[flight567]

alright, so i left my senn 428s at home(whoops). and i was in my lab(career technical school) when i find another senn, just sitting there on a shelf. neglected beaten and bruised without the ear pads even. i pick them up and as my teacher what's up with them:
 
"hey Mr. Kayser, what are these guys?"
 
"an old headset of mine. they probably don't even work anymore."
 
"if they do can i have them"?
 
"sure"
 
plug them in. push the contacts back in. and BANG beautiful, sound. very clear and spacious. rather nice headphones for the price of free.
 
i get home and i look for these headphones. (sennheiser hd490) and all i find are these weird looking guys that are very dis-similar to what i've got.
 
i'll try to post pictures tomorrow or the next day. but does anyone have any idea about these?
 Mr. Kayser says he bought them in the 70s-80s.

 

[nick n]

looking forward to pictures, that's like finding buried treasure, not that one often finds buried treasure. Close enough though.
 
Have a peek through here to confirm,
decriptions might be slightly odd from translation , but it might be here if you think it's something different.
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://20cheaddatebase.web.fc2.com/sennheiser/sennheiserindex.html&usg=ALkJrhgoBXCrgpl2LIXbFr7RuDHsdeg2oA

 

[JK1]

The HD490 isn't that old. I think it is from around 2000. Are you sure the model isn't HD450 or HD480? I had the HD450 in the early 90s. Describe what your headphone looks like. What color? Does it have a dual entry(connected on both sides) detachable cable?

 

[flight567]

yes, it looks closest to the hd480's but it says 490. i'll try to post pictures today. my phone is acting up though.

 

[JK1]

Perhaps it does look like it says HD490, but is really HD480? An 8 can look like a 9 if some of the ink is worn away.

 

[Burninggecko]

I have these same headphones.  They say HD 490 on the side and were purchased in 1992.  They went under the model name HD 490 II
 
Here is a link to the manual:
 
http://www.senncom.com/sennheiser/old_manual.nsf/resources/HD_490_II_50071_1192_Sp2.pdf/$File/HD_490_II_50071_1192_Sp2.pdf
 
Enjoy!