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Sennheiser HD590? Help!

post #1 of 16
6/30/01 at 9:03pm
Thread Starter 
Are these good phones, I have noticed in these forums you guys are always talking about the HD600 and the HD580, but you always leave out the HD590.

Over at Audioreview people are giving the HD590 5 stars saying it's an amazing phone. ALso other have said that this PHONE is good for dance/Techno, as it has alot of BASS.

So what do you guys think?

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post #2 of 16
6/30/01 at 9:10pm
The 590s are pretty good, actually. The main thing about them is they are quite bright compared to the 580s and 600s. Bass is probably not quite as good, but close. They're supposed to be REAL comfortable, too. They won't have the slam that Grados do, though.
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post #3 of 16
6/30/01 at 9:12pm
Crapola. I auditioned some headphones in the local Magnola HiFi, where the backround noise was so bad I couldn't tell a Sennheiser HD600 from a Grado, but the 590s stood out as one of the worst headphones there, including the Sony CruddyPhones(TM). Instead of buying them, use your hard-earned money to buy either the 580s or some Grados. ANY Grados. The 580s are comfier tho.
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post #4 of 16
6/30/01 at 9:18pm
I have a pair of HD590, and initially I was impressed, but only after re-listening to my Sony MDR-V6 (not the V600) that the HD590's major failing is its recessed mids. If I don't have audio equipment anywhere near the quality to drive the HD580's or HD600's properly, and I must own a pair of circumaural open-air headphones with a single-sided cord (not a Y-cord attached to both earpieces), the cheaper HD570's may actually be better than the overpriced HD590's. Otherwise, I would look for other brands.
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post #5 of 16
7/1/01 at 8:11pm
I personally found the HD580s to be too laid back for my taste, and the Grado SR325 to be mirky in the upper bass and sometimes too bright. I found the HD590s to be great in the bass department, and somewhere inbetween the typical Sennheiser sound and the Grado sound with respect to detail and brightness. I chose my HD590s after auditioning both the hd580s and Grado Sr325s and I am very happy with my choice. The 590s do sound much smoother after at least 48 hrs of breakin though.
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post #6 of 16
7/2/01 at 12:34am

THE 590 are great

Paradigm: I truly like the HD590 and think they don't get the credit they deserve.

I sold mine since I have the Sony MDR-CD3000 ($450) but plan to buy another pair soon.

They are very detailed, and quite bright. I cannot comment with dance/Techno, since I used them mostly for classical/pop/rock. These cans excel with classical, and are usually not too bright even with the most piercieng ADD violins.

I also took lots of photos of my HD590, you could find them at Headwize.

Be sure to listen to them first if you're going for techno... the bass is natural, but I don't know if it will please you. I do know that they are excellent cans for classical, and sounded pretty good to me with pop/rock.

Overall, I love these headphones, they are a bargain at around $120. Yes, they are different from the HD600, but that doesn't mean they are worse in every aspect. Considering the price difference to the HD600, the 3K and other headphones, the 590 are excellent.

eric343: Well you said it yourself, your listening conditions were not addequate. I find hard to believe that the HD590 can be "the worse phones there" unless all the other are really high-end or you're not listening to a good model.
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post #7 of 16
7/2/01 at 12:54am
Well, the other phones were pretty much the whole Grado line (except RS-x, of course!) and most of the Sennheiser line (no 580 tho). The Orpheus was by the checkout stand where it's even louder, so I had no opportunity to properly hear it.
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post #8 of 16
7/2/01 at 1:29am
I am very lucky to own a receiver that just happens to have a built-in five-band graphic equalizer (frequency points: 100Hz, 330Hz, 1kHz, 3.3kHz and 10kHz)! I just listened to my Senn 590's again, only this time tweaking my receiver's equalizer controls (slight cut at 100Hz, slight-to-moderate boost at 3.3kHz and a moderate-to-strong cut at 10kHz), and guess what? POOF!! The sound out of my 590's is now MUCH better balanced than I've ever heard before from these cans!! Before the equalization, the 590's have slightly exaggerated bass, recessed upper mids and quite bright and stringent highs. (In fact, if I tried boosting just the upper mids at 3.3kHz while leaving everything else at "flat", the 590's sound would have become way too bright.)
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post #9 of 16
7/2/01 at 1:33am
Well, most people don't have equalizers. I'll bet I could make my Etys sound like an Orpheus with an eqalizer
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post #10 of 16
7/2/01 at 2:35am
Thread Starter 
Eric it seems from your pic you are quite familiar with the Etymotic.
What do you know from experience about the Etymotic ER4P model. DO those puppies work well with DANCE/Techno, does it have good powerful clean bass???
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post #11 of 16
7/2/01 at 6:24am
The Ety's have great bass, but it is a "different" kind of bass that really takes some getting used to. From reading your various posts here, I think you would be very disappointed in them -- they are definitely NOT the kind of 'phones you would say are good for Dance/Techno.
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post #12 of 16
7/2/01 at 12:26pm
The Etys are especially not good for dance/techno if you are the type of person that likes to move around or bob your head to the beat. That darn microphonic cord makes me keep pretty still!
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post #13 of 16
7/2/01 at 2:50pm
dhwilkin, I'm assuming that you don't loop the cord over your earlobes and use the shirt clip thingy. It *really* helps.

However, I don't recommend ANY Etymotics for bass lovers. The bass is quite different, and you're better off getting some cheaper (but still very good) 'phones like the Grado SR-80s.

On the issue of 4S vs. 4P, I think the general consensus is that the 4P are really only good if you're not using an amp, if you have an amp at all the 4S apparently sound much better. (which is why I made my Cmoy...)
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post #14 of 16
7/2/01 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally posted by dhwilkin
The Etys are especially not good for dance/techno if you are the type of person that likes to move around or bob your head to the beat. That darn microphonic cord makes me keep pretty still!
You can say that again! I made the mistake of taking a bite of a Chocolate Chip cookie while listening with my Etys and it sounded like the inside of my head was caving in.
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post #15 of 16
7/2/01 at 3:40pm
Yup! Actually, that's a problem for me w/ any headphones, but especially so w/ the Etys.

Quote:
dhwilkin, I'm assuming that you don't loop the cord over your earlobes and use the shirt clip thingy. It *really* helps.
Nope, haven't tried that yet, but will. Thanks for the suggestion.
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