Have you ever heard of a product that’s so good for its price? The Philips SHP9500 is one of those products, receiving superb customer reviews with its competitive price and dynamic performance. In terms of comfort, the Philips SHP9500 is a good choice. However, in terms of portability, there is none to speak of because this has an open design, but this product is just so efficient. If you are looking for a merchandise with great reviews that is cheap and expendable, the Philips SHP9500 is a good buy, plus, you won’t regret the more than decent performance that it can offer. Better to purchase a few spares in the store or in Amazon.com before Philips realizes its value and shoots up the price.
If you are relatively new to the hobby, it is expected that you still have limited gear and a limited budget. This is where the Philips SHP9500 enters the scene, offering a great user experience, impressive competence and timeless design at a very affordable price. For audio gear heads, the Philips SHP9500 is an easily disposable, relatively cheap item that amazingly carries high-end audio. At its most basic level, the Philips SHP9500 can offer many laps around the normal pair of standard, consumer headphones. Even for the most equipped and picky audiophiles, the Philips SHP9500 can pass the standards. If you are a consumer who is looking to transition into high end audio equipment, the Philips SHP9500 is an ideal choice – no hype intended. We couldn’t emphasize more that the Philips SHP9500 is perfect for people on a budget as well.
Philips SHP9500 Build
The Philips SHP9500 may be made of plastic but it has a tough and competent build. There is a certain feel of plastic in the main housings of the drivers including the parts that support the metal frame. Admittedly, the Philips SHP9500 may not look and feel as tough as Sennheiser models, but for its price, the Philips SHP9500 has a reliable and sturdy build. Based on customer reviews in Reddit and other significant headphones forums, the Philips SHP9500 lasts a long time, specifically around 4 to 5 years. The mesh applied on the spine of the headband and housings is made of relatively thick material and has a strong and somewhat industrial feel. When you touch and see the Philips SHP9500, you can see it lasting for years, even with minimal care. The metal meshes have large R’s and L’s, which can be considered as one of the cons for some people who like to use ear merchandise with a subtle design. Nevertheless, if you are willing to overlook that, you’re good to go.
Speaking of cons, the cables of the Philips SHP9500 seem to have some issues. It comes with a 3 m, 3.5-3.5 TRS cable with one side black plastic and the other side silver. Take note that the silver side goes into the source and not the headphones. The cable doesn’t take shape too quickly and it can easily get tangled into an unpleasant or uncomfortable shape. Initially, that may not seem to be a major issue if you don’t engage in a certain movement, which is also expected since the Philips SHP9500 is engineered to have an open-back design. Nevertheless, a change of cables, for the sake of comfort or length, is recommended.
Philips SHP9500 Comfort
The Philips SHP9500 offers a comfortable listening experience with minimal soreness, clamp and fatigue. No matter the size of your head, the Philips SHP9500 just fits right enough not to fall off. In short, the Philips SHP9500 can accommodate various head shapes and sizes, even those that belong to the large department. There are also numbered settings on the headband which helps users keep track of them, allowing a consistent and comfortable fit.
The default pads of the Philips SHP9500 create a spacious but shallow seating for the ears which provides the premise that your ears touch the drivers or the internal plastic housing more often. This may create some sort of discomfort that may lead to a mellow ache around three hours into a listening or recording session. This issue is not considered as a major problem though, as it can be fixed after some refitting.
The Philips SHP9500 has its own legit set of pros and cons, but the cons can’t really be considered as a major handicap. The pads of the Philips SHP9500 feel comfortable and sturdy but the somewhat rough, “car seat” texture makes it feel a bit rough to the ears. It is worth noting that the car seat texture does not really cause major discomfort, so that’s not really a giant killer of the hype given to the Philips SHP9500. In fact, with constant use, the ear pads become softer. Speaking of pads, they are changeable, although it is a bit difficult to do so because they do not come with a magnet.
Philips SHP9500 Technical Information
We tested the Philips SHP9500 with a combination of Spotify on very high volume and FLAC files and we all got a competitive and accurate connection – this device can really take the heat and pressure gracefully. We also tried the Philips SHP9500 with some substandard sources and it still provided high precision and dynamic sound. This means that the Philips SHP9500 is really a versatile and competitive gear for music and recording.
The Philips SHP9500 is also very easy to drive thanks to the Neodymium magnets. It has a single 50mm DD configuration and a mobile friendly 32 ohms. It can work well without an amp but if you still prefer to use them with amps, no problem. Meanwhile, the frequency response of the Philips SHP9500 is real and accurate, giving a 27-17500 result in a sine sweep test. Avoid using the Philips SHP9500 outdoors though, since they are open-back and tend to leak a lot or most of the noise.
To know more about Philips headphones, check out our curated list here.
