[DarkWolf]

Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn DW, get the hd580's instead. otherwise in 3 months when you've finally paid $180 for your hd590's you're gonna say that you wish you'd had gotten the hd580's when they were still available and were $120.

There is chance you're right, but I'll probably order the 590s in a package from Jan when I get them, so I'll only end up paying $150 for them. From what people say I think they will suite me better than the 580/600 anyway. But I must say, it is tempting to jump on the 580 band wagon right now, even though I know I can't.

 

[markl]

Having owned both the HD580 (for about 2 years) and the HD600 (for about 1 year) and having recently been sent the HD590 for a show-down review against the the HD600 (the review can be found here), I honestly think the HD590 is the best phone overall, although not by much.

Having heard other phones that I like much better than the wooly and reserved Senns (Sony CD3K, AT W2002, Sont R10), I'm no longer a big fan of Senns, but IMO, if you were choosing among the Senns, the 590 is the way to go.

neither here nor there, but something else to consider...

Mark

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I've read conflicting rankings on the Sennheiser HD 590 and the HD 600 -- from two German publications. Audio ranked the 590 equal to the 600 -- but Stereoplay ranked the 590 noticeably lower than the 600.

 

[Steve999]

I did take a little time to compare the 580s and the 590s at Hirsch's Ultra-Fabulous November 17th Head-Fi Meet. I thought they were both quite good. I just had a gut reaction of preferring the 580s. To me, the 590s had a midrange a little more like the HD 280s. I'd say the only way to tell which you like better is to spend some time with them side by side and just see what you LIKE better. As in HEY, I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE BETTER! I think it's a judgment call, there's just not any kind of objective way to say one is clearly better than the other.

Quote:

Originally posted by Eagle_Driver I've read conflicting rankings on the Sennheiser HD 590 and the HD 600 -- from two German publications. Audio ranked the 590 equal to the 600 -- but Stereoplay ranked the 590 noticeably lower than the 600.

 

[markl]

What's your amp situation like? You know that the 580 and the 600 are high-impedence and require specialized amps to sound their best while the low-impedence 590 can sound just fine out of most jacks?

Mark

 

[Eagle_Driver]

In my experience it's the extremely low-impedance headphones that actually require a highly specialized amp that can handle the extremely high current drain that such low-impedance headphones draw. Fortunately, there are very few such full-sized headphones available at all -- and the 12-ohm Sony MDR-F1 includes an impedance-compensating circuit. Most such current-draining headphones on the market tend to be the small earbuds; I tried a 16-ohm Sony earbud (which, BTW, is known to produce decent bass and treble on a good portable amp) on a recent cheap portable, only to find the total lack of any bass or treble at all whatsoever and the severe clipping at anything above 60 dBA loudness levels (nowhere near high enough to cut the ever-increasing ambient outdoor noise). On that same portable, the higher-impedance 60-ohm Koss headphones sound far better.

 

[markl]

No doubt, each headphone responds differently to each amp. That said, there are certain amps that can handle virtually any headphone regardless of impedence. I'm thinking of the Berning MicroZotl and the Melos SHA-1/Gold/Maestro.

Mark