For the past year, I had heard, SO much about these headphones. I have seen them reviewed time and time again on YouTube. I hardly heard anything negative about them. However, for the longest time, they could not be bought because they were not available. For the ones, which were, they were way overpriced. Then, in March, they became available on Amazon for a nice price. I jumped on it. Now, that I have them, are they worth the hype?DESIGN/FEATURES: The drivers of the SHP9500 are 50mm, which is large. The frequency response is an outstanding, 12-35,000 Hz, which is 1,500 Hz short of Hi-Res territory. Nevertheless, they still sound superb. The impedance is 32 ohms. For PS4 gamers, 32 ohms is low enough for the controller to drive the headphones with the controller volume set to max. The maximum input power is only 200mW, meaning a user will have to be careful when using an amp. A DAC can be used but is not needed. Of course, the sound will be improved and of course, increasingly loud.The design of the SHP9500 is very cool in my opinion. Some could argue that it looks cheap, which they sort of do. However, they have some style to them. The headband is aluminum, cased with a hard, matte black, plastic. Atop of the headband is a glossy-black, Philips insignia. The sides of the headband have measuring notches and a hole, which shows a number, indicating the level, which the headband can be adjusted to. Underneath the headband is a cushion, made of breathable, dual-layered, cloth fabric for head support. On the bottom, inside the right and left side of the headband, a plastic tag with R and L can be seen on the corresponding sides of the headband. This is the part of the design, which I love the most. The ear cups are made of plastic. In addition, the speakers are made of aluminum. On each speaker, R and L are painted in white on the corresponding sides of the speakers. Personally, I believe that the design feature is cool and unique. The speakers are transparent enough, where the drivers can be seen. The ear cushions are over-the-ear and made of the same, breathable, double-layered, cloth fabric.BASS/MID-BASS/SUB-BASS: There is bass. When playing games, which have explosions, I can hear that boom. However, the bass is inconsistent, overall. With that said, the sub-bass is non-existent. I could not hear much of a subwoofer-like rumble when I was playing certain games, which had explosions.HIGHS: The SHP9500 is bright sounding headphones. The sound is crystal clear, overall. The treble highs can be grainy at times. However, there Results and ears vary. For example, Call Of Duty Black Ops 4 is a prime example, which has lots of sharp sounds. Gunshots are loud but clear. Each time bullets hit, there a loud, thumping sound, which follows with a loud, “squish”, when a kill is achieved. I found having the volume high while hearing this sound can be harsh of the ears. The high end of female voices sounds great. Hearing female voices on Call Of Duty Black Ops 4 is another. Hearing my female character, Battery’s voice lines sound great. “Cluster grenade, enjoy!” “Splash!” “Dropped!” “All right, boom time.” “All talk!” “Doggone!” Those are some of my favorite voice lines of hers. Once, Battery ran inside of an open-ended bay of the Summit map. Battery said a voice line, while outside of the bay. Then, her voice became magnified, as she entered the bay. Plus, there was an echo of Battery's voice. The authenticity of the echo was unbelievable and nearly, scary. This was a good example of a transition between mid to high sounds.IMAGING/SOUNDSTAGE: The SHP9500 has good imaging. They handle directional sounds, exceptionally, well. With that said, I tested the performance of the SHP9500 while playing Call Of Duty Black Ops 4. The best map, which showcases the performance of the best is the “Occupation” map, which is a close-quarters. I could hear what was going on and direction, where the action was taking place on the map, whether it was dialogue, gunshots or explosions. Of course, footsteps could be heard, as well. It seems the sound magnifies toward closer sounds coming from a different direction. For example, each time my character looks in one direction, the sound increasingly amplifies in the direction and less in the opposite direction, where lesser actions were taking place. The soundstage is great. Of course, they are open-back, so that is expected. The airiness and open sound of the SHP9500 is great. Very spread out. I played a match on the very open. “Gustav Cannon” map. I could hear sounds, very clear from across the map at a far distance. Not to mention, sounds from a distant, sounded a bit closer than they actually were.LOWS/MIDS: I must say, the SHP9500 picks up subtle sounds, pretty good. Hearing shells hit the floor, coming from a blasting shotgun is addictive to listen to, strangely. On the Morocco map, outside of hearing the common sounds, during game-play, I could hear the subtle, clinking and breakage of pottery being kicked around, while traversing the area. I could barely, hear this with other headsets, but in more abundance with the SHP9500. The unbelievable sound of crunching, as my character was trampling through the deep snow, cracking of the ice or sounds of moving water, while swimming on the Icebreaker map. Once, my character, Battery, ran inside of an open-ended bay of the Summit map. Battery was communicating, while outside and finished talking, while going inside of the bay. There was an echo of Battery's voice while speaking inside of that open-ended bay. The authenticity of the echo was unbelievable and nearly, scary.MIC (OPTIONAL): An external mic, such as a V-Moda Boom Mic Pro will have to be purchased to utilize, while online gaming. The prices vary. I have not tried this, yet, as I do not have a mod-mic at this time. I do know, with one attached, it should perform exceptionally, well.VERDICT: Overall, the SHP9500 is a great headset. For the past year, when constantly, hearing about these, I was wondering, if these lived up to the hype and they did. Never in my wildest dreams, I would ever think Philips would make such an outstanding headset. They were smart to put these back on the market and at an affordable price. With that being said, I would advise anyone looking for a headset to pick these up, just in case they are no longer available, as they were, prior to resurfacing. Honestly, I believe my search for the “perfect” headset(s) is over.