Sennheiser 500 Headphones (Hidef)

[Xiaou2]

 Fricken Unbelievable HP's!   Read on:


 Some time ago,  Id  broken yet another set of headphones, and went to see what
else I could find...

 I was over at CompUSA, when I spied a section of Headphones.   What was
crazy, is almost all of them had about the same exact specs on them.  However,
one set was almost double the price of the others...

 The Sennheiser 500 was a little over $100.    And while at first I found that
pretty insane..  I decided to look them over.   

Well, one feature impressed me right away.   The headphone cord
was not permanently attached.   There was a mini jack built into them,
so that if the cord broke (which happened all the time to my others)  You
could simply grab a new cord and plug it in.    So, while the specs seemed
to be the same as the others... the realization
that I would save money due to the ease of replacing the cord only,  is
what sold me on them.

 Still,  it was a hard hit to swallow for a pair of Headphones.  Especially not knowing
how good they sounded...

 
 Well, I got them home and plugged them into my Stereo,  which my computer
audio feeds into.    I ran Winamp, and was very impressed.   The sound was
crystal clear.   The highs were beautiful, crisp, and so defined that I was hearing
things that I never hear before in the music chosen.    The Bass was equally
impressive.   Even at super high volumes... it wouldnt distort like the typical
headphones Id bought before.    They can handle more power than my ears could
actually stand...  and I like my music Loud!     The Bass is clear and thumpin... and
seems to hit lower levels of the spectrum than anything Ive had before.  Kinda
like having subwoofers in your ears... yet,  the bass woffer not being muddied.
Nice tight and responsive woofer bass.

 The feel of them is Heaven.   They are very light weight feeling.  They enclose
the entire ears with plenty of room,  and sit nicely without any awkward
stress points.   They may not look the coolest... however,  they feel great.  One
thing that bothered me with many headphones is that after some time
with them being on - they became too irritating and uncomfortable.   Not
with these!   Ive had them on for like over 8hrs straight, and never felt any
discomfort.  Simply amazing.

 But heres the real funny and amazing thing:

 I was watching a DVD on my pc...   and when an action sequence came
on, and the volume rose quite high,  I realized that I forgot to turn off my
external speakers on the receiver!   God, Im gona wake everyone up!   So,
I quickly went to grab for the toggle buttons... and made a shocking
discovery...  The external speakers were NOT ON!!!       

 The Audio was so crystal clear, precise,  and loud..  that it fooled me
completely.  No headphone set Id ever heard was so good as to fool
me like that!   

 Put it to you like this:  It sounds like true surround sound from
the best theater youve ever been in...  but even better!  Its
hard to comprehend how they sound so 3dimentional with
only 2 speakers! 

 I custom built my external speakers - and they are finely tuned for
very precise ranges.   So that was quite an amazing feat.   Also, to
mention.. my ears are very sensitive.   Especially to high frequencies...
so I can distinguish clarity very well.


 Now, a word of warning:  I had brought the set to my friends house
to Demo.  However, his PC was using an Onboard soundcard and
amplified with craptastic mini speaker amp.    It didnt sound that
great.   

 I use a Soundblaster Audigy card,  and highly recommend at least a
SB Live to get crystal clear audio that is worthy of such drivers.
In addition to cleaner audio output,  the frequency ranges put
out seem to be much greater as well.   SB also has a great bass
and treble adjust, which IMOP is needed to really push these.

 I also make use of Winamps EQ, to tweak them to perfection.


 On a device without an EQ, they may not seem all that impressive.
Luckily, even most portable MP3 players have EQ adjustments.
My Ipod sounded great with them - until the damn Ipod hit the floor
from 2ft and killed the hard drive     (I dont recommend Hard
drive based players - nor touch based screens.. as in winter, you
need gloves,  and the sensor cant read thru your gloves)

 
 Ive had these HP for many years now..  and they still sound perfect.
The foam pads are wearing sadly...  however,  I see they sell
replacement pads on their site for pretty cheap prices.   


 One thing I was a little disappointed with, is that the jack on the
headphones is a Mini connector.. and not a standard HP size.  So,
you need a mini to standard male to male cord.   Radio shack sold
one - but the adapter diameter was a bit too thick.   I later found
however,  that it was easy to drill the plastic shell to allow it to
fit just fine.   One day, I may replace the internal mini jack
with a standard one.   (Currently just using an adapter)
Their site however also sells official cable replacements for
a decent price as well.

 They no longer sell this model..  but do sell models above it.
Id say get anything above model 500, and it should be
fantastic.   You can however sometimes find model 500s
on ebay for a steal of a deal.    Sennheiser HP's best
models go from $100 all the way past $300.   Im wondering
how sick their higher end HPs sound.   Really, Im still shocked
at how good these are compared to the rest.   

 So, anyway, I can tell you right now... that those Specs on the
backs of the packages of most HP's are useless.   There is
that saying,  'You get what you pay for'  and while not always
true...  in this case,  it certainly was.    And well worth the
extra money.


 I cant recommend these high enough.   I use them every day.

[krutknut]

I've got the HP580s. Great cans.
I think you might enjoy a chat at the headphones forum: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2