Jbroad572
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
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This was posted 2 days ago on Headwize, hope it's ok, to repost over here. This from Jan Meier though.
Thought some people would be interested just as I, before I was directed to this post.
Quote:
Thought some people would be interested just as I, before I was directed to this post.
Quote:
| Dear headfellows, These three medium-priced headphones have just been released and given the popularity of Sennheiser phones I thought it a good idea to share my impressions with you. The first impression always comes with the box. Whereas for just five years ago most headphones came in rather flimsy and cheap boxes the situation has now drastically changed. The newer boxes of the Philips, Beyerdynamic, and Ultrasone systems are much fancier and sturdier than the old versions. The boxes of these new Sennheiser systems are no exception. There is no comparison with the boxes the old HD570, HD580, and HD590 came in. These new boxes are sturdy and open in a pretty fancy way: The front is split in two parts and can be opened like the shutters of a window. After doing so the headphone is shown neatly behind a plastic window. Nice indeed. Maybe the dark green colour could have been done better but that's personal taste. The second impression comes from the headphones themselves. Much has been discussed on the looks of these new systems. Some like them, other people are less positive. Personally I like their design quite a lot. The slim oval shape of the earcups and the nice curve of the earcup suspension give these phones a very distinct face. Especially the HD555 and HD595 are very much to my taste. The grill on the HD515 has less appeal to me but I guess younger people will like their slightly faster looks. The quality of the constructions is pretty good with a clear improvement with the more expensive headphones. The earpads and headband pad on the HD515 are simple foam constructions with a fluffy cover (nylon?). The pads on the HD555 are similar but are covered with velvet. The HD595 also has velvet earpads but the headband is completely covered with artificial leather. What I don't like on the construction is the single-sided suspension of the earcups. By principle such a suspension tends to be more vulnerable than a conventional two-sided one. The joints are made of plastic and although they feel pretty sturdy I'm not too sure whether they will easily survive heavy duty applications. I also don't like the one-sided cord very much. It's quite thin and can not be exchanged (upgraded). My experience with Sennheiser cables is that their cables aren't the best, sonically speaking. The phones are pretty light-weight and the paddings are relatively large. Accordingly comfort is high. The HD595 comes with a nice headphone holder for shelf or table mounting. I gave all phones a decent 50 hours break-in before I started listening. As reference I used a HD650 with Oehlbach upgrade cable. HD595 Everybody who expects the HD595 to be a cheaper alternative for the HD650 has to be warned. These two systems have a clearly different sonic balance. The HD650 has a deep bass and a slightly recessed treble. The sonic result is a warm and relaxed sound. Detail is nonetheless high thanks to an almost complete lack of distortion. The HD595 has a brighter and cleaner presentation. Bass is well defined but not as deep as that of the HD650. At lower sound levels the HD595 presents slightly more details thanks to the more forward treble. At higher levels there's a slight tendency to sibilance and also a low degree of harshness. Although both systems are miles away from the quality of an Orpheus I find the sonic balance of the HD595 closer to this reference system than the HD650. The chief designer of Sennheiser once told me, that their premium headphones are designed to be driven out of a low impedance headphone output. They disregard the international standard of 120 Ohm output impedance. This is clearly shown by the HD600/650. These phones start to sound muddy at an elevated output impedance. The bass of the HD595 also becomes slightly muddy at 120 Ohm but nonetheless some people might prefer the sound that results. The increased output impedance also reduces the forward treble and makes the sound more relaxed. This phone invites you to experiment with different impedance values (which I didn't do myself). There is a marked difference in soundstage of the two headphones. That on the HD650 is extremely broad and into my head. While listening to this phone I personally really need crossfeed, otherwise I start feeling pretty uncomfortable while listening to certain recordings. The HD595 has angled drivers and what Sennheiser calls E.A.R. technology (Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement). This really seems to help on soundstaging. In stereo-mode the soundstage is more out of the head and forward than that of the HD650. The effect of crossfeed is less pronounced. HD555 I found the sonic differences between the HD555 and the HD595 to be small. The bass on the HD595 has slightly better definition and the treble seems to be a little bit cleaner but for everybody on a small budget the HD555 is a very nice alternative for its more expensive sister. HD515 This phone is quite different from the other two models. Treble is less forward and bass is rather muddy. Overall presentation is rather on the dark side. Somehow this phone reminds me more of the HD650 than that of the HD595. The phone left me indifferent. Nice, but nothing outstanding. I hope you enjoyed reading!  Jan |
