I posted this review on another forum and thought I'd post it here in case someone is looking for some nice cans.
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Beautiful, aren’t they?
They are the
Philips SBC HP 890, and can be purchased at
www.meier-audio.com for $130, including shipping, from Germany to the United States. AFAIK they are not for sale anywhere in the states, so ordering from Europe or Asia is the only way to get them.
Let me start my review by saying that I am no expert with audio equipment. I have never owned headphones amps, and the highest end cans I had before these are the portable Sony wrap-around-the-ears little headphones. I have never experienced the Sennheiser HD600 or anything near that premium, but I have had plenty of experience with headphones of comparable price to the ones I am reviewing. I am making this review as a person who sits on his PC to work or study while listening to some nice MP3’s or Groove Salad @ somafm.com and the occasional (daily) sessions of computer games and DVDs. I have had these headphones for two weeks now, plenty of time to come to appreciate them. They are running on a
Hercules Game Theater XP and Windows XP Professional with DirectX 9a
I bought these cans to complement my Logitech Z-560 speakers, which sound relatively badass for their price. Well let me tell you, that they don’t make a sound anymore unless there are friends over, because the rest of the time I’m wearing my new headphones.
Quality:I have only had them for two weeks so I cant vouch for their durability over long periods, but they seem rugged enough to last many years. They are made of plastic. The joints all have plenty of movement so they can fit any type of head. The headband seems like very high quality; it will automatically extend depending on how wide the cans are separated. The velvet cloth in the cans is very high quality material, not cheap cloth.
The included cable is about eight feet long, and you can replace it easily in case it breaks or you want a better cable
The cans themselves seem rugged enough to take withstand many falls, but I think they will break if you step on them with boots or squash them with your chair. I am not willing to try this.
Comfort:I wear glasses, many times the problem with using headphones for a long period of time is that my ears will go sore. Not with these. They are very comfortable. After two hours of listening or being immersed in games, I just forget I am wearing them. The pads are made of very soft velvet cloth
If you have a large head, these cans will be no problem. They are very large. Only those with alien heads will find too small. The downside of this is that they look ridiculously over the top, so going out in public with them might seem funny
These headphones quite simply feel like $300
Sound Quality: At first I was very disappointed, there was noticeable ‘hiss’ and they were not loud enough, but then I realized that I had not tried to ‘break them in’ as instructed at meier-audio
http://home.t-online.de/home/meier-audio/tricks.htmFor two days I left a Winamp playlist with some of my bassiest and best sounding tracks playing (hip hop, some Daft Punk, and some classical).
Now that they have broken in, the sound difference is amazing. They were not even loud enough at first, now my volume in winamp is halfway through. The ‘hiss’ is gone too.
You only need a good sound card to pump loud yet crisp sound out of these cans, no headphone amps or any of that high end mumbo-jumbo. Listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is as close to perfection as my ears can notice. The sound comes from around your head instead of just pumping it directly to your ears, in part because they are so comfortable and big. Vocals come across very clearly, provided you are listening quality music in the first place. I am beginning to appreciate sounds in my music that I didn’t even know was there. I have been listening to all my music all over again and rediscovering it.
Anything from ‘The White Stripes’ to ‘Boards of Canada’ and ‘Thievery Corporation’, to Bach and Beethoven, it all sounds excellent. I have yet to find any piece of music that will strain these cans enough that they will sound wrong. Loreena Mckennitt’s voice was so stunning and beautiful that I had to stop what I was doing, close my eyes, and listen to her singing.
DVD’s sound excellent too. Using
PowerDVD on Dolby Headphone mode, I watched the best parts from the ‘Fellowship of the Ring: Extended DVD’, ‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘The Matrix’, and it all was so atmospheric I dare say it sounded better than the theater. It was just crystal clear. Even the faintest sounds registered clearly and at the appropriate perspective around your head. Watching the Balrog scene in FOTR was stunning, when he roared, it sounded like lava and stones crunching furiously, just like it seems to be happening in the Balrog’s body. These cans are excellent for watching DVDs on your own.
On games, explosions, gun shots, and all sorts of ambient sounds where as clear as game sound could be. In ‘Raven Shield’ I could easily pick off enemies depending on where their sound is coming from. In flight sims, like ‘IL-2 Sturmovik’ or ‘Aces High’ it sounded like I was inside a cockpit, all that was missing was some cold wind in my face. Low sounds are as low as I could expect from a headphones, bassy stuff like explosions and cannon fire are felt.
So, as you can see, I really, really like these cans. The only downside I can think of, and that’s nitpicking, as that the cable can easily detach if you are moving around too much.
I have not experienced the high end Sennheiser stuff, but let me tell you that for $130 headphones that I bought just to compliment my speakers, I was blown away by these Philips. For the price, they are a steal.
If you are a high class audiophile who cant settle for anything less than a level of perfection that few people can even notice, then these might not be for you.
But if you are just a guy like me looking for good cans to listen to MP3’s, DVDs and games, then quite simply, the Philips SBC HP 890 are the headphone equivalent of the Klipsch Promedia multimedia speakers.
Too bad they don’t sell in America. Damn Euros get the best beer and the best bargains
P.S: Did I forgot to mention that the stand in the first image is included?
