Used them in home recording studio as a second pair. For the money it's hard to find a better pair headphones. The open back doesn't trap the bass while using them to mix and they give you a different comparable sound of what you are recording. My other headphones the Audiotechnica m50X is more expensive but not a whole lot better. If you got the cash the sennheiser HD600. But only would recommend them for studio work. Overkill for anything else.

comfy single cord great clarity and open sound

distort easily seem a bit cheap on the build quality

Don't buy these over similar priced retail models, for 30 bucks they are a deal, but I would reccomend the hd497 over the 490's, or a pair of sony cans, or a pair of Denon can's in the same range. These hd490's have wonderful clarity and highs, but distorted bass.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AHD-750 Koss Quadraphones Sennheiser hd490 Sennheiser hd497 Sennheiser hd570 Sennheiser hd535 various Phillips headphones Sony MDR700 various JVC Headphones various Sony Heaphones

Good Sound Comfort, Comfort Comfort! Reasonable price

I do need to turn my amp up a bit more than I do when listening through my speakers (Tannoys M2.5s) But where I usually listen through my speakers at 9 o'clock, I've been listening to the 490S at about 10. It's true that if I turn them up to mid-point the bass tends to distort a little but, maybe that's not such a bad thing--you really shouldn't listen to headphones at high volume, unless you're planning on not listening at all in the future.

I guess previous reviews have established that these phones should not be used on discmans/walkmans. I had bought a pair of Sony CD380s which I used for about 6 months. They impressed me at first but their semi-closed design tended to give me a sensation of pressure in the ears. Luckily for me, they developed a slight defect (nothing serious, not to downgrade them) and the electronics store chain where I bought them let me trade them in for the Sennheiser 490s.(Two really cool salesmen in my local store!) I've only been using them for 2 days but their sound is impressive. I just can't understand the complaints about boomy bass but maybe that's because I use them on my home stereo (Marantz 6000 OSE amp with 50 watts/channel, very-low distortion, Philips 723 CD player with high quality interconnects). I've been reading reviews of the Sennheiser 497s, which seem to get better reviews than the 490s, BUT. . .a lot of people seem unhappy with the comfort factor with the 497s. Whereas, the 490s are extremely comfortable (I've had them on for 4 hours tonight and still don't feel any discomfort). The sound quality is very good (much better than the Sonys, which had more impressive bass but were quite lifeless). I can't get Grados in France, but once again, some people seem to find the 60s a little uncomfortable so I'm not tempted to try to order them from the states. These are very respectable cans for a home stereo. And hey, aren't headphones a little like shoes? What good is excellent quality if you can't wear them more than 2 hours?

Similar Products Used:

Sony MDR-380, Sony MDR IF-120 (cordless)

Good high& vocals

Bass is not to great, after all it is an open ear style.

Just pick it up today. AT $9.99 what a bargain. Great sounds. Great for plug directly in to front of cd players.Sit back and listen to Sade. I will keep it just for that easy music.

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Many high end dj headphones.

Clear vocals, and highs, comfortable

unclear bass, distorts at louder volumes...sounds about like a pair of phillips headphones that cost about 30 bucks.

Don't buy...simply...there are better headphones...For 30 bucks they are OK, but not spectacular, highs sound clear to me, and vocals are good, but they don't like hitting decent volumes without distortion. My friend has the Sennheiser 535's and they are a LOT better. I've read that the HD-497s are a lot better to for only about 10 bucks more retail.

Similar Products Used:

Senn hd-535, Sony styles, Phillips

powerful bass comfortable for the ears detachable cord

need for an amplifier a little bit expensive a little cumbersome (big)

I have a comment to make: if the HD 490 are badly placed on your ears you will not be able really to appreciate them. When they are positioned too high on your ears, you hear much of boomy bass and little medium and high, on the other hand, when they are placed at the good position, i.e. lowest possible, they are well.

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nothing compared with that

Very comfortable; reasonably musical for 30 bucks.

Very inefficient; boomy base (I just turn down the bass and turn up the volume on the Advent 300 receiver and all is well.)

These very comfortable phones are boomy and startlingly inefficient, but a good value at $29.99. These were the last on the rack so I guess Frye's is closing them out. I use them at work for long hours on decent gear, a good match for their strengths and weaknesses.

Similar Products Used:

various Koss, Stax electret

Comfort, midrange and highs are smooth

too much bass even after burn in.

Looking for an everyday set to use while doing work, reading etc rather than "critical" listening, I tried the usual suspects ( Senns, AKG, Sony)in the under 100 dollar range.The 490's stood out in terms of confort and sound. I burned them in for about 20hrs, after which the mids and highs become more prominent and transparent, and slightly warmer. Bass is still too heavy though ( sennheiser marketing people, are you reading all these reviews ?????), which is a common theme on many of their models! Why? Besides being heavy handed bass is also not very accurate, it just floods everywhere.As said this does thin a little with burn in, but is still way too much. If I wanted a blaster I would get that, not headphones! They are more confortable than other brands, I like wearing them, and do not fatigue all that much, the foam could be a touch softer. They are also not very efficient, meaning you need a good amplifier ( or dedicated headphone amplifier) to do justice, and in fact the equipment you use them on does make a significant difference. In summary they reproduce a warmish sound, good spatial imaging, overdone bass, and are confortable to wear. But if can only afford one pair of heaphones,then buy the Grado SR-60's. Or if you need a portable pair, the Sony Fontopia's ( with the rubber cups) are cheaper and heaps better. I will give these 4 stars to even the score, they are slightly less than that, but at this price other than Grado there is little else out there so they are a good deal in a poor bracket. Hopefully Senns' engineers will be able to have more input on what their products should really be like, to reflect their brand's heritage - read the foregoing reviews for a few hints.

Similar Products Used:

Grado SR60 and SR80

Light, moderately uncomfortable after a prolonged use

Poor sound Poor sound Poor sound (you've got the picture!) Poor build quality/reliability Extremely low sensitivity (almost useless with portable CD players) Far too expensive for the quality (or lack of, to be precise) they offer.

I bought a pair of 490's purely on merits of Sennheiser reputation (and a fact that long, long ago I had a pair of 414's that become a legend in their own right). I bought them for my wife for listening at work, so that is why I capped the price at about AU $100 or thereabouts (I paid AU$ 115). What a dissappointment ! Boomy, shut, veiled, distant. Hyper exagerrated bass, recessed mids. 'HiFi' sound for at its absolutely worst. Don't Sennheiser engeneers ever listen to their creations ??? And on top of that they developed an intermittent fault after only a couple of weeks of really light use ! The shop wouldn't replace them but offered a "repair service" with an undisclosed duration ("might take three weeks") so basically I'm with no cans, no money and a very very bad aftertaste. Needless to say, when I look for a 'serious' pair of cans I will give Sennheiser a big miss, even if 600's keep rating well. For little more money I'd rather deal with people at Stax.

Similar Products Used:

VAF i66 / Krell KSA100 / Audio Research LS7 as a reference sound, friend's older Sony MDRxx (at half the price of 490, far better value!)

single detachable cord, comforatable

High price for such awful sound.

Never have I paid more and received less for the money. These headphones couldn''t have sounded much worse if they had fallen off the truck and were run over. Boomy bass, no volume without severe distortion and very little midrange or highs. They went back the next day. To their Credit Circuit City was very easy to deal with.

Similar Products Used:

JVC (great), Koss, Sony, Reciton