Sennheiser HD500 Traditional Over-Ear Open "Fusion" Full-Size Headphones (Black)

Rating:
Summary: Good headphones, but not for MP3's
Review: While not being an audiophile, I was looking for a pair of decent sounding headphones to wear at work for extended periods of time. I had a pair of Koss TD/80's that sounded acceptable, but were uncomfortable to wear for over 10 minutes. These looked quite comfortable, and were about what I was looking to spend. At first listen they seemed quite dull, favoring the mid to low sections and not at all the bright, responsive headphones that I was looking for. Then I realized that I was driving them with my laptops internal card. At home, it was a different story entirely. The highs suddenly came out, and they responded like a decent pair of headphones. I would definitely recommend using these only with a properly driven output device, or a headphone amp. Also, these seemed to bring out the worst in my MP3 files. All in all, only medium performance on typical equipment. Better equipment brings out better sound. I hear that the HD495's are better sounding on typical equipment for the same price.