Customer Reviews

Panasonic RP-HG17 Portable Headphones

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought these headphones when I realized that the ones that came with my portable CD player were horrible. Then, when that player bit the dust and I was forced to buy a new one, those headphones were equally horrible. I replaced them with this PANASONIC and what a difference. The sound is crisper, I get more bass, and they are so darn comfortable. I am going to hold on to these headphones for as long as I can.

These sound really good but the band cuts into the back of my ear and is very uncomfortable. Also a couple of things to keep in mind with this style of headphone:
1) You can't can't wear them and sit in a high back chair or sofa, the neck band is in the way.
2) You can't wear them if you have glasses as the over the ear portion of the band sits right where your glasses frame goes.

I've gone through two pairs of these headphones in about a year. The 2nd pair lasted only 2 months! I will not be buying a third pair. They are very comfortable, but after some use the sound starts cutting out in one channel or the other. You have to jiggle things around to fix it. I think the external volume knob is a mistake because it ends up being an additional moving part that is prone to problems. Eventually, the sound will fail completely, apparently from loose wiring. Buyer beware!

I've had mine for over 3 years - 3 year of almost constant abuse at the gym, playing games, etc. Very, very durable. I was very happy with the sound as well. These headphones have one of the best performance/price ratios I've seen.

I was attracted to this set of headphones by the design, volume control, price, and Panasonic name. While I generally like them, the sound quality could be a little better. When listening to some songs, the headphones impart a distinct hollow or "metallically" sound to the music. For instance, the music tends to sound okay, but the lyrics and voices fade into the background and don't sound like they should. This is especially noticeable on a song like The Eagles' "Lyin' Eyes". The vocals should be smooth and melodic, with the music "just being there" but somehow, the experience of listening to the song on these headphones just isn't pleasant. The headphones perform well, and they're okay for listening at the office, when the point is just to drown out background noise and focus on your computer, but if you really want to enjoy your music, I'd pick another product.

these are good headphones. the bass is deep and the treble is clear. it also has a volume control. i recommend these. if u dont want v. control i recommend hs500/hs520 (same thing) cuz they have the same frequency range (actually deeper on the low end) and feel just as comfortable.

I bought a set of these in February of 2004 and I was far more than impressed with the sound quality for the price I paid for them. It wasn't what I was expecting for <$20, but far better. I owned a pair a $99 Bose headphones that didn't even last a year before I picked up these Panasonic's. The Bose didn't have the kind of solid low end bass energy, clarity of midrange, or as good high end either. These Panasonic head phones were so good that I went back to the store about two weeks later and bought a second set to keep in storage for when I break the original set. Honestly I didn't expect to get maybe a year or two out of the Panasonic's. Here is the interesting part, it is now late in 2010 and I still use the original set on a daily basis, and there isn't a thing wrong with them at all. I travel all over the country and keep these in a ziploc sandwich bag in my laptop case. These Panasonic's have been through easily a hundred or more airports, they have gotten drenched with sweat when I jog, and have been sit on numerous times and still work and sound just as good as they did when I first purchased them. I can't believe these things have lasted as long as they have considering the abuse and hard life they have had, seriously. The foam earpads have been torn and replaced probably a dozen times in the 6.5 years I have used them. I just go to the Dollar Tree store and pick up their cheap headphones for $1, and take the foam pads off these cheap headphones, and throw away the headphones and put the new pads on these Panasonic's whenever they were out. You can't go wrong with these headphones, I promise. The two that I have I still use on a daily basis, one of them now lives at work, the other stays at home for workouts jogging or walking or traveling. The sound quality of these is more along the lines or better than $100 headphones that I have own in the past. I have had $40 Sony's->never again as they have no low end to them at all: I have owned $99 Bose->never again as they are not durable and quite honestly don't sound all that good: I have owned Technics $69->never again as they barely lasted 2 years: I have owned $20 Labtec phones that sounded as good as these Panasonic's but again were not very durable. These little Panasonic headphones for the price and sound quality and durability are going to be hard to beat. If and when I ever break or wear either of these pairs I currently own, I will definitely be buying several more pairs while Panasonic still makes them. This way I can store them for later use when the ones I currently have quite working. The sound quality is equal to a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones I have used in the past for monitors while doing live sound in the past as a sound engineer. These Panasonic's are definitely the best bucks I ever spent for portable audio for the purpose I wanted them for.

I been buying this headphones for years and they are very very good. The sound is outstanding. But I bought and used for 5 days and the right speaker went out. WTF??!!! I wish they would send me a replacement.

Loved these for a cuple years. Eventually the plastic gave way on the over-the-ear part after years of use. So I bought another similar style. I love the way these feel.

I purchased these headphones at least 3 years ago. Initially, they were used in an office environment, but later I went 180° and have worked outdoors for the last year and a half. Sound quality is OK because these headphones sit ON your ear rather than IN your ear. Therefore, music is 'washed out'. Treble is okay, but bass is poor. If you cup your hands over the earpieces, and press down slightly, sound quality increases 1000%, but how are your going to hold your adult beverage that way? Comfort improves with use. I guess my ears, which were initially extremely sore, got used to the plastic piece that wraps around each ear. These headphones have been very durable up until about 2 weeks ago when the in-line volume adjustment started shorting out. I was constantly having to tap it to resume full sound from both ear pieces. All in all, for less than $15, I got plenty of use out of these and believe they were well worth the money. The are also good for folks who lead active lifestyles like jogging, etc. because these headphones just don't fall off.