[Mr.Radar]

As a current DT770/80 lover and former DT440 owner I think I should give you my opinion on the DT440. From day one to day 45 (when I sold them) they were way too bright and harsh (the highs of my DT770's I'm fine with though, go figure!), with a mid-bass bump and lacking extention. Other than that they were fine though, and their soundstaging (based on what I can remember) was much better than my DT770's. I say go with the Grado's, they may lack in soundstaging they should more than make up for in fun and slam.

 

[Jonoh]

I think the "best" bass needs more definition. I have only heard the Grados and the Senn so I will keep my comments to them.

Grados have more bass slam and are faster sounding without being, IMO, overpowering. The 590s IMO are more airy sounding and go deeper. They are definitely more recessed/laid back then that Grados.

These are different types of bass. If you cannot compare them personally, then some of the others here have already expressed their opinions based, presumably, on their experiences with Beyer and the others.

 

[Kenny12]

i have owned both the hd590s and 440s, hd590s are only good cause of their comfort, and the dt440 are better in all retrospect except for build quality and comfort, up to u what u choose, i choose the hd590 cause i've got a pair of er-4s now

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeriyn DT440s. 'Nuff said. Both Grados and Senns I find to be painfully uncomfortable because they both press a spot on my temple that really distracts from the music.

You haven't tried the Sennheiser's he's talking about. The HD-590 is just about the most comfortable headphone there is.

See ya
Steve

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch Sennheiser had at one point advertised them as unamped hi-fi, but this is pretty far from the truth. They are OK unamped, but nowhere near their potential.

I have HD-590s and a Super Mini Moy, and there is absolutely no difference amped from unamped. The only advantage to the amp is that when I use a Pocket Dock it's cleaner than the one built into my iPod. No need for an amp for these cans at all.

See ya
Steve

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch BUT, if your primary interest is rock, then SR225 > HD590. The 590's really aren't the best for rock, as the recessed mids take the body out of guitars while the sharp treble overemphasizes distortion, especially on slightly sibilant recordings.

The HD-590s don't have recessed mids. The midrange is the flattest of any headphone I've ever seen. There is a very slight midbass hump, but not enough to throw the balance off, and the high range is smooth, not sharp. You might be thinking of some other model.

See ya
Steve

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot The HD-590s don't have recessed mids. The midrange is the flattest of any headphone I've ever seen. There is a very slight midbass hump, but not enough to throw the balance off, and the high range is smooth, not sharp. You might be thinking of some other model. See ya Steve

Prepare yourself for a barrage of comments to the contrary. Friendly warning

Let's just say that you're the only person that I know of who said this. I think that you are just lucky in terms of equipment matching, and have something that compliments the 590's well. On all non-EQ'ed equipment that I've had, amped or unamped, the 590's had recessed mids. Not quite as badly as you might be led to believe from all of the comments on these boards, but still noticeable. I use them with some EQ out of my computer (slightly bumped up mids and lowered treble) and they sound very nice and fairly neutral.

 

[bigshot]

I use headphones to engineer CDs for release. I spent three days with my audio rig and the 590s testing the balance with my equalizer and reference recordings. It was stone flat from around 250k to around 9khz.

If you listen to rock music, you may not be aware (or even need to be aware) of what "flat" is. It's a common technique for rock engineers to boost the mids to make the music "louder" sounding. Just about every Rhino release I've ever heard has a massive midrange boost. Headphone manufacturers do the same thing to make their cans sound "more agressive" for folks who want to hear the guitar solos and vocals jump out of the mix. There's nothing wrong with that. Electronic music can sound any way you want it to sound. If you're used to very aggressive midrange, the 590s might sound like they have recessed mids to you, but that doesn't make it true.

There are a few people here who seem to listen to classical music on a regular basis. Those are the ones who are more apt to know the difference between "flat" and "colored". If you put on a well recorded Beethoven string quartet and listen for a bit, it's very easy to identify coloration. The balance between the cello, viola and violin is very precise.

Just because a lot of people say something, it doesn't make it true. When it comes to flatness, I would trust one opinion of someone who listens exclusively to acoustic music over a dozen from people who listen only to electric instruments.

See ya
Steve

 

[UserNotFound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman The SR225s with the flats will give you really smooth, impactful bass. Not as dynamic, but for rock recordings that's your best bet.

I came from the HD280 side of the bass spectrum, so it took about 30 seconds to get used to the sound signature of the sr225s, but i can hear a lot more detail on the 225's, such as being able to tell hammerons and pulloffs from picked notes or plucked notes on the bass guitar part burried way deep inside some Metallica songs. IMHO, the guitar repoduction of the Grados is amazing, the veil on Senn's i've heard just doesn't sound like a like guitar to me.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot I use headphones to engineer CDs for release. I spent three days with my audio rig and the 590s testing the balance with my equalizer and reference recordings. It was stone flat from around 250k to around 9khz. If you listen to rock music, you may not be aware (or even need to be aware) of what "flat" is. It's a common technique for rock engineers to boost the mids to make the music "louder" sounding. Just about every Rhino release I've ever heard has a massive midrange boost. Headphone manufacturers do the same thing to make their cans sound "more agressive" for folks who want to hear the guitar solos and vocals jump out of the mix. There's nothing wrong with that. Electronic music can sound any way you want it to sound. If you're used to very aggressive midrange, the 590s might sound like they have recessed mids to you, but that doesn't make it true. There are a few people here who seem to listen to classical music on a regular basis. Those are the ones who are more apt to know the difference between "flat" and "colored". If you put on a well recorded Beethoven string quartet and listen for a bit, it's very easy to identify coloration. The balance between the cello, viola and violin is very precise. Just because a lot of people say something, it doesn't make it true. When it comes to flatness, I would trust one opinion of someone who listens exclusively to acoustic music over a dozen from people who listen only to electric instruments. See ya Steve

The music that I listen to is in my profile, as is my main rig, which is what I would consider flat, and is what I use for reference purposes. In comparison to that, the HD590 is quite recessed in the mids - to my ear. I do not have the gear to run a frequency response test, so I can only tell it like I hear it.

I don't listen to rock except a few classic rock bands, so I don't even know anything about the way in which modern rock is produced. As elitist as I am about headphones, I am 100 times more elitist about music.

 

[3lusiv3]

I listen to hip-hop. The HD 590's didn't have strong enough mids for me so I sold them. The vocals seemed too distant. The rest sounded great and the comfort was excellent.

 

[crimsonadam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch the HD590 is quite recessed in the mids

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3lusiv3 The HD 590's didn't have strong enough mids for me so I sold them

How does the recession of the mids compare to the Beyerdynamic 770/80s sound signature?

 

[Ken]

at the moment i have
dt770 dt150 dt931

dt770 have bright highs with less mids as every one knows and of course plenty of bass , for me just that little too much bass

what the dt150 offer is a little less bass but with a midrange and similar highs to dt770

dt931 similar to dt770 with midrange and less bass

my headphone of choice dt150 , i feel very balanced

dt150 are closed so soundstage down a little , look very old fashioned , built to take anything you can throw at them , not expensive

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crimsonadam How does the recession of the mids compare to the Beyerdynamic 770/80s sound signature?

From what I remember of hearing the DT770 at Guitar Center, the mids on the 590 aren't quite as recessed as on the 770, but the sound signature is pretty similar. The 590 is the (slightly) gentler, more refined sibling of the DT770, most of the benefit coming from (I guess) them being open.

The mids become quite a bit more forward with aftermarket cables, and I am still waiting to try using them with a 75 ohm adapter, which is also said to help even out their sound.

When I say that the mids are recessed, I don't mean to imply that they are "bad" or "unlistenable" or anything like that. It's just a characteristic of it's sound signature, which not everyone will like. Imagine taking a high quality headphone and using a "V" shaped EQ setting - jacked up bass and treble - and you've basically got the 590's.