Philips 9500 vs Sennheiser HD600 Comparison 

The 9500 hits way above it's price range. I've heard things out of them that I've never even thought possible. A recent example is Tupac's "So Many Tears" I've been listening to the song since 2007 and never once heard him faintly saying something on the right side (in the right ear) in the beginning. The headphone images insanely well for something so dirt cheap, has really really good Soundstage, incredible detail retrieval, is built magnificently, and is one of the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. I purchased a pair around 2017 for $54 which is a steal. To me their true value is around $200. I've never understood the "grain" accusation, as it's simply not true. They can be a bit sibilant and bright, but I've never heard anyone complain about dozens of other more expensive headphones with the same type of character. Just EQ it down a bit or use an Amp/DAC like the Q1 or hip-dac with a warmish tilt. I find that all of those issues go away in listening with it paired up to the hip. The HD600's mids have always bothered me around 2-3k (something the HD650 improved upon) so both headphones are flawed in different ways. The hate against the 9500 has always been completely unwarranted. I mean.. it's a $50 headphone for f's sake lol.

Good review. After watching multiple reviews I bought the SHP9500 S (second version) and paid $45 new. At that time the HD600 was $399. I bought the FX Audio X-6 new for $50 and fell in love with the combo for my PC (3 years ago)......moving forward, more and more reviews came out some were good and some bad. I was about to buy the 600 when Massdrop came out with the 58X jubilee and they flew on the first run so I got a pair on the 2nd...... more and more reviews came out, Z reviews and Claveninet Junkie rolled out sound demos and comparisons leaving me to conclude the 600's weren't worth the money..... The SHP got so hot from reviewers that the dead run headphone became a hot item and prices skyrocketed to $200 for used pairs until word got to Philips and they produced those 3rd run $80 pair you reviewed. One reviewer in general never trust and that's one you consider a good one Josh Valour. He did a comparison and slammed the SHP 9500 only then later to say they were one of the best for under $100, personally any reviewer who does something like that gets dismissed as far as opinions go so I suggest you keep up with your honest reviews.

SHP9500 has a significant boost in the 9k area, a really common place for headphones to be peaky. You can hear it rather easily as pronounced "S" sounds. On the other hand, HD 600 is the only headphone that I don't need to equalize even 1 dB in the highs, since I know they are as close to perfect as you can get.

SHP9500s are only 32 ohm though, so with an AMP that has a low output impedance (under 3 ohm) they sound better than a high impedance source like motherboard audio (bass gets boomy). So I feel it is just important to have an amp with them. FiiO E10k is perfect.

It's like 5x the price lol the fact that they're near eachother should automatically go to the Phillips for sheer value in my opinion

Once again great review thanks !

Very agree on this review

Hi! As a non-native English speaker and new to audio, I couldn't really catch DAC/AMP suggestions for 9500. Could you write or provide links to them? Thanks!

Awesome video. Totally agree. Im contemplating changing the earpads on the shp 9500 but once you rip them off, there's no going back unfortunately. They kind of itch.

None but the very best open backs are better than the SHP9500, imo. Treble and mid accuracy are much better on the 9500 than all but the very best, and imaging and soundstage are certainly better than the hd600 (which sound flat and closed to many people) and basically on par with all but the very best. The accuracy is astounding. :-) Even rtings have them rated higher than most higher tier headphones, and they are way more comfy, as you must know. SHP9500 is indeed an $80.00 miracle. Heck, they are considered by many to be 98% as good as even the HD800S for 1/25th the price, and much less harsh in many respects. The Shp9500 would be praised and respected even more if they were priced at $399.00. People can't get it into their heads that more expensive does not mean better. I believe they are ridiculed by some because they are miraculously inexpensive, so can't be good, but in blind tests they would be better than almost any other open backs including all but the top hifimans and a couple other "luxury" models. It's funny how real blind tests are so rare in the audiophile headphone world. :-)

You should review the Koss KSC75X ($17) and VE Monk Plus ($5) both on Massdrop. Man I'm telling you, the price to performance on these things is insane. One note: Make sure you use the little foam pieces that come with the Monk, it makes a big difference in the sound.

OK bad news my friend. the "S' version is much better. That version runs 6-35 Khz where as version 1 and 3 go 12-35 Khz. you can actually get much better bass from the 2nd version otherwise the builds are identical. If you EQ them you can actually get a tiny bit of sub bass too. I own version 2

Nice review chuckolatte

please review the shp9600 with hd650/600

Which did you say were more neutral? Just look at this comparison: www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/philips-shp9500-vs-sennheiser-hd-600/371/325?usage=9280&threshold=0.1

Sound 3:23

Would you say the 4xx is more immersive than the 9500 in gaming?

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Please can u review fiio k3, its budget dac amp. Im planning on buying those for my shp9500

The SHP-9500 are grainy garbage it's an insult to the HD-600 they are mentioned in the same review...... I gave mine away after a week