Review: Philips CitiScape Shibuya
Philips has been in the headphone business for quite sometime now and they’re actually one of the market leaders here in the Philippines. To make their brand more hipper, younger, and fresher, they launched the CitiScape line. The design and features of these headphones are inspired by “cities and savvy urbanites”. The model we tested was called the CitiScape Shibuya. To give you guys some context, Shibuya is considered as one of the best shopping and entertainment districts in Tokyo. After using the CitiScape Shibuya for over a week, we can definitely say it does justice to the name.
It looks amazing and it’s comfortable to wear
Considering that Japan is a very fashion forward country, it’s a must for the CitiScape Shibuya to look awesome. Fortunately it delivers in that aspect. First, the Shibuya comes in different colors that can match your personality. From what we’ve seen on the online catalogue, the available colors are: brown, blue, pink, purple, white, and black. That’s a pretty wide range and I’m sure that different kinds of people can find something they like in there.
The headband is also air-quilted which not only adds a lot of bonus points to aesthetics but it also makes it more comfortable especially when you’re doing long listening sessions. As you can see from the photo on the left the inner headband is perforated. This is supposed to help with releasing heat build-up when you’re wearing the cans for extended durations (not really sure if it works though).
The earpads are made from some sort of soft foam material which doesn’t exert too much pressure on your ears. Over time the foam adjusts to the shape of your ears making it more comfortable as you burn it in more. As for the the fit, it’s actually good and you can have it on for a few hours before you get ear fatigue or it gets too warm. You get some level of noise isolation while you have this on but it can’t block out everything especially if you wear this in really loud and busy places.
Philips also made sure you get quality cables with the Shibuya. For this model you get a 1.2m anti-tangle flat cable. This makes it easier for you to “untangle” it if ever the cable gets messy while you’re storing the cans in your bag or closet. The 1.2m length is also perfect for people who are always on the go. Lastly, there’s a built-in microphone on the cable for calls (perfect for smartphones).
Emphasis on the Bass and Lower Range
Powered by 40 mm drivers, you get good, loud, and crisp sound with the CitiScape Shibuya. When it comes to the signature and character of the sound, it delivers great on the lower range and has fantastic punchy bass. It’s a fun set of cans that J Pop fans will definitely love (since more J Pop songs are punchy lol).
That said, the cans might be not for you if you’re more into clear and detailed mids since the bass on the Shibuya can get a little too overwhelming at times. You can fix this by fiddling around with an equalizer. My personal favorite music player app with a built-in equalizer is Power Amp (Android).
Pricing and Availability
The Philips CitiScape Shibuya is now available in various gadget and music stores in malls (Astro Vision, Astro Plus). SRP is Php3,200.
