Of Two Minds...
Written: Dec 29 '00 (Updated Dec 31 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Immediately pleasing "ear candy" sound, good for bassy ghetto music, COMFORTABLE!
Cons: Lack of detail, not quite audiophile.
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| gretax's Full Review: Sennheiser HD-490 Consumer Headphones |
I recently had the dubious pleasure of auditioning this set of cans for an extended period in a local hi-fi/CD shop. I will get out of the way the fact that I am a Grado fan, but I will make this review extremely objective, judicious and fair.
My first impression of this set of cans was "wow!" It didn't have any of the sometimes harsh-y upper range (this is really dependant upon the recording and how "brightly" it was recorded...for instance, I am a big Boy George fan and his "Sold" album is very harsh on Grados, almost unlistenable at certain EQ settings, while his "The Martyr Mantras" album is oh-so-nice and detailed with the Grados), seemingly ever-present and avoidable only with excellent equipment in the Grados.
In fact, my mental first impression was "gee, this sounds like the 'high-end' speakers in my dad's Lexus" and this is true: the sound was immediately pleasing, like candy, as opposed to, say, an acquired taste like sashimi, Japanese raw fish. Both could be considered "good 'n tasty," but one is more accessible and appealing to just about everyone, immediately. At the end of the day, I prefer the gourmet sashimi, but more on this later...
I continued to listen. On the cans were Erika Badu's new "Mama's Gun," some silly Miami Bass rap stuff and Christina Aguilera's new Christmas album (gee, that really *is* a good album, you must admit...anyhow...).
First Erika: this is what I started out with and I was very pleased with the punchy bass and also the smoothness of the sounds as a whole package. With Grado cans, often you find that the bass is nice, but it doesn't have that smoothness that these have. Also, on the Grados, you'll find, as stated before, the treble can be more pronounced.
Secondly, the Miami bass/rap: Like, Whoa! The bass on these would be considered *nice,* especially to someone who likes bassy music and likes it "in yo face," like in this recording. I could practically feel my guts shaking. The bass punchy, but in a "soft" or "rounded" fashion. Those are good terms to describe the sound overall of these 'phones: soft, rounded-off. That doesn't mean that they're not loud, but they do lack the high-end or higher-pitched "presence" of the Grados (by the way, the Grados I'm comparing these against is the SR-80s, priced at the same $99 point).
Back to the Lexus speakers: the speakers in my fathers car are nice. They are nice "candy" (as described above), and it's definitely not cheap candy. However, when listening to them for more than a few minutes, they become quite irritating in that they are "rounded off" and you lose a lot of audiophile detail that, for me, tends to make recordings so exciting: finger squeaks across guitar strings, the detail of tiny percussion and drum hits, musicians feet lightly tapping out the time (yes, this is audible in some recordings!) It's not cool from an audiophile standpoint. You can only eat so much candy before you become ill.
Unfortunately, I walked away from these cans with that very verdict. They are "pleasing" immedately, but if you consider yourself a "true" audiophile, a lover of detail, transparency and clarity, these cans just don't fit the bill.
If you love that Miami bass and are a straight-up ghetto cowboy, by all means get these cans! They are excellent for that. Also, if your components are not top-of-the-line from a proper hi-fi dealer (like if you got them from Montgomery Ward or Sears), get these. They will be kind to substandard equipment. One of the major complaints I have with my Grados is that they are so revealing that they are therefore absolutely brutal to my consumer stereo. I've also listened to my sisters' "newer" robot-looking hulking personal stereos and Grado's are just masochistic in revealing unflattering detail. These cans will not.
The final album, the Aguilera Christmas one, was the most revealing of these cans' flaw: it's lack of detail! Compared to my Grados, these were dead awful at revealing Christina's cute little breaths, the "musician sounds" (fingers slipping across guitars), the wonderfully intricate timbres of the synthesizers (I'm a big synth freak. I love all the different and limitless sounds you can make and I love the subtle differences in sounds as you make adjustments, which is why I love my Grados: they pick those up. These do not do that nearly as well.) In fact, they were so substandard (after having heard my phones for so long), that I dropped the recording rather quickly. It was not up to my standards for a "quality listening experience."
One thing I just about died in love with on these Sennheisers is the overall comfort. Grados STINK for comfort. After an hour or so, your ears are quite ready to have them off. With these, the pillowy pads of the supra-aural design is WONDERFULLY COMFORTABLE. I felt like falling asleep. I wish Grado would do something like that...
Another thing: they are a sort of semi-open design, so sound does bleed. It is not nearly as bad as with Grados, but it does it. This is nice and this style of headphone is generally regarded as far better, because the soundstage (the "distances" heard in the sound, the variety of "distances from you" of the sound) is greatly increased for a more natural, speaker-like sound. Good feature, Sennheiser.
My final verdict is that if you really want real, detailed, as-intended (or, in the case of a bad recording, "as-recorded") sound, go for the Grados. You can get harshness some of the time, especially with not-quite-so-good components (they will be brutal with the signal from your cheesy 1989 Onkyo consumer deck). If you want immediately pleasingly smooth, *very* comfortable cans and don't mind a pretty substantial loss of detail, go for these Senns.
If you would like more information on Grado headphones, my headphone of choice, check out the following reviews now:
Grado SR-80s ($99):
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2C72-3FA28A7-39AFDED7-prod1
Grado SR-125s ($149):
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-6A2F-917D8EC-3A325B76-prod1
Grado SR-225s ($199):
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-3ED3-3A045A4-3A245CAC-prod1
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Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
gretax
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Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 5 members
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