Philips HS800 - The Newest Addition To My Bizarre World of Audio Accessories
Written: Jul 22 '02 (Updated Dec 17 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sleek design, nice sound quality, good replacement set of headphones.
Cons: Takes a while to get used to the band, too much hype about the "extras".
The Bottom Line: If you don't like standard headphones, this might be a nice alternative.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Yamaha RH3 Consumer Headphones |
The time had come and gone for a new pair of headphones. Sweat, excessive volume and a compressed cord claimed the life of my former pair of cheap but extremely reliable headphones [Sony T340RS]. I am a sucked for anything that “looks cool” regardless of what people tell me, I read at the site or that nagging voice of self reason. I came across the Philips HS800 headphones and thought I normally don’t like those big clunky lookin’ things, but they are pretty cool looking.... Normally I stick with the ear buds or over the ear audio accessories, this was my first foray into the strange and rather bizarre world of ‘behind the head headphones’.
The Basics
First off, these headphones are of moderate sound quality. It is just a personal preference of mine, but I like my music loud and with these headphones you do lose a little of the music since the ear pad hovers over your ear instead of resting inside the canal. These are just my own personal likes and dislikes, you may have different needs and desires when it comes to headphones so don’t make a complete decision based on my own headphone particulars.
So far I haven’t had any trouble with the wires kinking and they do fold up nicely so that you can store them easily. Headphones need to last – that’s the long and short of it. There is no sense in buying headphones that are going to break, fall apart, not hold up to a moderate level of use or fry themselves. I’ll make sure that I update this review when they break down and what Philips says about honoring the warranty [1 year for defects, not including misuse].
Packaging
Yes, I am a sucker for a slickly marketed product and while the Philips HS800 had a rather tame packaging presence – it was the sleek design of the headphones that hooked me into making the purchase. On the back of the oddly shaped package you’ll find a few illustrations of how to store the headphones as well as the dynamics of the acoustic reflector [more about that later]. Make sure you hold on to the back portion of the package, this has some important information such as the warnings of excessive volume, contact information and general specifications about the unit. Be sure to keep the warranty information as well, especially if you use your headphones on a daily basis.
I was a little disappointed in the amount of wasted space and excessive use of packing materials when I opened this unit. The back of the package says that it contains / is made of 90% recycled material. Hey, Philips, why not just make the darn package smaller in the first place?
Comfort
As I mentioned earlier, I usually try to stick with the ear buds [the small little ones that slide in your ear] or the over the ear sets. It took me about two weeks to get completely comfortable with this set of headphones – and the main issue I had was pain from the pressure of the plastic. Most of the pain was in one area – right above the top of the ear and at first it felt like the beginning of a headache with a little pressure and tension. After about 45 minutes of wear I had to take them off. No matter how I adjusted them, they still were rather uncomfortable to wear. After I got used to the fit and feel these proved to be a nice pair of headphones, but I am still debating whether or not the adjustment period was worthy of the final result.
The only other detractor was the way the headband is positioned. I have a lot of hair [down to the middle of my back] and wearing standard headphones with the band that sits on top of your head just isn’t an option for me. Keeping with my usual “I don’t need to read instructions” mode of operation, I almost broke the frame of the headset. When you first remove it from the packaging it looks like it would fit a small child and yes, I did try to wear them as standard headphones [and looked pretty goody while attempting to get them to fit]. These are worn behind the head and trust me – it is a rather odd feeling when you first start wearing them. They feel like they are going to fall off or slide out of place. Since the actual audio component rests over the ear instead of in it [like the ear buds] you do lose a little bit of volume and power.
The Specifics
- The headphone body is collapsible to save space for storage as well as to try and preserve the cord. This one didn’t come with a carrying case or anything to protect the headphones but I found that a small cloth CD case worked well.
- The connection on the end of the headphone lead is gold plated. To me this means absolutely nothing. Why? Because I don’t believe all the hype that car audio manufacturers pump out to those with deep pockets so why should an illustration and the term gold plated on a headphone package make a difference to me? Until I see some solid proof that a ‘gold plated’ connection improves anything – that little blurb won’t have any effect on my purchasing patterns.
- “Acoustic Reflector” – this is supposed to enhance the overall quality of your CD’s but personally I didn’t notice any difference – even when playing Fugazi, Iron Maiden or Supercat. This might just be some little ‘added extra’ that sort of exists but isn’t noticeable to the human ear. Again, know what you are buying and if it costs more than $20.00 ask around about it before you purchase it [maybe I should start taking my own advice].
- Cord length. Coming in at just under four feet, the cord is long enough for me to wear the CD player in a hip pack and sting the cord under the back of my shirt to eliminate it getting caught during a workout. Anything longer and it would get caught on anything in sight and anything shorted and you’d be getting yanked by the CD player.
- Power. Since I have bass boost and a volume stabilizer on the CD player I use for my workouts, the volume and volume presentation was of no real significance to me. When I used these with the CD player on the computer I was able to get a nice tone but if I pushed it above 6 it started to break up and get a little choppy. I think these might last about six months before I end up blowing them out – but we’ll have to wait and see.
Who Could Benefit From This
Anyone that works out and needs a pair of headphones that can easily be removed would more than likely find these a nice purchase. If you can get used to the strange headband within a short time frame – all the better. As usual, you shouldn’t wear headphone when driving – regardless of how easy they are to remove. In most states it is illegal since your hearing is blocked off to emergency sirens and car horns.
The Bottom Line
Overall these do the job but I’d have to seriously think twice about purchasing them again. It was just an impulse purchase and not the usual type of headphones that I am accustomed to. They do have a good sound quality but it is hard to get the full flavor from the music – especially since I am used to jamming the ear buds into my ear and playing my music loud. Maybe this will help save my hearing but I think before too long I will end up frying them or picking up a pair of Sony ear buds.
If you are accustomed to these types of headphones and prefer these to other styles, then this might be a good purchase. Since this is a relatively low-ticket item and can be picked up for $14.99 to $19.99 it won’t kill you when it comes time to replace them. I’ll give these a thumbs up for now since they do work, provide a good sound and have little break up when played with the portable CD player. But I have to tell you, if you are dead set and completely in love with another style of headphone, getting used to this might take some time – that is if you ever do fully make the adjustment.
As always, thanks for the visit…
^V^ Freak ^V^
© Freak369 2002
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Recommended:
Yes
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