I’ve been using Sennheiser HD 206 headphones since they were the 201. Sometimes I’ll use something else for a little while, but I always end up back with the 206 because they’re cheap and comfortable in both how they sound and how they feel. Good highs/mids without sibilance is particularly important to me. I’m getting kind of sick of how fast they wear out though (each pair lasts about two years, and starts deteriorating much earlier than that), and now my current pair has abruptly bitten the dust I’m wondering what the most affordable significant upgrade in both build and sound quality would be?
Welcome to Hifi Guides,
I saw your post on the other forum, but I am not sure how best to answer it as I do not have experience with that headphone. I will pose a few questions so that it may help others answer yours.
What is your budget?
What music do you listen to?
What is your source chain?
I have a feeling that some may direct you towards another Sennheiser or a ZMF offering (depending on budget).
Good Luck in your search!
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Hi, thanks for the response!
I was kind of hoping to find out whether a 206 (which costs £25 UK) replacement would be immediately available to me, or if I’d have to save for a bit if I want to upgrade. I can afford around £50 right now, but I can think about saving up to around £150 if I can be confident the headphones would last a long time. In that case I’d probably get something cheap - like the 206 - to make do for now.
I listen to a decent variety of music, but most often it’s some form of rock. At the moment it’s usually 2000s stuff, like the Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Avril Lavigne, etc. Sometimes I listen to well produced music with a ton of sounds in the mix, and sometimes rough old live recordings of artists like Frank Sinatra, but rarely anything that’s bass-powered. I also listen to a lot of regular speaking (podcasts/youtube etc).
I’m not the best at describing headphones, but my 206 is weakest when it comes to bass, Sony’s 7506 has fair bit more. The 7506 also has a little more detail in the mids and highs, but what kills it for me is that the top of its highs gets much sharper than the 206. I also don’t think I liked it for podcasts, but I only remember that podcasts weren’t as ‘comfortable’ sounding with them, whatever that means. I’d appreciate more detail and a little more punch in the sound (and also some soundstage, which the 206 does not bother with), but I like that the 206 is never overwhelming in either the highs or lows.
I’m a casual user, I just plug my headphones into either a laptop or a tablet.
Thanks!
Welcome to HFGF 
have you ever considered buds?..Riku’s Sabre 3 is great with those genres for sure 
… Generation 3 – RikuBuds
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Ideally I’d like full size headphones, but I’d certainly consider in-ears if they’re worth it, I was actually reading about some yesterday (moondrop, tangzu wan’er). I’m a bit disconcerted at the thought of buying something over discord though, haha
Mostly/or are IEM’s…I was talking about flathead buds but either way IEM’s of flatheads will give you a way better sonic bang for for buck at that prices point
Edited…you can hit up @Rikudou_Goku on here if you want more info regarding his flathead builds.
Interesting, most of the earphones I’ve used were about as bad as imaginable, lol. Maybe I’ll try a cheap moondrop or something for the time being. Is there much difference between flatheads and IEMs?
Flatheads are like open headphones ie open to incoming and outgoing sound and IEM’s more like closed backs, both have their pros and cons.
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flathead earbuds = open back headphone
iem = closed back headphone
you can think of it like that. You dont need to spend a lot of money to see if you like earbuds, try something like the Qian39 (look at Aliexpress).
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Oh, hey! Thanks for the suggestion, although I think I’ll have to look at something different since I can’t get past the captcha on aliexpress at the moment. I can get the QKZ MDR for about £10 if that’s comparable
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Havent heard it nor seen people talk about it, it also looks very uncomfortable which in buds will be a fatal error.
Yincrow X6 would be another solid beginner rec but that uses another shell called MX500 which is different from my Gen 3 lineup which has a shell based on the qian39 (called RG39) which is god tier in comfort and fit. (I use MX500 for my gen 1 though.)
If you are in the US and want to use amazon, I believe you can find FAAEAL IRIS there (any of the irises will do if you are just trying out the fit, but 2.0 is the best one iirc).
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Thanks, I’ll take a look at those. I’m in the UK, but it looks like FAAEAL is available on Amazon here too
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indeed, welcome to HFG! /me looks at all the copycat greeting clowns, LOL!
no need to feel any shame for liking the HD206, if that’s what you enjoy listening to, KUDOS! if you’re interested in finding out about something that keeps the comfort but sounds better, there’s a lot of that available too. just need to make sure your sound chain can drive the ones that make your short list
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Thank you! The 201/206 is always going to have some sentimental value even if I completely replace it, it’s not the best audio device I’ve had but it’s always been there as a cheap, homely option that I keep finding myself coming back to.
I’m interested in trying out some of the earphone suggestions I’ve seen, I’ll probably try the FAAEAL IRIS 2 that Rikudou mentioned. I’m also still pretty tempted to get a moondrop chu 1 or 2 as well to see what IEMs are like, I’ve never used one before. I’ve only had low quality flatheads like the ones you got free with mp3 players
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I don;t have any experience with IEM’s as my ear canals are thin and nobody make anything with a comfortable diameter. 
That must be frustrating, it seems like IEMs are a lot easier to come by than flatheads now.
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Earbuds? Yeah…they aren’t so common, but they are still around and not too hard to find. Even those don’t fit comfortably usually. Bah Humbug, LoL!
You tried bullet iems?
yessir. so far, the only ones I can wear for any length of time without extreme discomfort are the JBL 125BT. but, at the end of the day, I still start getting squirrelly.
Have you tried something with a small diameter nozzle like the Etymotics? Or something like the old Kbear Neon has a very small diameter nozzle.