eH1430: bang 4 buck
Written: Jan 18 '02 (Updated May 05 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap. Decent "Sennheiser Sound" without paying the earth.
Cons: Not great for travel til you cut the little notch out.
The Bottom Line: If you don't want to spend big bucks and just want something for MP3 at work, games, and travel, these will be fine.
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| milesb's Full Review: Sennheiser EH1430 Consumer Headphones |
Let me start by saying I hate those "not as good as my $1400 HX3874le-2-pro-deluxe" reviews. You are looking at cheap headphones, right? I just wanted something to listen to at work that wouldn't break the bank, but at the same time I want the best quality I can get. Home theatre is where I get picky. Not $30 headphones!!
I used to have a pair of HD414s to travel with. Man were they great. Those things lasted over 2 years, you could pull em apart and the sound was damn fine for the price. So I went looking for a replacement. I had a few on my list, but decided to really cheap it out and not spend more than 30 US Dollars.
The 414s were great. They were LOUD, they had a lot of bass and the imaging and headspace and all that crap were spot on.. they just sounded real good. The 1430s aren't quite as good.. but still fine. I never used to believe in burn in. Sounded like rubbish to me. When I took these out of the box, they sounded high and brash and tinny with no bass at all. "Crap," I thought, "I've bought a turd." Within about 20 minutes though, they were getting louder and the bass came up. Not to the depth that the 414s had, but enough. I just use these things for listening to MP3 and CD while working, and the odd game of CounterStrike now and then.
They started out with some really loud frequencies up around 5kHz, and that hasn't totally gone away.. but is getting much better. The sound quality isn't ultra fantastic, but it's as good or better than I would expect for 29 bucks. I can hear quite a lot of detail in the music, it's got a pretty good balance, and it's loud enough (I listen to trance, dance, pop etc). I like a LOT of bass, but only if it's tight - not thump outweighing the mids. That's why I stay away from DJ phones - they have heaps of bass for DJs to hear when mixing in clubs, not for me at my desk.
The construction is a lot like the 414. The ear cups (about 3 inch) will slide up and down the arms, and even with my big head I am almost at the smallest size. The headband is quite comfy on top and doesnt feel like it's going to slide around or fall off, however it's a bit tight so I might heat it up. Owners of the 414 will remember you could pull the cups off and pack em up in a laptop case. These cups *would* come off, except for a tiny plastic lump stopping the cups sliding out the bottom. I don't think removing it will cause any harm, and will allow the cups to slide off. That would make these EXCELLENT travel headphones - they would pack very very flat - maybe 1 inch high, sitting on top of my laptop in its case. After I heat the headband up and widen it slightly for my pumpkin head they should be even more comfortable - the cups are fine, they are just being squeezed onto my head too hard. (Update: there is a plastic ridge on the bottom of the headband that sorta permanently stretches when you pull cups apart.. just stretch them open and they are permanently not as tight! Now I can wear them for 3 or 4 hours comfortably)
Sound leakage isn't bad. Certainly nowhere near the 414s where people could hear the lyrics 20 feet away.
Could I have found a better headphone for the $30 by listening to 100 pairs in 10 shops? Yeah I bet I could. Is it worth that much time on $30 headphones? No. These are fine and do the job I wanted them to. Better than those Sony behind the head things. They give a nice sound for the price, and will travel well. Should be as good as is required for gamers and MP3ers - you'll be able to hear where those footsteps are coming from for sure.
Would I buy them again? Well, let's see how long it takes me to blow them up ;-). If I could find them, I would definitely buy the HD414s again over these, but I did find them at a serious discount last time. The difference isn't huge, and these are worth the money. Don't spend more if you just want a decent sound to listen to at work etc. Recommended.
Update: Well, I blew them up. I am not terribly disappointed, as I played them at full volume for a looong time, but they eventually started the Sennheiser buzz... like part of the speaker is breaking. I guess I just drive them too hard, too long. But for the price, hey, still a good deal.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
milesb
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Reviews written: 1
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