HD595s - a newbs perspective

[Gandhi]

Well, here is a beginner's perspective on what (to me!) is high-end equipment. Basically, I am now spoiled. I can't go back to the cheap stuff. My audio equipment consists of 4g iPod paired with a GoVibe with the 8620 OpAmp upgrade through a Sik Din line out. Headphones currently consist of $10 Sony MDR E828 earbuds for portable and office use, and the HD595 for home use. All music files are encoded 192 kbps or better MP3.

My home theater system consists of a high-end computer that I use for gaming, watching TV and DVDs, and listening to music, in that order of importance. Source is a SB Audigy 2 (I know, Chaintech is better for music, be Audigy is better for games and I play more games then I listen to music).

So what are my impressions after two days of using the 595s? They just are better on a whole another level! The bass is just so deep and smooth and sweet sounding. It really is a pleasure to listen through the 595s. There is still some muddiness that I can detect, but the phones are not broken in yet. I hope to do it the old-fashioned way - while I listen to music and watch movies

I still have to wait and see how they sound with games though - I will do that this weekend. I can't explain what I am hearing in words - I do not have any experience with high-end audio equipment. But the 595s can go so much deeper in the bass and crisp and clear in the details of what I hear.

I did listen to the 555s for a couple of hours, and so now would be a good time compare them to the 595s. What others say is true, the bass is better in the 595s - it is just slightly more smooth, exhibits less distortion at the lower frequency. Are the 595s worth the price difference compared to the 555s? I think yes - the difference in street price here in the U.S. between the two is $75 - a worthwhile upgrade, especially if you also include the cost of the headphone holder. The soundstages are very similar, if not the exact same. The soundstage is immediate and upfront - like you are standing right there with the band as they crank out the tunes.

I am at the office listening to the Sony's and I do not like what I am hearing. Sure, it's unfair to compare $200 phones to $10 phones. I hope to remedy that soon as I have a pair of PX100s on order for portable use, which I hope to receive either today or early next week. The Sony's will then get passed on to either my wife or my dad.

There is a thread floating around on whether people have reached a plateau with their audio equipment. Well, more me, the plateau is at $600; $275 iPod, $200 HD595s, and $115 for the amp. Great bang for the buck, IMO.

Complaints - I find the phones to be a bit tight and cannot use them for more than an hour. It's not the velour earpads that are uncomfortable - they are fine. It's just that they clamp on too tight to my head. Hopefully they will loosen up with use.

The handy headphone hanger is a nice included accessory, and sports the same quality padded pleather covering where the headband rests. And the clamp can be adjusted for differening thickness and can be used on both horizontal and vertical surfaces.

 

[nierika]

Glad you're enjoying them! You should consider leaving them playing music overnight a few times, you'll reach 200-300 hours of burn-in much faster that way.

 

[Gandhi]

Hmmm .... I might consider that. I did not realize they needed 200-300 hours of break in. I thought 50 hours would suffice?

 

[nierika]

They definitely need more than 50 hours. For example Iron_Dreamer didn't care for the 555s until he heard them at the 300+ hour mark.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Some phones benefit from more burn-in than others. The Audio Technica A5/900 only require about 40 hours while the Sennheiser HD280's can go for up to 500 hours and still not have reached their peak. To speed up burn-in use really bass heavy music, or some subwoofer test tracks (though don't play subwoofer tests too long or too loudly as those kind of tracks can damage the drivers).

 

[bgravato]

I bought the hd-595 yesterday.

I'm also a newbie on this things. My previous headphones were a cheap sennheiser 400MX, but a couple of weeks ago a friend borrowed me his hd-600 and I said to myself "Wow! I must get one of this!".

My budget was kind of short for the hd-600 (the lowest I could find was 250€), so I bought (after listening to them at the store) the hd-595 (for 158€).

The bass on the 595 is good, but not as good as on the hd-600, but I think that after the initial burn in my 595 will improve on that.

I don't think that the 595 are tight at all... I think they are very very confortable. I thought the hd-600 were confortable, but the 595 are even more confortable. I wore them yesterday for 2h and I felt like I could be with them on for another 2h or more.

One important thing is to have a good source (I have a Philips FA 950 amp, but I prefer connecting the headphones directly to the cd player - a Philips CD 930, which has the same headphones output as the amp, at least the specs on the manuals are the same).

I have also connected the headphones to my PC (realtek ALC650 inboard chip on my MSI 6712 motherboard) and the sound is much worse. I get tired after some minutes listening on this. So I'm thinking in buying a chaintech sound card and building an amp for it).

After listening to both the hd-600 and the hd-595 I must say that I agree with the description at headroom.

Oh! BTW... the hanger is really neat, no need to make holes on the wall, no glue, nothing... easily attach/detach. Greater for those who live together with persons who have the habit to say "I want that ugly thing out of there!!"

 

[Gandhi]

Well, the phones did become more comfortable after some hours of use. May be I just needed to get used to them. But I am stil not at the point where I forget that they are on. I still know when I am wearing them - no worries though, the great music more than makes up for it

The comment about the source is spot-on. The 595s are very unforgiving of poor sources. I can hear lots of distortion when listening through the sound card on my computer - Sound Balster Audigy 2 Platinum. I wish NVidia would make a discreet PCI card based on the soundstorm

But I love these cans!

 

[bahamaman]

Gandhi - When you get your PX100s, do a quick compare between the two if you would.

For me, I came to the same result, but in the opposite direction. I started with the PX100s and grew to really love them. I then went on a search for an open home headphone with a similar sound signature. I grabbed a pair of HD595s last week and really feel good about the purchase. I find them a step up in terms of comfort, balance and width/breadth of soundstage while nevertheless retaining the essential characteristics of the PX100s.

 

[JaZZ]

I'm a new member of team HD 595 myself. I liked this headphone from the start, although the 10 hours of burn-in already have made a difference. Not exactly as neutral as the HD 650, but it has something... And it also has tweaking potential -- lining the bare surfaces around the driver with absorbing material makes for a warmer and more natural characteristic.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaZZ I'm a new member of team HD 595 myself. I liked this headphone from the start, although the 10 hours of burn-in already have made a difference. Not exactly as neutral as the HD 650, but it has something... And it also has tweaking potential -- lining the bare surfaces around the driver with absorbing material makes for a warmer and more natural characteristic.

Jazz, could you expand on that last statement.

 

[yf920]

haha
you just got the same idea

i have got HD595
and A2 ZS
so what i wanna get next is an good amp and IPOD

 

[JaZZ]

For some reason I can't add attachments to my posts anymore. If you want me to send a descriptive picture, please e-mail me, and I'll attach it to my reply.

I have coated all bare surfaces around the driver with black velvet -- this is the material with the best absorbing properties in such cases IMO -- using double-faced adhesive tape like it's used for fixing carpets. BTW, the shortening of the cable to 1.10 m has brought a further smoothing of the sound. It's not so easy to do though because of the reinforcing kevlar fibers which have to be separated from the wires before soldering. (Tip: red = right +, black = right ground, white = left +, blue = left ground. The wires are lacquered, but the lacquer will melt from the soldering heat.)