[Hengstenberg]

The V222 is a little better w the 490

beside my mostly negative early impressions.. the hd490 seems to grow on me with every hour i listen to them. - strange world ^^

 

[headstef]

Hi

I do like 490 quite a bit more than NDH30.

Couple of notes from memory. The 490 wipes the floor with NDH regarding sound stage, width/depth and imaging. Also the bass on 490 is less boomy and it is capable of giving the listener more information on individual notes. My thoughts on the NDH 30 was that it could be a bit one note when it comes to the deeper bass. I stand by that. I think the treble and mid detail on the 490 is a little better. Overall, I think the driver in the 490 is more capable than the NDH 30.

That would be a tremendous accomplishment by Sennheiser. I mean creating an even better open headphone at a much lower price (the NDH 30 being half Sennheiser). If I am not mistaken you sold your NDH 30 at some point, so you are comparing by memory, right? I have never heard boomy or one-note bass with the NDH 30 so far and its stage width and instrument localisation are really impressive. Stage depth is average with conventional recordings but it is transformed with binaural recordings (of course). My pair has such a good chanel matching that I still have moments of sounds coming from a point in the room, not in my head, with recordings I listen for the first time. Your impressions are intriguing however, and I really want to listen to both headphones side by side. In the meantime I'd love someone to make an in depth comparison. These two headphones are made for the same purpose so they compete with eachother. The Neumann is already serving many people for musical enjoyment with very high quality electronics. I wish the HD-490 Pro succeeds there, too.

 

[chesebert]

I am waiting for folks on gearspace to give their impressions.

 

[Shane D]

beside my mostly negative early impressions.. the hd490 seems to grow on me with every hour i listen to them. - strange world ^^

See, see?

 

[jbarrentine]

beside my mostly negative early impressions.. the hd490 seems to grow on me with every hour i listen to them. - strange world ^^

blink twice if you're being held hostage

 

[Hengstenberg]

See, see?

ahhh, i remember It seems you were right<3

 

[equalspeace]

Listening to Blues For Allah off the album One From The Vault from The Grateful Dead now. It's a live performance and there is just so much going on on the stage that the 600 does not pick up. The 490 puts you there and sounds sweep in from all over the headstage. It's just effortless reproduction of the recording. The NDH30 could do this in a similar fashion with live performances, but not quite as well. This headphone is just ridiculously good man.

 

[Sonido]

I've been reading impressions on these, but here's my question: For a mid-fi price, is it still just mid-fi or does it legitimately challenge the next tier of >$1000 headphones? Sounds like it's better than existing mid-fi, but can it compete with the likes of the HD800S, LCD-X, or Hifiman HE-1000?

I have a few headphones in that tier above mid-fi, but I still get the itch to try new cans sometimes, and because I don't want to spend so much money, I've bought well reviewed and hyped up mid-fi cans before. But ultimately they always disappoint and sound clearly a tier below my best headphones.

If the HD490 is still only competing to be the best in mid-fi and not some giant killer that makes everyone question why buy $1000 headphones, then it's probably not for me. But if it's the $400 equivalent of the HD6XX, where a sub-$200 headphone is competing with headphones 2-3x its price, then I am very interested.

 

[Thomaswa]

I've been reading impressions on these, but here's my question: For a mid-fi price, is it still just mid-fi or does it legitimately challenge the next tier of >$1000 headphones? Sounds like it's better than existing mid-fi, but can it compete with the likes of the HD800S, LCD-X, or Hifiman HE-1000?

I have a few headphones in that tier above mid-fi, but I still get the itch to try new cans sometimes, and because I don't want to spend so much money, I've bought well reviewed and hyped up mid-fi cans before. But ultimately they always disappoint and sound clearly a tier below my best headphones.

If the HD490 is still only competing to be the best in mid-fi and not some giant killer that makes everyone question why buy $1000 headphones, then it's probably not for me. But if it's the $400 equivalent of the HD6XX, where a sub-$200 headphone is competing with headphones 2-3x its price, then I am very interested.

It does not challenge >1k headphones, still very much mid-fi.

If these had the naturalness of HD600 timbre, i would really like these. They dont though. Feels like they are just decent at most things. Treble doesn't feel high quality to me.

 

[drummerman1]

It does not challenge >1k headphones, still very much mid-fi.

If these had the naturalness of HD600 timbre, i would really like these. They dont though. Feels like they are just decent at most things. Treble doesn't feel high quality to me.

Did you buy these?

 

[Thomaswa]

Did you buy these?

Yes, still undecided if i am keeping them. They are comfortable for sure.

 

[drummerman1]

Yes, still undecided if i am keeping them. They are comfortable for sure.

On a scale of 1 to 5 (decimal points ok), could you (or anyone else having purchased these) please rate them for the following;

Impact
Slam
Speed
Stage
Bass
Mids
Treble
Clarity
Build

I leave comfort out but does this HP err on the warm or more cold side of the harmonic spectrum? What other HP's are you comparing them with?

This may make interesting comparisons between users

Thank you.

 

[Rainblind]

From the graphs from audioheaven (I admire his work very much) I see that 490 pros can be similar to HD 600 with ZMF lether perforated pads. Those pads give wider and deeper soundstade, adds bass, lowers some energy in the midrange & smoothes the treble but without loosing detail. On the graph that compares HD 600 with 490 pros it looks exectly like that. Does enyone here have 490 pros and HD 600 with ZMF's and can make comparison? That will be huge help for me.

 

[Rainblind]

It does not challenge >1k headphones, still very much mid-fi.

If these had the naturalness of HD600 timbre, i would really like these. They dont though. Feels like they are just decent at most things. Treble doesn't feel high quality to me.

That's pretty far from good news...

 

[jbarrentine]

To be honest here, if I want "kinda like hd600 but not hd600" I should just get a 58x and save a bunch of money is what I'm hearing. Everyone (me included) was hoping for that giant killer effect.