Q about HD590s / HP890 / HD600
Apr 18, 2002 at 6:57 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11
zodiac154

zodiac154

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Does anyone have anything to say about the HD 590s?
I have seen a lot of comparisons of the HP890s with the HD600
Where the HD600s outperform the 890
(not a suprise judging by the price tags)

How do the HD590s compare with the HP890s?

Are the HD600s that much better than those two?
Is it worth the $100 more?

Thanks

-Kevin
 
Apr 18, 2002 at 7:15 PM Post #2 of 11
I prefer the HP890 to the HD600. It has a wider soundstage, better bass extension and slam as well as a more forward sounding midrange and is definitely easier to drive to its potential with most mid-level headamps. I intend to pair the HD600 with a higher end amp in the near future and perhaps a replacement cable and see how far it improves(according to Kelly it requires a monster amp to sound good). I am also considering a better cable for the HP890 as Ruach mentions it improves the sound noticeably with a quality cable.
 
Apr 18, 2002 at 7:26 PM Post #3 of 11
it's not that the HD-600 needs a good amp to sound good, I believe that the general feeling is that the HD-600 needs a good amp to sound significantly better than headphones that cost less.

Running off a small amp or no amp at all, it might be difficult to discern the differences between the HD-600 and some cheaper headphones, but the HD-600 would still sound good...

At least that is my opinion.

Driftwood
 
Apr 18, 2002 at 8:49 PM Post #5 of 11
I owne the 890s and asked JAN MIER about a better cable for my 890s and he laught and said they dont have one yet. And buy his tone of voice I dont think that there is going to be one out soon if at all. Now I owne the senn. 580s and can tell you what I think about the to cans. The 890s Have a bigger sound stage over the 580s. Period. I find no other thing about the 890s that even come close to the 580s. I put mine away in a drawer. Now the 580s cost twice as much as the 890s but I get 10 times better sound out of then. I get better softer highs, better milder pleasent mids, and much better mid low bass and fuller better sounding low bass. Also I find that the 580s are a lot easer to drive to thier full potental than the 890s. The drivers size of the 580s are 41mm and the driver size of the 890s are 50mm and because of this I find the 580s easyer to drive. Now on driver size 50mm v 41mm. The 41mm driver is stronger sounding,much more tight in their overall sound and much better mid and low bass, stronger and fuller sounding and exact. Way better detail overall sound. So I find that there is no sence in even trying to compair the 890s v the 580s. The 580s are the beat cans that I have ever heard or owned period. This is just my opion and hope not to afend anyone who likes the 890s.
 
Apr 18, 2002 at 8:57 PM Post #6 of 11
Quote:

Originally posted by Blighty
I prefer the HP890 to the HD600. It has a wider soundstage, better bass extension and slam as well as a more forward sounding midrange and is definitely easier to drive to its potential with most mid-level headamps.


This is definitely an opinion in need of a better source/amp
wink.gif


On a good system, the only area the 890 even comes close to the HD600 is in soundstage -- and I found the 890's soundstage to be just a tad overdone. But see Driftwood's quote, below
smily_headphones1.gif



Quote:

Originally posted by Driftwood
it's not that the HD-600 needs a good amp to sound good, I believe that the general feeling is that the HD-600 needs a good amp to sound significantly better than headphones that cost less.


Drift, that's the best I've ever heard it said succinctly. You should put that in your sig
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Apr 18, 2002 at 9:09 PM Post #7 of 11
I also am having a problem deciding on which headphones to get. I'm mainly interested in the sennhesier 590's and the phillips 890 and not so much the sennheiser 600s. The purpose of these headphones is not just for music. I will also be using them for gaming. Any feedback on the gaming aspects of either headphone would be appreciated.

One concern that I'm have is the weight of the phillips 890. I've read posts where 890 owners claim that they feel like the headphones are falling off. Can anyone comment on this?
 
Apr 18, 2002 at 9:45 PM Post #8 of 11
I suppose the question can be answered by asking yourself a couple questions. Firstly, are you planning on spending the money on buying a nice amp? If so, you probably should buy the HD-600 now since it can grow with you later. That is, unless you don't have money to buy the HD-600. The HP890 is about $100 cheaper from meier audio than the HD-600. You could use the left over $100 to buy or build a small amp.

My suggestion? Buy the HD-600. You will always wonder about how much better it is otherwise, and at head-fi, everyone who doesn't have a will of steel ends up buying an amp. The way I figure it, everyone has owned or will own the HD-600. If you haven't yet, might as well get it now and skip the intermediate steps, and save some money in the long run.

MacDEF: done.
biggrin.gif


Driftwood
 
Apr 19, 2002 at 2:02 PM Post #11 of 11
My opinion of the 890's: I agree with MacDEF in that the soundstage is overdone. Specific left/right channel info is VERY left or right, and vocals and such that are dead center sound VERY centered i.e. right in the middle of your head.

Bass extension is good, high frequencies are well represented, but that blurry and indistinct midrange is simply too distracting for me.

I tried an experiment with the cable for my Sennheiser 495's, since it looked like the connectors were the same size. Lo and behold, they were, and I swapped out the Philips cable with the Senn cable. The Philips cable is much better.

Stefan Audio Art makes two different replacement cables for the 495 that should fit the 890. Fans of the 890 might do well to try them out and see if it improves the quality.
 
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