comfortable, very light

muddy midrange, shrill highs, boomy bass, need lots of power

The light weight can't make up for the poor sound. These did not sound any better than my 25 year old Koss, or my $30 Radio Shack model that I have used for three or four years. The bass was ill-defined, and highs, such as cymbals, were shrill and hissy. The separation was nothing to brag about, either. These went back the next day and were replaced by Sennheiser 570's, which are MUCH MUCH better.

Similar Products Used:

old pair of Koss, Sennheiser 570, various Radio Shack cheapies

Absolutely clear reproduction, lightweight, comfort, design

Nothing,... if you like open supra-aural headphones

Best headphones under 55 dollars !!! Absolute clear and detailed reproduction with many details (on other headphones unlistenable). Relatively sensitive to noise. Just small minus is open construction...

Similar Products Used:

Vivanco, Philips, Sennheiser, Koss, all in max. price $55

As said, comfortable to wear, light weight

Extremely bad sensitivity (I am not talking about the sensitivity printed on the package), phenomenally overemphasized bass, phenomenally rolled-off trembles.

I don't have the money to shell out over $300 for the Sennheiser HD600. But I don't think the fact Sennheiser HD600 being a good product necessarily makes Sennheiser HD490 a good one too. I would rather pay $300 to get the HD600 other than paying the $36 for the HD490.

Maybe HD490 is better than HD470 (well, they are #1 and #2 among headphones getting bad reviews in audioreview.com anyway, no surprise here.). Does that make HD490 a good headphone? I don't think so.

HD490 sounds very dark. The sound is enclosured and not transparent at all. Sensitivity is too bad and I don't want to talk about it any more. Shame they put the word: 106db on the package. Pick up a grado Grado (96db or 98db) and tell me which one is louder on a protable CD player.

Talking about price: Koss sportapro can be had for about $17 on the internet. Optimus71 around $12 when onsale, optimus less than $20, Jenson JF-20 for $20, Sony's MDR-V300 can be had for $30 onsale. I don't see HD490 performing better in anyway soundwise than those listed here. Comfortable it is, but can that make up for the bad sound?

Similar Products Used:

Optimus line (nova 67, nova 71), Jenson (JF20, JF30), Sony (MDR-V300, CD160, MDR-V6), Sennheiser (HD-400), Grado (SR60, SR125), KOSS (TD-80, the plug, sporta pro, prota pro, A200)

Great Highs, Mid... wonderful bass

None... but don't pay $100... you can get these for $30-$50

Alright. The Sennheiser HD 490 is a great headphone. The highs are alright, the mids are great and the bass is fenominal.

Did all of you deside to gang up on the 490 or something? I own the HD600, and use it all the time... sure I can tell a difference between the 490 and the 600, but you really can't compair the two.

As far as comfort goes, the 490 is by far the best in any price range... and the audio quality is very good.

Try living with the 470s for a week, then tell me how bad the 490s are =)

Similar Products Used:

HD470 HD600

Lightweight, great bass, comfort

Nothing...

Good headphones i'm listening a lot of Tecno and New Age music. I like music with a lot of bass and highs

I tried the Sennheiser HD 570 and of course it's not the same sound quality but it's not the same price too. I think this is very personal and it depend of the kind of music you listening most of the time. For me the price and the quality are ok.

I give them a good rating but don't forget this is very personal.