Just Plain Good Headphones
Written: Aug 25 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: OVERALL Presentation, value, versatility
Cons: Presentation a little flaky with extreme highs and lows; all-plastic
The Bottom Line: If you've got a headphone amp or a powerful source, these are probably the best headphones under a $100!
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| vijaygt's Full Review: Sennheiser HD 495 Ear-cup Headphones |
The albums used in the test are:
- Blue Train (John Coltrane)
- Ascension (John Coltrane)
- Audio (Blue Man Group)
- Best Of Smooth Jazz Vol. 1 (WB records, various artists)
- So Much For The Afterglow (Everclear)
- Live At Red Rocks (Dave Matthews Band)
- Gladiator Soundtrack: Music From the Motion Picture (Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard, Lyndhurst Orchestra)
- Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
I have given two grades. The semi-objective rating is from 1-20. I try to get past my "new-toy-fever," etc., and attempt to give a fair assesment of the headphone's performance in this area, without taking into account price, or bang for buck, or anything. Basically - my honest view on how they perform. The second grade is a letter grade (A,B,C,D,F) and it takes into account price and other things that may be unrelated to the sound (my personal preference, etc).
Comfort/Design/etc: These headphones are a very nice shade of silver. The 495s are made off plastic - everywhere. However, they appear to be well constructed, and I would never call them flimsy. They are supremely comfortable, and are covered with a nice type of velour. Aaaahhh . They come with a 2-year warranty, but I am confident that these headphones will outlast that period of time. I think I must note that I look like a total idiot wearing them, though. I do have brown skin, which does not go too well with the silver - if you have a different shade of skin, perhaps this would not be a problem, but for me the phones, well, can't be called "color-coordinated." Also, they are big enough to cover my entire ear (average size, i think), and are certainly supra-aural.
Semi-objective rating: 16 MY Grade: B+
Treble: These headphones have very good highs. Everything sounds natural, yet the treble isn't particularly warm. It is crisp, clear, and coherent. The Gladiator Soundtrack is quite enjoyable with these headphones - especially the higher pitched string parts. The album that MOST brought out the HD-495s strengths and weakness concerning treble was, IMO, Blue Train. The trumpet solos by Lee Morgan were just awesome! Not only were they clear and crisp, they weren't fatiguing. That is a combination is very rarely seen, at least in my meager experience. Headroom described the 495s as possesing a "grainy" treble. It took me a while to understand what they meant. At least, it took me until I listened to Blue Train. The cymbals are brushed, a common procedure in jazz. When listening to the cymbals, I noticed that they most definetely did not sound "right." Unlike the strings, which were wonderfully smooth, or the trumpet, which came off in a very true-to-life manner, the cymbals seemed "sandy." Really! As if the sound had been broken apart and put back together, and was missing a few pieces. Just little specks mssing, but enough to make the cymbals "grainy." The HD-495s had a good treble all the way until they got to cymbals - sounds above that level sounded grainy. Still enjoyable, but not completely natural. Semi-objective rating: 14.5 MY Grade: B
Midrange: Wow! The midrange on the HD-495s is very, very good. Smooth jazz sounds wonderful, and the luscious saxes that many times sound bright or harsh on other systems sound very smooth on these cans. Voices sound very real, as if there is someone right there, singing. I found that to be most noticeable on the Pink Floyd song "Welcome To The Machine." On my other good headphones (KSC-35s, 888s), the voice had sounded just plain weird. It completely ruined the song for me. These headphones, OTH, make the voice sound completely natural, yet definetely tweaked so that it sounds machine-like. The 495s have made the voice go from weird to different, two very different things, IMO. Saxophones sound VERY natural, and Coltrane's wail carries its emotion through very well. I think these headphones have a midrange that sounds so good to me because they have a VERY slight "bump" in the lower mids. This makes voices more realistic, and saxes more soulful...very nice. Semi-objective rating: 16 MY Grade: A
Bass: The bass is handled very well on these headphones. Never before had I gotten that "throat-is-vibrating" feeling when using good cans at a reasonable volume. I believe that can be attributed to the fact my amp was tweaked by JMT to have a higher gain, and thereby drive my 495s with "authority." Thanks, JMT, because these headphones really benefit. Driven from my dad's OLD reciever, they are more laidback. With my amp, they have just a little more impact, which makes them much more enjoyable, IMO, especially with bass. On the Gladiator Soundtrack, bass hits hard! However, the bass really shines on the Blue Man Group CD, Audio. At different times, the bass just makes you happy Tight yet powerful, the HD-495s deliver a very controlled mid-bass. Yes - mid-bass. Low bass is another story, IMO. In my opinion, the bass is very nice all along until you get to the low end of mid-bass sounds. Below that, the HD-495s respond worse and worse. The bass can be heard, but it doesn't seem realistic. To the HD-495's credit, though, they never make ANY bass sound boomy. I think that people after really good bass shouldn't get these headphones. The HD-495s have good bass, but that ISN'T one of their particular strengths, IMO. Semi-objective rating: 15 MY Grade: B-
Soundstage/Imaging/Depth Perception: The soundstage on these headphones is really, really, good. It seems extremely realistic, and even recordings that don't have great stereo seperation or recorded soundstages (like So Much For The Afterglow) have highly enjoyable soundstages. Because of that, I get the feeling that the HD-495s add a bit of soundstage to their sound. However, the amount of soundstage the 495s create is a very nice balance of spaciousness and realism - they aren't amazingly expansive but somehow "faked" with their soundstage or vice versa. I suspect higher-end Sennheisers may add even more of a soundstage to recordings, something that not all people may be able to stomach. Regardless - the 495s have a very nice soundstage that I think everyone would like, extending nearly completely around one's head. Imaging is very good on these headphones - at ANY given point on ANY of my CDs, I can tell you were ANY of the instruments are coming from. That imaging can be noted most when listening to Live At Red Rocks by DMB, IMO. Very enjoyable However, all is not well with the HD-495s in this category. Depth perception is VERY poor, in my opinion. It is quite difficult to tell exactly how close an instrument is in respect to you. This forces me to rely on the volume of an instrument compared to another, though this can create an illusion that is proportionally wrong! Imagine - if the benchmark instrument I am trying to use to gauge the depth of other instruments is actually deeper than I thought, all my estimates would be off. Not that I care...just thought I should mention that depth perception aint that great.
Semi-objective rating: 16.5 MY Rating: A
Overall: These headphones are around 85/100 for me - I have no urge to get better cans....just more music and maybe some ICs and better source j/k. Seriously, I reccomend these fine headphones, Sennheiser's best supraural offering. Without reservation. Whatever you want in a headphone, these guys have, to at least some extent. And I don't believe there is much that is better in this price bracket. These are Class A headphones at a Class D price! Get them NOW!!!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
vijaygt
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Location: Chicago, World
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Sorry for wasting your time :p
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