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In my opinion that just helps make them more cool and thus more comfortable. Also, these do not cup the ear as they are "open aire" design. I repeat, the bass does sound overpowering at first, but it settles down after the headphones have been "burned in".
The chord is long, but you are given a thing to store excess. One, the bass was too strong at first (for listening to stuff like blues and less bassy stuff), but it calmed down and now it sounds great. These headphones are great.
Also, you might not be accustomed to REAL bass when coming off of iPod headphones, so that might lead people to that conclusion. These are no more or less sound isolating than any other cans that are not noise-canceling. These things are very comfortable and sound great.
A lot of these reviews talk about the base being strong, but I have two things to add to that.
I got them to watch movies on my laptop but I'm having trouble hearing the dialog sometimes even at full volume. If you are somebody who prefers to listen to something at a low volume these are probably good headphones, but if you are somebody who likes it loud and powerful then these will disappoint. Although these headphones produce high quality sound, they are very quiet. I have a pair of $5 basic headphones that play music louder than these.
I haven't noticed my ears getting too warm or hurting my ears after wearing for an extended period of time. I also found them to be very comfortable to wear. I am able to hear things in the music that I did not hear with my old ear buds. I don't think that they are fully burned in yet, so I am excited to see if the sound improves more. I do find the sound quality to be very good though. I decided I wanted to get a better set of headphones for use with my Sansa Fuze then the ones that came with it.
I agree with a few of the other reviews that say that they are a little heavy on the bass. They are a bit tight, but I think that is needed to get a good seal around your ears, I also would expect them to stretch out. I decided on the HD457's because they specifically said that they were for use with portable devices, and they fell within my price range. I was a bit worried with sound leaking out since they are open, I think you would really need to turn up the volume to have this be an issue, or be in a very quiet environment. I would fully recommend these to someone looking to upgrade from earbuds. I have had them for about one week, and have been very happy with them.
I am no audiophile, so I can't comment on how balanced etc the sound is.
The sound is much richer than my ear-bud style headphones when plugged into my laptop (even while watching low-quality youtube videos). The cord-keeper isn't that great but if you don't like it you don't have to use it.Overall, these are a GREAT pair of headphones for the price range it is in. After reading several reviews I decided to go with this pair because the next ones up were $10 more but said to not have any noticeably better sound quality. However, when plugged into my iPod the quality is the same as earbuds. I would definitely buy Sennheiser again. They probably looked a little cooler though -- the black parts in the picture for the 457's are all fabric-y and the headphones don't have a hole cut out for your ear like some other 'phones might have.I bought these to use while working on projects because there's a girl who sits near me who talks loudly and incessantly about things I could care less about -- my Sony earbuds were no match for her voice. When I put these headphones on I'm in my own world now.
My first pair was destroyed by the family dog about 8 months ago. I can see their point, but there's an easy solution -- adjust your EQ. I'd had that pair for two years and they'd gotten banged around plenty and still sounded great. The other complaint was the weak wires.
For the price range of these headphones, they're great. I've been using a pair of Sony headphones in the same price range since then, and I finally bought another pair, and listening to them gives me goosebumps. The ear pieces have popped out a couple of times, but they just snap back into the appropriate slot. Nice basss response and crisp highs.
My first pair did have a wire that broke, but it was due to a family dog getting a hold of them. One other note, the ear pieces are nicely padded with felt over the outside so I can wear them for hours with no complaints (although if you want to wear them outside, they can be pretty warm like earmuffs).I'm sure there are better headphones out there, but for $25 (and free super saving shipping), I couldn't be happier. There have been some complaints in other reviews about muddy or thumpy bass. I'd rather have too much bass that I can control than no bass at all.
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