[GoodBoy]

That's very interesting and surprising... I use the thin 3.5mm-1.2m long cable with my HD599s. So you mean the cable which plugs one end into the headphones (locks in place) and the other end is 3.5mm? Cuz I can't use 6.3mm and the adapter that came with it broke easily. I don't know what cable I could buy to replace the one I'm using. It's also been tangled. I use that thin and short 3.5mm cable and it's attached to a unknown brand 3.5mm extension cable, which plugs into my desktop PC's front/top audio panel. I think they sound great, could perhaps benefit from a better cable or DAC/AMP though... I don't know. But I've been satisfied with my HD599s. It's true that the bass is warm/natural/boomy, instead of punchy and hard-kicking (depending on the song of course but in general). I don't know where to get a good quality cable for my HD599s in Europe, can anyone help? One that plugs into the headphones with the other end being 3.5mm, and not very short (or if it's short then I'll need to use an extension cable with it). I'd like to buy one, even if it won't improve the sound too much. Because the one that came with the headphones has gotten tangled/worn out.

Longer cable gives better sound, at least that is the case with all my 599 units I've tested. Try it yourself for comparison sake. Buying short decent quality cable is a good idea, but for now I'm using 3m cable provided in the packaging with adapter. Bit long, but I shortened it with velcro strap. Night and day difference in terms of sound performance.

I've listened to boomy 599 and I've listened to the ones with more punchy tihgher bass.The boomy ones have such bass that is overpowering the whole music making microdetails that much less noticable. Great for movies though, but for music I couldn't listen to them for long as it got me headaches. Unfortunetly I had to send back the best sounding pair because of the factory scratch and deformed grill on one of the cups. Now I have somewhat worse balanced pairs might end up returning both of them, might keep one which is not that bad, but worse than the strached one. I'm getting fed up with all of that return-order-return-order hassle, drives me nuts... :/

 

[paulguru]

After many hour of burn in the sound is finally changed, now is not bad ( good i can say, surely much different than just unboxed ), but the bass is always overemphasized
Surely it can sound good but is NOT NEUTRAL SOUND !!!

Nothing legacy with the 598.

 

[GoodBoy]

There are 599 units with overemphasized bass, and there are more neutral with better controlled low end. What one gets it's a lottery. That explains why some people on amazon reviews say these have good even too much bass, while others complaing for the lack of it. Looks like quality control, especially tuning consistency is very poor with this headphone.

 

[armdias]

Well what can I say I'm propably sending back two pairs I currently have while still being within amazon return window policy.... After testing 5 pairs total I kinda know how they should sound I mean the flawless one. Guess I'm gonna wait for one more pair.
Everything about these can affect the sound, starting from pads, cables, diiferent clamping force and finally driver tuning/pairing. Basically all units I've heard had theoretically same tuning, but there were significant differences making one pair more bassy and/or boomy, while others more trebly and/or shouty vocals, one very wide open soundstage, other congested and narrow.... On top of that sound is affected furthermore by pads, clamp and cables. Remember to use and test them with longer cable from the start. Short one is crap quality it makes an impression like there's no soundstage and affects frequencies in a bad way especially when listening from PC. Looks like this short cable is designed for only mobile use with smartphones and such.
And btw, there are also differnces in built quality. Like I said the clamp can vary from very weak in one pair to very strong with others. Some units had more of a matt plastic finish, other more shiny. Some had pads with short velour "hair", others were longer and more fluffy. Some pads were flat making my ears touch inside of a cup, others gave big space. I kon't know maybe they make these headphones in two or more different factories or something...

Sorry for the late response... Thanks for your reply and all the info!

When I get home I will definitely try the longer cable and hear the results, maybe my answers are in there.

 

[armdias]

After many hour of burn in the sound is finally changed, now is not bad ( good i can say, surely much different than just unboxed ), but the bass is always overemphasized
Surely it can sound good but is NOT NEUTRAL SOUND !!!

Nothing legacy with the 598.

Ho do you did the burn in? Using them normally (using them daily a few ours listening music) or did you used any "special" method, playing them non-stop for a few days with special sounds/white-noise bursts/etc.?

 

[armdias]

There are 599 units with oberemphasized bass, and there are more neutral with better controlled low end. What one gets it's a lottery. That explains why some people on amazon reviews say these have good even too much bass, while others complaing for the lack of it. Looks like quality control, especially tuning consistency is very poor with this headphone.

Coming from the HD202, which are low end headphones, I definitely can say that my copy of 599's are nowhere as bass-heavy as the 202's. Shure, the 202's are not even/neutral, and maybe I don't have an "educated" ear after so many years being used to the 202, but the bass on my 599's is considerably less pronounced and much loosed. Considering my (in)experience, I think I have the ones with the lacking bass.

 

[GoodBoy]

In that case I suggest placing replacement order if you're still within return window. Wait for new pair to arrive, compare and stick to the better one

 

[MRK1]

I'm back to this thread after nearly 3 years. I confirm what I said, the 599 is just great all around, these are really versatile, and that's why I like them so much; they sound great out of just about anything. What's surprising is the amount of bass these have, despite being open, they dig really deep, also, these pretty much never distort, so you can bass boost them as much as you want. These cost 99€ lately and they're an absolute steal. Also, unlike the awful 598CS, these have resisted the abuse all these years and are still perfectly usable, the 598CS on top of sounding bad and having literally no bass whatsoever also have disintegrating earpads. The earpads on the 599 is still perfect, just a bit discolored. Maybe some people may consider these cans bass heavy and not natural but I like this warm sound, it adds depth without overpowering the other frequencies. And believe me I listen to so many different genres, I may be listening to baroque classical in the morning and industrial hardcore in the evening, these deliver no matter what I throw at them. Of course these may be too "clean" for some extreme genres like hardcore but I can't possibly say the music sounds bad out of these. Even if I'm listening to basshead stuff, I just EQ some boomy bass in and they're fine.

Unfortunately, they started developing some buzz on the right earphone, so I took them apart again and eventually I found that they buzzed when the driver cover was installed (I mean the plastic piece that covers the driver from the outside, the part that you can see if you look into the earpad without taking them apart). This piece can be removed and it's just clipped on. I removed it completely from both sides and I noticed the sound is a tiny bit clearer (may be placebo). So now I'm keeping them with the drivers exposed. Could this cause issues in the long run? Oh well. I might try to mod these at some point, like removing the outer metal grill and see what happens, maybe that'll increase the soundstage, or just make them closed by installing the drivers in the HD598CS shell and see if they become basshead level headphones since nowadays all I'm listening to is hardcore, industrial and doomcore.

God tier headphones, really. Can't go wrong with these, even if they lack bass you can EQ them as they never distort.

 

[MatukaHiFi]

I agree, I find my HD599 to be great. Not perfect but very good in the price range. Nice bass for (semi?) open back headphones, I like me some bass for Hip Hop and such. I got a new cable (2 of them actually, one is unopened and waiting as a backup. Poyatu brand from AliExpress) and it didn't improve the sound as far as I can tell but the cable is great. Just the right length (2 meters) for my setup. I tried my friend's DT990 Pro 250ohms and wasn't all that impressed, they were great but not mind blowing or anything like that. He has an O2 Amplifier to run them and I also tried my HD599s through it. The sound was mostly the same but the bass might've been a bit better. Especially when I turned the volume up high the bass was literally vibrating the headphones. Like crazy strong bass, lovely bass response. Bumpin'. The headphones had lightly shook like that before in my setup but not THAT much, not that strong of a vibration lmao. I might get an O2 Amplifier, possibly combined with ODAC. Even if it doesn't make a huge difference it's closer to that audio nirvana and then I can drive just about any headphones I have in the future.

 

[simon740]

Hello,

in my country hd599 is 139€ now. Is this good price for this headphones?
Im looking somethink for my LG V40. Or maybe wait a little bit and buy use HD700 or HD660s?
In the past I have a Hifiman HE-560 and the Gustard H10 :-D

regards,
Simon

 

[MatukaHiFi]

Yep, I agree. That is a good price. I paid 149€ for mine. I remember seeing them in the 170-200€ price range so... 139€ is very good value.

On a side note, I ordered an Objective2 Amplifier.

 

[Grg95]

I am selling brand new-opened box sehnnheiser hd599 for 90€..i am in europe greece. bought them 140€ from a shop in greece(we have good prices here strangely)but i realize i do not NEED them so i give a good price so that i hope can sell them more easily.anyone intrested please PM me.
Thanks,george.
Better be someone in the european union to avoid taxes.
Shipping fee will be calculated depended on the buyers country/adress.

 

[evonimos]

Longer cable gives better sound, at least that is the case with all my 599 units I've tested. Try it yourself for comparison sake

If the longer cable adds enough impedance to affect the load seen by the amplifier, i suppose it might sound differently.

 

[Luis Mad]

I bought the HD599 last year at a discount at amazon Spain. I thought I was going to use them maybe one or two hours max in the relatively quiet afternoons at work. With teleworking I have given these headphones a pretty intensive use since February. I simply love them. I seem to have the good ones. No excesive bass and truly excellent sound to my ears. Last year I was using them with a Dragonfly Black either from my pc or from my Iphone Xr. Then I bought a sony nwa-55L and still loved the cans with those. When I started teleworking, I started to use them also with my home stereo an old reliable Denon with a Yamaha streamer. That is my favorite a for short session, I can feel the electricity through my head. They shine with the power of the amp. Recently I bought an A&K SR25 and loved the Sennheiser with it once again. They are my absolute favorite headphones.
i also have the Sony WH-1000xm3, amazing sound cancelling, perfect for a long flight, but the sound is not as rich, detailed and exquisite as in the Sennns. Too much bass in the Sony’s for me. Sound is not bad at all but better the Senns.
I also have some very old, some would say vintage, Denon closed cans and the sound is almost as good as the Senns but they are very uncomfortable. I cannot wear them more than half an hour. That is an important thing of the Senns for me, they are truly confortable, and can wear them for hours without problem.
I was surprised not to hear more about these headphones at head-fi. At the discount price that regularly comes, I think they are a bargain. Now I understand that not all have the same quality ...

 

[armdias]

I bought the HD599 last year at a discount at amazon Spain. I thought I was going to use them maybe one or two hours max in the relatively quiet afternoons at work. With teleworking I have given these headphones a pretty intensive use since February. I simply love them. I seem to have the good ones. No excesive bass and truly excellent sound to my ears. Last year I was using them with a Dragonfly Black either from my pc or from my Iphone Xr. Then I bought a sony nwa-55L and still loved the cans with those. When I started teleworking, I started to use them also with my home stereo an old reliable Denon with a Yamaha streamer. That is my favorite a for short session, I can feel the electricity through my head. They shine with the power of the amp. Recently I bought an A&K SR25 and loved the Sennheiser with it once again. They are my absolute favorite headphones.
i also have the Sony WH-1000xm3, amazing sound cancelling, perfect for a long flight, but the sound is not as rich, detailed and exquisite as in the Sennns. Too much bass in the Sony’s for me. Sound is not bad at all but better the Senns.
I also have some very old, some would say vintage, Denon closed cans and the sound is almost as good as the Senns but they are very uncomfortable. I cannot wear them more than half an hour. That is an important thing of the Senns for me, they are truly confortable, and can wear them for hours without problem.
I was surprised not to hear more about these headphones at head-fi. At the discount price that regularly comes, I think they are a bargain. Now I understand that not all have the same quality ...

These are really great cans and I also bought mine at an amazing price.

But I’m not shure if I have the “good” ones as I can’t compare to another pair, so I don’t know if I’m missing anything.

One thing I noticed, on Metallica’s Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All albums, the guitar sound frequency seems a little shifted, compared to my cheap Sennheiser HD202 (like going from “zzzzz” to ”sssss” for a lack of a better explanation), don’t know if this is normal...