[Chewbacca]

Hi

I have read reviews and cant decide between these. I hope someone can help to decide. The price of 650s are too much for me. I would use headphones for listening music, playing games and watching movies.

 

[psyco1]

I have the 590, but haven't heard the 595, so I can't really say anything other than that I really like my 590 and I just found a great deal at amazon.com on refubished ones.
$105/ free shipping
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...onics&n=507846

 

[catscratch]

This gets asked at least twice a week. Do a search, you're bound to find out answers.

IMO, 595 > 590, but it's close. The 590's have better bass, the 595's are better balanced. 590's can be played unamped, but really do need one to sound good. 595's don't need an amp much, but improve a lot with one.

Amazon's $105 deal on the HD590's is amazing. I'd suggest you take adantage of it!

Not detailed answers, these, but that's because I've answered this question about 10 times already. Do a search, and you'll see tons and tons of information

 

[1Time]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chewbacca Hi I have read reviews and cant decide between these. I hope someone can help to decide. The price of 650s are too much for me. I would use headphones for listening music, playing games and watching movies.

What sold me on the HD595 was it being reviewed to have a more forward sound, a nice sound stage, a more balanced sound, and that it is preferred for gaming and movies. I never considered the HD590 since I guessed I would have to spend around $200 or so to have a chance of finding something worth keeping. I listen to online music daily at work with my HD280, nice bass and I can turn up the volume with them.

 

[bigshot]

I have 590s and I find them to be the most comfortable and best balanced cans I have ever used. They give me a good idea of what the sound of good speakers would be like, which is something few headphones can pull off. I've heard people say the 595s are more balanced, and others say less balanced... some say the 595s are more forward, others say the 590s are... I don't think there is much difference between them. Go for the best deal you can find.

See ya
Steve

 

[Andrea]

I'll say definitely the HD595. I had the HD570, and I hated its balance with mids sucked out, boomy bass, and poor detail (don't know exactly how this might apply to the 590).

 

[Patu]

Check this thread also.

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

The 590 sucks in comparison to the 595. I'd be a little more diplomatic, but I hate the 590, so I won't bother. One might think that I'm just biased in this regard, but I've had them both on my head a number of times and the 595 will make the trrip again, the 590 won't.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Tyll,

I will have to agree with you, as far as the 590 vs. 595 comparison is concerned. I have a pair of the 595's now, and I would have to say that the 595's are definitely in the top tier of dynamic headphones (not necessarily the very best dynamic headphone even at its price point) -- sound-quality-wise. The 590 doesn't come close, based on a pair that I had owned: I didn't find trouble with the highs; it's just that the overall sound seemed much less than the sum of its constituent parts.

 

[bigshot]

What does " overall sound seemed much less than the sum of its constituent parts" mean? The 590s have extremely flat frequency response. That's what makes them great for classical music. Perhaps you were looking for something with more of a volume punch (read: boosted upper mids).

See ya
Steve

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot What does " overall sound seemed much less than the sum of its constituent parts" mean? The 590s have extremely flat frequency response. That's what makes them great for classical music. Perhaps you were looking for something with more of a volume punch (read: boosted upper mids).

What I was talking about was how coherent the overall sound is. The sound from the 590, to my ears, just did not mesh together very well despite the relatively flat measurements.

 

[gshan]

If you have a lot of music with clean vocals, you might dislike the 590 midrange. It is definitely recessed and requires at least a notch or two in that frequency range imo.

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver What I was talking about was how coherent the overall sound is. The sound from the 590, to my ears, just did not mesh together very well despite the relatively flat measurements.

What you are saying is that you want a colored presentation. There is nothing wrong with that. With pop music, colored cans are great.

A lot of cans have midrange humps designed to add presence to vocals and electric guitars. They'll also add a narrow spike right where consonants sit. These boosts work great with adding presence to vocal music and they certainly make the music sound louder and more up front... But if you try to play orchestral music through them, the tone of the violins gets shrill and strident, and the sheen cuts in and out instead of being smooth and even.

The vast majority of headphone users don't want flat... they want the sound goosed to add detail and tweaked to suit electronic/vocal music. The thing to realize is, if the mid hump and consonant spike isn't there, it doesn't mean that the cans have recessed mids, or that it has a veil, or that the presentation is laid back. It just means that they are flat.

See ya
Steve

 

[sgrossklass]

Grados would make a good example for what you stated. However, HD590s aren't exactly the best example for "flat" cans - putting together the frequency response from j-curve's thread with that of the HD580 from Headroom (the former was normalized to the HD580) it's clearly evident that the midrange looks quite different from that of the HD580. Instead of relatively flat mids with a notch around 5 kHz you have a gradual roll-off from the midbass to 5 kHz, then a narrower notch, followed by highs at "normal" level with better extension - not unlike the K240S (and similar to the HD250-II), but not as extreme. The result indeed sounds fairly close to better-quality loudspeakers (e.g. Jamo 707) - probably your impression of "flat" stems from there - and works well with classical, but it's not amazing that the mids can seem "sucked-out". Fortunately this characteristic is easy to EQ out.

BTW, the frequency responses of the current HD555/595 seem like (overall) better-controlled versions of the HD580's. Definitely cut from the same cloth. On another note, the smoothness in the HD650's FR (left channel) is quite amazing, pretty well controlled. Now if they made cans of this technical level with the older, more forward presentation, that would certainly be a winner...

 

[acs236]

The worst things I can say about the 590s is that they have a bit of midbass hump and bit of the ole' Sennheiser veil. I found that the 590s sound closer to the 580/600/650, then the 595 does.

I could say a lot worse things about the 595, particularly for its price.

$105 for the 590s sounds like a very nice deal indeed.