Behringer HPS5000 Review

The HPS5000 are closed-type high-performance studio headphones manufactured by the Behringer Corporation in approximately 2015. They have a wide frequency response due to the samarium cobalt magnets used in their large 40 mm diameter drivers, and consequently they demonstrate a wide dynamic range. These are studio quality headphones at a budget price due to the very simple and clean headband design.

Review

Of all the headband designs that I have seen these, these headphones have the nicest design. Notice how there is no swivel pivot at the sides for the cups, and it has a lovely clean look all the way to the sides. If you do not like those fiddly pivots that are usually in most headphones, then this design is a good choice. In this design, you will find that the cups press more on the top part of your ears and less on the bottom part near the lobes, which makes them comfortable to wear, because they do not press so much on the lobes.

The scalp is usually the part of the head that heats up, and sweats, and therefore ideal headphones are usually those that allow the scalp to breath and have minimal material going over it. Excessive padding usually ends up behaving as a heat insulator and increases the weight. Luckily, in my pre-used HPS5000, the headband pad was already half detached, so I removed it completely, and now it is exactly to my tastes. The headband is rugged, yet minimal, and very light, and therefore something the wearer will appreciate. In contrast, if we compare this design to the Razer Kraken Pro, which is a gaming headset with extremely good sound, that headband makes one feel like one is going to war.

The cup locking mechanism involves the inner surface of the plastic headband, which has ridges that engage with a plastic edge affixed to the cup. This prevents the cup from sliding along the headband and it seems to work well. It was working well even in the knackered old pair that I bought, which means that they will certainly last. The ear pads are also very simple and easy to replace, providing you can find replacements. For the ones shown in this article I had to borrow them from my Sennheiser HD202, which also has oval cups of similar size. I managed to find generic replacement cups from the auction site for a couple of pounds, but it will take a few weeks to come from China.

On the down side, it is very plastic, and I did not like the coiled part of the wire, which is very old-fashioned and reminiscent of those old phones we used to have in the 80s. A modern lightweight flat flex cable would have looked and felt much better. However, the cable retention at the both ends, including the jack plug, is very robust and near impossible to break.

On the up side, the use of samarium cobalt magnets in the voice coil assembly is impressive and sound quality wise, if I compare them with my Sony V55, the Behringer produced almost the same level of treble; however, the bass response was significantly greater, and there was that lovely low bass buzz definition that you will enjoy. The clarity and definition were excellent. You will love the sound if you manage to get a new pair.

Price/eBay

The HPS5000 are usually for sale in new and pre-used condition, and new ones usually sell for around the thirty pounds range. I was extremely lucky as I managed to get two pairs of broken pre-used ones for almost nothing as they were in very bad condition. To the uninitiated, they would look scary, however after you strip off the perished foam, clean and rewire them, they work fine. In fact, I managed to make some mods and improve on the original design!

In the following pages of the multi-page article, you can see the 40 mm drivers with cobalt magnets, and more of the design features.

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