Well, could not help but chime in.
Got them a few days ago for US 60$ (Ca 80$).
This thread played a good part in my decision. Quite happy I did not over expect after reading masses of impressions, including a few and far apart fairly negative ones. I was ready to take advantage of Newegg's return policy. Actually, I under expected.
I didn't have much budget, but wanted to try an open HP for when working at the computer or otherwise fairly idle, or even for quiet walks through the woods (I live in a very quiet 400 souls place). I was looking into many HP, including the AD series from Audio Technica. The price for these and the overall good impressions I could find decided me.
Impressions here are given from listening from an iPhone 6 and a Mac. I did try an headphone amp with these (actually, the headphone out from my 2008 Pioneer living room amp). I find the sound to be much more interesting from my iPhone and my Mac. The amp gave a distracting warmth to the sound, and it sounded much more static, less dynamic to my ear.
I have owned many ear phones / head phones. A studied and worked a bit in recording biz, but these days mostly just enjoy a lot listening to music. I presently own the Fostex TE-05 in ear, the RHA MA-750 (recently deceased by cat), some Sony in ear non descript.
Treble :
I was a bit afraid I would find them too bright, reading many times they were. Well I guess my almost 50 yo ears don't mind too much. I do hear a small bit of over excited highs, but not to the point of coloring the sound too much or of being painful or annoying, except on known overly bright or compressed masters. (I'm looking at you, Genesis remastered series on albums after 1976). Basically, I find the sibilance (for instance) is indeed emphasized, as in : you hear it maybe a bit more than you should, but it is nowhere near painfull levels. I own a Fostex in ear, the TE-05. These can give you quite a painful shrill sometimes. The Philips are nowhere near that level for me. And mids and treble respond very well to EQ if need be
Bass:
I was also worried a bit I would find the bass too week, as this is also a common comment I could read. Here it is a bit more complicated in my view. The bass seem a bit uneven to me. Firstly, let me state I am probably not a basshead. I own Monster clarity BT in ear, witch were suppose to be a tamed version compared to some over bassed sounding Monster I heard. They are indeed clear, but I listen to them with fairly heavy EQ, lowering the mid bass by at least 5db, and bumping up the mids a fair bit. So, how is it with the SHP? Well, I concur with some on this thread that mentioned that some kick drums sound dry. Some of the not overly produced or processed kick drum (as in old rock kick drum or some natural jazz kicks) sound cardboard-ish. It is a bit distracting. It calls your attention when you are otherwise enjoying music while doing other things( like writing this impression). Some other kicks, for instance in electronic music, are otherwise rather satisfying. Now, I know a natural kick drum can sound rather dry in real life, and most of the satisfying thump we get in recordings is due to production. There seem to be some sort of threshold on this headphone where some naturally sounding kick drums come out a bit too dry, while other kick sound are fine.
Otherwise bass quitar, rumbling bass, accoustic bass, low toms, artificial bass, well recorded or otherwise overproduced bass, all seem on point to me. Bass is probably rather fast, but that does not keep it from giving me satisfying rumblings and nice constrast to the rest of the spectrum. As far as extension goes, I really don't know. There does not seem to be anything actually missing if compared to what i'm familiar with, witch is not saying that much. I actually find subbass more satisfying than mid bass with these, but I could very well be confusing bandwaves...
My hypothesis for the bass, is that there is a fairly narrow band in the midbass where the driver on the SHP tends to distort. As far as I can tell, you can raise the bass a bit with EQ if need be, but not by much. At one point, it does not become louder, just messier. And apart from those boxy kicks, witch are far and apart on my music collection, the bass seem very enjoyable, musical, detailed to me.
Mids :
Well, I am still figuring out in life if and how I like mids (generrally speaking). Most times, with other EP/HP, I get a real kick out of raising the EQ somewhere in the ~800-2000 hz band. But I often realize after a while i've overdone it. Basically, with all other EP/HP I've listened to long enough, I start at one point to complain that on this or that song the voice seem too far/off/thin/thick/not loud enough... So far, this has been one of the big contrast with the SHP compared to other EP/HP I've owned. Voices are way more often than usual to my satisfaction. They quite often provoque joy actually. Only on certain female voice in certain songs will I at times wish for more. That is not in comparison to my other EP/HP, just a inner feeling.
Other sound characteristics :
So basically, thickness, darkness, clarity, balance, are all really to my licking. I would actually say spot on. I really don't find them "bright". Try the Fostex TE-05 for that. I find the sound as full and satisfying as my little experience with quality audio let me imagine it should be (I did dabble for a while in recording and professional studios). I hear a itsy bitsy hollowness in the voice region. More or less the same hollowness I remember hearing a version of on almost all over ear HP I'v ever heard, since listening to my uncle's cans when I was 11. I believe it's probably some of the least pronounced I've ever heard in this context. It might bring itself to my attention at one time or another, but I will have a hard time re-hearing it, or following it, seemingly dissolving in the whole. I did create a EQ setting on Audioforge's Equalizer app on my iPhone, loosly based on DIY Audio Heaven's measurement graph. But I am also perfectly happy to listen to SHP not EQ'ed.
Clarity.
I'm not so sure I know what it is. I read it has to do with a full and correct tonality reproduction, allowing one to distinguish otherwise close sounding instruments. Let's just say that the SHP never leaves me confused, not even for a moment, and is for sure on par or better than anything I've heard.
Detail.
Well, the Fostex in ear sure gave me an understanding of what people were talking about. But I find that hearing the faint and accidentally recorded fart of the signer in his booth gets old quick. The SHP seem to do an excellent job in that department, in a calm, natural, nuanced, music focused, not in your face way. I would say mostly in the mids, but bass is no slacker for detail, apart from that strange small quirk that make certain kicks sound a bit like a hit in a cardboard box (not even a big one at that).
Sound stage.
I can not for the life of me remember hearing anything close to what some describe as a "3d sphere around the head where all instruments are precisely situated in space..." , on any listening device. But for sure, these open can give the illusion of a much wider provenance of the sound. It is fun. Relaxing in a way, compared to in ears, but a well separated in ear can be very fun and involving to. I did get with the SHP a few good startle provoked by an unexpected sound in a song coming from somewhere behind me. Let me just say that it is wider and more "open" (suprise!) than anything I've heard, but I obviously had low expectation. There is a sence of space, and music has room to breathe and move. I never really forget that I'm listening to head phones, even if I'm having a very good time and can still just get lost in the music.
Separation.
Ha. This is something I feel I did suffer at times for the lack of it on other EP/HP. So far, I tended to think of EP/HP as having an inherent song ratio success rate. For example one EP/HP would play well to very well 75% of the songs I threw at it, 15% would sound bland and unexciting but listenable and 10% would sound like a jumbled hard to decode mess. I always attributed that mainly, after eliminating tonal balance as a possible problem, be it wright or wrong, to separation. So, the SHP, so far, has a song ratio success rate of 100% very good to excellent. Identified songs that played meh on other EP/HP sond good to very good to me on the SHP. I have yet to hear a song that sound distractingly bad on these (well, there is that old vinyl rip of a Moody Blues Album that really shows it's age, the fairly bad state of the original vinyl, and the cheap equipment used to rip)
Built quality.
Ok. Just on this thread, the opinion goes from trash to excellent. Same at other places. I find them very solid. Stiff, thick, non rattling, tight. Not a tank, but very honest. They don't scare me.
Comfort.
Another point of contention. I have never felt any EP/HP to be "comfortable". I would never wear any EP/HP only for how it's comfortable, as I would my favorite softee sweater. It always comes down to how long can I use it before it becomes necessary to take a break. With these, it has proven to to be more than 2-3 hours so far. The hot spot for me is my ear lobe that touches the inner filter because of the pad's shallowness. They also can become a bit hot, but really not that bad. Honestly, I tend to find in ear more tolerable to wear for a longer period.
Modification.
I really do not intend to mod them now. But before I got them from the mail, I had stocked on felt and foam material. I did try to thicken the pads without destroying them, by putting a ring of foam on top of them. About 4mm thick of relatively stiff foam. The sound became dark. Very bad to my ear. I might eventually want to change the pads, if the SHP survive long enough for them to become yucky.
