I found some interesting review in head-fi.org

The SHP805
My first impression was: incredible detail, good soundstage, but a rather plasticky/dull/timbre-less presentation. The sonic balance is indeed somewhat off, perhaps a bit too much bass and definitely too much treble -> the famous V-shaped EQ, which Philips phones are known for. The specific equalization will depend on your taste, I applied a treble roll-off starting at 2000Hz descending to about -2-3db at the upper end of the spectrum. Then I tried "stuffing" them as sgrossklass suggested, and it did wonders to the performance -> the "plastickyness" is allmost completely gone. The stuffing took also care off the slightly overblown bass, now I feel they could actually need a tiny bit more bass (but beware that the Fortissimo is not an especially bassy source). The next thing I did was adding the amp, as I wrote above - this helped a lot.
Stuffed, amped and equalized, the SHP805 is a killer phone that proves a worthy challenge for any phone in the sub 80 EUR class.

The SHP895
Now to the big brother. He didn't leave such a favorable impression and will be returned, so I'm mostly going to tell you what Philips screwed up here (and ramble a lot). That is especially silly, as they did many things wrong with the SHP895, that were actually well done with the HP890.

1. Sound
It lacks the (residual) "plastickyness" of the SHP805 and add more timbre and body to everything. Instrument separation is also clearly better, although I wouldn't call the SHP805 exactly "muddy" in the first place. The bass is a bit tighter and definitely extends deeper than the SHP805's. The highs on the other hand have a rather annoying touch to them - I would call them harsher and a bit too "in your face", plus the are even more boosted than the SHP805's. Also note that the SHP895 didn't improve as much with the amp as the SHP805 did.

2. Comfort
Dumb, dumb, dumb. The HP890 had a self-adjusting headband plus a "bow" above it as "superstructure". That looked rather ugly and the headband was a little to loose, so the cups could start to sag and ride on your ears. Philips obviously wanted the SHP895 to look nicer, so they gave it only a sturdy headband, but some dumbo decided that the notoriously flawed concept was just to good to leave out. Then there was the designer of the SHPs, which wanted the headband/bow to be flatter shaped (flatter than your head, so only the mid part rests on your skull). Let's add all that up: when on my head, the cups constantly keep pulling the mid part of the (rather hard) headband down on the middle of my skull. Add to that a little too much clamping force from the side, and the SHP895 beats the famous Sennheiser "death claw" by far.

Not enough uncomfyness for you? Guess what - they are hot. No, not in a positive sense. They are hot, hot, hot. I can hardly keep them on my head for more than half an hour before my ears start to smoke/sweat. That is no wonder as there is not much space inside the SHP895's cups, the padding of the drivers rests right againt your ears. I tried to counteract this by stuffing them like the SHP805, but the issue wasn't really resolved through that and the sound got too distant with the necessary amount of stuffing.

Still not enough? They are heavy. I suspect that the HP890 wasn't (much) lighter, but through cleverly distributing that weight on a surface as large es possible (wide and smooth headband, very large and smooth cups), they could actually make you forget that you are wearing them. With the SHP895's weight resting mostly on only one point of your skull, that is just the opposite.

Bottom line is, the sonic improvement over the modded SHP805 has a hard time justifying 3 times their price. The comfort should also be better and not significantly worse the the SHP805's. And although the build quality is clearly superior to the SHP805, the dissadvantages overweigh in my eyes.

Good review, some what this is what I am find out for SHP895 vs HP890.
Philips have this move as too many people making noise on HP890 quality and easily crack which I suspect is due to their roughness usage. *Oooppss*
Only those higher end headphone Philips still using the HP1000 design which is good for me.

now this is what i would call personal preference.
from my experience : the SHP805 doesn't benefit much from an amp, not like the SHP895 did. and i assure you, my setup is nothing to be reckoned off. i did an AB test and clearly the SHP-895 beats the SHP-805 by a few miles.

both are properly burned-in at about 60 hours each, properly amped, and feeded by an EMU0404.

isnt comfort another personal issue? i mean the reviewer could have a head the size of a watermelon.. :b

That's why it is hard to comment something which is all depend on personal preferences.
I just keep my comment open either good or bad.

i like the watermelon analogy. i makes me recall Anna Ohura..

lolz. those watermelons i like.

anyway. i just got a pair of 895s. the watermelon head is right. the grip is tight. like a virgin. >_< i cant say whether its worse than the senns grip of death.. but i can say its quite bad. just putting it on i can feel a grip on my jaw. o_o

1st time round sounds rather bright. lacking bass.

the 895 is quite bright from my experiece (gets brighter with emu..abit harsh now), but it doesnt distort the actual music. Before hand, it does lack bass, after sum time, i can sense the bass bieng there, n recently on the emu, the bass is DEFINITELY there, tight solid, OOMPH! Anna Ohura..oops! that part is FULL

Regarding FULL, on the emu (unamped), the output is seriously unsuspectedly..FULL thru all range, high are just there (sumtimes too much), mids are clear and lows are oomph! Wonder how it the sound would be with an amp..hopefully tomorrow im rajin enuf to make em. IMHO eveybody..IMHO only.

But tis is their review of the phone at a super bloated price..EU80 for HP805..thats almost like the price of HP1000..but hp895 comfort is..ah, wat comfort! all i haf is suffering, but after sum time my skull has flaten n curved to follow the 895 bends..hehe!

This post has been edited by ijan: Feb 12 2006, 02:11 AM

A little running in required I suppose



I got the same feeling Tight as first, but after a while I kinda got used to it >_>

If you understand first time having sex theory then you will easily adopt this concept adapt to everything on "new"

*18SX*

Thx wlteng,
Good review

how exactly do we get extra bass n the most out of the 805?

Start by changing the picture on your avatar

bass out of 805, get an amplifier (805+amp>895, better get the 895 xd, ohohoho) or EQ-ed setting. jus adjust low freq gain to ur liking la. but dun expect much la..800/805 series are really..not there yet..its jus in a totally different league compared to 895..i dunno why the reviewer classed it as that.

ouch. dude that could be his gf. >_<

anyway, the grip of the 895 is getting easier to bear. havent suffered any heat problems yet.. but only had em on for about an hour longest so far.

doesnt cancel out noises completely.. but does cancel out quite a bit of external noise.

still burning it in.

hmm..im used to using them for mor then 4 hours straight without knowing when im doing my werk..just that sumtimes it hits a soft spot on my head n pains my skull..ehehehe!

im itiching for a HP1000...hmmm...amp belum ada, sudah mimpi besar..cit cit cit!

there will be another batch build of SOHAs next week. i'm getting parts for my Valve Buffered Inverted GainClone and since those are basically a SOHA preamp, i'm thinking of offering another SOHA bulk for interested parties.
this time around, i'm thinking of a level higher than the last build. *hint* lots and lots of silver.

lol. i still like my HP890, and ijan's HP890 is on my hand also now.
it's very durable now, and have very nice life with me now. lol
i even DIY one wooden stand for it. and DIY OFC cable with 2.5mm plug...(phew,,, i can find the adapter.. lucky huh..)




ijan : ur HP890 is very fine here, no need to worry ya. =P i spend a lot of time making it as good as new now. wipe it nicely. and tighten all the screw.. and so on.. so now it is as good as new, except the join there got a bit cacat, which 100% don't effect normal use.

Yes I reckon SHP895 is class ahead of the SHP805 and the price also indicate so.

oooo my beloved ex-wife im planning on changing my wife again..but dunno where to dump my old one..haha! thats the only reason im not changing, if sumbody offers to buy my 895 at the price i bought..hohohohoho! i might just get that hd650..dem, this disease is spreading like wildflower!