Great sounding but there are some drawbacks
341193
These Philips headphones are a replacement for the Sennheiser HD419. The HD 419's were a great pair of headphones. They were so comfortable to wear, even having them on for more than an hour. While it's difficult to judge headphone sound quality since each person has their own individual perspective on what sounds good, I thought the HD419's had a pleasing tone to them. Bass response was a bit weak but the highs and mids, especially with vocals, made up for that. After owning them for abut two months, I had to return them to Best Buy since one of the channels was not producing any sound.

I was hoping that the Philips CitiScape series would be a good alternative the Philips. After several hours of listening to them on my first day of ownership, I like the sound of them but they are uncomfortable to wear for more than an hour. These new headphones have better response for bass notes than the HD419. The high frequency response for vocals and strings, are better as well. The down side is that they are really uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time. The ear pieces are made to be noise isolating but for me, they press too hard on the ears. This pressure makes wearing them for more than an hour very uncomfortable.

Although I love the sound of the CitiScapes, I'm not sure whether I'll keep them since they are uncomfortable to wear.
3926652
I tend to go through headphones quickly because I'm constantly listening to music. If I don't lose them, they break, so I never spend a lot of money on them. Tired of earbuds, I decided to go with these over-the-head headphones. These headphones sound fantastic to my ears. The bass thumps wonderfully, and the sound is very crisp and clear. I do have a couple of issues with them though. First, sound leaks out of them pretty badly, especially in a quiet setting. I can set them down with music playing on a low volume and hear the song as clearly as if I had them on across the room. The other issue is the fit. Though they are adjustable, they're a little snug on my head near my ears, possibly because of my glasses. It's bearable, but it does get more and more uncomfortable over time. I usually wear them upside down (with the headband part hanging down by my neck). Despite the drawbacks, though, these are still pretty good headphones for the price.
1767223
These are incredibly good Bluetooth headphones, but their subtle flaws keep from absolute greatness. They sound great, are comfortable to wear (I've worn them for three to four hours at a time on multiple occasions), and their battery life is outstanding. They're physically stunning, and I have gotten several compliments just wearing them around town. The sound is wonderful, particularly given how light and easily portable the set is. Speaking of portability, these things are exceedingly travel friendly. Whether their on my head, around my neck, or wrapped around the strap of my backpack, they never seem to be in the way. The package they arrived in was beautiful, and the carrying case they ship with is plush, cushy, and quite pretty; a perfect compliment to the headset's unique style.

The problems with the headphones are slight, but worth mentioning. First, while in Bluetooth mode, the buttons on the right cup function as a remote for the media functions of the connected phone. The buttons are not physical, but instead are triggered by a three-way rocker pad that covers the right side of the headset. Pressing up on the pad activates the play/pause/power functions of the headset, while pressing on the left or right pads navigates the playlist or adjusts the volume. This is where the biggest problem lies. Holding the left or right buttons lowers or raises the volume respectively, while tapping either button moves backwards or forwards in the playlist respectively. I have lost my place while listening to music countless times while intending to either turn the sound up or down, and this has been a point of frustration while using these. A part of me feels that this could have easily been avoiding by reversing the actions on these buttons: long pressing for playlist navigation and tapping for volume. It would probably make it more difficult to trigger an accidental navigation, and for me at least accidentally raising or lowering the volume would be less consequential.

The other issue I have encountered, though less often than the issues with the buttons, has been from time to time after a night of charging, I'll turn the headset on and play a track, and after a few seconds, the headset will turn itself off again. I have times when this would repeat for two or three attempts, and then everything would be fine after that. Again, this is does not happen all the time, and when it has happened, it seemed to be following a full night of charging.

Still, given the flaws, which are minor, I am very impressed with the Elysiums. It's a brand I was formerly unfamiliar with, and now very happy to know. I will be hopeful for a product line refresh that will, with luck, correct the issues I have encountered.
4462199
the sound is superb.  maybe not as good as the $300 headphone that i bought a few years ago, but it is close.  the interface feels easy to use.

i just wish:

1. the headphone doesn't use steel as the earpiece shielding, as it may rust after a year or two.

2. there is an easier way to charge the unit even if you are without a USB connection.  when going on a pleasure trip, we may not have a notebook computer to charge the unit.
3790583
These sound excellent out of the box, but I think they fit a bit too tight.  The ear-cups are too big to be supra-aural but too small to be circumaural, making them just the slightest bit uncomfortable for my ears.  Additionally, I wear glasses, and the headphones push against my head a bit too much for them to be comfortable.  Mind you, this is all after about an hour or so of use.

They are smaller than I anticipated, but still not very portable.

Pros:
-Sound great
-Long cord (pro for me, maybe not for others)
-Comfortable for short periods of time

Cons:
-UGLY; you will look strange wearing these
-Uncomfortable after a relatively short time
-Not very portable
302458
Sound was great but i love bass.  Bought several at one time.  Returned this one today for a few reasons. 1. Too tight.  2.  I don't  trust the folding contraption.  3. Wanted over the ear instead of on the ear.

Pros:  sleek look.  great sound.  connects quickly and remains on standby for several days.  Solid hard case.

Hard to believe that i am actually returning this unit, but my big head makes this not the best one for me.
426668
Really enjoy the sound of the speakers. Limited bass, but I didn't really expect much given the speaker. Balancing sound with recommended Equalizer APO settings makes a big difference. Big complaint is that there is a persistent low level amp hum inherent to the speaker. Initially, it could be ignored for the most part, but a month and a half in (and now past my return window) it seems to be much more noticeable. I have to run music louder or I still hear it underneath. It is to the point that when no audio source is active I have to physically turn off the speakers to avoid the annoying white noise. Also, having a bluetooth device connected but not playing accentuates the noise issue.
3795171
Very nice set of headphones with a few minor niggles. The sound quality is very nice, although my set did benefit from some burn in time. I also like the single sided cord. My issues are mostly with some minor design decisions. The quick fit buttons are largely useless and the ear cushions generally end up somewhat sticky and heat up my ears pretty badly after an hour or two. Also, these headphones leak sound pretty badly, so these would not be the best choice where disturbing others may be an issue.
4233599
The sound is good, but there are a few things about the unit that bother me.  First of all, mine came from the factory with a headphone output jack that is intermittent.  If you bump the headphone connector, the signal cuts out momentarily.  This is true with multiple headphones/cables.  This problem is compounded by the fact that the volume control is right next to the jack, and it's pretty small, so it's almost impossible to manipulate the control without bumping into the headphone connector.

Seeing as how this thing is primarily used as a personal amplifier in a monitoring setup, and mainly to control just volume, it would be nice if there was a larger and more distinctive volume control knob.  If you are wearing it on your belt while playing a gig, chances are you're not going to want, or even be able to look at it to make a volume adjustment.  A larger, more accessible volume knob that is easily distinguished from the balance knob would be good.  I can't tell you haw many times I reached down and turned the wrong knob.

Why the proprietary Y-cable with the XLR connectors?  Behringer, at half the price, managed to incorporate on-board XLR connectors, much more rugged, in my opinion.  With this unit, if you step on and rip out the Y cable, you are screwed.  Do that with a plain old XLR mic cable and chances are there is a spare readily available.

Finally, if you have your earbuds in and you power this thing up, you get a huge "pop".  This is 2017, a problem like that is inexcusable, especially at this price point.  Engineers had that figured out a long time ago.
3251998
There's a lot to like about this speaker. It's attractive & compact and sounds quite good. Micro USB means it can be used to juice up a battery in need. Battery life is also very long. I've seen quite a few reviews talking about battery issues but 3 months in I've noticed no such issues. Time will tell I suppose. Volume gets quite loud without sounding "blare-y". BUT BEWARE this speaker has one big flaw: It has big-time connectivity issues. Pairing it often takes multiple attempts and often requires the speaker to be turned off/on multiple times. At first I thought it was just with my phone. Unfortunately after testing it with several devices in the house (along with my partners phone) I discovered this was not isolated. It's become a stationary bedroom speaker so it doesn't often get paired to other devices so I'm basically okay with it. But if you are wanting to use this as an all-purpose on-the-go speaker I would say move on. I'm also not a fan of the auto-off feature. I find it annoying to get out of bed and wake it up if music stops for whatever reason. At the end of the day the audio quality is decent for the price but in hindsight I probably would've gone in another direction had I known what I know now.
2958194
The sound is very good and neutral, however these require a serious burn-in. I know a lot of people say that headphone burn-in is all in your mind, but at first the soundstage for these is extremely narrow. The sound seems like it's focused in the front and center, even when listening to a binaural cd like&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Amber-Rubarth-Sessions-From-The-17th-Ward/dp/B008OHV64U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Amber Rubarth - Sessions From The 17th Ward</a>. After a couple hundred hours though, the sound has really opened up and these things are quite impressive for less than $50. I play this through them at least once a day with my Cowon D2+ with the volume on 35 of 50... http://www.isoteksystems.com/cgi-bin/products.pl?id=17

The problem with IEM's (in ear monitors) is the microphonics (wire noise). This can be almost completely resolved by simply running the wire behind the ear. It takes some practice, but it's worth trying. You could also use the shirt clip that comes with these, but then your movement could become restricted.

UPDATE: After using these for quite a while the sound has become more of a "V" shape with the Mids blending slightly with the Lows. Also, the cord, which is a coated twisted pair, has a permanent semi-coiled effect to it. This can be fixed by using a heat gun as long as you're careful not to melt the inner wires. I've dropped my rating down from 5 stars to 4 because of the sound change over time.
3630894
I like this speaker; I do. The sound quality is impressive for the small size. It's rechargeable. It's portable. It's loud. It's tiny. It's relatively inexpensive. But I have a few design gripes, which surprised me considering the excellent overall rating this item has received.

- There is not enough heft to this thing to keep it upright at times. If you're trying to maneuver the cord to plug it into your audio source, this speaker is likely to topple over or list to the side. Sometimes positioning everything so that it's upright can be awkward.
- The audio jack and USB charging cord are fused into one cord that splits and has two ends. I wish this were two separate cords. It's damn near impossible to charge this thing with the USB end while using the audio jack at the same time, since the two have maybe 3-4 inches of independent movement before they're fused together. So forget listening to music while this is charging. I was hoping to use this as a guest room amenity, but having the audio jack plugged in while one sorta dangles there is not too attractive, and then guests would have to plug this back in between uses. I'm not about to print out an instruction sheet for this thing, so I fear its use for visitors is relatively limited. The bulk of the dual cord also contributes to the toppling problem mentioned above. It seems there must be some way to mitigate this issue.
- Positioning of the switches and outlets is awkward. There's an on/off switch on the back of the speaker, with an indicator light on the front, an audio/charging port on the left, and a port for connecting another speaker on the right. I'd prefer that the charging and audio port be either next to each other, or on adjacent sides of the speaker. The charging and audio-in port would ideally, I think, be located on the back of the speaker... because who wants cords sticking out of the side?
- The faux metallic finish on the top, around the speaker outlet, is already wearing away with VERY light and infrequent use. Cosmetic flaw, but a flaw nonetheless.
3056653
Great bass, cool sound and of course looks.. But the main disadvantage is that its not properly balanced. So when playing it standing up, the neck drops down and especially for beginners in the fine art or bass-playing this is a huge disadvantage. I will sell mine and buy a conventional modelled one. For now, comfort is more important than looks..
3933355
They sound amazing and have good bass, although I'm not an expert audiophile, these earbuds feel great and have also great isolation from the ambient noise.
The problems and annoyances that I find about them is that the cable is short. It is strong and flexible and long enough to get all the way to the shirt pockets or sweatshirt, but not enough to reach my pants pockets. Maybe the jeans, but not recommended for deep pockets. Shaggy pants? Forget it, not for you.
The good thing is that they include a nice bag to carry them and it's not bulky. They also include three sizes of earplugs for fit.
Very hackable. I switched the driver barrels with two custom cut .40 shells I made myself and for nicely.
3671627
I work from a home office and have used a pair of Logitech USB headphones to conduct phone calls via VOIP and listen to music while I work. I travel frequently and my poor seven-year-old Logitech's were completely broken down.

First, the good:  the sound from the AKG's is fabulous and although retailing at $150, I bought mine on Amazon for $74.

Now, the not-so-good:  the on/off button is between the two cans when they are folded together for storage, so during my first real work use they ran out of juice after about 20 minutes while on an important client-proposal phone call. AKG designers could have placed this button just about anywhere else and it would have been better. The other drawback is a positive feature, depending upon how you look at it. The on-ear design does a great job of sealing outside noises (passive noise cancelling, if you will), which is an advantage while listening to music.  While speaking on the phone however, it provides a sensation like talking with your fingers in your ears. Now, I'm sure this is something I will get used to or perhaps I will talk less and listen more. I know many people who would have bought these for me ten years ago if they knew it would have that kind of impact.
3972163
I've had this system for about 3 months now.  The sound is pretty awesome. i live in a two story apartment and can rattle the windows in the upstairs rooms when cranked up.  i'm sure the neighbors love that.  but anyway the "night" mode works pretty good at filtering out certain frequencys without sacrificing performance.  so whatever it sounds awesome and all, but i'm sure what people really want to know about is the negative things.  here's the couple of things i've come across:

1.  kinda personal opinion, but i think it sucks that there's no light on the remote.

2.  in order to play your tv and playstation, xbox, etc through the surround sound system, they need to go into the receiver as inputs.  every now and then the receiver freaks out, and when you go to select an input it says that it cannot "read the disk".  the only solution that i have found is to do a complete system factory restore.  which is really annoying because that requires you re-setting the speaker levels and distances and also entering in all your username and passwords to netflix and everything.  i keep a picture of all my speaker settings on my phone to make this go faster. this has happened to me 3 times....so it's averaging about once a month.  VERY annoying if you have company over and you're trying to watch a movie because it's like a 20 minute thing.

3.  if you pause a movie or leave the system idle for some time (like say to go have a smoke outside), sometimes when you come back the receiver has turned itself off.  when you turn it back on there are times that the sound will not work at all.  it's like it freaks out if it powers down from idle time.  the solution is to turn it off and on once again.  easy fix, but annoying.

4.  if i were you i would look up the dimensions of the receiver and double check that it will be able to fit in whatever space you are trying to put it in.  it is kinda long.  i bought it hoping to put it on one of the shelves in my tv stand, and come to find out it was unable to fit.  so now i have to get a new tv stand.  awesome.

in general i like this surround sound system and am happy with my purchase.  i originally gave it 4 stars, but after writing the review i was aggravated with it so i bumped it down to 3 lol.  the sound it produces is really good.  i'm really happy with the bass levels (and i only have it set on 3..i think it goes up to 10).  if the receiver didn't have the tendency to act crazy sometimes i'd easily give this a 5 star rating.  there are a TON of things to watch that come with it.  kinda like netflix, but dealing with workout routines, cooking shows, traveling, etc.  really neat.  i'll also mention that you are able to plug in an external hard drive to the usb port in the front of the receiver to watch movies or shows you have stored.  this really came in handy when i realized that the ps4 is unable to do this.
4189834
This item has some nice features, but has one "glaring" weakness that may be a deal killer for some people.
First of all, I really like the sound it puts out. Some people don't like the "Mega Expand", but I like it. Sounds fuller when it's on. The "Mega Bass" is nice, but not very strong.

The alarms are easy to set and use. Again, some people have complained that the buzzer alarm (or chirping sound) is too soft and they fear that it won't wake them up. I found that it wakes me up every time, right away, and I even sleep with a big box fan roaring away next to my bed (for white noise), so for most people, I don't think this will be a problem.

The unit charges, plays, and controls my ipod (1st generation iopd touch) just fine, and the remote is easy to use also.

Both AM and FM radio functions work very well. I live in the boondocks, far from any big city, and I can pull in many stations.

The manual says there are three brightness levels for the LCD clock face: high, medium, and low. This isn't true, as your actual levels are: high, medium, and OFF (as in completely off). This leads to the one, big glaring weakness that this unit has. The medium clock face setting is WAY to bright to be used as a bedside alarm clock. It lights up the room. While some people can sleep with it, many people can't. If you turn off the display, it defeats the whole purpose of having a bedside alarm clock that you can glance at in the middle of the night to see what time it is. I wish manufacturers would get it through their heads that their LCD displays are way too bright for a lot of people, but so many of them still don't get it. Too bad. If Sony would only fix this problem, this Dream Machine would be a winner.