of Yamaha produce Head-fi thing should then back to the old model(well,not that old anyway), Eph-30,which Cnet isrecommended, start from that time,I start to feel interested in Yamaha head-fi products, but never has chance to audit them myself,it is until few week backs some of my friends have tested this Yamaha HPH-200 and mostly recommend it to me,they said good things on it, so I have made some research on it, and found out that there is not much review on it (If it is any), mostly think it is a good headphone. So, I have contacted my local store, Sim from S.L.C.G Enterprise,to loan me a unit of HPH-200. Thanks to Sim from S.L.C.Gto provide me this review unit. I get this the second day he posted out the item, although there is no original box or accessories included, purely a review unit, but he is kind enough to send it with a Hippo Case, this is where we can see enthusiast being passionate in what they like.

DESCRIPTION AND SPECIFICATION

This is a light over ear headphone,I won’t call that this is a budget headphone, as its price is selling between RM5xx-6xx (150USD),this is peanut amount in audiophile, but it is more than what regular listener would pay for buying headphone( Depend on listener).

Driver TypeDynamic, open air Driver Unit : Φ40 mm (1-5/8”)

Impedance48 ohms

Maximum Input : 1,000 mw

Sound Pressure Level : 98.5 dB ±3 dB

Frequency Response : 20 Hz – 20 kHz

Weight : (without Cable)180 g (6.35 oz)

Cable Length1.2 m (47-1/4”); 2m

extension also included Connectors 3.5 mm (1/8)” L-type mini stereo, 6.3 mm (1/4”) stereo

Packaging and Accessories

This is a review unit,no box and accessories included, so I can’t comment here.

Build Quality and Mechanism/Design

This headphone is a bit like Grado series headphone when come to design,and it sit on ear.

I am not impressed with Yamaha’s built quality,this Hph200 is poorly built in my personal opinion, most of it is built by plastic, headband is built nicely anyway, but other than that, it is poorly built,why? You can heard clicking sound when you wear it on your ears, if you move your head,you can heard it. Sometime even if you move/stretching your ears, you can heard the sound as well! This is horrible, the last headphone that I had this kind of problem is my old Sony XD200. Anyway,it is something that you will get used to, at first it is really annoying, but after some time of usage, I can live with it,and not that unsatisfied with it anymore. Mechanism wise, the earcup itself can be rotate,swivel,but cannot folded to store, if you need a portable canned that you can fold to store,don’t turn your head to look further,because although can’t fold the HPH200, this headphone by no mean is a big and uncarryable headphone,in fact,its size is small, at least I won’t be annoying to carry it around.

So,the biggest problem is just the clicking sound,not only me,but my friend has also noticed this.

Sound Leakage and Isolation,comfort

This is a open back design headphone, so you know what will you deal when came to sound leakage and isolation. Isolation is next to none,sound leakage is audible from outside.

It is light on ear,so you probably won’t feel pressure after long term of use,but it is not particularly comfortable on ear as well. but at least it won’t be feeling hot after sometime.

Pairing and ease of drive

HPH200 is not hard to drive,I can drive it with my audio portable player.

Sound

High : High is beyond average here,good extension,although sometime,I can feel it uncontrolled a little bit,but nothing big issue here,it is not as detailed as some in high region,and not as sharp as others,but really,no issue here.

Mid : It has a good mid,especially when the vocal play,it sounded nice. Vocal has good some layer,I prefer it to be thicker a bit anyway.

Low : Low is not lacking here, I do prefer more and better bass when the song called,but it is okay,bass has nice quality and texture,good enough for a open back design headphone.

Detail : I heard good amount of detail in the songs, detail wise,it is good.

Instrument Seperation : It is beyond average I can say.You can hear every instrument clearly.

Soundstage : It has good sense of width and depth.

Sound Signature : This is a balanced headphone, neutral sounding. I can’t found what this headphone really excel with,also, I can’t found what is its true flaw. Almost flat sound signature. Although pair with CmoyBB V2.03R which will add some warmth to music,I still feel that Hph 200 is abit on the cold side. It is not dark sounding, but not too bright either. It is not particularly clean,sometime I can heard some grain,but nothing is annoying, it is still clear,and the grain,make some song a pleasure to listen to. Overall,quite forward sounding,although not extremely.

This headphone has been burned in at least 200 hours before hands. Tested with CmoyBB V2.03R,bass boost off unless stated,through a UD100 DAC and play with Foobar 2000.

I believe I can fly – Yolanda Adam and Kenny G (At Last…the Duets Album)

Yolanda’s vocal is nice,and you can hear lots of details, the saxophone play neatly,although I do hope that high can become better here,I think that high,is not high enough for the sax’s sound,and when Yolanda sing at the almost end of the song,the high I think,not reaching the best spectrum there. It is still enjoyable anyway.

King of the Mountain – Bon Jovi (7800 Fahrenheit)

The drum kick in nice and has good detail in the sound of the drum. When the electronic guitar come in, I hope the sound can be faster and I hope I can heard more layering from the electronic guitar,overall sound is not energizing enough. After CmoyBB bass boost on,this song became energizer and nicer,but still lack some thick and power factor that this song should have.

Lady Writer – Dire Straits (Communique)

You can get good detail level in this song,it is nice.

Last Walts – 冯雪 （Endless Love IV DSD)

The vocal is nice,the instrument play at the song is nice and clear as well.

Mr Know it all – Kelly Clarkson (Mr. Know it all)

This song is nice to listen to with this Yamaha,vocal is good. The bass is presence but not that thumping or big body. After I turned on the bass boost of my CmoyBB V2.03R, it became even noticeable,and nicer to listen to.

Let me love you – Mario (R&B Love song 2009)

For a opened back headphone,its bass performed very well,you can feel it hitting,quite hard and deep,deeper than what I have recently reviewed,only the body,amount and rumbling is not there,but the bass of this song is good,especially when bass boost is on! The song is nice and easily enjoyable.

Conclusion

Good : Good sound quality,sound is real and flat, Open and relaxing sound, detail level,Yamaha branding on the headphone, light,balanced and neutral,surprisingly provide better bass than it look like.

Bad : BUILD QUALITY,Leak sound,lack fun factor, pad will collect dust,vocal can be better,not excited sound,make sure you have good audio source,price.

I love this Yamaha more before I ever listened to it, undeniable it is good sounding,for me,it is neutral and balance, the detail you get from music through this headphone,is good,but really,nothing impressive considered the price. I like how it sound,lack some energy,but it do give you good sound. But all of these,you will need to be passionate on the build quality,it is bad,as I heard clicking sound or plastic sound when I put it on the ear, this is disturbing and annoying,for me this is not forgiving for a Rm5xx-6xx (USD 150 – 200) headphone,the open sound is nice, I know it will be a lot of people will like about it,I am as well, I like how it sound,which   the sound appeared to me is real,no specific emphasize on any of the spectrum to my ears.

However,for Rm5xx (150USD),the sound alone is justify worth the price,especially looking for something neutral and real sounding.