[USER NAME:]

I'm not exactly sure I can explain grainy. I sure as hell will try though. When you hit a cymbol, you should hear a "tssshhhhh" for the attack, followed by a "humumum" in the middle, and a "uuuuuuuh" at the decay. A grainy cymbol will sound like"tssscrhhhrhh""humcrumucrm""uucruuucruuh".
I just got rid of my 595's, and it's not the case with these headphones. I'm not sure who started this myth, but I sure do beleive it belongs on snopes.com. The 595's are an exceptional buy, without a doubt. The only reason I got rid of these was to help fund my 2nd HD650 purchase.

 

[Dhw]

I just picked up a pair of HD595s here from a fellow head-fier for $150 bucks. Compared with my HD580s, the way I'd describe the difference is that the HD580s give instruments a more realistic sound...they sound closer to being actual instruments...I believe it to be "timbre". When you listen to one long enough and then switch, you'll notice...the HD595s just aren't as smooth and realistic sounding. The HD595s' "graininess" I've heard talked about, I always equate with the fact that I'm more conscious of listening to a recording while wearing them then with the 580s.

That being said, I only notice in when I think about it. The HD595s, for the price they go used, are an amazing buy, IMHO. They are livelier than my 580s (I have a new amp on the way that will hopefully help that) and are easily driven by my iPod. They are great sounding comfortable headphones that only sound poor when you've heard something that sounds better (to you). When I switch to my 580s and hear vocals, I think "wow, those vocals do sound more true to life," but I don't think to myself that "The HD595s suck." I think "The HD580s are pretty damn sweet, too bad they can't be driven well without an amp and are a little too laid back for certain genres of music, IMHO." (though I don't actually put "IMHO" disclaimers in my thoughts...)

For someone buying them new, I'd look around and make sure they're the right set of phones for you, as there are lots of options. They may very well be what you want. To me, they don't have any glaring defaults, but I know there is better out there, for more money. And one of the best pieces of advice I can offer you is: don't listen to stuff you can't afford, because then you'll just be unhappy with what you end up buying. I refuse to listen to 650s because of how many good things I've heard about them. Ignorance is bliss. There is always something better out there, and if there isn't now, just wait awhile...there will be soon enough.

Listening to these 'phones, I probably wouldn't have noticed anything closely related to "graininess" had I not listened to the 580s and not heard people on this forum use the term...I look forward to summer nights sitting out on the fire escape with a hot cup of tea and my favorite songs...

-Doug-

 

[saint.panda]

Considering that they can sound pretty good without an amp, they're not such a bad buy and I don't find them grainy either although I only listened to them a couple of times at meets. However, once you add an amp, the HD 580 pulls ahead quite nicely unless the HD 595's tone is exactly what you're looking for.



As for the terminologies*:

grainy - A moderate texturing of reproduced sound. The sonic equivalent of grain in a photograph. Coarser than dry but finer than gritty.

texture, texturing - A perceptible pattern or structure in reproduced sound, even if random in nature. Texturing gives the impression that the energy continuum of the sound is composed of discrete particles, like the grain of a photograph.

coarse - A large-grained texturing of reproduced sound; very gritty. The continuum of reproduced sound seems to be comprised of large particles. See "texture."

gritty - A harsh, coarse-grained texturing of reproduced sound. The continuum of energy seems to be composed of discrete, sharp-edged particles.

dry (...) Describing the texture of reproduced sound: very fine-grained, chalky. (...)

*[size=xx-small]All references taken from a compilation of audiophile terms compiled by SiE and john_jcb, mostly from Stereophile.[/size]

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman Time for Aman to be flamed! WHY THE SENNHEISER HD595 HEADPHONES SUCK: 1. Build Quality - this is the biggest problem with it! You adjust the headphone to fit your head, and you get an awful clicking noise. If you MOVE or BEND the headphone at all to put it on your head, this same clicking noise is present. It does not make me feel comfortable to know I spent 250 dollars on headphones, and that they may be on the brink of destruction. 2. Grainy Midrange - This also was a huge problem for me. I found that overall the headphones were pretty balanced, but the actual SOUND of the midrange was just plain awful. This was particularly noticable in slow, mellow songs, such as Riders of the Storm, or Unorthodox Behaviour, where the bass and guitars would be really detailed and elongated. Keyboards in particular really sounded dismal. 3. Highs - Not a large concern of mine, but it is important to point out! The highs are so toned down and calm compared to the rest of the sound spectrum that you almost forget they exist. The actual volume is fine, but the presentation of them is just wierd. 4. Soundstage - The soundstage was really wierd. The instruments seemed to feel like they were inside a bubble, which is even worse IMO than having them just surround your ears. Instead of the instruments and sounds being around your head, the sound came from in front of you in a circular sort of fashion. The soundstage IMO was about as deep as a blank CD-R. Width-wise they were okay, but again, inside a bubble there really is no direction or definite shape. For 250 dollars, your money is spent much better elsewhere. AKG K501s, Beyerdynamic DT880s, etc. etc.

Aman, this is downright ridiculous for me. You have not listened to the 595, or you have listened to it on a crappy rig.

I'll throw in my views as well.

The 595 sounds wonderfully lush, sweet, liquid with my integrated amp, and that's a fact. Perhaps with certain popular dedicated amps out there it ends up sounding bad. That's not the phone's fault. I can't figure out an explanation, but I'm well aware that the 595 is a wonderful phone when you get to hear it close to its best. Which apparently is the case here, for one, with that amp you see in my signature...

In detail:

The build quality is very competent - not yet a single case of issues here that I know of. The phone's weight is a proof.

The soundstage - hey, what's wrong with it ?!! Aman, you certainly don't lack imagination.

The treble - heard it after some 300 or more hours of use? "recessed" ? "weird" ???




Bottom line, the HD595 is superior to the K501 without a shade of doubt, it is superior to the HD580 judging from my sentiments on it compared to the HD650, and is equal to the DT880 in that it replaces a very slight deficiency in refinement at the extremes with its magicly delicate, flowing and warm midrange.


Enjoy listening to what you have.

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by txa For those not wanting to read a bunch of other threads, let me be brief. When compared to a K501, DT880, or Senn's own 650, the 595 does have an edge, graniness, or congestedness (is this a word?!?!) to the sound. I've listened to all of these extensively, after extensive burn-in periods, and in multiple amp\source set-ups. The 595 does have a balanced presentation, but in terms of refinement, should you be looking for that quality, it is simply out-classed by the above-listed phones. My layman's impression of the 595 is Sennheiser's attempt to get decent sound out of a non-amped source, for Grado-would be's that want a more neutral tonal balance, not in-your-face treble and better ear comfort (circumaural). I don't think they are in the same league as an 880, 501, or again, Senns 6x0 series - even when amped. Having said this, I don't think they 'suck', especially for those not wanting to spend a good deal more money upgrading their source and buying amps. But as Aman says, for a similar amount of money, should you have a good source and amp, the 501 and 880 are better choices.

txa, my HD595 at first had this very minor reminiscence of "graininess", and it has utterly vanished - perfectly disappeared, with further use. I now can hardly remember about it.

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea Bottom line, the HD595 is superior to the K501 without a shade of doubt, it is superior to the HD580 judging from my sentiments on it compared to the HD650, and is equal to the DT880 in that it replaces a very slight deficiency in refinement at the extremes with its magicly delicate, flowing and warm midrange.

Again and again: please, listen to the headphones before judging it, this is becoming very annoying.

Your conclusion about the K501 and the DT880 are always categoric (as wrong) and you didn't ever listened to it. This is not very useful, especially to the newbies or who search the forum for critical and serious opinion.

 

[SDA]

My personal order of preference actually goes K501 > HD580 > DT880 > HD595. The 595 sounded hollow and artificial to my ears, with weird treble and a hard midrange.

But I don't claim that this opinion is fact. It's an opinion, and one in a market where so much is subjective. I think it's stupid to say that any of these headphones is definitely superior to the others in its class. The fact is that each of these headphones has its own well-deserved fanclub, and arguing over whose fanclub worships the One True Headphone is silly and pointless. Try out what you can, use what you like, don't insist on forcing your opinions down the throats of others. Sheesh.

Personally, I've never been able to hear or identify any sort of "texturing" in a headphone. I guess my ears just suck.

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amartignano Again and again: please, listen to the headphones before judging it, this is becoming very annoying.

Andrea, I may eventually rush to a shop and do that just to give you what you want.

 

[acs236]

tka,

you touched what I felt was the most significant problem with the 595's midrange -- congestion. This is what caught my attention as opposed to any graininess. Compared with the AKG 501, Beyer 880, or HD650, the 595's midrange sounds to me like it's packed together into a tight, slightly muddy ball.


As to graininess -- I don't know. Reading those definition and thinking about the analogy, I'd say that I don't find it to be necessarily a bad thing. From the descriptions of the term, I'd say that the CD3000's midrange is a bit grainy, but I certainly prefer it to the 595's congested midrange.

 

[SDA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea Andrea, I may eventually rush to a shop and do that just to give you what you want.

Wait, you really HAVEN'T even heard any of the headphones you say are definitely inferior to the HD595, and yet you insist that anyone who hasn't listened to the HD595 for at least 300 hours shouldn't dare put forth a negative opinion?

Uh... well, wow.

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea Andrea, I may eventually rush to a shop and do that just to give you what you want.

That will be good. But consider that a short listening to the hadphones against another headphone you know very well (as the HD595) can be quite "uncorrect".

 

[3lusiv3]

I hear no graininess with my HD 595. If you hear graininess it is in the music or source. The HD 595 go extremely well with a Single Power PPX3 headamp and with many receivers. They are the best headphones in their price range.

 

[txa]

After reading saint.panda's definitions and acs236 remarks, I need to retract my statement that the 595 is grainy - and I aplogize for any confusion. There are so many qualities to the sound that many times my command of the English language just simply comes up short in expressing it.

I think acs236s remarks hit the nail on the head, and if not, come as close to it as I've read. What bothers me about the 595 is that the sound is congested. Yes, I agree with spike and andrea that the midrange is lush and full - but I feel this way only when I analyze the midrange tonal balance and pull it out of the rest of what the phone is doing. I think the presentation itself can sound hollow - in that the individual notes don't carry as much 3D weight as the other phones. So take this property, and throw in the scrunching of midrange presentation, and you have what motiviated their exit from my collection.

On an extended note, in grasping for a reason why we agree\disagree to the sounds that these cans produce, take a look at some other terms in addition to the 'graniness' term that started this thread:

- soundstaging
- imaging
- tonal balance
- weight
- liquidity
- articulation
- space between the notes

Each of us will prioritize the importance of these dimensions, and in addition, each of us will have a threshold of performance that we deem acceptable, allowing us to move on to the 2nd-most important dimension. For example, I believe the quality I most need in a phone is the articulation, and space between the notes. This is where the 595 comes up short for me. However, once this quality meets my threshold of 'yeah that's what I need', I move on to others. So looking at my top priority alone, the HD650 should be my top pick, but becuase the 880 is good enough and comes up stronger in other areas, I prefer it more. Or so this is how I think my unconscious is working... Again, bear with my limited range of expression.

 

[mattpwill]

If you wear the HD595s in the right position, then they sound magnificent. The only bad thing is that they're directed drivers, so the exact position is needed to get the higher notes and "soundstage"

 

[Andrea]

Well, I don't find it "congested" either, compared to my HD650... such kind of complaints seem pedantic, as in the stereotype on the hard-core audiophile, to me.

I know what sounds good and natural, something I'll usually instantly feel. The HD595 just does, it 'told' me so from the very first listen actually -- quite a rare happening in my personal experience especially with such audio stuff as headphones...

So, to the few or many owners of the HD595 who love it like me, be happy with it and be confident that it's currently the best headphone in its price range.