[NickG]

I recently purchased a Senn HD590 to use as my "at work can". I tend to like a more "forword" sound so based on what I had read it seemed to be a good choice. After letting it burn in for about 20 hours at home I took a listen to it out of the headphone jack on my Dennon receiver. Imagine my supprise when it sounded dull and lifeless, not what I had expected! I then tried it out with my Corda Headamp and the same thing, dull and lifeless out of both the 0 ohm and 120 ohm jacks! I thought these were supposed to be cans that are somewhat bright. My question is, could this be a defective unit? Has anyone else noted the same thing? Just as a comparison, my HD580 sounds way brighter and detailed than the 590 using the Corda or the receiver. I certainly am not going to keep the 590s I have. The only question is whether or not I exchange them for another pair and go through the hassle of breaking them in and then having to do another return if the second pair sound the same as the first. Any thoughts or advice would be appriciated.

Regards, Nick

 

[beowulf]

Defective is a possibility. The 590 definitely do not sound dull and dark. They should be bright and detailed. Right out of the box.
Picky good recordings.. some Chesky stuff, etc...

I like my sound a bit bright ("laidback" comments worry me) and the 590 are definitely in that league.

 

[RMSzero]

Exchange them for Grados!

Personally I wouldn't think there would be THAT much manufacturing variation. I recommend getting another headphone and telling us what you think of it.

I've never really gotten a complete picture of the HD590 so I might be wrong, but I don't remember hearing that they were much of an improvement over the HD580.

 

[jpelg]

NickG -

Your findings mimick my listening in-store sessions of the 590. Pretty thin, and lifeless. Not unlike the 570's at the same store. Granted this was out of a receiver jack, not dedicated amp, for what that's worth. But given their rep and specs, the 590's should have been decent, if not stellar, even with that source and noticably better than the cheaper 570.

My guess is that "bright" does not mean "forward" to those who wrote such reviews. These are definitely not punchy-sounding cans. I thought that a dedicated amp would punch them up, but your findings say "no".

Why did Sennheiser mess with their line-up? I get the feeling that the 590's were a product of the marketing department, rather than the R & D folks.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Ahhh... I think I know why Sennheiser has screwed around with the HD-590's sound while redesigning the cord from a dual-sided affair to a single-sided one...

Had Sennheiser used a single-sided cord design AND maintain the superlative sound quality of the HD-580's, the finished product would end up costing MORE than even the top-of-the-line HD-600's!

And that's because single-sided cord designs, while much more convenient than dual-sided cord designs, are considerably more difficult to design and manufacture to a given specification without screwing up the sound from one or the other channel or both channels. Which is why although some of the better-performing closed "monitoring" headphones have a single-sided cord (the cord has to be relatively thick for minimal signal loss - DUH!

), the very best open-air headphones all have a cord connected to both earpieces (and many of those designs make it extremely difficult - or even impossible - to distinguish between left and right, especially if you're colour-blind).

 

[NickG]

RMSzero said:
"Exchange them for Grados! "

I already have SR80s and at this point find them superior to the HD590s. In fact, if it turns out the 590s are just not for me then SR80s, SR125s or the next one up (I forget the model num) are considerations for my "office" can. I have not found a place around here (eastern Mass) where I can audition the Grados above the SR80s (Cambridge Soundworks carries the Grados, but only up to the SR80).

beowulf said:
"Defective is a possibility. The 590 definitely do not sound dull and dark. They should be bright and detailed. Right out of the box.
Picky good recordings.. some Chesky stuff, etc...
I like my sound a bit bright ("laidback" comments worry me) and the 590 are definitely in that league. "

I will give the 590s another try tonight with a bunch of different recordings. Interestingly while I did not compare them directly last night, the Senn 497 sound is more appealing to me, detailed, and clear with decent bass. If only the 497s were not so damned unformfortable (the ugly part I can live with).

 

[LTUCCI1924]

I got my philips 890s yesterday and hooked they up to my mini disc and T/A and they sound real bad. I had the t/a at max but not much sound came forth. So I pluged the philips into my home receiver which has a huge power out headphone jack. I played the philips for about six hours with pink floyd at a very good sound level. This morning I hooked up my mini disc and t/a to the philips and the sound was loud real loud. It was as though somebody played a trick on me. Could it be that a big power source burn in can make a headphone sound louder and better. To me it is just ???????????????

 

[xerx]

what would it sounds like to have 497s drivers in the 590???
Only god knows...

 

[phidauex]

Not sure if this helps much, but I've got both the 590s, and the 497s. The 497s are nice, and I use them as my main portable headphones (they are a bit uncomfortable though, i wear glasses, and they press them against my head in a strange way).

However, the 590s are decidedly superiour to the 497s! They are more lively, less muddy, have clearer bass, and have a wider soundstage. In fact, the only reason I still have the 497s is because they are slightly less open (the 590s bleed a LOT of sound, but the 497s only bleed a little), because they are more compact, and because if I accidentally sit on them, I won't be so sad

If your 590s are 'dull and lifeless', then I think you may have a disfunctional pair, or you have tin ears.

I use my 590 and the 497s with the same amp, a home built cmoy with crossfeed.

Good luck with those!

peace,
phidauex

 

[delenda est Sony]

Nick---

The 590s are both brighter and more forward than the 580s. this was noticeable out of the box. The 590 should also sound lots better than the (quite decent) 497 as well. With burn in, the brightness of my 590s faded somewhat. The 590s profit vastly from a high powered amp. My loaner Little from Headroom makes these cans really shine. You may have a defective pair. I would ordinarily also suggest a problem with your source, but a Corda and a Denon jack should give the 590s more than enough power. Sorry for your problems!

Hopefully things will work out for you... Keep us posted!

 

[NickG]

I did some testing of the 497s and 590s last night and while the 497s are a great can for the money the 590s were superior. My comment yesterday that the 497s were better was made with not having the 497s with me at the time. This shows how your "audio memory" can trick you if you are not testing cans going back and forth between them but instead try to remember how a can sounnds when you have not listened to it for even as little as a few days ago. It may be that the 590s are just not for me. Headphone taste is purely subjective, what sounds good to you may very well not sound good to me. Probably going to return the 590s, but I will play with them for a few days to see if I warm up to their sound.

Nick