monoblocks's Full Review: Sennheiser HD-490 Consumer Headphones
Background:
When it came time to find a replacement headphone set for use with my computer, I had to say I was having a lot of trouble. My old Sony set (model number escapes me) had been giving me great service, but with the wear and tear over time, I migrated them to the office for use on my PC there. Even though they were relatively inexpensive when I bought them (around $30 full retail, 10 or so years ago), they were quite comfortable (with their flat earpieces and light weight, I often used them as 'go to sleep' phones before I stuck them to computer use), and had a pleasing, if not entirely accurate, sound. But as the vinyl of the Sony's earpads began to crack, I thought I'd found a perfect excuse to go out and buy a new headset. Unfortunately, this has proven to be an adventure far more troublesome and irritating than any I expected.
After trying two or three comparably-priced sets in the same $30 price range by Sony and others, I decided what $30 to $35 could by these days was little more than junk. So much for 'improving the breed', and 'advancing civilization'; obviously, inflation is the facet that took it's toll in the intervening years. Since I was unlikely to find a good sounding set at $30 a decade removed, I upped my budget.
I came across the HD 490s in a Circuit City. Having owned a number of Sennheiser headphone sets I've owned over the years and being quite pleased with all, I decided to do the impulse thing and buy these without first trying or researching them. The price wasn't too unreasonable (in fact, they were on sale at the time); I hadn't paid less for a set of Sennheisers since the late '70s when I bought my first pair of HD 40s (still wonder where those went; a nice unit to use) and was hooked for life, all the way to the HD 530s I bought a few years ago. Well, I was hooked until I actually used these HD 490s.
The Senns in use:
Comfortable...yes this set is that. In fact, they are amongst the MOST pleasant to wear I've ever experienced. Big, soft earpads that don't put much pressure on the ears, but have enough surface area from their flat design to provide the friction to stay in place on your head.
But this is about were the adulation stops.
Since the 490s were being tied to the computer, they had to perform tasks that they probably weren't intended for, like being used for voice conferencing or internet phone calls, or for reproducing sound effects from my favorite first-person shooter. Suffice to say that the 490s perform the everyday, mundane PC sound tasks without drama or consternation. However, when my attention turns to Winamp or MusicMatch Jukebox, my opinion of the 490s goes decidedly south.
Bass...yes this set TRIES to do that. The 490s markedly tries to pump more low end than any previous Sennheiser set I've owned. At lower volumes, this is not necessarily bad. The musical source tends to sound fuller as a result, though as the volume level rises, the bass goes from full and complete to distorted and oversaturating. At first I thought it might be due to a lack in quality of the MP3s I rip, but that opinion went away fast after putting the original CD in the drive tray and hitting the 'Play' button. Recordings that are particularly bass heavy or have notable low end are quite the offenders; at higher listening levels, they become virtually unlistenable. Unfortunately, you don't have to be a fan of rap or hip-hop music to experience this; even songs like Annie Lennox's 'Why' or Sting's 'Desert Rose' are obviously pushing the drivers in the 490s to the saturation point when cranking up the volume. It was so bad that I took back the 490s for a second set, because I couldn't believe that ANY headphone pair, let alone any pair made by Sennheiser, could be so off-the-mark. The second pair only proved that, yes, Sennheiser IS so off-the-mark indeed.
The feeling I get is that with the HD 490s, Sennheiser was trying to create a pair of headphones that would please the Subwoofer Set. Comparing them side-by-side to my HD 530s on my home audio gear, the more "modern" 490s would outgun the older set in a low end shootout easily, as long as you weren't all that particular as to the QUALITY of all those low frequencies. But even the bass thumpers approved of tight, precise low frequencies every once and awhile; it isn't all sound pressure levels, because sound quality does count for something. The 490s fail on both counts, since the distorting bass comes in way too early for any resemblance of serious 'thump', and of course, with all that distortion, there IS no sound quality, at ANY frequency.
There's one other thing: as a headset intended for computer use, Sennheisers in general aren't really a good choice. Aside from their closed studio designs, the open-aire nature of the consumer Sennheisers models bleed far to much noise into the neighboring environment. Even as strictly audio headsets for use on my home stereo gear, my 530s have been cause for complaint from family members simply because of the amount of sound they throw out for anyone to hear. Of course, the user is typically blissfully unaware of the irritation they're causing, but therein lies the chief fault with Sennheisers, especially when used in an environment that can't be shielded from sound where one can lock themselves in a room and play their music without bothering anyone. Our PC is out in the open, with no intervening doors, and according to the folks not on the PC, the Senns are not much better than if the computer's speakers were still on themselves.
So I guess I'm out looking for yet another headphone set...
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