Philips Audio SHP9500 HiFi Precision Stereo Over-Ear Headphones (Black)

Introduction----------------------------- I love testing headphones, In-ear-monitors, earphones, earbuds, earwax (jkjk)...ya know all of that stuff. Recently I picked up a pair of Philips SHP9500S (Note the "S" refers to the new version as the original 9500 was discontinued years ago). These were originally intended as a replacement for my broken gaming headphones, but upon receiving them and testing them on music I was extremely surprised with their sonic performance (or quality of their sound). At $70 these are what I would consider to be relatively "budget friendly" headphones. What surprised me the most was that even at that price, they competed equally with headphones/earphones/IEMs upwards of 3x that price point. Now I understand that these are Open-Back headphones and aren't suitable for everyone's needs (more on that later) and that the sound signature/style of sound is not traditional to what people are accustomed to hearing (again...more on this later). So without further ado, let's dig into this shall we?Build Quality----------------------------- Not much to say other than BRAVO Philips...At $70 I couldn't be sure what to expect from full sized Over-Ear headphones, but I was very impressed with the quality of materials that Philips chose to use in the design/manufacturing of these headphones. The headphones are constructed with relatively sturdy plastic integrated into an almost perfectly engineered fit design. Not only does the plastic feel well constructed, but every movable joint is engineered to have some degree of resistance giving it a much more premium feel than many flimsy, loose and poorly constructed headphones. To add to that, the headphones also have a very flush design with little to no excess poke between any given part and only a 3mm offset at the most where the driver/speaker tilts forward or back to conform to the persons' head. Last but not least, the slide adjustment points at the top-sides of the headband are made with aluminum and a plastic reinforcement plate under it (probably also to aid with sliding)Comfort----------------------------- I'll makes this simple, THEY ARE THE MOST COMFORTABLE HEADPHONES I'VE EVER USED! You know when headphones claim to be "Over the Ear", but they're really just large On Ear Headphones...? Yea well these headphones literally are OVER the ears! Unless you have Dumbo sized ears, then your ears will completely fit inside the earpads with the padded ring all the way around your ears (The way Over the Ear headphones are suppose to be). Not only that the brilliant engineers at PhilipsSound also thought it would be great to make the padding at the top of the headphones detached from the headband. Not only does this prevent stretching damage to the the padding, but it also acts as suspension space between the users' head and the headband adding to the great comfort! The headphone clamp force (elastic force used to keep the headphone "clamped" on to the head) is rather loose so this may or may not be good depending on your head size. While the clamp force is very pleasing and causes zero fatigue or headaches, it is important to note that they could fall off more easily when leaning forward or back on smaller heads.Sound Quality----------------------------*HIGHS*- The highs are quite fantastic in that they are very revealing in terms of detail retrieval without being harsh or sibilant (piercing). I would consider them to be warmer/smoother than most headphones in the $100-200 category with Sennheiser being the only exception. In general, the highs are consistent across all genres of music in that they're there to say hello and be present, but not overbearing and fatiguing like some headphones are.*MIDS*- This is where it's at!! The mids on these are INCREDIBLE! Because these headphones are made to have more neutral/reference style sound signature, the mids are well presented in the body of its sound. Vocals are crystal clear regardless of your genre! I listened to everything from indie alternative, tropical house, rap, r&b, rock, you name it! It honestly doesn't matter what you play, everything sounds super clear and in some instances it almost sounds live depending on the recording. Any instruments will be brought forward to your attention while still remaining behaved and in line with everything else at an equal intensity level (not over emphasized).*LOWS/BASS*- This is the most controversial section by FAR but hear me out...everything you understand about bass is not "incorrect" but rather "shaped" metaphorical also to the sound signatures of a large majority of headphones in the mainstream market. What I mean by this is that a large majority of headphones you've used have what the industry considers to be a "pop sound" aka: V-Shaped (or U-Shaped) sound. This basically means that most headphones emphasize low/bass and highs. In the case of the SHP9500S, there are lows/bass, but not in the way most of you are accustomed to. The lows/bass on these are present and impactful, but also tight with very little decay time (they don't stick around for long). In these headphones the lows/bass are there to add to the dimension of the sound to create an overall experience rather than become the focus of the experience...if that makes sense. If you're dead set on hearing a rumble and prefer that experience, then these are not the headphones for you. HOWEVER! If you're interested in trying something new and hearing your music in a completely different way, then the SHP9500s are tuned to give you the opportunity to hear everything else that a "pop sounding" headphone won't offer you.*Sound Stage*- This might be a brand new category for some of you because a good portion of you have probably only ever used earphones or closed back headphones which have a very intimate sounding experience. Even earphones/closed back headphones that claim to have a "large sound stage" are COMPLETELY different than that of an Open Back headphone. To put it simply, sound stage refers to how "open" and how real to hearing music "on stage" headphones can reproduce. The bigger the sound stage, the more life like and real it typically sounds. The SHP9500S is not the largest sounding open back headphone on the market, but it is considered to be 90% close to what open back headphones in the $300 offer and 100% competitive to open back headphones in the $150-250 range. Basically they're REALLY good overall and EXCELLENT for their price! The sound stage is open and detailed enough to give you the experience of being in the recording room with the artists which is a super fun and exciting experience! I like to consider the sound stage to be open enough to pick out instrumental positions while still being intimate enough to sound like a private performance just for you!*Sound Leakage*- I'm not here to hide this fact...they are VERY loud! If you're in a room with other people and you plan to play music at 60%+ on any device...everyone in the room will hear what you're listening to clearly. These are open back headphones and nothing is there to block the sound coming in or coming out...simple as that. Don't expect to be volume conscious with these because either way, it's still audible from the outside. If you have your own room and or you have a secluded space to listen using these, then these are perfect! OR you can let your roommates try these, they'll fall in love and then if you convince all your roommates to get one too and invest into a large aux 3.5mm splitter for everyone to connect to, then all of you can share the SUPERB experience...problem solved! Ohh...if you have annoying siblings and want to torture them with forcefully making them hear your infinitely better taste in music, you can play these at full blast and watch the expression on their face change from a smirk to anger! CAUTION...they may try to steal it if they get a chance to put them on and listen. (I am not liable for any stolen headphones)Conclusion----------------------------- at $60-70 the Philips SHP9500S is a GREAT investment! They are the perfect headphones for people looking to hear 90% of what those expensive $400+ "audiophile" headphones sound like at only a small fraction of the cost! I think that these headphones can also be a great alternative to buying speakers to watch movies or listen to music because you get a very similar listening experience to that of relatively decent speaker system (due to the sound stage) in a much smaller package that's also portable. If you're tired of hearing the same style of sound from every headphone and want to take a step into a completely different experience, then I HIGHLY recommend these! I promise you that if you're looking for a fantastic experience where you'll get to sit and re-listen to ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING to hear the difference, then THESE ARE FOR YOU!!

Review Update 05-26-2019:I need to update my review. For some reason, the Equalizer APO + Peace is creating a problem with the SHP9500 and makes it sounds really weird. I got rid of the Equalizer and installed my drivers for my motherboard which has a built in Equalizer (not so detailed but with 10 bands) and some treble, bass control (among other things) in it and playing some songs using SHP9500 this way, showed what the headphone is capable of and honestly after some more tests I can say it is superior over SR850. Equalizer APO was causing a very strange behaviour which lead me to not like it as much, I will need to investigate why. Playing Heart Afire from Defqwop in SHP9500 shows its clarity, separation and bass extension and I'd say is better than SR850. The bands I like most plays better (at least some of them JInjer, Divisions, Any Given Day) in SR850 yet, but in general I consider the Philips a step up in quality, clarity, separation and range. In SR850 some instruments of percussion for example was more faded and far away. What I noticed also was if you turn bass up it interferes much, mush less in the mids and highs (and vice-versa) than in the SR850 so you can control one of them without punishing much the other. Will keep updating my experiences.Original post:In short, after comparing Samson SR850 and Philips SHP9500 right out of the box, my answer is: 850 sounds better specially for music.Now, I will try (even being kinda noob to the subject) to explain what I noticed using them both in the last days. Pluggin both into my Asus 3 celphone with no EQ and playing Spotify at max quality, 850 sounds much better in every aspect and they play louder, 9500 should be louder cause it has a higher sensibility (both has impedance of 32ohms, but 850 has a sensibility of 98db against 101db of the 9500).If we use amplifying levels and EQ on the celphone 9500 starts to get much more nice but requires lots of adjustments to make it closer to the 850 sound.Using my Fiio A3 amp for headphones both perform better but again, 850 sounds best. 9500 needs tweaks to become more enjoyable and has a different sound signature. If I would use them only in the celphone with no EQ, amp or anything I would not keep the 9500.In the computer, my Asus Maximus IX Hero has power enough to push them both quite well and using the driver features I could equalize each nicely but only enjoyed he 9500 after I bumped the bass around 60hz and reducing 1 to 2db around 5khz (which is where is it a bit harsh).Sound characteristics on each:SR850 has a wider soundstage, smoother (more rounded?) bass, has a more harsh highs around 1 to 2khz, more blended mids (instruments blends more with vocals and all), I'd say I can hear the vocals and guitars more pronnounced, responds less to equalization but if you tune the 1 to 2k a notch down and bump just a bit the bass around 150hz it gets good, very good. A good observation, some tracks gets very disturbing with no equalization due the 1 to 2k peak but if you drop down a bit there's no problem.SHP9500 has slightly less soundstage, more hollow but deeper bass, has it's highs peak around 5khz, better instruments separation (I could hear the drums very well), vocals are slightly more backwards than in the 850, responds very well to equalization and if you tune it the right way it becomes a brand new headphone. Bass lacks more than in the 850 but bumping up (specially around 60hz) the bass gets much more interesting and alive but I felt some rumble/ressonance in my ears bumping them so you gotta find the perfect spot. I'd say I prefer the 850 bass, more natural, more like the bass you hear from speakers. I needed to tweak down the area around 5k so the highs could be less piercing but in general 9500 mids and highs are more controlled.Build quality/confortSR850 uses much "cheaper feel" plastic all around but it is quite strong, don't feel like it will break at all. Has velour pads which has a nice touch but feels warm after a while and gets a bit uncorfortable. The pads touches the tips of my ear but don't disturb me. The headband has a very nice adjustment on the top of the head and don't cause any disconfort but the clamping force is felt at least in the first 30 seconds of usage but I already worn the headphone for 3 to 4 hours with no problem other than heat. Doesn't have removable cable and it entirely plastic built.SHP9500 uses much better plastic, has metal grills, the pads rotates some degrees to adjust to the head shape, has fabric pads and fabric over the headband and feels light, absolutely light and feel like I am not wearing a headphone at all, however if I look down to get something that is fell in the floor for example, the headphone slips from my head, there's zero clamping force even if you adjust the headband correctly. I am a metalhead and can't headband at all with it, but headbanging is not a problem wearing the SR850. 9500 has detachable cable (3.5mm) and metal grills which allow you to use Vmoda boom microfone or Modmic and transform it into a headset, which is not possible with the SR850. The cable in the 9500 feels very cheap, even more cheaper than the 850 one. Forgot to mention my ears didn't touch the pads but touches slightly the fabric that covers the drivers, however don't disturb me at all.Gaming tests:Tried the racing game Assetto Corsa in my computer with some paid mods which has great developed sounds and I can assure that with or without EQ SHP9500 sounded better than SR850 and I think was specially due the more controlled mids and highs and due separation I mentioned earlier. With EQ it got even better because I was able to bring the bass to the right and satisfatory level. Soundstage may be a bit less nice in 9500 but is slightly and taking into consideration the extra confort and the possibility to attach a mic to it the 9500 is of great value.All I say here could only be written because I compare them both, one right after the other. After one day away from the SR850 (which I was much used to how it sounds) and using the 9500 first with the EQ on I would be very satisfied with what it delivers. To music however, I still prefer the SR850 sound signature over the 9500 though.What else can I say? If you intend to use it in your celphone with no amp/EQ I would not recommend the SHP9500 over the SR850, if you'll gonna listen to music and will not be gaming I would not recommend it either. If you intend to use Amp/EQ or both in the celphone, both will be enough but 9500 requires a lot of tweaking to perfomr reasonable close to the 850. If you intend to listen to music and play games I would recommend 9500 but still prefer the 850 in average (despite not have the chance to plug in a mic).I hope it helps and if anybody has both and disagree with what I said I would be glad to hear your feedback.