[rawhit]

after so many posts from people about these cans I just had to listen to them. Unfortunately these are the only good cans I have available locally and they sell for INR 2800 (USD 54 )

Before I say any thing about these cans let me mention that I could listen to them for only about half an hour and these were NIB...ie not broken in. Also Im a newbie to cans and HiFi audio so please go easy on me.

I had taken my Grado 325 just as a reference though I know that there isnt much point in comparing them as they are in a different class.
Build Quality
Though I read post about these cans being big in size I was still surprised at their size. These cans are really HUGE

Compared to these the grados looked like eh...portable phones?
These cans should be big enough for anybody...even dumbos

Though its all plastic the build quality is good for a phone in this price range. And the hp stand is a nice touch. I also like the idea of a single sided detachable chord. The cable terminates in a mini and does not feel as solid as the Grados.
Despite their size they are more comfy than grados but I noticed a little vice grip effect as they pressed against the jaw.

Sound since they were not broken in and were unamped so my impressions might differ from others.
The bass went deeper than Grados but was not as tuneful or slamming as Grados.
The 325s outperformed the 890s in terms of details by a big margin. The 890s seemd muddy in comparison (do I see Team Philips getting ready to flame me?) But this might improve after breaking.
One thing that I really like about these phone was the sound stage. It was much bigger than that of the grados and the instruments positioning was better...the instruments also sounded

bigger?

over all I felt that these cans are a bargain for ~ USD 50 and strong contender in the sub USD 100 range. But they wont exactly smoke even the Grado SR-80s.
I would say that the choice between SR-80s and 890s would more be a matter of taste as each has its own strong points.

cheers
RawHit

 

[Franz]

I have both the sr-80s and the hp-890s and I pretty much agree with everything you've said.
Particularly that grados have far better detail (not always a good thing in my opinion), and the 890s tend to sound muddy in comparison (though the word that came to my mind was murky).

I don't consider the 890s murky exactly, just that they are kind of that way when you switch from grados.
I do however prefer them over my grados for use with a PC and classic music and consider them great for the price.

One thing I've noticed is that the sound from the 890s changes a quite a bit depending on their position on your ears. I can't describe this exactly but try it and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

I have recently purchased the 890's, and after the recommended 100 hours of break-in, detail has not improved. These cans have an imprecise midrange, especially for female vocals.

I would say that the 890's are the Cliff's Notes of headphones: they give you a good overview and cover a lot of material in a short amount of time, but can't give you the deep detail that reading the original book will give you.

I also agree with you Franz that positioning has a strong effect on the soundstage of these headphones. Down and forward is the best to maximize the soundstage..

 

[VTV]

Hi there rawhit

Can you elaborate a bit on SR80 vs HP890. I know you only did brief auditioning. I also had my HP890 bought in India @ INR 2500.

I am asking around to see how these two compare and whether these are complimentary. How do the grados perform with Indian music (sound tracks, classicals)? How obvious is the lack of details of HP890 vs. SR80?

 

[LTUCCI1924]

HI: all
When I took my 890s out of the box they sounded ok. So I plug them into me home stereo reciever that has a strong and clen jack out put. After about 6-10 hours the 890s sounded bigger, fuller, and louder. I did descover that the 890s liked a lot of power to sound at their fullest. They are more laid back then the grado 80s but have a much bigger sound stage and a laid back fuller sound in general. Now if you are young and want great mids in your face kind of sound and more middle bass the grado are hard to beat. But if you want a large pleasent and full fun and relaxing sound plus hour after hour of confort the 890s are hard to beat. Now there are other cans out there like the sennheiser 580s that are in a class of thier owne but this post is about the 890s V the 80s so I wont go there. Good luck with your choice.

 

[rawhit]

VTV
I had brought the SR-325s while auditioning so I havent compared the 890s with SR-80 side by side.
I think that when compared to the SR80s the lack of detail wont be as glaring as it was with SR-325s.
Comfort wise the 890s are more comfy as they are circumaural
but the SR-80s are very light and I donot find them uncomfortable either.
The SR-80s are 'transportable' phones i.e. though not meant to use portabaly thery are small and light enought to keep in your backpack something that I would not do with the philips890.

Sound wise the 890s have a much bigger soundstage and sound more spacious which is good if you dont use crossfeed.
The SR-80s have a good detail and are faster and would handle transients better IMHO.

but I think I would be happy with either of the phones and would spend the money on an amp (dont have one) rather than buying the other phone.
with classical music cant say which would be better as I mostly listen to rock.

cheers
RwwHit

 

[tktran]

Franz:

Where did you get the Grado SR80?

PM.

 

[Franz]

tktran: in case you missed it in the other thread

I got my sr-80s from http://www.audioweb.com/
they were having a no-shipping fee deal which would normally be about $12US I think. The sr-80s themselves were $95US and from what I've seen this price doesn't vary much from store to store the way other brands do.
In Aus the only place I know that sells them is in Sydney and they sell at $259AU which is about $70AU more than I paid.