iDontPledge
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2012
- Posts
- 13
- Likes
- 1
I tried the Panasonics for about a week or two, burned in for at least 50 hours.
I currently own the Sony XB500, burned in for maybe 30 hours.
First off these are two excellent headphones, for a few reasons, price, comfort, and of course sound quality, these are traits I found in both headphones, after that though their differences become apparent.
When I first tried my Panasonics I was quite surprised, such a warm and rich, coherent sound signature, listening to music with 'firecracker' noises the HTF shines, it has an analytical side to it that makes it easy to distinguish each little pop and bang, but still enough of the low end so you can feel the bass along with it. they are comfortable and relatively durable, the 10ft cord is quite nice, although the jack may be a little on the fragile side, this is why I no longer have the Panasonics, the jack got broken.
While this may be my own fault as I was wearing them outside and these are probably best used indoors, another reason why you may want to use them indoors is because they do tend to leak sound, I can also hear outside noise even if volume is at maximum, for a 30 dollar pair of cans these are very clear and controlled.
Pros: Soundstage, quality of sound, forgiving of source, versatile, look pretty decent, comfortable, decent build quality.
Cons: Somewhat fragile jack, cord only plugs into one side, I don't personally like this but you might, the ear cushions get very hot on my skin, making it uncomfortable for any listening over the 20 minute mark or so.
I was told about both of these headphones by some wonderful forum members, I was told the HTF had very nice bass, and this appealed to me seeing as how I am a huge bassjunkie, I however found the bass lacking a bit, which I'm sure helped the headphones excel in other areas, but I still wanted more bass, this is where the XB500 enter the scene.
Just looking at them I knew they would be comfortable, but they are even more comfortable than the pictures suggest, wonderful ear cushions, much less hot than the HTF, and much more comfortable than any headphone I have worn as far as I can recall, there are holes in the cushion for your ears to fit into, and it is hard to tell what part of your ear is in the hole and what part is touching the cushion, very nice.
The sound on the XB is so warm it makes the bass of the HTF seem almost negligent, truly ear vibrating wonderful, plentiful bass, nice response and decay, rather punchy and accurate, definitely the stand out aspect of these headphones.
A little more muddy, and less analytical than the HTF, it has a smaller driver than the HTF as well, this is apparent in the sound stage, but not in volume or impact.
The cord is flat, tangle resistant, and only about three feet long, this is better for portable use, but can be annoying if your source is far away from you, my computer sits several feet away from my monitor so that is a downside but it's not a deal breaker.
These two headphones are very alike as far as price goes, but when listening to music it's almost night and day, the HTF have the range to be slightly analytical, to just being down right fun to listen to,they are never cold or sharp and they deliver surprising detail, the range on the XB may lean almost solely on the fun side, I have been experimenting with EQ settings and am able to get much more out of it, I hear they can benefit hugely from EQ settings but I don't want to speak on this as I am still in the middle of messing around with it, but I still have to give this area to the HTF.
Over all I prefer the Sony's, for no reason other than the crazy bass, comfort, build design (looking at the cord) and they seem like they would be harder to break than the HTF, at least from something casual or accidental, and they seem to be tailored to the music I listen to, as I said the HTF have the range for all types of music, but that in and of itself limits how well it does in my personal area of preference.
For anyone who is debating between these two headphones I would say it depends entirely on your musical preference, Jazz, classical, vocal or any music who's range is more reliant on treble rich sound the HTF is fantastic, it will give you the clarity you want to hear each instrument without it bleeding over into the next.
If your music is more electronic, hip hop, or just bass heacy music in general, the XB500 will let you feel the vibrations in your ear like you were supposed to, I would also suggest these if you happen to plan to take these headphones outside at all, it seems they would fair much better outside of your room than the HTF.
I know I'm probably not presenting any new information here, but I felt like giving my impressions of the two, as the HTF seems to get a lot of attention around here, which I'm not denying it deserves, it does, it's just people seem to say it's a basshead can comparable to the XB500, to this, I must disagree, the HTF has strengths a plenty, and it does many things better than the XB, but the bass is not on that particular list;
Thanks again to everyone who suggested either of these wonderful cans, my search has ended with the Sony's I think I have found the headphone that I will most like in this price range.
EDIT: Also thanks to anyone who read this ill formatted wall of text, you're the real heroes.
I currently own the Sony XB500, burned in for maybe 30 hours.
First off these are two excellent headphones, for a few reasons, price, comfort, and of course sound quality, these are traits I found in both headphones, after that though their differences become apparent.
When I first tried my Panasonics I was quite surprised, such a warm and rich, coherent sound signature, listening to music with 'firecracker' noises the HTF shines, it has an analytical side to it that makes it easy to distinguish each little pop and bang, but still enough of the low end so you can feel the bass along with it. they are comfortable and relatively durable, the 10ft cord is quite nice, although the jack may be a little on the fragile side, this is why I no longer have the Panasonics, the jack got broken.
While this may be my own fault as I was wearing them outside and these are probably best used indoors, another reason why you may want to use them indoors is because they do tend to leak sound, I can also hear outside noise even if volume is at maximum, for a 30 dollar pair of cans these are very clear and controlled.
Pros: Soundstage, quality of sound, forgiving of source, versatile, look pretty decent, comfortable, decent build quality.
Cons: Somewhat fragile jack, cord only plugs into one side, I don't personally like this but you might, the ear cushions get very hot on my skin, making it uncomfortable for any listening over the 20 minute mark or so.
I was told about both of these headphones by some wonderful forum members, I was told the HTF had very nice bass, and this appealed to me seeing as how I am a huge bassjunkie, I however found the bass lacking a bit, which I'm sure helped the headphones excel in other areas, but I still wanted more bass, this is where the XB500 enter the scene.
Just looking at them I knew they would be comfortable, but they are even more comfortable than the pictures suggest, wonderful ear cushions, much less hot than the HTF, and much more comfortable than any headphone I have worn as far as I can recall, there are holes in the cushion for your ears to fit into, and it is hard to tell what part of your ear is in the hole and what part is touching the cushion, very nice.
The sound on the XB is so warm it makes the bass of the HTF seem almost negligent, truly ear vibrating wonderful, plentiful bass, nice response and decay, rather punchy and accurate, definitely the stand out aspect of these headphones.
A little more muddy, and less analytical than the HTF, it has a smaller driver than the HTF as well, this is apparent in the sound stage, but not in volume or impact.
The cord is flat, tangle resistant, and only about three feet long, this is better for portable use, but can be annoying if your source is far away from you, my computer sits several feet away from my monitor so that is a downside but it's not a deal breaker.
These two headphones are very alike as far as price goes, but when listening to music it's almost night and day, the HTF have the range to be slightly analytical, to just being down right fun to listen to,they are never cold or sharp and they deliver surprising detail, the range on the XB may lean almost solely on the fun side, I have been experimenting with EQ settings and am able to get much more out of it, I hear they can benefit hugely from EQ settings but I don't want to speak on this as I am still in the middle of messing around with it, but I still have to give this area to the HTF.
Over all I prefer the Sony's, for no reason other than the crazy bass, comfort, build design (looking at the cord) and they seem like they would be harder to break than the HTF, at least from something casual or accidental, and they seem to be tailored to the music I listen to, as I said the HTF have the range for all types of music, but that in and of itself limits how well it does in my personal area of preference.
For anyone who is debating between these two headphones I would say it depends entirely on your musical preference, Jazz, classical, vocal or any music who's range is more reliant on treble rich sound the HTF is fantastic, it will give you the clarity you want to hear each instrument without it bleeding over into the next.
If your music is more electronic, hip hop, or just bass heacy music in general, the XB500 will let you feel the vibrations in your ear like you were supposed to, I would also suggest these if you happen to plan to take these headphones outside at all, it seems they would fair much better outside of your room than the HTF.
I know I'm probably not presenting any new information here, but I felt like giving my impressions of the two, as the HTF seems to get a lot of attention around here, which I'm not denying it deserves, it does, it's just people seem to say it's a basshead can comparable to the XB500, to this, I must disagree, the HTF has strengths a plenty, and it does many things better than the XB, but the bass is not on that particular list;
Thanks again to everyone who suggested either of these wonderful cans, my search has ended with the Sony's I think I have found the headphone that I will most like in this price range.
EDIT: Also thanks to anyone who read this ill formatted wall of text, you're the real heroes.
Should make them better balanced allowing more details to be heard, especially clearing up the midrange from excessive warmth/smoothness and boosting the highs as well to reasonable levels.
