taruns
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2013
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After much research on headfi and other headphone forums I finally decided on the Philips Uptowns as something that would fit my budget and needs for my first pair of hifi head phones. I managed to pick them up from Harvey Norman (Australia) on clearance for $60 today and I am not disappointed.
Although new to the world of hifi headphones I am a musician and producer of 15 years experience and know what well balanced hi fidelity sound is and the Uptowns deliver in spades. They are balanced, detailed and clean. Bass is solid but not over stated like so many headphones on the market today. Mids are prominent but not over powering and the highs have a lovely smooth sparkle. Build quality is excellent and comfort is good - nice pads and solid clamp on the head.
They seem to be a little lower in volume to many comparable headphones and I suspect this is in part due to the slider volume control. The other thing affecting the volume was the listening post in the store. Once I made sure the slider was turned up full and they were disconnected from the wiring in the listening post, the volume from my iphone was fine. Not as high as others but more than loud enough for my purposes and enough so that I couldn't hear the background noise in a noisy hifi store. I think they may well enjoy an amp but firsts listens without one are still pleasing. I would be interested to know if anyone has removed the slider volume and seen an improvement.
In my opinion they have a very similar sound and design to the Sennheiser Momentums, but at 1/8 of the price they are easily some of the most under-rated headphones on the market. It is a pity they have not caught on as well and most shops are flooded with the disgustingly over acentuated bass style head phones sporting pop star names...
If you are in the market for a very natural sounding hi fidelity headphone on a tight budget I highly recommend giving the Philips Uptowns a listen, you won't be disappointed.
Thanks to all the reviewers on headfi for educating me in my first foray into hifi headphones, I suspect I have just entered the world of a very expensive hobby...
PS - on an unrelated note, I bought my two sons the $10 Beats knock offs that Kmart is selling, and I can say quite confidently that they are easily as good as their $250 + inspirations... it's laughable...
Although new to the world of hifi headphones I am a musician and producer of 15 years experience and know what well balanced hi fidelity sound is and the Uptowns deliver in spades. They are balanced, detailed and clean. Bass is solid but not over stated like so many headphones on the market today. Mids are prominent but not over powering and the highs have a lovely smooth sparkle. Build quality is excellent and comfort is good - nice pads and solid clamp on the head.
They seem to be a little lower in volume to many comparable headphones and I suspect this is in part due to the slider volume control. The other thing affecting the volume was the listening post in the store. Once I made sure the slider was turned up full and they were disconnected from the wiring in the listening post, the volume from my iphone was fine. Not as high as others but more than loud enough for my purposes and enough so that I couldn't hear the background noise in a noisy hifi store. I think they may well enjoy an amp but firsts listens without one are still pleasing. I would be interested to know if anyone has removed the slider volume and seen an improvement.
In my opinion they have a very similar sound and design to the Sennheiser Momentums, but at 1/8 of the price they are easily some of the most under-rated headphones on the market. It is a pity they have not caught on as well and most shops are flooded with the disgustingly over acentuated bass style head phones sporting pop star names...
If you are in the market for a very natural sounding hi fidelity headphone on a tight budget I highly recommend giving the Philips Uptowns a listen, you won't be disappointed.
Thanks to all the reviewers on headfi for educating me in my first foray into hifi headphones, I suspect I have just entered the world of a very expensive hobby...
PS - on an unrelated note, I bought my two sons the $10 Beats knock offs that Kmart is selling, and I can say quite confidently that they are easily as good as their $250 + inspirations... it's laughable...
