Over-Ear-Headphone Reviews

The HD-580s are probably the best buy in quality headphones going today. These are true audiophile headphones that bring quality construction and sound with them. The 580s are akin to the equivalent of a pair of $1100 speakers if you use the rule of thumb of $1 for headphones for every $6 in speakers. [I own a pair of ACI Sapphires and a pair of Quad speakers].

While other headphone companies make quality gear, they really don't have anything at this price point that performs well. Grado's R2, a great headphone in its own right, is over two hundred dollars more than the 580.

The reason for their value, I think, is that it contains much of the same internal electronics as the HD-600 and 650s. These retail for at least $150 or so more than the 580s, the only difference being the 580s are made of hard plastic and the 600/650s have additional electronics that only nominally effect sound.

These get my highest recommendation.

I received these headphones for Christmas. After searching for headphones, having used a few (Grado 60, Sony MDR-V4 and V6s), I find the HD580s are great.
They are comfortable, offer great sound reproduction and imaging and are adequate in bass. What's interesting is the fact that they are good enough to hear things I've not heard on some of my music CDs. I haven't experienced ear fatigue that I usually get with other headphones. Highly recommended!

I have a pair of 580s I bought over 9 years ago, and paid almost twice the current price. They are still the best sounding, most comfortable headphones I've ever used. I listen to music 8+ hours a day at work. These headphones are incredibly comfortable. Sound reproduction is excellent, I originally bought them to listen to live recordings I was making of local bands. They work great with my dat deck, or with my pc. After nine years the only signs of wear is the thin piece of foam between your ear and the speaker element. It's finally worn enough to need replacement. Should anything happen to these, I would buy another pair immediately.

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I've had em for a day. Running a NAD C540 Cd-player, NAD C370 amplifier, with MIT terminator 2 interconnects. So far so good. The sound is a touch on the bright side, and particularly so with already bright recordings. This I hope will abate with sufficient burn-in time. Already the reproduction of voice and acoustic material is excellent in terms of clarity, and is convincingly natural. Some electronic and rock (police/masive attack) sound a little harsh in addition to the brightness. I'm betting that harshness will disappear soon.

Sound field on these has occassionally been staggering. Listen to Pink Floyd the wall another brick pt 2 about 3 mins 30s in--the kids in the play ground sound like they're about a foot outside your head!

My B&W 2000 speakers have better clarity, detail, and obviously sound staging. . . but I need to crank em to ear bleeding levels for that. . .hence the phones.

(...

I believe the HD-600's are truly the best headphones that don't cost several thousand dollars - and they certainly beat most speakers costing less than tens of thousands of dollars.

However, be warned that these aren't the kind of toy headphones most people are used to. They need to be driven by somewhat powerful equipment - many portable audio devices aren't up to the task (which will result in low peak volume). They don't provide any substantial noise isolation, and should be used in a quiet room. They can be easily heard by those around you. They won't stand up very well to being tossed around and dropped. And they will only sound as good as what you plug them into.

The HD-600's are designed for one thing: uncompromising reproduction of sound. Therefore, be sure to consider whether they are a good fit for your needs, before spending so much.

Anyhow, I might add that there's no way many apartment dwellers could enjoy such exquisite sound, without them. Oh, and they're also the most comfortable pair of headphones I've ever used.

Wow! I just got my HD600 and I cant say enough how pleased I am. This thing is AWESOME!! Word just cannot describe enough how great this headphone. Please, do yourself a favor and get this thing immediately. I GUARANTEE YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!

I had this other headphones plugged into my computer. Then when I got this one in the mail, I unplugged the old one and plugged in the 497. I almost went deaf! I didn't expect it be so loud and crisp... and I had the treble set too high on my sound card. I was hearing things that I never heard through my other headphones. he HIs are amazing on this unit, and the LOWs are just enough that I don't feel drowned in a sea of bass.

It's pretty comfortable... but it gets painful wheN i wear this with my glasses on. The legs (is that what they're calle?) on my glasses dig into the side of my head when I have this on. People tell me I have a big head though, so maybe that may have worsened the effect. It's pretty comfortable without my glasses though. The only thing being that I'm as good as blind without my glasses... so listening to music and working on my laptop is pretty hard to do.

One of the charms of headphones is that they're a lazy person's no-brainer technology. No programming, digital settings, or instructions are necessary to using, benefitting from, and evaluating the product. Consequently, I now have along with broad experience in cans more of them than I require. The only pair I've been absolutely and completely satisfied with are the Sennheiser PX100's, which can be transported safely in a back pocket and worn and enjoyed interminably. But they do require careful folding and storing, and I thought the top-rated (by Cnet) HD-497's would be handier for my studio work at the radio station.

A few observations about comfort. They're light enough but also just a trifle tight--something you certainly notice after the first hour of wearing them. Any of these phones that sit on the edges of your ears are likely to produce heat and sweat after a limited amount of time. This is as true of the 497's as of my heavier Sony MDR V-600's. For extended listening, the best bets are extremely lightweight phones like the PX100's, which don't sit on the "rim" of the ear, or phones that completely encircle the ear. I've got some heavy, loose-fitting Panasonic RP-HT660's that can be worn for hours because the weight is on your head, not your ears.

I can't speak to the durability factor of the HD-497's, though I'm somewhat surprised to see how tightly-fitting the detachable speaker wires are. Whether they would save you a broken set of headphones in the event of tripping on the cord (I've lost one pair that way) remains to be seen. Also, I've discovered no shorter wires made available by Sennheiser, so the detachability factor appears to be no more than a slight advantage. As for convenience, these phones can't be folded and stored in a little storage bag, like many of their larger competitors, so I wouldn't judge them to be good travelers.

As for the most important consideration, they sound great. Adequate bass (with no sense of artificial "boost," like the more expensive Sony's) and clear, brilliant highs (discernibly brighter than those of the Sony V-600's). They're a tad more efficient (louder) than the PX-100's, and they tend to bring mid-range instruments--the piano, for example--more forward in the mix. Indeed, the sound is transparent, clear and crystalline. Still, I almost prefer the more democratic balance of the PX-100's, which place you mid-center instead of front-center in the concert hall. The HD-497's are great for shorter listening episodes, but for going the distance, give me the PX-100's any day. (They're also 25% less expensive. For that matter, the Sony CD-180's, at one-quarter of the price, compare quite favorably in every respect with the HD-497's, with diminished treble being the major difference.)

I bought these for my Rio Volt SP250 portable. I am very picky about speaker/headphone quality and find these to be outstanding considering the source and the ... price. You can get better sound but be prepared to pay four times as much to do it, and the high buck ones probably won't run off of a portable.

The 497's get plenty loud even driven off the Rio Volt, but really need a more powerful source to deliver a solid bass punch. I'm looking at portable headphone amplifiers to fix this minor quibble.

They really are much more comfortable and smoother than my Sonys but could still be a tad more comfortable. That's because with their limited padding they still press (50%) against my normal sized ears. They are also too bulky and hot for the gym. I save them for home and walking the dog, and sweat up the Sonys at the gym.

Tough to rate because I don't know if these headphones are prone to buzzing or whether it's just my pair.
However, untill they started buzzing, these headphones gave good sound quality. They have a long cord, which makes it somewhat cumbersome for listening on the go, but nice for listening to stuff at home. Fortunately for me, they have a 2 year warranty.
For their price, these are a good pair, but you can probably find better.

The sound quality of these headphones is AWESOME! They have incredible bass and shimmering highs. Some say the midrange is a little low, but I haven't noticed any major problem there. The long cord is very handy when you are moving about; if you find it too long, roll it up with an elastic band. All things considered, these are probably the best for their size and price.

Speaking of price, these headphones aren't cheap (I paid $50 CDN), but the their quality more than makes up for the price.

The only dislikes I have with these gems is the ear pads and their looks. The outward appearance is not as jazzy as I'd like, though a more conservative crowd might like it. Sennheiser has some similar headphones with much sportier styling for the same price, but lower audio quality; I'd go for the quality over the looks. The ear pads: your ears will feel very warm after a couple minutes of wearing (great for cold days though).

Overall, I am very pleased with these headphones and would buy them again. They work well with portable units as well as a home audio system.

These are probably the best headphones you'll find in this price range. They'll never compare to really nice over-the-ear designs like Sennheiser's higher-end models, but they make a great bargain for something you can take with you almost anywhere, without worrying too much over theft or damage. I use them with the computer and a portable CD player; I haven't noticed any of the lack of bass several other reviews have complained about. While they aren't as bass-heavy as the latest Sony MegaEarDrumBurster model, these can actually reproduce more than one bass note! Imagine that! Almost every set of headphones in this price range seems to cram everything below about 1 KHz into a low rumbling; these manage to actually reproduce decent bass. As for comfort, they are great - as long as you take care to put the little plastic nubbin in the center over roughly over your ear canal. They can get a little warm in summer, though. One final tip: the 10ft cord can get a little annoying. Just loop it up a few times near the plug and zip-tie it off to get the length more managable.

I have two HD-545 headphones and have gotten quite addicted to their lovely, rich, and incredibly clear sound. They were getting a bit worn however, and I have already replaced the cords on both of them. So I decided to try this headphone, mainly because the Amazon.com review said that the HD-570 was supposed to replace the HD-545.

Well, the HD-570 definitely has a different sound compared to the HD-545's. The Sennheiser website shows a frequency response chart for this headphone that describes it best, basically a dip in the midrange frequencies. And that's what I hear - the highs are quite sharp, the lows are definitely there, but the middle frequencies just seem to be dulled. And so the sound that comes out of these headphones lacks the rich fullness and ringing clarity of the HD-545's. With the highs and lows both registering fully, the sound can be both more shrill and booming at the same time, depending what's in the music that you are playing. "Muffled" isn't quite the right word, since the highs still come through, but yes, these headphones sound muffled.

Anyway, if you listen to the HD-570 exclusively, you can get used to the sound, it's not as bad as some of the reviews would make it. It's only when I do a direct comparison with the HD-545's that I kind of regret getting these headphones. Definitely, I like the HD-545's sound better, but then, I've been listening to them exclusively for about ten years or so.

(...).

Finally, there is a difference in the volume of the HD-570. It's not horrible, but on one computer, I have to max out the volume just to get it loud enough.

These are simply the best pair of headphones I've ever owned, by far. I listen to headphones for hours everyday so when my old pair of Sonys broke I decided to splurge on these. What a difference! The sound quality is incredible, I feel like I'm listening to song that I've listened to 1000 times before for the first time! you can hear every note and every instrument so clearly. They are also extremely comfortable, all other headphones I've had get a bit uncomfortable after a few hours. But the velvet padding on the earpieces makes these actually feel good (better than having nothing on your ears). Bottom line: These are incredible and well worth the cost!

These headphones sound fabulous with most music. They are very uncolored and don't fatigue or rip your head off. The midrange is very smooth and silky and they image vocals well. They are also the most comfortable headphone I've ever worn. I listen to hard rock, jazz and classical and find all that music pleasing through them. I use them for listening to CDs and in my home studio.

On the down side, as some people pointed out they are very inefficient and require a decent pre-amp to drive them. My Sony S2 Walkman can barely drive them so I use these with a Rotel stereo pre-amp or Mackie mixing board. They also distort if you drive them to moderately loud levels so if you like your rap music loud, these aren't for you.

I demo'd these against several other Sennhieser models (560 & 580 I think) and 3 Grado models in the same store. I also listened to some Sony MDR-7506 and AKG K240S Studio in another store. I thought the Sony's were a decent pair of phones and so were the AKGs but I found these to be superior in terms of having a very natural and smooth sound. The Grado's ripped my head off because they have a very bright and forward sound.

I absolutely love these Over-the-Ear buds by Jensen, but I've gone through 3 pairs in the last 2-1/2 years. I love the way they fit. They sit snuggly in my ear like a regular bud and the over-the-ear part guarantee that they're going to stay put. Nobody can hear what I'm listening to. I use them a lot and unfortunately the bud detaches from the over-the-ear thing and sometimes when that happens the wire breaks too and the sound is lost. I have yet to find something similar to these that will fit the same and give the same sound quality.

Until an accident caused one bud to stop emitting sound, these were my favorite pair of earphones. They were comfortable (I often left them in when I went to sleep), affordable, lightweight, durable, and had good sound quality. I used them with my Sony CFD-V5 boombox, my Oritron OP5034 portable CD player, and my RCA RP2410 MP3-CD player. On all three, bass and detail was great, and there was no distortion at a higher volume. All in all, these earphones were a great value; the only possible downside is a bit of fuzziness in the sound, which I got used to rather quickly and began to prefer over my other earphones (it lent a bit of warmth to the music). I plan to buy another pair in the near future, and I highly recommend that you do so as well.

Nothing fanstatic here. For a fairly comfortable fitting headphone with adequate sound, these fit the bill. These are cycling companions of mine that I wouldn't get upset over if I accidently ran them over.

I have a pair of Sony MDR-V700s, which my brother broke, and I needed a new pair. So, after trying the Koss QZ-99 Noise Reduction Headphones, I bought these JVCs. As for sound, they are really great. Not near audiophile status, but the bass REALLY thumps! How can it not with 50mm driver. They sound almost BETTER than my Sony's (when my Sony's worked =]). However, words cannot describe how flimsy these headphones are. I'm a high school student, and I might as well break them now and save the disappointment I'm going to get when they break in my book bag because its inevitable. That's why they lose a star.

These headphones deliver some serious quality. The bass and treble are great, with exceptional sound. They work well from heavy metal to Stravinsky. They are well designed and are so light you barely know that you're wearing them. The hinges are durable, and the blue pegs are for winding the cord around. They are very convenient and portable, they fold right up into themselves. I definatly recommend these to anyone that wants an awesome pair of headphones, but doesn't want to shell out major mula.

These foldable Philips headphones don't just look really cool, they sound great and are comfortable too. These are the best headphones available in their price class... The sound is superb, with nice low bass tones and clean treble. The headphones don't block all outside noise by themselves, but can be turned up more than loud enough to eleminate any outside distraction. They are also really really comfortable, which may be one of its strongest features. Sometimes it doesn't feel like you're even wearing anything, and you'll forget they're on your head. They even fold up, and are built with metal hinges for extra durability. The only possible down-side is the short cord, it is only approximately 4 feet. So if you need a longer cord for whatever reason than these may not be right for you. But besides that- these are really nicely designed, excellent sounding, affordable headphones - being offered at an even lower price by Amazon. I was very pleased with these, and would recommend them to anyone looking for headphones.

These headphones are the best ones out there. I've bought $120, $70, $15 headphones in the past.. and the Philips HP550 Foldable Full-Size Headphones are definitely the best for your money!

I work on the computer for hours at a time, and these headphones are awesome to use for listening to MP3's.. but they are also great for plugging into your stereo or CD player. The sound is amazing regardless!

These headphones are also great for travel.. if you want to bring them on the plane, or to work-out or in the car. They just fold up into a small shape. Headphones are also incredibly durable.. I've had mine for over a year, and even after the dog chewed on the headset a little, they are still at optimum performance. An excellent product at a great price!

Overall, this is the best overall value, IMO, for a portable headphone. Small and lightweight, the KSC-35s also sound better than any of their competitors, including the S/Portapros. They have OVERALLY bloated bass, the kind that gives me headaches. The KSC-35s would, too, if it wasn't for their very interesting design. Unlike usual headphones which go over your head, or even the neck-band types, the KSC-35s have no headband whatsoever! They hang around your ear - clip is the word most people use, but that sounds painful, and the KSC-35s are the most comfortable headphones i've ever worn. Ever.

To the most important part: Sound. These things ound great. With only 32 ohms of resistance, they will be driven easily from any portable, including MP3/MD players with low output strength. The clip design, as i mentioned above, changes the acoustic properties of the KSC-35s. They are no longer exerting pressure on your ears; they instead simply drape the earlobe. Because of this "loose" grip (when compared to the S/Portapros), they lose some of the boominess in the bass department. They do, however, have a peak in frequency response favoring bass, so bass lovers will truly enjoy these headphones. I prefer the mid-range, and the KSC-35s have a decent midrange presentation, as well a good treble presentation. The excessive bass, while less than the S/Portapros, is still too much to allow the the other frequencies to shine.

All in all, a very active-use friendly design, excellent sound for minimal price, and a superiority over other models in the same price range BY THE SAME COMPANY (KOSS), won me over. These headphones are perfect for an active listener who wants to get great sound out of his portable.

NOTE: I have been constantly comparing the KSC-35s to the Sportapro and Portapro models because all three models have the same drivers. In fact, the S/Portaprose tend to be highly reccommended, while actually their sporty-looking cousin, the KSC-35, sound better! For less! The only draw-back being a slightly unusual design, which I have grown to love!

The Koss KSC-50s, along with the other Koss headphones that use the PortaPro drivers are truly giant killers. These include the KSC-50, KSC-55, KSC-35, Porta Pro, Sporta Pro, KTX Pro, and also some Radio Shack models.

Most cheap headphones sound terrible, but I find these quite enjoyable. I use them when I don't want to take my Sennheiser HD600s out, and while they don't compare to the Senns, they are very plesant to listen to.

First comes the bass. Bass is very good for an inexpensive headphone. While they won't play as deep as a good subwoofer, they play much deeper then most cheap headphones I have tried, and the upper bass is not very boomy (Most cheap headphones have exaggerated upper bass to make them sound like they play deeper, many more expensive headphones do too, such as the Sony MDR-V600).

The midrange is probably the KSC-50s biggest weakness, in particular the lower mids - they just don't have the presence my HD600s have. They also seem to sound slightly colored, which is bad, but it isn't as bad as I make it out to be, I am comparing them to my HD600s. This isn't a fair comparison at all, comparing some (dollar amount) headphones to some (dollar amount) headphones, it is like comparing a Hyundai to a Ferrari.

Highs aren't very airy, but treble is played up fairly high (Most cheap headphones barely play upper treble), and it isn't overpowering at all.

Comfort: These are relatively comfortable headphones, sometimes the earclips can be annoying, but they are extremely light and you usually barely feel them on you.

In short, everything sounds pretty good on these headphones. You really can't compare to them at anywhere this price range. They literally sound better then every Sony headphone from the MDR-Vxxx line which goes from the (dollar amount) V-150 through the V-900s, yes, they sound better then all of them, also they sound better then the Sennheiser HD490 and 500. If you are looking for something under (dollar amount), one of this series of headphones is your best bet. The next real step up from them would be the Grado SR-60 around (dollar amount) and the Sennheiser HD495 around (dollar amount), or the Sony MDR-V7506 around (dollar amount).

The one potential drawback is that these are an open design, which leaks sound out, and lets sound in. The problem is that most cheap closed headphones like the Sony MDR-Vxxx and CD-xxx series sound terrible in comparison. If you are willing to let some sound leak out, and have no isolation from outside noise, these are the headphones for you at this price. The only closed headphone of the above three I reccomend are the Sonys, both the Grados and Sennheisers are open. Most high end headphones other then monitors like the MDR-v7506, or Beyerdynamic DT831 are open. These include the Sennheiser HD600, the AKG K1000, Beyerdynamic DT931, Sony CD3000, and the rather expensive (At (dollar amount)) Sennheiser Orpheus.

As always, be careful with volume levels when listening on headphones, you can damage your hearing very easily. If you can't hear someone at all when they are talking to you, or screaming at you, I would highly reccomend you turn the volume down some, unless you want to wear a hearing aid later.

I'm purchasing my 2nd pair of these. Only one other lightweight headphone that I've owned has beaten the sound quality of these. My general advice on buying lightweight headphones with the best sound (learned through experimentation):<br /> <br /> 1. Frequency Response: I believe this is the most important specification. The wider the range, the better the sound. I wouldn't even bother with any headphone that starts above 16hz or ends below 23,000hz, because you'll lose some of the high-end and low-end sounds. For instance, when I played the soundtrack from Star Wars on headphones that didn't meet this criteria, I noticed that I couldn't hear some of the background instruments.<br /> <br /> 2. Gold Plated Plug: The sound from non-gold plated headphones doesn't seem as good.<br /> <br /> I'd encourage you to read the other reviews here, too. These headphones fit very comfortably for me, but I guess that's not the case with everyone. Also, I wouldn't know how well these headphones handle heavy wear & tear, because I don't use them in such situations.