Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)NOTE: I've NOW had the HE591's now for almost two years and just had to replace my original pair because of a short. Considering I used them 3-4 days a week cutting grass, painting, etc., I think that is great! My new pair has the newer case, and I actually like it better than the old wrap-around one, and I noticed that the cord is thicker now, so maybe this set will last even longer. I would like to mention a negative, at least it could be perceived as a negative by some.... The music sounds so much better than with other ear buds, that I am often tempted to play the music louder, so one needs to discipline themselves with the volume. Actually, I find I can usually play my iPod, or other devices, at a lower volume and still have a great sound, so maybe these might be just the thing to have for children to use (and, of course, limiting the volume on their device, too). When I originally bought these I had the 60 GB Photo iPod and now I have the 80 GB one. The sound is even better on the newer iPod. My opinion is still high on these, even though I occasionally try to use the Shure and xTreme buds. In fact, I put those $99 Shure ones on just a week or so ago, and before I had even left the room, I took them off and put on the HE591's. Phillips has come-out with a new container for them, and it's OK, but that's not the real issue. No matter what I use, I go back to the HE591 (black)/592 (white). I've only had one problem with using them, a slight tenderness in my ears canal one time, but I turned the buds 30 degrees in my ear and everything was fine. And, now, I don't even have to do that. What follows is my original review.
Do yourself a favor and try these before forking over $100.00 on something that has great highs, but no lows... and what's really amazing is the the equalizer on my iPods actually do something with the HE591's. Here's my original review....
In reading the reviews of this product, I am having to ask myself, "Are they using the same earbuds that I'm using?" because I didn't have the issues that others have had. In fact, I've spent well over $500.00 trying to find a decent sounding pair of earbuds, and the Phillips HE591's give me exactly what I am wanting.
Before going any further, though, let me say, I'm an older reviewer, (age 56) who early in life really appreciated the sound of a good set of headphones. To put everything in perspective, I judge anything I put into my ears on these two sets of KOSS headphones: 1) the KOSS HV1A+, a lightweight set with foam cushions on the ear sets that allow one to hear good sound and still hear if someone in the room is calling to you, and 2) the KOSS PRO4AA, a heavy, recording studio-type of pair with air cushions around the ear sets that along with a heavy-duty spring on the headphones keeps out all sound and turns your ears blue after 20 minutes of using them. The HV1A+ has, what I thought, a good sound. The PRO4AA a great sound.
Now that I've said all of that to put things into perspective, what the hell does that have to do with these earbuds? EVERYTHING! Because if the sound isn't good, why bother? And, because I've used mine with iPods, which I thought didn't have that great of a sound to begin with, I had sort of lowered my expectations of what kind of quality in sound I could get with my iPod. Lower them no more. The Philips HE591 has everything I wanted in an earbud for my iPod. It gives me the highs, the lows, and sort of an ambiance of background sound, too, that makes the music come through GREAT. And, as if I might be stretching things a bit, when you go to use the equalizer function on your iPod, the sound actually, and very noticeably, varies, like it should.
What other earbuds have I used before the Philips HE591:
Xtreme Mac IPD-FSE00FS1, which you can find between $99 and $150.00. These give great high sounds, and you realize that there were notes and instruments being played that you hadn't heard before. The low sounds, though, were under-represented. The equalizer settings on the iPod (my current one is the 60GB Video unit, but I also have the 60 GB Photo one) didn't seem to change the sound much.
Shure E2c, which you can find between $99 and $125.00. These also gave me great high sounds, like the Xtreme Mac, and the equalizer settings varied more, but it, also, had issues with producing the low sounds.
Sony earbuds. I tried several versions from $20 to $49.00, with the $29 version and the $49 version seemingly having the same sound. I don't have the material on these, but the best ones cost around $29.00, or so, at Wal-mart. They had a great bass sound, but not much treble. The equalizer setting didn't make it vary much.
Now, I know I don't have the ears of a 20 year old, but I do have "perfect" pitch, and I know sound: my receiver unit at home is a Denon AVR-4802R. I like my DVD DTS sound system at home with it's 7 channel sound (counting the subwoofer) that I've augmented with two side channels, and I like the 5-channel DVD DTS sound in my car.
The Philips HE591 is not only a better buy, but to me, it gives you a better sound.
Other aspects of it:
The primary cord is heavy, but after the split the cords for the earpieces are normal in size. The earbuds come with two sets of rubber ear pieces. They look the same size, but one may be smaller. Whatever the case, it is nice to have an extra set. The ear pieces have a hard extension that you can use to set the earbuds into your ears.
The cords for the earpieces are of different length, so it easier to deal with if you wear your device on one of your hips.
The case is rubberized and seems less clumbersome than some units, and about as easy to use as the Shure case. The Xtreme Mac case will allow you to either roll-it-un and wrap it, or just roll-it-up and tuck it in, which wasn't too bad of an idea.
All-in-all, I am elated to have found the Philips earbuds, and I hope that anyone who tries them will be as satisfied as I am.
On a sad note, though, having done all of this listening, I am not as enamoured with my KOSS HV1A+ headphones as I used to be.They still let me listen to much and hear what's going on in the room (someone had an issue with that with the Philips, but I didn't), but the HV1A's just didn't have the crispness of the Philips earbuds, so I'm saddened that I've now lowered that KOSS unit off of its pedestal.
At a price of $19 to $29, these are a bargain, and it comes in white as model HE592
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