This is one of the cheaper Philips headphones that is now discontinued but still available (end 2014).
The headphone in question is called Philips 'Cityscape Uptown' type number: SHL5905xx/10.
It's MSRP is $ 130.- but the street-price (end 2014) is a lot lower.
It is intended for portable usage and available in 3 colour themes. Silver with brown headband (SHL5905GY/10), all black (SHL5905FB/10) and as shown above black with brown pads and headband (SHL5905BK/10).
These headphones have a tangle free flat silicone cord with a remote control in it. The earlier models also had a (very buggy) volume control + pause button + mic. The later models only had a mic and remote control. These are intended for usage with i-stuff, Blackbarry, HTC and LG. There is also short conversion cable so it can be used with Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Palm and Sony-Ericson as well. For the North American market there seems to be a version with a different driver as well.
The SHL5905BK/28 appears to have the same looks but differs in specs and driver materials.
The SHL5905 is a fully closed headphone with soft pleather (fake leather) pads and has a quite decent attenuation of ambient sounds and no leakage of sound to its surroundings.
It has a dynamic 40mm ∅ driver using a neodynium magnet. The 30Ω driver coil is made from Copper Cladded Aluminium Wire and the mylar dome has a 103dB/mW efficiency and 30mW power rating. At 30mW input power it reaches about 118dB SPL which is very loud !
The 1.2m long flat and tangle free OFC cable has a 3-ring 3.5mm angled goldplated connector and is low in mircrophonics ! The headphone only weighs 260 grams (9.2 oz) and has a pleasant 5N clamping force.
The pads are very soft and provide a good seal but as the whole system is closed can get your ears hot and sweaty.
The in-line volume control is 'scratchy', fails quickly and has substantial L-R balance issues...
The stock sound is tuned for the younger on the go generation. Thus... firm bass (too firm to be called Hi-Fi) and very laid back in the mids. Those mids are somewhat recessed. The treble is peaky with a hint of coarseness. The voices have an overly 'warm' tilt to it. The SHL9505 sounds decent with crappy low bitrate MP3's as the upper mids (where most 'harshness' in crappy music resides) are attenuated significantly.
For Hi-Fi usage the headphone is too bassy/flabby and slightly 'honky' and not very 'open/clear' sounding. Treble is decent, not very grainy or overly smooth.
The plot below is 1/24th oct. smoothed.
The frequency response shows how it sounds (disregard the dip around 80Hz, a measurement thing). plenty bass and rolled off mids so 'warm' amd far from accurate but pleasant for crappy low bitrate popular music. The treble is present and extends pretty well. The sharp dips are partly pad and partly test rig related.
CSD shows some resonating at lower frequencies which I think explains the slight hollow sound. Treble is a shows a lot of ringing yet doesn't sound really bad.
Fortunately this headphone is very eay to modify and this is described here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/cv5wevv94gpajrj/Philips_Cityscape_Uptown_SHL9505_modifications.pdfOnce modified it really sounds very good to my ears and is a clear step up from Superlux HD681-H
D681-EVO models as well as lots of other headphones.
No.. its not THE best headphone around but it does sound FAR beyond its price point.. even when bought at MSRP and including modding materials.
Below is what the modified SHL9505 looks like. .
It measures a lot better once modified as shown below:
This plot is smoothed 1/6 octave so it 'looks' a little better
and CSD....
As said... modded it performs well above it's pricepoint and has become my favorite portable headphone (no amp needed for this one)
I can't RECOMMEND this headphone highly enough. Get it quick before its out of the online stores.. if you are in for some easy mods that is otherwise ... stay away !
