Well maybe not.....read on
they were all tested with my ipod direct headout, no fancy setup, it;s simply not logical to spend on amp just to power cheap stuff like these.
HN110
Horrible...muffled...not worth mentioning. I guess the only reason anybody would buy this is because of the noise canceling feature. I didn't try that so dun ask.
HS465
Very cold sounding and highs are very shrill. This is probably the coldest of all of the four phones. All music sounds like they have been "radiofied" (sounds like radio). Guess what, Sony has a phone that makes all music sound like Donald duck (duckified). Philips seems more "practical" here compared to what Sony made their phone sound like. Funnily, it is priced at around RM83 retail over here...one of the most expensive of these four phones ...anyway....avoid at all cost.
HS520
This is the only phone which box was not opened, so I gotta buy it to give it a try. First of all, the bass is quite interesting, it doesn't hit very deep but quite well controlled. Unfortunately, when more instruments come in, it couldn't catch up with the other frequency, thus it sound very soft.
Mid range is rather recessed; highs are also quite cold and shrill but not as bad as the hs465. The phone is quite congested sounding, doesn't sound very airy at all (compared to ksc75).
The ear loop is very high, the phone is sitting very low on my ears...the lowest part of the pad is actually touching my ear lobe....doesn't seem like the pads can be easily changed, you probably gotta dismantle the driver to change the pads. Other than that, the fit is alright. I'm returning them soon.
*extra*
I was listening to eminem encore while having my dinner earlier...I realised that the phone is putting out more bass than it can handle..the right driver actually rattles on the track "ass like that". I dun think this phone can do bassy stuff very well...it actually do sound like it's gonna explode on some bass eavy tracks.
HS820
This phone kinda caught my attention the first time I tried it on. it is foldable, to about as small as the px100 if not smaller. It will have to transform to its behind the neck style before you could use it. I can't really remember, but I think the hs465, 520, and this phone share the same pad design...you can't change it easily.
The hs820 has bass like my MDR-CD480 and the SA1k....basically...the Sony bass. What's a Sony bass? The bass emphasizes on the mid/high bass, not like the 650 per se, but smoother. The 650's mid bass sounds as if it's gonna explode any time. Didn't pay attention to the depth, but I think it hits just as low as the 520 if not lower.
The tonal balance of this phone seems more right, it didn't sound as cold/shrill/quacky like the hs520 and 465. I'm gonna give it another shot some time later. Anyway, I believe this is the best phone of all those that I've tested today. This phone might be worth considering, we will see.
Conclusion
Looks like Philips is more into looks than the sound for their sport style phones. I believe Sennheiser is also taking the same path now. All I can tell you is that, for around RM100..ksc75 OWNS ALL! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA. End of story (no kidding)
(brief review) So I tested some Philips today, THEY ARE DAMN FANTASTIC!