Special thanks to Danny for sending these my way! Thanks mate!

A box the size of my 4 year old showed up at the door. Inside the box was lots of paper and another box. The second box was beautiful, with nice shades of red and black (mostly black) and a picture of the TH500RPs. The picture of the cans is dramatic. The headphones seem to be floating in air. The edges of the box were silver. Inside this box there was another box. This third box was black. Not Kuro black, but black enough. Inside this last box, and in deliciously soft foam rested the awesome looking TH500RPs and a user manual in pink with Japanese, English, German, French, and what looked like Chinese. In that order. But no Spanish.

Scanning through the literature I learned that RP means Regular Phase, which seems important. It says that the diaphragm is etched copper and heat resistant polyimide film, and obviously as everyone knows, polyimide film kicks ass. Mids are described as rich and bass is said to be of good quality due to a gravity resin baffle plate that reduces resonances. There is some further important stuff, but I'll skip to the cable. Manual says it's pure copper "HiFC" (HiFC is a registered trademark of Hitachi Metals, Ltd.) for superior sound resolution.

To operate these cans one most: 1) Protect headphones from impacts, temperature, and humidity. 2) Be aware that your cans are subject to design and specification changes. 3) Don't listen at high volume levels. 4) Not use headphones when driving and stuff. 5) Avoid inconveniencing people around you by keeping volume down since these are open type cans. Following step 2) should prevent you from bitching about box of chocolate issues. Following step 5) is important if one accidentally clicks on an adult site add.

Presentation

These cans are outstandingly beautiful. They sort of remind me of the SR-007s in their magnesium + aluminum silvery color. The weight is reasonable for an ortho. The pads are fat assed and leathery black. The cable is neatly dressed and terminated in a quality 1/4" fat and long TRS tip guaranteed to satisfy the most demanding of amp sockets. The headband is black, plush and adjustable by discrete levels. Every adjustment makes a satisfying click. Chicks are positively going to try to grab your cans really hard.



Sound

These cans are unique in many ways. The first thing that came to mind while hearing them was this clear high quality tizzy sound. Listening to Holly Cole's "Take Me Home" was lusciously and naturally painful. Sweet as silvery white sugar.

Next comes Antonio Sanchez "Birdman" album that does a wonderful job on moving things around for a sense of space. Impact was very controlled and restricted. Switching to my HD600s scared the Jesus out of me with these songs. Not so with these cans. I sort of picture a bull loosing a ball.

Impressions with similar songs can be found here.

Moving on to pop songs I'm more familiar with came Madonna's True Blue which I like to evaluate mids. Some slight coloration was perceived but in some cases this can provide a sort of room effect that makes things more engaging.

Measurements

These were measured o n a non-leaky baffle (similar to how electrostats and thin film orthos are measured), given the pads seem to be designed for seal.

Frequency Response



Distortion Right



Distortion Left



CSD Right



CSD Left



Impedance