Amazon.com Review
Sennheiser's HD-500 Fusion headphone features a well-padded headband and large, cushioned earpieces that comfortably encircle your ears. They're so comfortable you might even forget you're wearing them.
The headphone's open-ear design does mean that others in the room will be able to hear your music playing almost as well as you do, so it isn't the ideal headphone if you're looking to isolate yourself from the outside world, or vice versa. However, its exceptional clarity and intimate warmth make it awfully seductive. Think of it as ideal for late-night listening sessions when you don't want to wake the neighbors with Mahler or Metallica at concert levels from your speakers.
At 32 ohms' impedance, the HD500 Fusion represents a fairly daunting load to the average boombox or personal stereo. As a result, it doesn't achieve anything like its rated 105 dB output unless you employ some form of dedicated headphone amplifier such as the ones built in to many receivers, or even the small portable variety.
Properly driven, however, the HD500 offers some of the best sound available from conventional headphones. It has a clarity and sweetness in the high-frequency registers that was previously available only in expensive electrostatic headsets--and, at the same time, it offers an incredibly deep bottom end that would put many loudspeakers to shame.
Sennheiser's Duofol diaphragm design reduces many common distortions that plague small drivers. Since headphone and microphone diaphragms don't use compliant surrounds (the piece connecting the driver to its base), the edge of the transducer is subjected to a great deal of stress at its anchor points--so much stress that conventional materials tend to actually vaporize or, at the least, distort drastically when subjected to it. Sennheiser utilizes laser interferometry to optimize the rigidity/flexibility equation.
Sennheiser also employs a double-wound aluminum voice coil that takes advantage of both that material's heat-dumping properties and its light weight. The coil surrounds a neodymium rare-earth magnet designed to improve control of the coil. Oxygen-free-copper signal cable is wrapped in a Kevlar-reinforced jacket for durability and minimal contact noise (so you don't hear it every time you touch the cord). --L.V. Phillips
Pros:
- Lightweight design and padded headband maintain comfort during long listening
- Low-distortion Duofol diaphragms provide exceptional detail and clarity
- Single-sided cable makes it easier to move around while wearing headphones
Cons:
- 32-ohm impedance makes headphones difficult for most portable players to drive
Product Description
The HD500 Fusion is causing a buzz among listeners of jazz, funk, rock, and hip-hop. Like its namesake, the HD500 fuses improved audio technology with a new BioNetic headphone design that offers unsurpassed comfort. The HD500's open, dynamic design provides spatial, balanced sound reproduction and more solid bass than preceding models. Its Duofol diaphragm is designed for ultra low distortion, and its innovative damping technology results in wide dynamics and excellent transient response.
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