I got my 590s!

[DarkWolf]

There I was, around 1:30 in the afternoon. I'm working in this new house with no insulation, it's like 9 degrees, it's the third day I've been working there, and I'm going totaly out of my mind. I mean like, me here, mind there. I'm thinking, hmmm, I'll bet if I just stuck my utility knife in my eye, I could go home sooner. Well, I hung in there untill 4:30 when we ran out of 14-2. So I got in my car and nearly teleported home. The only thought that got me through the day was knowing that somehow, my phones just had to be there. I knew it would be a day early though.

So, I walked in my door, and through the kitchen, and there, sitting at my place on the table, was a big box. Upon closer inspection I found to my delight that it was covered in German. I began to sniff and stroke the box. I was very happy.

Now I've got them on my head and they are very comfy. They put just a tad bit of pressure on the top of my head that I wish they didn't.. But they're so light and that's the ONLY thing I can complain about, and it's hardly a complaint.

The sound is good too. They need some burning in I think. If the bass fills in a bit and the slgiht trtace of grain goes away, I'll be pretty darn happy with them. They've passed my brightness test comfortably. (I don't see why people complain about these being too bright. I suspect that those people have either heard them on very bright eqipment, or have some hidden agenda.) The sound stage is nice and open, but still fairly natural sounding.

I think my primary concern is that I might be turnign them up just a little higher than I'd like. I had gotten my self used to listening very quietly with my old phones, but these don't seem to sound quite as good at such low volume. I have to turn them up a bit more before they start doing their thing. Not so much more though, I'm still trying to figure out how much it is that I'm turing them up. Well, I don't think it's that bad. I'm listening comfortably and my typing is loud enough. I can even hear mouse clicks ok.


The thing that bothers me is that I'm still having a hard time telling between my sound card's headphone jack and the HA-1's. And don't any tell me it's becuase all sound cards are bad or something.. I suspect it's the opposite, my card's dedicated jack is actually pretty good, Plus there is a lot less in the signal path with it. I still like crossfeed though. Well. I'm not going to make any rash desitions untill I'm sure my phones are broken in. I also need to try better cables with my amp before I can jump to any conclutions.

More later people, stay tuned.

 

[wallijonn]

DarkWolf,

[size=medium]IT's ABOUT TIME![/size]

Congradulations. So when are you going to hook them up to a real source? You know, a real cd player? And please don't tell me that you're going to spend $150 on ICs or a new cable.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

dw, finally part of the hd590 family, not many of us here. with some burn in time the phones even out nicely, I suspect that grainyness you are getting would not be there with a good source, I say this because I had this problem with my sony ns500v and now with my nad machine all is right with the world!

 

[Kieran Comito]

Congrats Darkwolf. I know it has been a long time coming. Good luck with the new 590s.

 

[mariowar]

Darkwolf, how great it is to get home and find that a pair of great headphones arrived..... it just happened to me with the Westones UM1

I was just being sarcastic. Yes, I agree with you I turn them a little bit louder than I was used to with my closed cans (Boses) but I think its because these ones are open and they are also a little laid back not as much as the HD600 or the 580, but don't get me wrong If I listen to them louder its just a matter of taste, they are very efficient and you can even hear a wonderful bass at even very low levels ,anyway I know that I'll be turning them down a bit as soon as I get more used to them. They are so comfty, to tell the truth I miss them when I'm working

. I love the overall sound of these cans but what really impressme the most is how these open cans handle the low frecuencies, it's just awesome. And I agree with you, those who think these ones are too bright better check Grado headphones.

 

[jessica00]

bout time, i've been waiting to see what you'd think. odd tho that yer HA-1 shows no improvement..let em burn in then try again
enjoy em tho.

 

[DarkWolf]

Well. I've been listing to them more. (duh) One thing I notice about them is that they suffer an awful lot less from crossfeed than my old phones did. By that I mean that the draw backs of crossfeed are much less evident with them. I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining.

The headband presure is only an issue now if I try to think about it. The clamping force doesn't seem to be happening either. I didn't mind it on the pair I tried at tweeter, but it's really not happening with my pair. They are just right. I can shake my head and they don't really slide around, but they are not tight at all. And the pads are just so comphy. Why would anyone want leather? It's strange enough in a car, but on headphone pads? What ever.....

I'm also getting them turned down more. This is good. I really don't want to hurt my ears.


OMG! I've been sitting here toggling the cross feed every now and then, and the whole time I've had them plugges straight into the sound card. I really hate to say it... But of something doesn't happen at the next CT Crew meet to open my eyes and chance my mind, I think I might just sell my amp. But that's neither here or now. I don't want to think about it yet. And yes, crossfeed makes a little more difference when the phones are plugged into the amp. However i still think that its disadvantages are reduced a litte by these phones.

I think part of my problem feeling really good about these is that my head is killing me. I've had a bad head ache since fairly early in the day. I think all this working in the cold is getting to me. My sinuses feel like they are melting down or something. Or like there is a balloon trying to push through my forhead form the inside.. I think it's more like that. Either way it sucks. Later in the week when these have broken in and I've been off work for a while, I think I'll have some pretty good things to say.

 

[ooheadsoo]

DarkWolf, if the 590 are anything like my 580, breaking them in will make a world of difference! Just keep at it! I found them to improve quite dramatically. Good luck on your cold, get better soon so you can enjoy your brand new cans.

 

[wallijonn]

DW,

Quote:

If the bass fills in a bit and the slight trace of grain goes away, I'll be pretty darn happy with them.

Quote:

I've had a bad headache since fairly early in the day. I think all this working in the cold is getting to me. My sinuses feel like they are melting down or something. Or like there is a balloon trying to push through my forhead form the inside.

chances are that the bass will fill in nicely. (i'm surprised you were even able to head the midrange). chances are that that "grain" you hear is ringing in your ears.

now you owe us a REAL review.

reviews with stuffed heads, and stuffed ears, and stuffed sinuses don't count buddy. Get well soon.

btw, i LOL when you said that the HA-1 wasn't even connected.

 

[jessica00]

i got a headache when i first started with my 590's. you'll get over it in less than a day .

 

[richpjr]

Congratulations dw - welcome to team Sennheiser

 

[ClearYourMind]

Ah yes... You are now one of us, moohahaha.

Welcome to the Sennheiser HD 590 family.

You mentioned a bit of pressure on the top of you head, I've got that too, but let's not forget how brand new the headphones and cusions are. In a matter of time, that will naturally subside. As far as the headaches, I got few of them but they were soft ones, caused by my bass heavy music and not the phones. The phones actually minimised it compared to my other headphones.

I watched the movie Signs again this time with a buddy. Let him wear the headphones while I listened to them through the main speakers. It's actually really cool listening through the headphones during a movie while having the speakers and bass still active. You feel the bass, the walls shaking, you get that true theater sound but with the headphones, you also get crystal clearity. You hear things you don't hear with the speakers, every little detail.

Next I think I'll watch the move The Matrix as well as Gone In 60 Seconds. Oh and i'm going to have to rewatch my all time favorite movie Snatch. Oh man I can't waite. To think, I can now watch all my movies at any time of the night or day at the volume of my choise without disturbing others. To do this and do it so well...Sennhieser must be a god!

All hail Sennheiser!

 

[fierce_freak]

DW, I've been following your exploits since I joined the forums, and I'm happy to see a resolution in sight (not that there ever is any real end to headphones

).

CYM: Yes, Snatch is a superb movie.

 

[bifcake]

Quote:

Originally posted by DarkWolf I began to sniff and stroke the box. I was very happy.

I'm glad to hear you've finally discovered the joys of "sniff and stroke".

Quote:

The thing that bothers me is that I'm still having a hard time telling between my sound card's headphone jack and the HA-1's. And don't any tell me it's becuase all sound cards are bad or something.. I suspect it's the opposite, my card's dedicated jack is actually pretty good, Plus there is a lot less in the signal path with it. I still like crossfeed though. Well. I'm not going to make any rash desitions untill I'm sure my phones are broken in. I also need to try better cables with my amp before I can jump to any conclutions. More later people, stay tuned.

Dude, I hate to break it to you, but all sound cards are bad. That's the reason you don't hear the difference between the headphone jack and the corda. I know this isn't something you want to hear, but I figured I'd let you know before you go mad trying to sniff and stroke.

One more thing, you've been ranting and raving about the 590s for months and you JUST got the phones???? Wassup with that?

 

[miroslav]

DarkWolf,
With these two excellent investments in great headphones and great amp, why not just start saving couple of hundreds for a decent source?? It may take couple of months, maybe a year, but you`ve been patient before, so you know how to deal with it.

With such a nice amp, the whole World of Headphones is available to you for upgrade. Without it you`re stuck with a very few models that won`t sound their best even with a finest sound card.

But it`s your hard earned money in the end.

Enjoy your HD590!