Philips SHP9500/00 Headphone Black

Product Information

The default pads create a spacious, yet shallow seating for your ears, and as such more often than not your ears touch the drivers, or rather the plastic housing inside. This does create some discomfort in my case, with a really mellow ache starting at about 3 hours into a listening session, and does change with how you put it on. Otherwise, this is usually fixed after refitting the headphone. In all cases however, I had no need to take off the headphones. The pads themselves are basically car seats for your ears, and this is as real as it is a joke, for the materials feel almost identical. It works both better and worse than expected however. On one hand the pads feel nice, sturdy and comfortable. On the other, perhaps clashing slightly with the comfort, is that rough, car seat texture. However, this hasn’t caused any discomfort for me or my friends as of yet and the pads have only gotten softer with use. Either way, these pads are actually changeable, while being quite difficult to do so (this isn’t your magnetically swappable Empyrean or Diana, so to speak.) There are a couple of mods one can do to fix the pads’ issues or change them completely. Beware that, if you want to swap the whole pad, unless you get 3D printed halos from Modhouseaudio, or anywhere else you can find, you are going to have to rip the original pads off, making the pads useless and leaving only the halo. Otherwise you can simply add some filling, without changing or ripping the pads, to get a deeper space for your ears, fixing the driver touch effect. Subject to “grainy” treble mostly, if not exclusively, on the sparkle (or “splash”) range of hi-hats. This is excessively present at times, and while I didn’t find it to ruin anything, at times, it sounds almost compounded. I didn’t manage to notice it in any other treble oriented genre, like classical music though, I think these headphones just don’t like hi-hats. (Additional note: One time have I heard this on the S’s of a rap song as of now, but this does not seem to be a frequent case at all.) Right out of the gate, these are the most comfortable set of headphones ever. I use them primarily for watching TV late at night, and have fallen asleep wearing them multiple times. The ear pads are huge, the foam is soft, and the covers are just nice. They're more comfortable than the pillows on my couch. The included cable is great, and they use a normal 3.5mm detachable cable, so you can replace it with anything you want. It's long enough to get from my receiver to the couch without an extension cord which is just another plus. Another point of contention.. For me It comes down to how long can I use it before it becomes necessary to take a break. With these, it has proven to to be more than 2-3 hours so far. The hot spot for me is my ear lobe that touches the inner filter because of the pad's shallowness. They also can become a bit hot, but really not that bad. Honestly, I tend to find in ear more tolerable to wear for a longer period. Then again, in ears touch very little of you relative to those big cans, so they have a better statistical chance of being forgotten about by the wearer… For those that are familiar with the SHP9500 sound, you know that they're probably better suited for playing games and watching movies than listening to music, mostly thanks to their frankly egregious treble response, though still not as bad as some Beyers. The SHP9600s manage to improve on that, albeit in some parts not by a whole lot.

It’s truly astounding that a gigantic conglomerate again came out of nowhere and slapped us in the face with this product. It is really is, functionally, the same thing with maybe different insides, it works well, with mediocre-to-decent sound quality. Be careful of sound leakage that can reach the mic, I even accidentally outed myself on an Among Us game once. I could notice no difference in sound compared to the original cable. Sound is balanced overall, bass is adequate but at times can be lean. Using a good EQ can fix the issue (there is a great EQ setting in reddit for the SHP9500). You will notice the grille on the 9600 is a tad smaller, perhaps reducing a bit of air that was present in the 9500, making it a bit less of a “fully open” headphone. More on that in a bit.This hallmark tradition in the line hasn’t changed, much to my delight and likely yours as well. Genre-wise, the obvious is apparent: Compared to sivga sv004, which is another pair of good budget headphones, there are major differences. The sv004 is more v shaped, and is semi open. It has worse soundstage and imaging, but better bass response. To summarise, the sv004 might actually better for listening to music, but the shp9500 is definitely better for listening to your gear, which is what the hobby is about if I'm being honest. Replacing those elements is a single gold ring around the grille, housing the same 50mm neodymium driver. I'm not so sure I know what it is. I read it has to do with a full and correct tonality reproduction, allowing one to distinguish otherwise close sounding instruments. Let's just say that the SHP never leaves me confused, not even for a moment, and is for sure on par or better than anything I've heard. The box contains the headphones themselves and a 1.5m 2pole removable 3.5mm cable for the headphones. Nothing more on the accessories and these do not include the carry pouch that you get with the older version of the shp9500.

Again, the small attention to detail here from Philips is more than admirable, it’s outright amazing that they would adjust and improve the fit. This is the word what makes it significantly distinguished than other pairs. It offers an amazing separation. you can feel the lead guitars, vocal, bass and drums are sounding separately. Compared to Koss ksc75 the SHP9500 are: slightly less open, cleaner, more treble/mid orientation, similar soundstage.

Consensus/Conclusion

These Headphones are so amazing that they changed the way I listen to music I listen to much more classical or Jazz because of the superior recordings they really shine if the source is well recorded. If the song you listen has a bad recording you will notice that, the 9500 won't be as enjoyable almost like if they are asking you for a better recorded song. These remind me a lot of the old PX100s if those were more comfortable and neutral, and less forward/fatiguing.

Soundstage is quite average for an open headphone, so don’t expect AD700 or AKG levels of width and depth presentation. That is not one of the SHP9500’s strengths due to its small opening on the outer frame where the grill lies. Even so, the quality of imaging and instrument separation is there and very enjoyable for those who appreciate such features in a headphone's sound signature. For a gamer, like myself, I rely heavily on positioning and accuracy; which this headphone still manages to do very well. No complaints about soundstage, here, my friends. These headphones have no glaring issues or flaws. They do many things well, and I suspect people on a budget would have no complaints with these as their daily drivers. I'm quite impressed with them regardless of how much I paid for them, and I only appreciate them more because of their price.

Final thoughts from Stu’s notepad

The 9500, while feeling like complete air, did tend to move around a bit more than I’d like, which was the trade-off. It feels like Philips tried to make a product that would appeal to both audiophiles and consumers alike, and I think they did a pretty good job though I still prefer the 9500 at the end of the day.