<p>Sennheiser's Urbanite XL headphone lives up to its description in many ways. Starting outward, these large over-ear phones are most frequently described as being “built like a tank”. Despite being made of plastic, they are solid and seem very sturdy. The huge cups are endowed with the softest ear cushioning I’ve seen yet. The headband grips your head (not mine, which seems to be too small for all headphones) and has a smooth slider to adjust fit. Again, not on my head as they almost fall right off if I look down and again that’s for all biggish headphones — so women, watch out.<br><br>They are very stylish looking and come in quite a set of colours of which I saw the olive green version. The headband has a matte finish texture on the outside and a supremely soft material on the inside, so it’s not going to hurt or pull a hair on your head. Obviously, a lot of care has gone into adding comfort. But like I said, it all depends on the size of your head which will also determine whether you find this set of phones heavy or not. There’s not much metal, so no cause for heaviness, but it is a hefty gadget and you definitely feel it if you listen for a long time. I suppose you can wear them on the neck and some users have said they like that but I found the weight dragging it off my ears.<br> </p><table style="width: 300px;" align="right" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/Sennheiser_Urbanite_XL_Denim_Folded-lrg.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 177px; margin: 4px;"></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color:#696969;"><em><strong>Foldable design</strong></em></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I think that music listeners in hot and humid countries like ours should be careful before buying over-ear headphones and consider the circumstances in which they listen. That said, there is an on-ear variant, in case that would work better for some users.<br><br>The Urbanite XL has a nice strong flat cable to connect to the iOS device you’ll be using (there’s a separate Android variant) and a control mini console to change volume, go to next song, etc. There is a microphone and you can take calls when they come in to disturb your solitary journey into music.<br><br>The sound on these headphones is as solid as their looks. It’s targeted for fans of club music; electronica, beats, trance, etc. The bass is top quality, deep and solid, not senselessly pounding to the point of ill-health. It isn’t like it’s pure loud — it’s properly emphasised.<br><br>The mids and highs here have at the same time not been sacrificed for that bass. The treble is good and not sharp. Details are not lost, though this is probably not the set of headphones you’d just expect to make the best of every form of music such as classical, both Indian and Western. The bass would be a distraction.<br><br>Overall, it’s got a fairly balanced and rich sound. I found the sound very satisfying and addictive — every time I tried them out for the purpose of this review, I forgot the review. There’s no active noise cancellation but the big soft cups keep out a lot of distracting sound.<br><br>The cups of the Urbanite XL fold inwards for better portability. You have a bit of a pouch to house them in but that’s not as solid as the headphones. It would save it from scratches perhaps because otherwise, the Urbanite XL is very tough while being flexible.<br><br>It is thought that the Urbanite XL has been launched to compete with the popular Beats headphones. Sennheiser’s own Momentum over-ears give a superb but totally different sound mix. <br><br>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 24-08-2015)</p>
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Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.