Philips HP890 and HP910 first impressions w/Pics

[Tuberoller]

Well,I sent one of my guys from the shop over to Virgin and he could'nt get the idiots there to look for the headphones so I called and had to tell another nit-wit where I saw them in the store.I had my guy buy them and here they are.That's the good news the bad news is that my daughter just called me to say I got a package from Germany which I can only assume are the other Philips headphones I ordered from Dr.Meier.

I must say right off the bat that I am not that impressed with either of the Philips phones.The 890s are way too large to ever be practical for any use other than casual home listening.The 910s are a bit smaller but the blue padding on both is ugly as hell.They are both very light weight and have high quality cables.I do not like any product that features such large quantities of plastc in it's construction, both these phones are constructed entirely of very cheap looking and feeling plastic.I am having trouble finding a comfortable fit with the HP890 and I have very large head( I wear a XXL motorcycle helmet).The HP910 fit better but not as well as any of the Senns or AKG I have in stock.The 910s fit as well on my head as most Beyers that I have at the store.The 890s,for all the bulk ,are not comfortable at all.

I am not at home at the time of this writing so the rest of my personal headphones(RS1,HD600 W/Red Clou,AKG 501)are at my house.Compared to what I have on hand right now(Senn HD600,SR325)I hope the Philips require some burn-in.They do not compare favorably at this point.BTW all these phones are fresh out of the boxes.I hate to disagree with anyone else's impressions of these phones,especially Dr Meier's,but these phones lack real,defined,bass.this is the case with both phones,the HP890 in particular.I don't understand why the 890s have to be so large,considering the only mediocre sound quality so far.The 910s have better bass when used with the Creek OBH-11se headamp but it does not seem to help the 890s.This is the only amp I have on hand where I am now.To this point I would say these phones are closer in sound quality to the AKG 501 than they are to the Senns.They do not belong in the same class as the Senns and if you look to either of the Philips phones to provide HD600 or SR325 quality sound you will,no doubt,be disappointed.These are early impressions of course and I will do a full comparison of these phones and a few others when the Philips are burned in and I have all my amps on hand.

See pics herehttp://imagestation.com/album/?id=4292070875.

 

[Buddha]

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the blue padding on both is ugly as hell.

Hmmn really....

Burn em in for 200 hrs and stay away from the mirror.

 

[Audio-Me]

Give them time (break-in for both sound and comfort, my second HD600 took a week of constant use to break in the pads/headband), also proper amplification.
I'll send you Cool Edit with step by step instructions, you can burn them in real fast.

I don't think the HP890 looks bad, they look soooo comfy. Besides, I like my cans big.

I'm like MacDEF, if I like the sound and they are comfortable, I'll put them on my head. I don't care if I look like a geek, I am one!

When you get home, listen to them on low volume and try to fall asleep in them.

 

[dknightd]

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Originally posted by Tuberoller They do not belong in the same class as the Senns

I think after you allow them to break in you'll find they compare well with Senns of similar price. Course I could be wrong...

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if you look to either of the Philips phones to provide HD600 or SR325 quality sound you will,no doubt,be disappointed.

I don't think anybody really expects a $100 set of cans to provide the same quality as HD600 or SR325.

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I will do a full comparison of these phones and a few others when the Philips are burned in and I have all my amps on hand.

That should be interesting

 

[jodokast]

Dude send me the cool edit

I got the SBc 910 - sounded like crap when I first got them, but after the burn-in they sounded much better. [in comparison to my old Sennheiser 545s]

that is all...

 

[Snufkin]

Ok, I used to think my Beyers were plush and luxurious, comfy, huge and soft etc.

I sat listening to the HP890s for a few hours, then picked up my 770pros
First thoughts were "whoa, these are really small" put them on and thought "whoa, these are really hard"
Then I stopped and thought "What am I thinking, when I got these 770s I thought they were HUGE!"

What am I talking about?
Yeah, HP890s are huge - but I find them really comfy, like strapping good sounding pillows to your head

 

[RMSzero]

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the blue padding on both is ugly as hell

That's interesting that you think so. My girlfriend thought it was cute.

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They are both very light weight

Um, the HP890 is over 300 grams. What does a heavy headphone weigh? A kilo?

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both these phones are constructed entirely of very cheap looking and feeling plastic

That's not true. The back of the HP890 is a metal grille. The auto-adjusting headband is a heavy but comfortable rubber. Another important feature is the metal screws that hold the HP890 together, rather than plastic interlocks.

Quote:

The 890s,for all the bulk ,are not comfortable at all.

That's interesting, that's the second time I've seen someone say they were quite uncomfortable on these boards (out of what, 15+ people who've said the extreme opposite?) Maybe you just can't find the right fit, becuase everyone I've given my pair to try on have been amazed at how comfortable they were. Different strokes I guess.

I look forward to seeing your thoughtful comments, but to say that they HP890 is lightweight or made entirely of cheap plastic is clearly untrue.

 

[Buddha]

But wait theres more...

Quote:

The 890s are way too large to ever be practical for any use other than casual home listening.

Hmmn..... perhaps thats what the design team had in mind... casual home listening that is.

The full review should be entertaining.

 

[Audio-Me]

I'd use it for portable use. =P

 

[RMSzero]

I want to mention something else here before I go to sleep. As I've said before, I'm not on an HP890 crusade. It is evident that these headphones are not for everyone because of their size and appearance, and not everyone likes the sound of all headphones. All I'm trying to accomplish by posting in these threads is to balance the presentation of information regarding them. It's better for someone to come and see a balance of opinions, positive and negative, and to decide for themselves what is important to them, rather than seeing everyone agree that they suck or that they are great.

The interesting thing to me is the opposite opinions regarding these headphones. Either you think they are very comfortable or they hurt your head and fall off. Either you think they are gorgeous or ugly, either you think they are very solidly built or made of cheap plastic. There really haven't been any in between types of reviews which I find unusual -- anyone else notice this?

By the way, I was just noticing how much play the HP890s have as far as where they can sit on your head. I feel like the sound and imaging is VASTLY improved by moving the earcups forward to that the backs of your ears just touch the rear of the pad.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Placing the center of the drivers forward of and below the entry to your ear canal is a standard headphone trick I believe.

 

[Tuberoller]

Thanks for the feedback guys.I do think the HP890 are lighter than say, the Senns.I really mean they are lighter than you might expect them to be, considering their size.I do think this phone has a bit too much plastic in the overall construction.The HP910 seems less "plasticky" only because it is smaller,therefore reducing the available plastic surface areas.I just feel like if I drop either of these phones they would break easily.just my opinions.This is why I like these boards.I said things opposite of what you feel and I was not burned at the stake for doing so.I can dig that.A full review is forthcoming and I promise objectivity and a fair comparison amongst phones in perspective price ranges.

 

[Gluegun]

Has anyone used them with computer gaming? You know, I think they would be Godlike paired with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for Sensaura-based positional Headphone EAX...any thoughts? What about Dolby Headphone?

 

[Buddha]

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I do think the HP890 are lighter than say, the Senns. I just feel like if I drop either of these phones they would break easily. ....and I promise objectivity

Examples of objective statements;

"Weighing in at 330gms, the HP890 are a full 30gms lighter than the Sennheiser HD600"

"To test the build quality I dropped them 5 times from one metre in height onto a carpeted concrete floor. The HP890 remained undamaged."

 

[RMSzero]

Gluegun: I have used mine with computer gaming, the HP890s. They made me reallize how bad the quake3 sound was, but they make Medal of Honor sound fantastic. The imaging is a big step up from my old headphones, and I can really hear details of when someone's at 3 o'clock with a lightning gun while my teammate is behind and below me with the railgun.

How do they compare to other good gaming headphones? I can't tell ya that. I don't have a Turtle Beach also and I don't run using EAX or A3d so I can't talk about that either.

edit: clearly we can't handle some kidding around (I even used happy faces! bah). We also don't like it when our subjective opinions about easily verifiable facts such as masses are proved wrong. Oh well. Forget it.