David beating Goliath?

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kspv
Ist häufiger hier
#1 erstellt: 23. Nov 2005, 10:20
I was in Delhi for few days this week. To kill time, I went to Ansal Plaza's "Music Today" outlet, and found that the store stocked several headphone models (conventional, mini, sports, cordless etc.)of Philips, Panasonic, Technics, DJ-Galleria (never heard of this brand before)amongst others. The highest priced among conventional headphones was a Panasonic costing Rs.3,700/-. The lowest priced was Philips HP805 costing 1,190/-. I actually did a listening test between the models available, and was amused to find that the lowly priced Philips was beating the pants off (near pro quality)the others. However, I was not very sure of my judgement. So I did some Googling, and found an exhaustive review by another person of Indian origin, Sushant Gore, on www.headfi.org, on this model. Gore had heaps of praise for this headphone. For the benefit of headphone enthusiasts, I am posting the excerpts from his review below. All the credits go to Sushant Gore. Incidentally, I ended up buying this model, and am thoroughly enjoying its sound.
------------------------------------------------------------
Philips HP805 Exhaustive Review

Specifications :-

Price : 25 - 30 $
Name : SBC HP805
Driver width : 40mm
Impedance : 32 Ohms
Sensitivity : 104 db
Type : Semi Open.

The top, hind part of the driver is covered by the headband spring mechanism.Rest of the driver breaths freely. The driver is a Grado lookalike from the front and the back.

Subjective Loudness : Even though the sensitivity is lot more than my Koss, I find that I only have to reduce the volume on my Live! 24 bit sound card by 4% compared to my Koss.

Koss : 17 %
Philips : 13 %

Build Quality : 9/10

Awesome.Very good value for the money. All parts are held together using screws and snap-on parts. All plastic construction, but the plastic doesn't resonate when tapped using your knuckles.The headband is not leather(as it looks like in the Philips photos), but is made of rexin.

The ear cushions are very soft and deep, and about 1.5 times the width of the Koss UR40 pads. They are shaped to angle the drivers at an angle to your ears (a concept originally invented by Sony to improve imaging). No leather or anything here. The textile covering the foam pads has been sewn on from front and behind which alleviates all fears of the pads getting torn.

Comfort : 8/10 .

That's because you never forget you are wearing them (contrary to what Philips claims) unlike the Koss UR40's. But that's due to the shape of the ear cushions that touch your ear at various points and not because of the weight.

Miscellaneous : 10/10

The one sided cable is about the width of Grado ones. It has a nice screw on grooves at the beginning of the 3.5 mm connector for attachment to the included 6.3mm connector. I don't see any need to replace the cable.

Sound Quality :

Objective :-

Frequency Response :-


Philips: Good frequency reponse throught the audible range. No noticable dips or peaks.

Koss : 2 to 3 db dips at 3700-4300 Hz and at 6900-7300Hz. 3 db bass gain between 80-250 Hz.

Driver Matching :-

Philips : I guess the QC is very good at the Philips factory.Very well matched with no audible differences between left and right.

Koss : Small Driver matching problems most occuring above 8 Khz.

Subjective Tests :-

1)Green Day : "Wake me up when september ends."

The guitar at the song beginning is very clear and its nuances are clearly audible.You dont have to "listen" for them as you have to on the Koss. All other instruments are at equal volumes with none taking the front stage. Not to mention the eye blinking impact when the first drum hits. The Koss gets blown away here.

2)Mariah Carey : We belong together

Pretty much a tie here except that on the Koss there is no distance between mariah and you. On the Philips if you close your eyes,she seems to be on stage.

3)Isley Brothers : Living For The Love Of You

Pretty equal here but for the soundstage.The singer again sounds on the stage.

4)Thalia Feat Fat Joe : I Want You

The Koss is beaten on intelligibility of words. "Thalia" sounds like "Aliyah" on the Koss. I had to search for the lyrics on the Koss. I dont need them now!

5)Ronan Keating : If Tomorrow Never Comes

Again the Philips beats the Koss on vocal intelligibility. The song gets a nice ambience on the Philips. Every word is clear as a Windex cleaned glass.

6)Pet Shop Boys : Heart

Pretty close here but the Philips has the midrange impact and snarl missing on the Koss.

7)Luther Vandross : Dance With My Father

I never knew there was glittering at the songs beginning at such a volume. Enough said.

8)Gwen Stefani : Cool

Miss Gwen sound raspy as she does in real life. The Koss smoothens her voice by quite a bit.

9)Elissa : Kol-Youm-Fi-Omry

Eliss is a wonderful Lebanese female singer whose songs are recorded very well unlike most other Arabic artistes. Philips brings a lot of instruments to the table. You can hear each instrument play a different tune.

11)Sara K. : If I Could Sing Your Blues

You can hear some frets at the songs beginning invisible on the Koss. Even thought the song sound better overall on the the Philips,it doesnt tingle your spine like the Koss does.

12)Leny Andrade : Maiden Voyage

The piano sound richer here but at the same time veers on the edge of honkiness.The Grado drivers have a sloping rise about 2000Hz onwards and since these drivers resemble the Grados,could this be the reason for the mentioned flaw? Yet it sounds more detailed on the Philips.

13)Michael Jackson : Smooth Criminal

The Koss beats the Philips on tonal balance though not on detail.I guess this is because most of MJ's recording sound "juicy". "Bad" sounds better on the Koss.

14)Michael Jackson : Thriller

The opening wind that accompanies the crack of thunder is more audible on the Philips. However unlike the above case, the album sounds better on the Philips.

15)Ray Charles : Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word feat Elton John

The "odd" sound that most instruments make other than their main tones,you know the slight air disturbance something like that is audible on most instruments here unlike on the Koss. Elton sounds better here.

16)The Corrs : At Your Side

Instruments on extreme left and right are more audible. The treble sounds very right. I find this track to be very good to test transient and treble response. Most consumer grade speakers sound trashy here, but not the Koss or the Philips. But the Philips wins.

17)Serious Sam : The Second Encounter : Fight5.ogg

Serious Sam is a crazy FPS shooter game with some of the better game music around. Sam shouts "WAR" at the beginning of the song. On the Koss, you ask yourself whether he really shouted war?

18)Zero 7 : Destiny

So much texture here on the Philips which is missing on the Koss.

19)Gladiator : Am I not merciful?

Tonally better than the Koss. With much more instruments audible and a textured wall of sound,unlike the Koss which veils a bit too much. But the song sounds more enjoyable on the Koss due to its peaky bass and recessed midrange.

20)Episode III : Anakin vs. Obi-Wan

Sounds livelier with a soundstage that has immense height and width. When I come to think of it, it sounded the same at my local THX theater.You can actually pick out individual instruments from the same set of instruments.

21)Episode III : Battle of the Heroes

The inital build up sounds faster with a drum on the right hand side. The male choir sounds very textured. Better than it did at the theater.

22)Shawshank Redemption : Main Theme

Better, better, better. No competition here. So many instruments low in volume are audible on the Philips.

23)Rammstein : Links 2,3,4 (German)

The footsteps in the beginning sound more complete. From the leg lifting up and hitting the ground. Also no matter what the lead singer sings,the other instruments are still audible. The Koss looses the details in the footsteps and also can't "multi-task"

24)Kingdom of Heaven OST : Light of Life (Arabic)

The female singer sounds sweeter and more "innocent". The tin drums and other Arabian instruments sound more distinct. You can also hear her taking in breath before she starts a new sentence.

25)Kingdom of Heaven OST : Better Man

Okay ! I got my hair standing up ! When the crescendo builds up and the hawker like sounding man starts his "oh..oh..oh.. ro..ah..aha..ah..ah .......(guttural sounding)," it's sheer audio bliss. Overall,it sounds warmer on the Philips.

26)Hulk OST : Velvet Revolver - Set Me Free

The Koss sounds better but the lyrics are clearer on the Philips. Koss wins here due to its colder style and boomier bass.

27)Passion of the Christ OST : The Stoning

Richer and warmer than the Koss. Frets' audibility is the biggest difference here.The song makes you sad on the Philips. In the case of Koss,it makes it sound regal (as if reminding us of what Christ did and will do for us).

28)Brad Fiedel : It's Over (Goodbye)

This is a tough one, because the industrial sounds and effects used by Brad Fiedel naturally tend to sound better on the Koss. On the other hand,the angled drivers on the HP805 give the song a good sense of ambience and space.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Source Hardware Information :

1)400W Powersafe SMPS
2)CPU Heatsink grounded
3)SoundBlaster Live! 24 bit sound card in "Headphone Out" Mode.
4)Panasonic CDP-310 CD/DVD Player with headphone out.

Audio Format :

1)All songs were either in Lossless APE or 192 + Kbps MP3's.

I am actually tired of writing as much as i have done.But the fact remains that we have a new budget king that thouroughly beats the best of the Koss KSC,IMO : the UR40. It has more texture and better soundstage,sounds richer in ALL of the above tests.I am sorry for not doing any jazz tests but will later by popular demand. Please ask to clear any of your doubts.

- Sushant Gore.


[Beitrag von kspv am 23. Nov 2005, 11:18 bearbeitet]
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