Literal 180 degree opinion turn-around on HD590s

Feb 3, 2003 at 1:09 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 12

Trounce

500+ Head-Fier
Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Posts
693
Likes
11
I hate them.
Yes, you heard me.
After using them for well over 150+hours and gruelling through their shrill cymbals and sibilant voice-ruining antics, I am THROUGH with them. I spent $350CND on them, and that was far too much in the first place.

I am soon going to be receiving my first amp, via the Fixup Mini v5. I am currently playing the phones out of my Creek 5050 IA via the headphone out which sounds beautiful on my PortaPros.

I prefer listening to the Portas in nearly every single genre, save for jazz. I do not listen to jazz enough to warrant my keeping them.

The bass does not impact - I know it's there, and on occasion, I will feel it and be pleasantly surprised, but I have to manipulate my amp by raising the bass and severely lowering the treble just to get the damn vocals to stop ringing in my ears.

What I want now is this: Low, impactful bass, rolled-off treble that will show NO signs of sibilance with even the most shrill vocalists, a midrange that is obvious but won't overtake the highs and an overall ease of listen. I will not, though, spend too much on them.

I will wait to see if the amp can lower those quibbles to an extent, otherwise the phone is going. The problem is, I don't have money oozing from my pores like some people do, as I'm only a student with no income. I can afford new equipment but it comes out of my college fund (not gonna happen.)

Well, my rant is finished... sorry to anyone who bought the phones, but I know that there are a lot of people who are only glorifying these phones because 1) they have not heard any other decent phones or 2) because they want not to admit they were wrong in purchasing them. To those who truly like the phones, you must not be listening to the rock music I am.

Currently playing:

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Bob Dylan Live 1975
Jools Holland - More Friends
Incubus - Morning View
The Doves - The Last Broadcast
Radiohead - OK Computer

Those albums, ripped from CD using MPC quality 6, sound like crap. Most of my jazz albums, Michael Brecker, Oscar Peterson, etc., sound wonderful.

Trounce
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 1:16 AM Post #2 of 12
I'm sorry to say this, too, but most rock recordings are very poorly mastered. And most headphones that sound best on rock will actually sound HORRIBLE on jazz - unnaturally boomy and muffled.

Seems as though you may prefer extremely boomy-sounding closed Sonys. (just kidding!)
biggrin.gif


That aside, I wasn't particularly fond of the HD 590s when I owned them, either. They sounded just plain incoherent compared to many of the less-expensive open-air headphones that I've heard - overtight peaky bass, thin mids, shrill highs.
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 1:21 AM Post #3 of 12
Quote:

Originally posted by Eagle_Driver


Seems as though you may prefer extremely boomy-sounding closed Sonys. (just kidding!)
biggrin.gif




That's the problem. I've discovered the bass-head in me, and that's because I love to feel the impact of a nice bass drum or bass guitar. It just makes every so much more... meaningful to me.

Oh well, there's always next time. =)
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 1:23 AM Post #4 of 12
Id suggest upgrading to the 580's or 600's. At $150 from newegg.com you cant beat the bang for your buck ratio on the 580's.

Only thing is, you dont have much income and will be a while until you could adequitely power a 300ohm can.

With that in mind, ya might wanna look at some grado options. I hear ya though.. I actually got a lot of eccessive brightness when using fixups mini amp with my hd600's. I couldnt tolerate that, not i only use the amp for porta pros and gaming w/600's. Once i got my MG head it took most of the brightness i speak of away. My next shipment (nad cd541) should nearly finish the job.

BTW - I love my porta pros as well. They over-exxagerate the lows, which cuts a bit of the detail in the highs but exactly to the point where it works and sounds good. If the porta pros did not have the exxagerated lows, i think it would be a bit bright and unacceptable. The hd580/600's on the other hand produces tight, clean bass with no exxageration ... with near perfect articulative detail in the highs. If bass exxageration is preferable to you with headphones, i second the reccomendation for the closed sony's
biggrin.gif
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 1:32 AM Post #5 of 12
And when I mean 'extremely boomy-sounding closed Sonys', I mean those models in the MDR-V### range, such as the V700DJs and the V900s. Don't buy the MDR-V600s; they sound hollow and muddy.
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 2:34 AM Post #6 of 12
Trounce - you've discovered exactly why I don't like the HD590s, I often have to bite my tongue when people rave on about how much better they are than the $20 headphones they've upgraded from
wink.gif


It seems to me that it's fairly common for people to mistake harsh treble for detail. Anything is better than mud-cans, but personally I can't handle the brightness of the 590s either.

The recommended HD580/600 is probably a good path, or you may want to consider joining team Beyer and getting yourself a pair of DT770pros
biggrin.gif



While I agree that a lot of music is mastered badly, I personally don't always want to have the bad production shoved in my face (ears), I'd rather badly produced music sounded good and well produced music sounded fantastic. I don't like unforgiving headphones and I think that trying to find something that reveals as much detail as possible in what you're listening to is pointless, it's similar to having bad headphones in many cases
wink.gif
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 2:38 AM Post #7 of 12
Quote:

Originally posted by Snufkin
While I agree that a lot of music is mastered badly, I personally don't always want to have the bad production shoved in my face (ears), I'd rather badly produced music sounded good and well produced music sounded fantastic. I don't like unforgiving headphones and I think that trying to find something that reveals as much detail as possible in what you're listening to is pointless, it's similar to having bad headphones in many cases
wink.gif


This is the only reason I'd own more than one pair of 'phones. A "fun" forgiving pair (just ordered DT770's on Friday) and a detailed pair (don't own... just sold ATH-A1000's). I definitely agree. I really hope to like the DT770's... I read all about people recommend them for headbaning / getting into the music and I WANT THAT!
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 2:44 AM Post #8 of 12
Quote:

Originally posted by pikawel
This is the only reason I'd own more than one pair of 'phones. A "fun" forgiving pair (just ordered DT770's on Friday) and a detailed pair (don't own... just sold ATH-A1000's). I definitely agree. I really hope to like the DT770's... I read all about people recommend them for headbaning / getting into the music and I WANT THAT!


Exactly
smily_headphones1.gif

Some music is well produced enough to sound fantastic on even the most revealing headphones, but unfortunately most of what I listen to doesn't fall into the "amazingly well produced" category, so I just switch 'phones when I need to.
The DT770pros are hard not to headbang/air guitar to. You may even find yourself headbanging and airviolining to classical.
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 4:07 AM Post #9 of 12
How isolating are the DT770s? If they provide a decent amount, they will be my next purchase - or, even better, do you think I could do a straight trade for my HD590s?
tongue.gif
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 5:24 AM Post #10 of 12
They have plenty; 18dB ambient noise isolation according to Beyer.

No idea if you can do a trade - post a FT thread in the for sale forums and see how you go
biggrin.gif
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 6:42 PM Post #11 of 12
Trounce,

did you play with positioning? Try moving the cups all the way down or up. I know that eggo shapes are supposed to cancel standing waves, but find that the driver positioning is not optimum, and therefore I find myself liking round cups. besides top and bottom, and right and left positioning, try moving the front in and the back out. bloom is a bitch, and why I traded away the ATH AD10s.

pickawel,

why did you sell the A1000s?
 
Feb 3, 2003 at 9:17 PM Post #12 of 12
I traded / sold them because I feared they would break in the manner they were being used by me. Basically, sold them to someone that wouldn't put as much wear on a pair of phones as I do because I take mine to work so we both made out.

Sorry you guys didn't get to hear 'em but I'll have a pair of DT-770's here today or tomorrow (which you'll already have heard through greg) and my friend Randy has his ATH-A9X's. Depending on how the 770's go, I may buy another A1000 later or maybe just an A900... (maybe CD3K...)
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top