Sennheiser HD500 Headphone Reviews
Manufacturer |
Sennheiser |
Model |
HD500 |
Headphone Type |
Open Circumaural |
Headband Type |
Single |
Weight (g) |
210 |
Driver Type |
Dynamic |
Enclosure Material |
Plastic |
Isolation (dB) |
0 |
Impedance (ohms) |
32 |
Cable Length (cm) |
300 |
Frequency Response (Hz) |
14 - 21000 |
|
Connector |
3.5mm with 6.5mm adaptor |
Street Price |
US$50 |
Buy from Amazon.com |
|
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Reviews by our members
Review by Senior Member audiomagnate on 18 Oct 06 19:37Individual review |
Bass Extension | 3 |
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Bass Impact | 2 |
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Bass Quality | 2 |
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Mids Quality | 3 |
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Highs Quality | 1 |
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Detail | 1 |
---|
Comfort | 8 |
---|
Durability | 6 |
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Value | 2 |
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I bought these a few years ago on impulse without listening to them first. I had owned several pairs of Sennheiser phones in the past, and I figured if I didn't like the way they sounded I would give them to my twelve year old as "gaming" headphones.
When they arrived, I was pleasantly surprized. They looked great, not as high quality looking as my buddy's 650s but for what I paid - about $30 - I thought had gotten a real "steal". They felt great when I put them on - surprisingly light for full sized cans - and snug but not at all uncomfortable. Then I plugged them in. I couldn't have been more surprized; they sounded absolutely terrible! Not just mediocre, I'm talking really, really bad. No detail whatsoever, resonant mids and bass, no deep bass, just bad.
I noticed one channel would go out if I moved the cord a certain way, so I ordered a new cord from Sennheiser in New Jersey. The new cord fixed the cutting out problem but they still sounded the same - horrible. I tried removing the foam that covers the drivers, but that didn't help much at all. I found a web site that had instructions for modding the HD-500's. The mod was to remove a 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch piece from the earcup with a Dremel tool, which was supposed to eliminate the nasty resonant quality of the mids and bass. In desperation, I tried it but it did almost nothing to change the sound. There must be something fundamentally wrong with design of the actual drivers in these phones.
To sum up, I felt bad about giving them to my son, so I glued the plastic pieces back in place and sold them on Ebay for a few dollars. Learn from my mistake and AVOID THESE CANS AT ANY COST! Ten dollars would be too much.