[silverstone]

After finding out that Sennheiser cheats (see my hd595 review) i can no longer recommend sennheiser

 

[vrln]

 
Quote:

(about HD 800 treble peak)

That would seem like a design flaw to me.

I kind of agree. My only guess is that the HD 800 soundstage is not possible without the treble peak, and it sort of comes with the territory. Would explain the potential HD 700 issue too. Surely Sennheiser must know that people are not fond of the over spiky treble (it doesn´t have to be rolled off like the HD 650 though, just look at the HD 600). The HD 800 has a reputation for being hard to drive, what I think is that it´s just extremely picky about source gear. Not picky in a "only the best will do" way, but picky about synergy. It specifically needs source gear that is colored, to masks its own weaknesses.
 
Neutral gear will show you the HD 800 for what is is: flawed. That said, it´s still the best non-Stax headphone I´ve ever heard. The problem is also that colored source gear tends to be quite rare. Usually higher end expensive gear tends to be "more analog sounding etc", but it doesn´t have to be expensive. Anything that tames the treble and has a smooth signature should do ok. On suitable source gear, the HD 800 is simply stunning. Technically even an Asus STX will drive the HD 800 well, it´s just that it doesn´t mask its weaknesses at all (quite the opposite in fact). Of course this is just early speculation, but my guess is that the HD 700 will be just as picky as its older brother.

 

[Jeff Graw]

Quote:

After finding out that Sennheiser cheats (see my hd595 review) i can no longer recommend sennheiser

So Sennheiser decides that it's not worth the cost to develop another driver, gimps the HD 555 a bit, and sells it for less than the 595.
 
So what? Do you have something against easy headphone mods that basically give you a higher priced model with the help of a screw driver and five minutes of your time?
 
Or would you rather they invest the R & D into making a simpler driver that can't be easily modded into something superior?

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

After finding out that Sennheiser cheats (see my hd595 review) i can no longer recommend sennheiser

Oh please.
 
The Denon AH-D2000 and AH-D5000 use the same drivers as well, the only differences between the models being the earcups, cord, and a few minor changes. It's actually quite common for companies to use the same drivers in multiple headphones.

 

[silverstone]

No Jeff... it's not the mod i don't like...it's the honesty of Sennheiser.
 
I paid about at that time about 200$ for that pair of 595's twice the price than the at that time 100$ hd 555's.
 
Lets be honest... the build quality of sennheiser is not that great compaired to other brands. And so i always thought that the money went on quality drivers. ... which in this case is not true for the 595's compared to 555
 
A great buy for 555 buyers but a terrible bargin for 595 buyers.
 
In my case i paid 100$ more for what i belive is a product of less build quality than 555. And my belive that the extra money went on the drivers is wrong.
 
If sennheiser does something like this i question their other products aswell. And selling the same spare driver at different prices i also find dishonest. 
 
It's like being a child looking up to someone and one day finding out that you been living a lie. 
 
The build quality of hd 650 i think is okay.... the comfort on the other hand i find bad (i know ofcourse that it depends on headshape etc.) 
 
To correct...sennheiser now sells the 555/595 driver at same price... 57$ a piece!!!   

 

[IndieScent]

and why are you posting on this thread when its got nothing in common with your problem? go make your own thread and complain there?

 

[mofonyx]

Don't speaker companies do the same?

 

[IMAWolf]

Drop by the T50RP mod page if you have a chance, they all use the same drivers and every headphone still sounds different, it's not all about the drivers, Head-fi will be easy if it's just the drivers, the acoustics, damping, space, positioning matter too, and researching that costs money you ARE getting better quality headphones for the money. Hang around more and you'll realize just how much research goes into everything else.
 
P.S. Did you make an account just to hate Sennheiser?

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Like i said...feel like a cheated kid.  Atleast i admit i spend money on crap... i want others to avoid doing the same. 
 
555/595/650/800 whatever.... it is the honesty of sennheiser in general i question!  This a thread on Sennheiser headphones right?
 
What do expect to get from this? To get people talking and hit sennheiser where it hurts...their bank account.  Why? to get what u and I pay for...quality headphones. 

What do you mean by "honesty"? Did Sennheiser ever claim that HD595 are much better than HD555? Or that they have some magic drivers inside? No offense, but you sound confused. If you spent 5 seconds researching before buying the headphones, you'd know that drivers are identical. Even by looking at specs on the Sennheiser web site, its obvious they're identical. Everyone knew, from the very start, that HD555 and HD595 were very similar, different only in terms of driver housing and driver matching. The drivers in HD595 were better matched with each other. Those drivers that didnt fit the HD595's measurement standards, were put into HD555's and their sonic imperfections were masked by adding that piece of rubber inside. You want a slightly better sound, better looks, better build quality and finer materials? Buy a HD595. You dont care about those things and can accept the fact that your headphones have drivers with slightly inferior performance? Buy HD555 and save some money.  Simple.   You should be thanking Sennheiser for letting people have $200 headphones sound at half the price, instead of accusing them of not being honest because you didn't inform yourself before buying something.
 
Its the same thing with HD558 and HD598 nowadays. HD598 are slightly better in some ways, you want that little bit extra in some areas? Pay extra money. Simple.  Its like buying a BMW 530i and then bitching because its more expensive than BMW 330i, even though they have identical engines.  You knew that before you bough them.
 
Besides, as Muppetface said, Sennheiser is not the only one that puts same drivers in more headphones. At least they dont triple the price or headphones just because they've a piece of wood on them, like some manufacturers do.
 
 

 

[blessingx]

Silverstone, it might be easier to just list the audio companies that "don't cheat" by using same/similar parts across models or equally "corrupt practices." It's gotta be a small list. Confused indeed.

 

[silverstone]

I am confused.... all this new to me.
 
I belive i did the research...back then (2008 as i remember)..before this 555 to 595 thing.
 
That driver specs looks identical in some ways does not mean it should be the same driver!!  and the different drive response 15 - 28000 Hz and 12 - 38500 Hz does shure as hell not say it's the same driver.
 
Who is everyone that knew? 
http://mikebeauchamp.com/misc/sennheiser-hd-555-to-hd-595-mod/
 
I could read something else here so don't really get what you meen... i got my 595 before These "smoking gun" pics was posted.... so saying i did not do any research is wrong. i trusted the reviews posted back then. You must be somekind of expert derpigbr... knowing this before anyone else... i just wonder why you kepot this to yourself then and waiting so long for someone else to post this? 
 
 
Do you expect me to buy both pairs and take them apart to search for this? Lets agree the looks thing is ones own point of view...in my eyes they both look ugly as f... I find the build quality beter on the 555 and the so called finer materials you talk is the plastic emitation leather etc. .... in my opinion crappy.
 
The BMW comparison is not great. 
 
All i can say about brands "cheating" customers is that... if you dont buy from cheaters they cant cheat you... and hopefully will not sell anything or change their ways. 
 
Why should customers loosen their pants and bend over..the get f... in the a..
unless you like it or will not admit that someone broke your cherry.
 
Now i wonder what i paid for that i did not get on my 650's
 
 
 

 

[ianmedium]

The 800 and, I am sure, the 700 are made in Germany.
 
My HD 25-1 were made in Germany, though current ones are made in Ireland.
 
Most other headphones are made at Sennheiser's custom-built factory in Ireland - the factory is totally Sennheiser and is in Ireland because the Irish government gave them lots of tax incentives to build it there in a place of high unemployment.
 
As far as I know it's only the in-ear stuff that is made in Sennheiser's Chinese factory.
 
Sennheiser do also have a factory and research facility in the USA.
 
 

John, from what I have read on this thread it is indeed made in Eire and does not use ring driver technology but a similar driver to the 650 but that is only what I have gleaned from reading here so it may or may not be correct information!

OT, I have very fond memories of the Bristol show, one of which was hearing sennheisers Orpheous!

 

[silverstone]

The 650 says made in Ireland but i can't find any "made in" on the 595 which means "made i china" for sure...i've now taken mine apart so now even a blind man can see "made by lowest bidding contractor in china"

 

[BlackbeardBen]

You pays your money, you takes your choice...
 
You do realize you're paying for better quality control with the HD 595, right?  The drivers are binned, with the better batches going to the HD 595 and the HD 555 getting the poorer batches.  That means the better drivers are going in the more expensive headphone.
 
For kicks, let's go ahead and list the other manufacturers that use the same driver(s) in multiple headphones...
 
Sennheiser
Beyerdynamic
AKG
Grado
Denon
Fostex
Koss
Etymotic
 
And those are just the companies that I can list off the top of my head.  I don't know any specific models that use the same drivers for Sony, Ultrasone, Audio-Technica, Shure, Monster, etc., but I would be very surprised if none of them used the same drivers in at least a few different headphones.

This is standard engineering for ANY company.  I am a design engineer for a company that makes emergency water pumps.  We have over a dozen different centrifugal pumps in three different lines - double that if you count the CD4MCu stainless versions - and there are only four bearing housings for all of those pumps.  We may move it down to three bearing housings in the future, to further reduce the number of parts we have design and manufacture.  It saves money, plain and simple.  Industrial economies would not be possible, period, without this sort of efficient engineering and manufacturing.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

And those are just the companies that I can list off the top of my head.  I don't know any specific models that use the same drivers for Sony, Ultrasone, Audio-Technica, Shure, Monster, etc., but I would be very surprised if none of them used the same drivers in at least a few different headphones.
 

Ultrasone does indeed use the same drivers for multiple headphones.
 
HFI 2200 = HFI 2400
Edition 7 = Edition 9
PRO 900 = PRO 2900 (maybe, not completely sure)