Philips HP 910 Headphone Reviews

Manufacturer Philips Model HP 910
Headphone Type Open Circumaural Headband Type Double
Weight (g) 534 Driver Type Dynamic
Enclosure Material Plastic Isolation (dB) 0
Impedance (ohms) 32 Cable Length (cm) 300
Frequency Response (Hz) 15 - 32000  
Connector 3.5mm with 6.5mm adaptor Street Price US$70
Buy from Amazon.com  
Average reviewer scores
Bass Extension 8.0 Bass Impact 7.5
Bass Quality 7.0 Mids Quality 7.0
Highs Quality 7.0 Soundstage 7.0
Detail 6.5 Portability 4.5
Isolation 0.0 Comfort 8.5
Durability 5.0 Improvement With Amplification 7.5
Value for Money 9.0    
Overall Score 6.9 Total Reviews 2

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Reviews by our members

Review by Senior Member NA Blur on 14 Nov 15  15:00
Individual review
Bass Extension8
Bass Impact7
Bass Quality7
Mids Quality7
Highs Quality7
Detail6
Comfort9
Durability5
Value9

Let me mention that the frequency response range is from 5 Hz up to 32k Hz meaning the bass is much more extended than the specs listed on this site.

Straight out of the box you notice that care and thought went into the design and functionality of the headphone. The box is well organized and the headphones come with a 1/8 to 1/4 inch adapter. The earcups are soft blue felt and the headband auto-sizes to your noggin. They fit tremendously well and are never too tight. The earcups are large enough for very large ears and nicely sized for someone with small ears. When you wear them you hardly feel them on your ears or on your head. The headphones themselves feel a tad on the cheap side in that they are so light. The plastic feels hollow but so far they have lived up to the test of time. I really enjoy their fit and moderate detail. I have had these over a year now and really enjoy them. Here is why.

Provided are two reviews. The first of which is what the headphones sound like unamped and the second is what they sound like amped via Grace Design m903.

Detail:
Unamped all of the frequencies are adequately represented. The bass is rolled off, the mids shine true, and the highs bright.

Amped the frequencies level out tremendously. The bass is deep and impactful. It reminds me of a pair of SR-80's I had with over 500 hours on them. The bass is just a joyous addition to your listening experience.

Soundstage:
Unamped the soundstage is a bit low and one dimensional. It will bore you.

Amped the soundstage greatly opens up and the depth of the sound field becomes deep, rich, and full of life. To really let them shine listen to Buddy Miller & Julie Miller - [Written In Chalk CD1 #05] Long Time. This will show you how wide the soundstage can be.

Distortion:
This is not a movie or video game headphone. With these two types of media the headphones seem to crackle a bit. It was subtle, but there. I was unimpressed by the ease of distortion found in these cans from these two sources. With music on the other hand I had no problems. Even listening to The Dead Weather - [Sea Of Cowards CD1 #10] Jawbreaker did not distort.

Impedance is a tricky thing. It is not only the resistive component of the headphone, but a combination of other factors as well. Sensitivity, impedance, and the performance of the headphone frequency response curve as a function of impedance play a huge roll in the headphones reaction to amplification. When I went from the output of my computer's audio headphone output I was somewhat displeased with the HP910's frequency response. Once I amped them up a bit with my m903 the sound was just short of life changing. The bass grew in magnitude a hundred fold. The highs were mellow but nice. The mids were right between which is where they should be.

I recommend trying Grado's SR-80i and Audio Technica's ATH-M50 if you are looking to use these unamped. If you plan on running the HP910 through a nice amp then by all means take a purchase a pair. I can almost guarantee no disappointments. Sure they are not going to rumple your head senseless with overwhelming bass. The bass will still surprise you especially in combination with the other aspects of the audio response.

Here are the numbers both unamped and amped.

UNAMPED:
Bass Extension 4
Bass Impact 2
Bass Quality 2
Mids Quality 6
Highs Quality 6
Soundstage 5
Detail 6
Portability 4
Isolation N/A
Comfort 9
Durability 5
Improvement with Amplification 8

AMPED:
Unamped:
Bass Extension 8
Bass Impact 7
Bass Quality 7
Mids Quality 7
Highs Quality 7
Soundstage 6
Detail 7
Portability 4
Isolation N/A
Comfort 9
Durability 5
Improvement with Amplification N/A

Review by Member jimmyjames8 on 14 Nov 15  15:00
Individual review
Bass Extension8
Bass Impact8
Bass Quality7
Mids Quality7
Highs Quality7
Detail7
Comfort8
Durability5
Value9

Bought these cans on a recommendation from a poster on Headfi, sort of an impulse buy. They have a very \"Fifth Element\" kind of style to them, maybe that was the attraction. Put them on and plugged them in right out of the box and it was one of those \"WOW\" moments. These cans are awesome, for the money. Wide sound stage, warm sound, not as detailed as I would like with slightly rolled off highs but almost exactly the right amount of bass for me. I am not a bass head but find some highly regarded phones sorely lacking in the bass \"thump\" department. These cans have some \"thump\". It's like a good loudspeaker system where the room gets pressurized and you feel as well as hear the low bass notes. I did note some distortion in the overall sound of these cans that others have mentioned. This may be exagerated by my tube amp to some small degree. It did seem less noticable when listening via an iPod, which by the way drove these cans to a very loud level. For $70 delivered to me here in the states, from Amazon, these cans are a screaming bargain. They are a lot of fun and are guaranteed to put a smile on your face if you like to rock and like for your cans to thump. I find myself wearing them a lot. They have got be the most underated, under hyped cans on the market.

Philips HP 910
Philips HP 910