comfort

sound

These suck! My old AKG's need some earpieces, and I can't find them anywhere. My Sony's don't have full ear coverage, so I thought I'd buy these based on Sennheiser's reputation. They're pretty sucky for music. I have relegated them to Ham Radio duty only, and they are fine for that. I use them predominantly for CW (Morse Code). Again, I would steer clear of these if you want them for music listening.

Similar Products Used:

AKG, Koss, Sony

Clear mids and highs

Bass distorts before satisfactory volume level reached.

Not worth the money.Don't buy without trying.I bought these as a special offer over the net without trying. I hope I can return for refund.

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First try with "open air" headphones

The HD490 were a gift.The basses seems too much enphasized, with a lack in the mid-high
freq.
Please, don't buy them!

I must confess I got this headphone for it was on sale, without trying it before, just relying on my long time appreciation for the brand.But I was somewhat disappointed when I finally plugged it in. The "powerful bass" seems to me too "powerful", I find the overall sound quite unbalanced and lacking in details.
Yes, it's really comfortable indeed but that's not enough..

Comfortable, lightweight, based on bionetic designsof higher priced models, good sound, detachable 3m cable, affordable, reliable

Not many for the price - bass is a little uneven at times but that's about all

I have been a Sennheiser user for several years now, starting off with a pair of HD445's some time ago before I recently replaced them with the vastly superior HD570. I bought the HD490's as a birthday present for my brother, who is a music fan but not what you would call a serious listener. He has young children and can only listen to his CD collection in the evenings, when the children are asleep so a pair of reasonably good headphones was needed to overcome this problem.

I have no idea why these cans are getting so many poor reviews, for the money (UK £50, approx US $80) they really are a very good product. I am also surprised at the difference in opinion on this website between the HD490 and the HD495. Sennheiser is well known for filtering some of the technology found in their high-end products down into the lower cost models. The 495's are using similar (if not the same) components, the spec is virtually identical and the only real difference is the fact that they have silver casing! They really do NOT sound that much different at all.

The HD490 is marketed in the UK as the "Classic" and is a close relative of the HD500 Fusion and HD570 Symphony - all three being a bionet design which adapts to the shape of the listener's head for improved comfort.

So, onto the 490's. I will defend this product, and rightfully so. These are a fine pair of headphones for the money (and a lot better than my old 445's) but they are best suited to home hi-fi use. I noticed a lot of the reviews posted here are related to using these with portables - Walkmans, MP3 players and the like. These headphones were NOT designed for this as their primary application.

So my advice is don't hook these up to a personal player or computer for the best performance. It will NOT do them justice. Even my 570's do not sound that great through this type of equipment but offer excellent performance when connected to my domestic hi-fi.

If you use these with a reasonable hi-fi separates system and plug them into your hi-fi amp, these cans can sound very good - especially after they've been run in a little (which is what I have done for my brother before passing them to him).

My only criticism is that they are not a very neutral headphone and seem to push the lower frequencies a bit too much on some material, resulting in a slightly lumpy and uneven bass on some recordings. Having said that the bass never really lost control or distorted, no matter how much I turned the amp up.

My brother listens mostly to reggae and bassy ghetto music (hip-hop, rap, etc) so these are ideal for him. I tried them with all sorts of music but they did sound best with pop, reggae and dance-orientated material.

OK, so they're not as good as my 570's but then they were nearly twice the cost of these. If you have a tight budget, you could do far worse than these.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD445, HD570

comfort, quality build headphones, intelligent cable connection, pleasant sound never agressive

needs to be connected to a power amp, not for portables ! 32 ohms, okay, but 108db, no !!!!

I've been reading many reviews about the Sennheiser HD 490. Some were extremly severe ( people said they suck ! ), others said The Senn's are a very good product ).
I was looking for some comfortable headphones for a good price. I had the occasion to buy a pair last week for half the price, so I gave them a try. First of all, let me tell that these headphones DO NOT SUCK as some people told on their reviews. The fact is, the Senn's are made for a long period of music listening with no agressive sound. Sure the bass level is a little bit too high, medium may be okay, highs are too weak. But you can wear them for a long time without problem. The more you listen to them, the more you find them good. For 30 $, they're good entry level headphones.
But don't forget : do not use them on portables; the sound would be too weak. I think the Sennheiser HD 490 are made for a mid level long listening experience. Don't use the loudness on your amp, you would soon hear distortions. Just appreciate them for what they have been designed !

Similar Products Used:

Technics RPF1, Aïwa lightweight headphones, Koss KTX Pro, and many others...

Light weight, bass, comfort

Bass, sensitivity

I listened to the HD490 Live headphones today--two days after buying my highly-rated Sony MDR-V900's--but the HD490's sounded no better than some of the better Walkman/Discman replacement headphones that sell for less than half the price. The bass is strong but artificial and pumped-up~~so that Sennheiser can charge a stiff premium on them. They are definitely overpriced at Tweeter for $100, and I wouldn't pay more than $40 for them.

BOTTOM LINE
The HD490's are OK, but there are better values.

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I currently own three Sonys (MDR-V300, MDR-V600, MDR-V900). I also demoed three Sennheisers (HD470, HD565 Ovation and HD570 Symphony) and one Sony (MDR-V700DJ) at Tweeter (aka United Audio Centers).

I have to agree with most of the previous reviewers that the bass on these phones is--at least on some recordings--overwhelming and boomy. I bought these looking for something that was a step up from my old Sennheiser 455's, but after three or four days I decided that they weren't enough of an improvement to justify the $100 I paid for them. I will say that on a few recordings that were lacking in bass, the 490's seemed to add a presence that the 455's lacked. But this didn't happen often enough to change my overall impression.
I returned the phones and, for an extra $50, traded up to Sennheiser 570's, which I'm very happy with. (I've posted a review for these, too.)

Comfort

Some of the other reviewers might not like these but I really do. I might not be the most discerning listener, but I don't hear weaknesses when I listen to these. I needed headphones that didn't enclose my ears in plastic. I find most headphones to be uncomfortable because my ears get all sweaty because they don't breathe. These are really comfortable, with an open-air design that breathes. I haven't seen many other headphones without vinyl ear cups of some sort that weren't the cheap kind usually included with a walkman. I bought them for $90 at Circuit City and was happy with them. Yesterday I found them for $45 at redtagoutlet.com and so I've purchased another pair for use at home. I don't think you can beat the sound these put out with anything else around that price.

comfort, price

comfort, price

veiled highs, lack of deep bass extention (adequate midbass)

It took me about 2 minutes to decide to return these. The mids and mid bass was decent I think. I'm not sure though because I didn't listen that long. The dull and rolled off nature of the highs precluded any further listening. These would be a good deal for $19.95 maybe. Next time I'll read these reviews before buying a discounted "deal". I own a pair of sennheiser hd 8 wireless phones and I love those, so I took a chance on these - luckily I made sure that they can be returned before I bought them.Sony makes some decent budget units so try them, but make sure you hear them first or can return them, and check the reviews on this site before you buy.Learn from my mistake.

Similar Products Used:

sony mdr-v7, sennheiser hdr-8