[cmapes]

I am listening to my new pair of HD-595's right now. I happened to find them under my Christmas tree, which I suspect was the work of a loved one.

Sadly, after anticipating trying them out for the last week I can't shake the feeling of being completely underwhelmed. Sure, the highs sound crisp and accurate, along with an accurate midrange, but there is almost no bass whatsoever. Before my old sony MDR-V6's passed away (lent to a friend who left them out in the rain) I enjoyed deep, satisfying bass. Stupidly it seems, I expected to receive just as satisfying bass along with the other perks of better accuracy all around from the Sennheisers. The low end simply does not come anywhere close.

I know these cans need a period of break-in before they sing their tune with complete confidence, but to tell you the truth I am having a hard time believing that they will improve that much. There really is nearly no bass, even with the equalizer skewed way out of proportion. I have better bass response with a crappy $10.00 set of no-name headphones made in China.

Now for the next logical question, what am I powering these cans with? I am running these cans off of my computer, through an amplified headphone jack attached to my $300~ logitech pc speaker set. While this is not the "ideal" power source, it was my understanding that these cans had a reasonable impedance and could be driven fairly easily. I don't see this being the problem since they get plenty loud. Also, like I said, the old Sony MDR-V6's sounded perfect off the same power source.

My bottom line question is this: Do the Sennheiser HD-595's simply have poor bass response?

If not, does the low end output improve 500%+ during break in, because I am admittedly only about 2 hours into break-in on these headphones. I am seriously considering shipping these headphones straight back to the seller and purchasing another pair of Sony headphones. I had thought there would be no way that I would be considering this, but maybe I was wrong going with the Sennheisers.

Alternatively perhaps a set of Beyer DT770 Pro-80's would be a good choice as well. I'm a bit confused of the difference between the DT770's and the DT770 Pro-80's (besides the price difference).

Anyone who has been in a similar situation or has any input would ease my mind by sharing their thoughts. Thanks!

 

[ArmAndHammer]

The DT-770/80 are 80 ohms and the other one is 250. As for which sounds better, it seems that popular opinion is that the 80 is a little better. As far as bass, you will get all you need with the DT-770/80 Pro. I love mine so far and can't wait for my amp to arrive and everything to get burned in.

 

[cmapes]

Yeah, it seems I may have just been carried away by all of the overly positive reviews that I read about the hd-595's. I know that I maybe should let them break-in all the way, but getting the low end output I would like with them seems pretty impossible.

As of right now, unless someone chimes in and tells me otherwise, I am going to return the HD-595's and get a set of Beyer DT-770/80's. They sound like a much better match for my needs.

 

[lon420]

If you're disappointed with the 595s, the DT770 Pros might be a good choice. But then again, it sounds like you really enjoyed your V6's - They're actually pretty enjoyable headphones IMO, especially for the price.

The DT770 Pros definitely have the bass you might be looking for. The highs are good, but they can be pretty up there at times. The mids are decent enough, but could get better with some amping. They're a solid set of cans you might wanna look further into. I like mine a lot, and they've improved a lot during the last few months

 

[charliex]

Well - if bass is your thing, then you should never have considered Sennheiser at all - you'd even be thoroughly disappointed with the top of the line Senns, the HD 650's. Beyer or Grado may be what you're looking for.

 

[Tohex]

Mate, I bought some 555s for gaming and they were amazing in that so I used them for music and they excelled in that as well since they were my first pair of headphones. Then when I was in Japan I thought I'd buy the 595s because the 555s impressed me so much...I was pretty darn underwhelmed. But, now I think about it what was I hoping for...they're essentially the same headphone with a SLIGHTLY clearer high end (seriously though, I don't even know if I can hear it...I just seem to tell myself I can). No way near worth the cost of having both. In my search to try and get the 595s to a sound I was happy with I have bought a AU$700 amp, AU$150 cable and still can't say I'm really happy with them. Don't get me wrong they do sound really really good. However, they do not best suit the type of music I listen to. So I'll be selling them shortly and buying some DT880s...read on the find out why.

I bought the DT770/80 Pro and WOW these are a quality built headphone and **** do they have some kick ass bass! Beyer have impressed me quite a bit so I'll be trying to buy some 880s when I see some for sale.

It sounds to me like this might be what you are looking for. I'd suggest returning and getting the DT770s and maybe get some second hand 555s real cheap and you'll be grinning at that price. Oh and the 595s don't fit as well as the 555s IMO because of the adjustable headband mechanism differences...the 595s just click too easily for my liking and hence can fall off far too easily.

 

[charliex]

Forget about the 555's - they're much like the 595's - NO Bass. Go for the Beyers 770's or 880's.

 

[cmapes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Forget about the 555's - they're much like the 595's - NO Bass. Go for the Beyers 770's or 880's.

Good call, you are absolutely right.

I know this because I happened to purchase my brother, who is getting into small scale electronic music production / DJ'ing his first set of decent headphones, the Sennheiser HD-555's. Unfortunately, absolutely wrong choice. Should have read around here first, I would have known immediately not to get him those.

As a side note, for the price they do sound good, but like the HD-595's they have almost NO bass. Electronic music + no bass = big problem.

He is going to be sending his set back to amazon.com for a set of either MDR-V6, MDR-7506, or perhaps MDR-V700DJ headphones (although I have heard about build quality issues with those). I'm not entirely sure which set will be the best for trance / house music production, although I am leaning torward the good ol' MDR-V6's.

As for me, I'm getting a set of Beyer DT770 Pro-80's. I'm impatient to wait the extra week and a half to two weeks to have my new set of headphones.

 

[Buddyjay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Forget about the 555's - they're much like the 595's - NO Bass. Go for the Beyers 770's or 880's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmapes /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good call, you are absolutely right. I know this because I happened to purchase my brother, who is getting into small scale electronic music production / DJ'ing his first set of decent headphones, the Sennheiser HD-555's. Unfortunately, absolutely wrong choice. Should have read around here first, I would have known immediately not to get him those. As a side note, for the price they do sound good, but like the HD-595's they have almost NO bass. Electronic music + no bass = big problem. He is going to be sending his set back to amazon.com for a set of either MDR-V6, MDR-7506, or perhaps MDR-V700DJ headphones (although I have heard about build quality issues with those). I'm not entirely sure which set will be the best for trance / house music production, although I am leaning torward the good ol' MDR-V6's.

I know that HP listening is very subjective, but I have to disagree somewhat about the HD555 lacking base.
I bought mine last week and they sounded "decent" in the beginning. Then I burned them in for 60 hours and that improved them a lot. The base is not "boomy base" but it is there.
I will admit that I bought them 90% for movies and the base there is excellent. As far as music, I feel the base is pretty good.
Just make sure you burn them in awhile.
Also, the price at Amazon was great. Big differance (price wise) between the 555 & 595's.

 

[lucky]

I'd also disagree about the phones lacking bass; it sounds like you were expecting an equivalent amount of bass from open phones as you were from the closed phones you used to own. That's not going to happen; you'll need at least semi-closed phones. Ditto with the DJ example, for which you should be using closed phones to begin with.

 

[scytheavatar]

Whomever told you that the HD595 is fairly easy to drive told you wrongly, those phones are harder to drive than your typical easy to drive phones like the HD555. And let me warn you first that the same could be said about the DT770 80 ohm.

 

[LnxPrgr3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whomever told you that the HD595 is fairly easy to drive told you wrongly, those phones are harder to drive than your typical easy to drive phones like the HD555.

My DAP does decently with them. My receiver does not -- the bass is really thin coming from it for some reason.

That said, I don't think bass, or at least sub-bass, is the 595's strong suit at all, from any of my sources. It doesn't bother me for a lot of my music, but I could see it being a real problem for some genres.

 

[Elotemuygrande]

Check out the Denon D2000s. They are what I've moved to from the 595s.

The 595s had NO bass...NO BASS. They had fantastic clarity, but with no bass they were only fantastic for listening to some styles of jazz and classical. Don't even think about trying industrial, metal, electronic, organ etc. The 595s also began distorting(pop) at only moderately high volume levels.

The d2000s have great clarity and such pervasive bass that I'm still getting acclimated to it. They can also be listened to at ear-destroying levels with zero distortion. They aren't perfect by any means, but they are far better than the Senns unless you're only into Mozart.

The Grados are also good if you like somewhat less bass, and more mids. They seem to have only slightly less clarity than the Denons and Senns.

 

[mbd2884]

Aside from the enjoyment of reading Head-Fi threads, this is a great resource.

Its a shame you didn't read other posts before getting your HD595, as you would have known that an Open Air such as the HD595 normally wouldn't have the bass you loved from a Closed headphone.

Well now with this thread, I hope you find the phones you desire.

 

[LnxPrgr3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elotemuygrande /img/forum/go_quote.gif The 595s also began distorting(pop) at only moderately high volume levels.

I've read this complaint more than once, and yet I've run mine at levels too painful to keep going for any length of time, and I've never heard them pop. How loud is "moderately high"?