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PSA: HD-497 review.

post #1 of 17
10/18/02 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/mis...d/senhd497.htm

yes..i did that review
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post #2 of 17
10/18/02 at 4:56pm
it's always good to see a new review! Is that your website, btw?
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post #3 of 17
10/18/02 at 4:59pm
Thread Starter 
no, a friends review site. i volunteered the review.. hehe. figure the phones and headroom need a bit of free advertising
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post #4 of 17
10/19/02 at 11:00am
Not that anyone will care, but I couldn't agree less with the review. I had the 497s just 4 days before I sold them. Yuk. No extreme treble and otherwise totally mediocre. And yes, I did burn them in--for about 40 hours. Interestingly, I've just got hold of a pair of HD 56's and find them much more satisfactory. A cheap headphone, yes, with some typically cheap headphone limitations including mid-bass boom, but to me they preserve the fundamentals of the music far better that the 497---I could actually live with them if I had to (but please don't ask me to), whereas I couldn't tolerate the 497s for more than a few minutes.
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post #5 of 17
10/19/02 at 12:41pm
Thread Starter 
well..um..i dunno what much of that matters..all i care about is that it sounds clear and has good bass, these may not have the best bass, but they are damned good to me.
besides, i dont have 200 bucks to blow on a pair of hd-590's
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post #6 of 17
10/19/02 at 12:59pm
Maybe a flawed unit or a bad source, pp312??

I just got the 497s, too, and I am extremely pleased and very impressed. The bass is fine... not especially tight, but definitely punchy and warm.

The middle and high ranges are incredible... it's got great clarity and effortlessness.

Overall, a phenomenal value.
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post #7 of 17
10/19/02 at 1:56pm
Nice job, jess. While I respectfully disagree with your assesment regarding the value (performance::$$) of the 497's for us U.S. customers, I enjoyed your review format. Short, concise, to the point, nice pics.

BTW, it took 4 days to ship them to Atlanta?
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post #8 of 17
10/19/02 at 4:24pm
Thread Starter 
yeah, taking into account the weekend, ordered friday, got here tuesday. and they dont do sundays. so..4 days, 3 if u dont count saturday, its just fedex's typical crap.
im happy with these phones tho
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post #9 of 17
10/19/02 at 11:29pm
"Maybe a flawed unit or a bad source, pp312??"

A Marantz 4000 amp, which is as good as I intend to get. I just thought the 497 totally lacked treble, thus was muffled and boring. It's hard to judge the rest when there's no real treble. The 56 doesn't lack treble. The JVC DX1, which I currently use, definitely doesn't lack treble; in fact it only sounds right with the treble control almost at minimum (the Marantz has very subtle tone controls like Rotel). A Grado SR 80 which I owned for a while didn't lack treble. An AKG 501 which I also owned for a while (like 2 days) definitely lacked treble and was unbearably coloured as well. Make of all that what you will.

P.S. I listen only to orchestral classical or dramatic (soundtrack) music, never rock. Could there be an explanation in that?
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post #10 of 17
10/20/02 at 12:08am
Quote:
An AKG 501 which I also owned for a while (like 2 days) definitely lacked treble and was unbearably coloured as well.
Huh? Definitely not my experience.
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post #11 of 17
10/20/02 at 12:42am
I own the 497 and listen to them frequently. I have to agree with pp312 somewhat in that the treble of the 497 is not its strength. I do disagree with him overall though, I do like the 497s a lot. I think they're very musical and they really rock. pp312 points out that he primarily listens to orchestral classical, perhaps that's the reason he doesn't like them. For classical, I reach for different HPs myself. But the 497s do a lot of other things well. I'm really enjoying some Dave Matthews through them as I write this.
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post #12 of 17
10/20/02 at 8:10pm
Thread Starter 
someone wanna move that link to the dedicated headphone review forum thingy?
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post #13 of 17
10/20/02 at 9:08pm
The 497s are my most balanced headphones. For my taste, they're just about perfect. I have tried them for classical music as well as rock, jazz & R&B, and for my taste, they handle everything well. Classical sounds smooth, transparent, open and detailed on them to me. They are just a tad beyond neutral in treble for me -- they are just short of bright, but closer to "bright" than "dark," which is what I prefer. And there's just enough extra bass to make the experience visceral rather than dull. But the bass is in the lower bass area, where it stays out of the way of the silky-smooth midrange. If I was to have described what a pair of headphones should have sounded like before I got my 497s, the 497s sound would have come very close too it. I can't really think how I would have improved on it. So I agree with Jessica's review -- they are a great buy. The biggest negative is comfort, for me anyway.

Still, I end up listening to my SR60s and MDR-V6s just as often! Go figure!
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post #14 of 17
12/3/02 at 1:14am
Thread Starter 
um, could i get that added to the review section or something?
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post #15 of 17
12/3/02 at 1:18am
Thread Starter 
oops, link out of date.. new one is
http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/mis...senhd497.shtml
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