Comfortable in-ear headphones that are very affordable and unlikely to hurt your ears.
Philips is a company whose headphones do not jump off the
page and scream, “Buy me”. The manufacturer is best known for its video
technology and the development of digital television systems and the compact
disc. Its core business in the United
States is in lifestyle related products,
including health care technology. It may be the third largest consumer
electronics company in the world, but headphones have never been its focus.
That being said, Philips has been quite busy during the iPod-era and has
expanded its headphone line-up to over 40 models, including the SHE9500. They
do face some rather stiff competition from Sony, JVC, Grado, Bose, and others,
but Philips products seem to be selling rather well. Philips has a number of
good (although not spectacular sounding) models such as the SHE9500 that serve their
purpose quite well; Easy to wear for extended periods of time, well-made, value
priced, and easy to travel with.
Sonically, the SHE9500 are neutral across the entire
frequency range making them great, as long as you do not crave passion in your
sonic presentation. I know that sounds like a real dig at an otherwise decent
product, but why cannot manufacturers pad the midrange just a tad on some of
their models. Would it be so difficult? As someone who does not listen to MP3s
at all, as I consider it a sin worse than bacon on Yom Kippur, you could
probably argue that I am the last person to complain about such an issue
because all of my music is in lossless formats and the headphones are only
reproducing what I am feeding them.
Garbage in. Garbage out?
I fed the Philips the same audiophile-level recordings I use
when reviewing $1,000 headphones, and $10,000 loudspeakers, so I will stand by
more initial comment that they (and this is a general comment about many ear
buds and cheaper headphones that I have tried of late) need some extra meat in
the midrange to become better than average.
I could listen to the SHE9500 for about thirty minutes at
medium volume levels before I wanted to turn the music off. They really do not
commit any major sins, which is a plus. The comfort level is above average,
which makes them good for working out or commuting. The problem is the asymmetric
cable design that makes no sense at all. Not to me, or anyone else in the
office. Try turning your head while sitting down with these, and the left
headphone keeps popping out. Not a good design item to promote in my humble
opinion.
Worthy of an audition, but I am still think you are better off spending an additional $30 on the Grado SR60s.
