bkelly – I’m too tired to read my cell bio book (who cares about nuclear transport anyway?), so I did some listening to describe what I mean:
Songs that I can’t listen to using the 590’s at all:
- U2 – Beautiful Day, Elevation, Walk On: too bright that Bono’s “s” and “th” syllables come out really bad ("Simblance" is what I've been told it's called) because the recording is bad, insturments are brought out more, but vocals go down big time
- U2 - I Will Follow: simblance, vocals drowned out
- Puddle Of Mudd - Come Clean: too bright
Songs that I perceive that the 590 push the vocals back while bringing the instruments forward:
- U2 - Pride, With Or Without You
- U2 - The Sweetest Thing (remix)
- U2 - If God Will Send His Angels
- Puddle of Mudd - COme Clean (album)
- Radiohead - OK Computer
- Travis - The Invisible Band (album): more balanced, fuller on 600
- Weezer - Hash Pipe
Songs where the 590 brings everything up front, more alive than the 600:
- U2 - New Year's Day: sounds better on the 590 than 600
- Alanis Morissette - Uninvited: this is what the 590's should sound like on all songs! Totally beats the 600. It's like a good balance that makes the 590's sound better than the 600.
- Goo Goo Dolls - Iris: a little too bright, but similar effect as the above song
- Coldplay - Clocks
- Doves - The Last Broadcast (album): the album is kind of muddy, so the 590's make up for that
- No Doubt - Simple Kind Of Life: a bit bright though
- Pearl Jam - Alive: a bit bright too
Songs that the 600 just sound better, although the 590's don't necessarily sound bad:
- Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (album)
- Coldplay - Parachutes (album): too bright for the 590
- Dave Brubeck - Time Out (album): sounds smoother on the 600, but more realistic on the 590
- Garbage - Version 2.0 (album): sounds "fuller" with 600
- Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (album): sounds fuller as well, too bright with 590
- Moby - Play (album)
- Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf: sounds more balanced on the 600
- Radiohead - OK Computer
Ok, so I don't know what the point of all the above was, but I guess I'm trying to say that the 590 does well on some songs and is horrible at a lot of others. Sometimes, it increases the highs and lows so much that it overpowers the vocals, so that it sounds like the vocals are distant and pushed into the background. This is where is sounds hollow or empty - not the instruments, but rather the vocals relative to the instruments.
I tested using original CD's->LAME --alt-preset extreme->iPod->META42, my only source at the moment.