Price Paid:  $150.00 from Audio d'Occasion

Summary:
I've bought this headphone set because I'm moving from my house to a old cheap city appartmant. So I thought, I'M m gonna buy a good headphone set to keep the noise down. I must say, I've got better expectations. I'm not desapointed, but... You a good receiver(amplifier) to use this it. The bass is strong and the treble is sharp. They are very confortable.

Strengths:
Confortable. Powerfull bass(good on some occasions).

Weaknesses:
Need a powerfull source to amplifier it. Bass sometimes too boomy...

Price Paid:  $100.00 from headphones.com

Summary:
A couple years ago, I had gotten sick of the crumby sound of my stock headphones that came with my CD Player. I also wanted headphones so that I could listen to my music loader without disturbing my parents. After exstensive research for headphones in the $100 dollar range, I found the Sennheiser HD-495s and I have fallen in love. They are perhaps the best-sounding headphone I have ever tried. The price is better than decent for its range. The bass is incredible. Being an avid music listener, I demand good sound. These headphones deliver it! I'd recommend these headphones to anyone who cares deeply about the sound of their music but does not have too much cash to fork out. The only drawbacks that I have found to the HD-495s is the amount of power they require and that they are very load to those in one's proximity. Still, they're worth every penny.

Strengths:
Incredible sound, particularly bass. Well-priced and durable. Zero problems in two years of ownership.

Weaknesses:
Demand a lot of enegry so they may sound weak on on a portable player; however, hooked up to a stereo, they can blow you away. They are also load to surrounding people, which will annoy them. (Understandably.)

Similar Products Used:
Aiwa, Sony, and Optimus

Price Paid:  $60.00 from www.buy.com

Summary:
these headphones were a great, deal 60 bucks!! they work great with my system in my room, but lack power when uses with my slimX mp3 player. Part of the problem could be the MP3 player.

Strengths:
price, brand, light weight

Weaknesses:
dont work very well with my portible MP3 player. Open ait design. Not very good in a crowded room

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $120.00

Summary:
Sennheiser's are definately the only brand of audio equipment on my list. I have tried Aiwa (good), Sony, JVC, RCA, and many other brands -- none of which have met my standards of quality. I expect comfort, clear sound and good bass coming from my headphones. This product is well worth the cost of $150, and I can expect it to last for *many* years to come. Sennheisers are German engineered, what more can I say?

Weaknesses:
None.

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Future Shop

Summary:
Having used my KOSS portaPro headphones for what must be over 5 years, I was pretty upset when I came into my room one day to find they had been stepped on by someone while I was out. I was just in the process of settling on a set of Logitech Z-560s for my computer system to upgrade the sound when I decided I''d first try to upgrade my headphones to something that would compete with those new speakers. After a quick trip to Future Shop (I know, I know) I stumbled upon a set of Sennheiser 490s mislabelled at $59.99 instead of $99.99 (Canadian). I checked their specs, when over the KOSS and Sonys they had and decided to give them a try. When I got home I did a ton of research and found this site… and the HD 495s. Luckily for me, I was able to price match the HD 495s down to $99.99 or the huge difference in price from $59.99 wouldn’t have made the upgrade worth it.

Strengths:
I was wondering what the hell the differences between the HD 490 and the HD 495 were… now it’s clear that the HD 495s have much, much better sound than the HD 490s. While the two units look almost identical and share almost the same specifications, the hardware inside must be radically different. These don''t take anywhere close to as much power to drive, and I’ve found they can be played at much greater volumes than the HD 490s on exactly the same hardware. The bass is nowhere near as strong and persistent with these ‘phones, which is greatly appreciated. On the quieter tracks, the bass seemed out of place on the HD 490s, and with louder stuff like techno and industrial music it started distorting. The HD 490s did settle down and improve a lot once they were burned in, although the overall clarity was never as good as these were right out of the package. I wouldn’t call the HD 490s crap for the price, though, and if I hadn’t read about these and decided to spend a great deal more money they would’ve served me well. I burned my set in using a looping pink noise sample at near maximum volume for two days straight – got the idea off a post here, and it worked beautifully. If you’r

Weaknesses:
These ‘phones are extremely lightweight, which is great to wear but requires them to be made of plastic. I’m not really worried about them breaking because the plastic used is flexible, but they can and will scratch rather easily. The phones have a cheap feel to them due to the materials used, however this sure doesn’t seem to affect build quality. I’m worried about the cloth wearing out on me as it doesn’t seem overly sturdy – only time will tell if this is the case. Poor quality sources are easily exposed, which can be disappointing and frustrating at times. That’s more of a compliment to the HD 495s than anything, though. If you''re after a pair of SR60s or even SR80s, check these out first.

Similar Products Used:
KOSS portaPro, Sennheiser HD 490, Grado SR60