[xcodeguy]

I recently got a new pair of 595's. I have them plugged into a headphone amp and equalizer. To me, they just don't sound that great. At the same time, I added a Total BitHead amp to my ipod and UE 5 Pro's which produces stunning and spactacular sound. Are my ears just not refined enough?

I understand that IEM's are different than full size cans and the new 595's need broken-in, but initially shouldn't I be able to at least get some kind of reasonable idea of how they will sound overalll? The 595's sound muddy and flat on the BitHead too.

Because I have always used IEM's I guess I am biased to that experience but I definitely see myself picking up the ipod with bithead and ue5 pro's every time. I really think I should return the 595's. Any suggestions as to what I am missing with the full size cans?

 

[Royicus]

I don't find the HD595s flat. *shrugs* Maybe they need a bit more burn-in time. I haven't tried the whole IEM phenomenon, so maybe someone else could chime in on that.

 

[powermung]

Interesting... I have exactly the opposite experience from the two phones you've mentioned. UE 5 Pro gave me neither the extended frequency response nor the soundstage I wanted. 595 gave me harsh treble and weak bass out of the box, but after about five hours of break-in period, out of 2006 bithead, it has shown stunning improvements in both areas.

Addendum:
Returning the 595 sounds like a good option. I was stuck with a headphone once (Koss Pro4aat that I got for free) that initially I didn't like the sound until I heard a Yo-Yo Ma Cello CD that sounded so real that my pursuit for better head-fi system began. Now I'm minus several hundred dollars and more importantly maybe a hundred hours reading head-fi.org that I'm sure I could have wasted on better things (Also, I started listening to classical music.) It seems like you're used to IEMs with your music and you're happy with it. That's good!

 

[socrates63]

Or it could be something as simple as the HD595 sound is not for you.

 

[ferraro25]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcodeguy I recently got a new pair of 595's. I have them plugged into a headphone amp and equalizer. To me, they just don't sound that great. At the same time, I added a Total BitHead amp to my ipod and UE 5 Pro's which produces stunning and spactacular sound. Are my ears just not refined enough? I understand that IEM's are different than full size cans and the new 595's need broken-in, but initially shouldn't I be able to at least get some kind of reasonable idea of how they will sound overalll? The 595's sound muddy and flat on the BitHead too. Because I have always used IEM's I guess I am biased to that experience but I definitely see myself picking up the ipod with bithead and ue5 pro's every time. I really think I should return the 595's. Any suggestions as to what I am missing with the full size cans?

I personally strongly dislike the HD595s for their muffled sound. Muddy is definitely a fitting word, too. Good overall balance (flat sounding), but the muffled sound is just too much for me to listen to those headphones for more than about a minute, at which point I just get frustrated, take them off my head and put them back in a cardboard box along with the SR225s.

I'd try something at at least the level of the K701, DT880, or HD600 (or HD650, if you really like bass) instead, to get a sense of what fullsize cans can sound like. Although each of these has their fair share of crappy traits. The K701, for instance, has poor bass extension and low bass quality (undifferentiated bass - everything below a certain point sounds exactly the same, with no texture or timbre, just a "boom" or "thump" sound; the SR225 has much better bass quality), some treble harshness (in order to fake a sense of detail), does not have a musical sound (detail, which there is not a lot of, is put above harmonics, resulting in an unmusical sound), does not portray a realistic sound (instruments are missing something in the lower mids, from what I have read), and has a 3-blob soundstage (sounds are either mostly in the left ear, mostly in the right ear, or in the center of the head, basically). I haven't heard the other two, so I can't comment on their faults, but I have read quite about quite a few.

I like to focus on the negatives of a headphone much more than any of the positives, though - well, at least after I have had the headphone for a while. I have way too much praise for a headphone around the 5-hour mark, and then it is downhill from there. End of tangent.

 

[lostbobby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcodeguy I recently got a new pair of 595's. I have them plugged into a headphone amp and equalizer. To me, they just don't sound that great. At the same time, I added a Total BitHead amp to my ipod and UE 5 Pro's which produces stunning and spactacular sound. Are my ears just not refined enough? I understand that IEM's are different than full size cans and the new 595's need broken-in,

random observations:

- i listned carefully (for a few days) to my very burned in pair 595's (100s of hours) vs a brand new pair that i burned in for, i think 4 hours. No difference

- there was a thread about how much better 595's are with at least a 70 ohm resistor, but i can't find it

- i strongly suspect that 595's would sound much better with a *short*, either pure copper or silver cable, but that's an expensive proposition.

 

[The Monkey]

I think you would like the HD 650 better.

 

[SlackerClerk107]

I own a pair of Senn 595 and I love them. They were my first decent set of cans though, so my opinion is probably not too valid. I suppose as others said, it just might not be your sound.

 

[Jubei]

I love my 595s. The sound is abit laid back, which might be the reason you are not impressed with it. Like some have said, maybe the sound is not for you.

 

[fureshi]

you also might want to be careful of your mp3 encoding bit rate. the hd595 are probably more revealing than the ue5p so it could be the quality of the mp3 that you're hearing. i was quite disappointed with the very rolled off highs and bloated bass on the ue5p when i had them.

 

[mirumu]

I like my HD595s but I don't consider them that great. They definitely sound muffled and flat to me in many cases. It feels like it's trying to simulate room acoustics as well and I'm not really into that. I wouldn't touch them unamped but my tube amp seems to give them some life and with the right music they do surprise me on occasions with real musical bliss. Often though I can put them on and even after giving them some adjustment time I have to switch to some different cans because I'm just not enjoying it. Definitely a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. There's plenty of other options out there, ferraro25 listed a good range. Of the full size headphones I own or have heard, the Grado SR80s, ATH-W5000 and Sennheiser HE60, all sound much more lively and generally enjoyable than the HD595 to me. Many people seem to love them but maybe they're just not your thing.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferraro25 I personally strongly dislike the HD595s for their muffled sound. Muddy is definitely a fitting word, too. Good overall balance (flat sounding), but the muffled sound is just too much for me to listen to those headphones for more than about a minute, at which point I just get frustrated, take them off my head and put them back in a cardboard box

This was also my reaction to them. Even Headroom's broken-in, recabled, balanced set sounded amazingly muffled and dull in my rig.

 

[russdog]

Maybe you don't like them. Or maybe you're just used to what you're used to. Here's what I'd do if I were you:

1. Unless I was battling a clock about returning the Senn's, I'd hook them up to something, anything, and let 'em run for a week or two without even thinking about them.
2. Then, once that week or two was over, I'd take the other ones that I'm used to, put them in a drawer, and tell myself to not touch them for a week.
3. Then, I'd listen to nothing but the Senn's for a week, fool around with whatever EQ I might use, etc., and just let myself settle into them.

In short, I wouldn't spend more money until I gave them an honest-to-God chance first. Then I'd see.

 

[3lusiv3]

I don't find the HD 595 muffled at all.

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royicus I don't find the HD595s flat. *shrugs* Maybe they need a bit more burn-in time. I haven't tried the whole IEM phenomenon, so maybe someone else could chime in on that.

It could very well be the Bithead to sound flat. If it has the AD8397 amplifier chip, then that would be a "no surprise" for me.

I thought the HD595 to be very responsive & truthful to the actual tonality of the source & amp.