[Alex Altorfer]

Hello Trent!

Basically the whole Phillips Clarity line (from the HP 800 up to the HP 910) features OFC cords, however, the 890 and 910 models feature a LC-OFC cord that is, a LINEAR CRYSTAL OFC cord. I don't know how big of an advantage that represents but maybe someone else may throw some light on the subject.

Not all models come with a removable cord. I believe only the HP 840 and the HP 890 feature removable cords. All other models, including (ironically) the top of range HP 910, come with cords that are NOT removable. The HP 820 is in every way identical to the HP 800 except for a more comfortable headband. The cord is non-removable and it is OFC but not LC-OFC. Mind you, the HP 800 is ergonomically correct and is comfortable enough as is in spite of the simpler headband design.

The earcushions are spongelike internally, but externally they are covered with a soft cloth. Its not velvet like the HP 890 and HP 910, but it is nice and comfy. It does get a bit too warm in hot summer days though.

As far as I know all the models have plastic earcups. I know the HP 890 comes with a metal grid added onto the plastic cup but all the others (even the 910 if I'm not mistaken) are all-plastic. The plastic on the HP 800 is cheap but it looks very nice and doesn't seem to be easily breakable. Mine fell a few times and are still in perfect shape.

I've auditioned a number of headphones by now, including the Senn HD 580/600 and the AKG 501. All these Sennheiser and AKG 'top of line' headphones sound significantly better than my Philips cans, but they are also much more expensive. The Philips HP 800 sounds great for the money. It's worth the forty dollars I paid for here in Brazil and it sounds much better than some of the lower range AKGs I've recently auditioned.

I use my Philips cans for an average of about three to four hours of music listening per day and I'm happy with them. My stereo is a bit old (an Optimus receiver plus a locally built CD player with AR OFC interconnect cables) but its warm sounding which helps smooth out the Philips' agressive qualities a bit. In my parent's stereo, which is much newer and a bit more accurate sounding, my cans sound harsh and cold. I guess it depends on what kind of stereo you plan to use the cans with. What's your rig setup like?

Cheers!

Alex Altorfer

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Hello Trent!

Basically the whole Phillips Clarity line (from the HP 800 up to the HP 910) features OFC cords, however, the 890 and 910 models feature a LC-OFC cord that is, a LINEAR CRYSTAL OFC cord. I don't know how big of an advantage that represents but maybe someone else may throw some light on the subject.

Not all models come with a removable cord. I believe only the HP 840 and the HP 890 feature removable cords. All other models, including (ironically) the top of range HP 910, come with cords that are NOT removable. The HP 820 is in every way identical to the HP 800 except for a more comfortable headband. The cord is non-removable and it is OFC but not LC-OFC. Mind you, the HP 800 is ergonomically correct and is comfortable enough as is in spite of the simpler headband design.

The earcushions are spongelike internally, but externally they are covered with a soft cloth. Its not velvet like the HP 890 and HP 910, but it is nice and comfy. It does get a bit too warm in hot summer days though.

As far as I know all the models have plastic earcups. I know the HP 890 comes with a metal grid added onto the plastic cup but all the others (even the 910 if I'm not mistaken) are all-plastic. The plastic on the HP 800 is cheap but it looks very nice and doesn't seem to be easily breakable. Mine fell a few times and are still in perfect shape.

I've auditioned a number of headphones by now, including the Senn HD 580/600 and the AKG 501. All these Sennheiser and AKG 'top of line' headphones sound significantly better than my Philips cans, but they are also much more expensive. The Philips HP 800 sounds great for the money. It's worth the forty dollars I paid for here in Brazil and it sounds much better than some of the lower range AKGs I've recently auditioned.

I use my Philips cans for an average of about three to four hours of music listening per day and I'm happy with them. My stereo is a bit old (an Optimus receiver plus a locally built CD player with AR OFC interconnect cables) but its warm sounding which helps smooth out the Philips' agressive qualities a bit. In my parent's stereo, which is much newer and a bit more accurate sounding, my cans sound harsh and cold. I guess it depends on what kind of stereo you plan to use the cans with. What's your rig setup like?

Cheers!

Alex Altorfer

 

[Trent]

Thnx for the info Alex

My rig? Err...I occasionally use headphones w/ my (well, my brother's) Sony 5 disc changer but this will mostly be used straight out of my Turtle Beach Santa Cruz soundcard for computer listening; not much for games but I have lots of elf-ripped CDs & downloaded high quality MP3s (VBR and some 320 albums here and there). I guess I will get the Philips

Hopefully this will hold me over for a year or so until I save enough for an Audio-Technica ATH-A9X.

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Hello again Trent!

The Philips cans may not be what you are looking for. Even though they are 32 OHMs impedance the 40mm drivers are large and require a lot of power. I've tried using them out of my PowerMac and they sounded good but very dim as my computer's sound card is just not powerful enough to drive them to satisfactory levels. I've read posts around this board about "audiophile" sound cards. Is your "Turtle Beach Santa Cruz" one of those? If so, then it might be powerful enough to drive the Philips but this is an open question you should find an answer for before making your headphone purchase decision.

Cheers!

Alex Altorfer

 

[dvw]

Santa Cruz is good enough to drive the Philip. I have to turn it all the way up to get it to a decent volume (for classical music). These cans are not very efficent. The volume however is good enough for games and some rock.

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Hi dvw!

Yeah, if the soundcard is powerful enough then the Philips cans will sound great when connected to a computer. Did you ever get to buy those Sony Eggos you were after? What do they sound like?

Cheers!

Alex Altorfer

 

[Trent]

no, I never got the Eggos

I didn't get to order them since they're online (don't want to go into it...)
I don't listen to music loud so I'd probably be happy w/ them. Their only competition are the Koss UR40's but its been my impression that the Philips are clearer, but then again, there's not many reviews on either of these so I'm leaning towards the Philips.
Thnx for the info guys

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Hello Trent!

Dvw said he was going to get the Sony Eggos. I didn't know you were thinking of getting them as well. If you do, tell us of your experience with them.

Cheers!

Alex Altorfer

 

[Trent]

Oh, heh.

 

[dvw]

Hi Alex;

Yes, I have a pair of eggos. They sound pretty good. Compared to the Philips, I liked the Phillip better. The Philips seemed to have more omp, but the eggos have more detail.

However, I'm using the Philip 910 earbud in the bedroom. With the 820, my wife complains I'm too noisy and with the eggo my wife has to yell at me to get my attention.

The Philip ear bud seems to be a good compromise, good sound with retractable cord and volume control (the wife seems to always want a conversation when I'm using the phone). The drawback is it needs two weeks of burn-in to bring the bass out and tame the high.

 

[ChenaynayC]

Well, I stopped by Target and drug a set these home tonight. I'm listening to 'em now. So these impressions are straight out of the box:

Earpads
The earpads are covered with cloth. The box specifically says: "The headband and the double-hinged earshells with skinfriendly, washable cusions (their typo not mine) automatically adjust to the shape of the wearer's head for a comfortable fit. So, I have pulled off a 'cusion'. It's 3 piece construction. There's a vinyl edge that tucks in around the earshell, the cloth covered foam that fits around your ears, and a thin piece of cloth that covers the driver. Unfortunately there's a dark piece of cardboard glued over the driver so I can't see it. Oh well. There are three screws holding a piece of plastic into place over them. I guess removing these would allow one to see more. I am not going there. Putting the 'cusion' back on is not a problem. They seem kind of scratchy to me, but YMMV.

The box says that the ear shells swivel for you DJers out there, but I can't figure out a way to make it happen. Each of the ear shells has Phillips and the model named printed on in about a one inch circle. From there are seven concentric circles of little holes. The four innermost circles are really holes; the outer three are just impressions.

Overall Looks
They look cheap to me, but not as bad as the Senn HD497s. The headband is black bonded pleather about 1 1/2 inches across with silver plastic tabs on each end that house the double plastic strip that allows the headband to adjust. It says Philips in big letters on top. These things are wide! The cups don't spring together like the 501s. If I hold both phones up by the top of their headbands the Philips have about 4 inches space between them. The bottom of the AKGs touch. Just thought I'd mention it since I noticed it - they fit fine and seem to pretty comfortable. They can probably get warm on hotter days as most do. Oh, oh, oh, here's a neat trick: you can stand them up by tilting the earshells toward the table. They don't need a stand! It's built-in! How clever! Shouldn't they have marketed this? Hell, this could make them a keeper for me.

Alright - the sound
Remember these have been going about 15 minutes. They don't sound bad. I am not comparing them directly to anything - just listening to them. No A/B, etc. They have bass. It may be a little loose, but not indistinguishable. I think they are bright right now. Maybe that tones down with burn-in. That scares me since I don't think my Grado 325s are bright! They are punchy and try to separate the instruments and vocals. I say try cause I don't think they are quite making it. There's an echo on really deep bass. Not really a deep soundstage. But they're listenable and I hear they burn in real nice. They sound worth 40 bucks right now, so not bad, not bad at all.

Well that's it for me. I will have these until the weekend when I will go recoup my 40 bucks. Until then I'll just sit them here in that headfi-stand position. I really like that

Note: If you do pick 'em up make sure the 6.3 adapter is in the box. Seems to be missing here. And here's the specs on 'em:

Frequency Range: 8-28,000Hz
Sensitivity: 104dB
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Cable: 3.0m (9.8 ft) OFC
Maximum Power Input: 1500mW
Weight (excl cable): 215g

More thoughts: I am thinking of keeping these for a birthday gift for a cousin. Then I can go see 'em displayed in the 'stand' mode.

 

[Trent]

Wow, thnx for the nice impression ChenaynayC

BTW, I love the 'stand mode'

That's how my Aiwa HPX222's currently are.

 

[ChenaynayC]

They must break in pretty quickly too. Everytime I pick them up for a quick listen they sound better. There's something going on in the highs that needs to smooth out to my ears. But, I'd recommend these to someone not wanting to spend a lot of money that listens to pop/rock/soul music. Of course, I don't know what your Aiwas sound like or the Philips 890s.

But these aren't bad. And obviously, it's my first experience with a headphone built like this. I like that part a lot. Good listening!

 

[dvw]

These phones will sound MUCH better after 5 days to 1 week of burn in. It's definitely worth $40. I think the most compelling reason to get them is they're available from Target and they're cheap.

I was using them for a while in the office. Now I'm using them mostly for computer gaming.