My short testimonial on the Phillips HP890

[Sanjuro 0]

First of all it's my 1st thread here, so easy on me And as always whatever on this page is subjective, and everything I say here is solely on my opinion.

 

I'm just starting out on Hi-Fi headphones and as such, and I'm giving my testimonial of a very good starting out headphone, the HP890. As many of you will agree with me (Vulpix pointed me to the right direction, and I was reading up and stuff) this pair of cans is very damn well worth the price. In comparison with my Sennheiser HD490, a pair of hopeless cans I bought out of impulse years ago, the HP890 blows it away. And it costed me $99 back then too, same price as the HP890 now.

 

After burning it in for 2 days, 1st day on soft volume and 2nd day on medium, I decided to kill my curiousity and put the cans on on the 3rd day. Yeah, I wasn't listening to it for the 2 days of burn in, except to adjust the volume. I played my favourite test track, Dream Theater's Hollow Years - it has a really good acoustic opening; and I was absolutely shocked. The guitar was clear, and the staging was good. Something I never got on my HD490, which is kind of murky. 1 thing tho, the guitar section seemed clearer on my KSC-35, but the staging, I feel, is better on the 890. Then I put on a popular test song, Eagle's Hotel California (live version). This is where I got blown away. The clarity was there, and the staging was great, I enjoyed the song in a way I've never did before. For $99, damn it's worth it.

 

But this pair of cans, as for it's price, does come with a few flaws. One thing I feel is that the bass is quite loose. I run it directly off my soundcard so therefore I guess this may be the problem. My opinion may change once I can afford a headphone amp and get better cables. There are slight crackles in the music at certain areas too, possibly a sign of the cans wanting more current. Oh yeah, this pair of cans can't work well with my ipod. It sounds horrible. Most likely the pod doesn't have enough power to power it. Also, as with closed headphones (I think it's closed, it cups my ears and outside noise is greatly dampened, I take that as closed) it gets uncomfortable after some time. And it's pretty heavy. I can sweat while having it on. Also, when I move my head a little I can hear creaking at low volumes, due to the adjustable headband.

 

The flaws aren't really flaws on the cans itself, but just decided to include them. So anyone out there who wants to start on headphone hi-fi and don't know where to start, the Phillips HP890 is the way to go. Don't buy a HD490 on impulse. For $99 the 890 is a steal. I saw someone selling it here for $20 even. Got sweeped up within 2 minutes. Lol.

 

While I'm at this, any cheap amp to start with? Apart from the CMOY, as that's a portable. I AM building the CMOY for my KSC-35s tho. Best is that I don't have to build it, maybe pre-assembled PPAs, or META45s

Edited October 21, 2003 by Sanjuro

[Blues 0]

welcome to head-fi sanjuro

You've written a good review for hp890! Damn so it's better than the ksc-35. hm might be worth a try.. but I am looking more at the portable side hehe..I thinj hp890 is a lil bit big for that?

[ablaze 0]

ahh yes..welcome to the world of full-sized cans. gotta agree, the HP890's really bang-for-buck.

I'd say its almost 80% of my $600+ CD3000s..at that price, its unbelievably good.

 

crackles in the music due to not having enough current? I don't think so..I think its just revealing flaws in your source, maybe a less-than-perfect mp3?

[Rameish 0]

Welcome to the club. As good as the HP-890 are (for the money), i do believe you C-moy should be up to the job. Play around with op-amps. If you still don't like what you hear, then you may need to chough up some money for a source an amp and a better headphone.

 

However, if you're happy with the sound, may be look for something in the classifieds section. Some seals do come by now and then.

 

Once again congrats.

[Sipher 0]

[Sanjuro 0]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome

 

Ablaze, I'm not sure, my Hotel California is off a CD, but it's duped from the original which I borrowed from my friend. The slight distortion is from the part where the drum comes in right after the acoustic solo, is it inherent to the source of recording?

 

Blues, the bass may be lacking on the KSC-35s as compared to any large cans, but the clarity of sound and staging is there, with that size and for the price of $55 it's very worth it too. I own(ed) it, and I love it. Too bad it's going back to US now cos it screwed up and when it comes back I have to burn it in all over again...

[ablaze 0]

nope, no distortion here..so you're suggesting its clipping? hmm..I guess its a possiblity. experts please advise

[Sanjuro 0]

nope, no distortion here..so you're suggesting its clipping? hmm..I guess its a possiblity. experts please advise

No idea, but I seem to hear it on almost every version of this song, and the same anomaly in some other songs, and I always think my equipment is not up to standard (just a PC man, lol)

[lekguan 0]

Perhaps you can first tell us the soundcard you are using.

[ablaze 0]

I'm running my CD3000s unamped from my soundcard too, but its a RME 96/8PST. and the sound is more than acceptable for me. hehe

[Blues 0]

IMO, improper burning technique might have caused the distortion. I have a few burned cds from my friend, and they are exact copy from the original. When I listened, there were some distortion and clicks.

Perhaps those who're pro in burning can suggest?

I suspect that it might'd been burnt in a v high speed resulting in some data not properly written on the cd?

Edited October 21, 2003 by Blues

[lekguan 0]

Blues: Its not so much about high speed. I had a 8X CDRW drive which i used to burned at 8x, and there were such clicks. Not anymore, now, faster CDRW drives actually throttle and have buffer underrun protection, which would not result in clicks and pops. Well, unless there is a sudden demand in the CPU load, like doing somthingelse while the CD is burning, possibly antivirus software & clicking on something else when the CD is burning.

[Sanjuro 0]

My soundcard? A simple SBLive DE5.1. Nothing fancy.

It's not really a bad distortion, it just sounds like the bass becomes too loud and something can't handle it and it just sounds wobbly. I was expecting a hard thump like what one would get with a solid subwoofer

[lekguan 0]

It shouldn't be the fault of the soundcard unless its integrated soundcard.

 

Perhaps it has reached saturation, or it cannot draw enough power when too much bass comes into play?

[ablaze 0]

My soundcard? A simple SBLive DE5.1. Nothing fancy.

It's not really a bad distortion, it just sounds like the bass becomes too loud and something can't handle it and it just sounds wobbly. I was expecting a hard thump like what one would get with a solid subwoofer

sblive!? no!! thats sacrilege!!

come on man..least get an audigy. better still a revo