[wnewport]

For under 250 bucks what pair of sennheisers would you recommend. I had a pair of hd280's I thought they sounded great, but I didn't like the stuffyness of having sealed headphones.

I am looking for a pair of full size open cans. I would run these from a soundcard or from an ipod video with out an amp. I listen to pretty much everything besides country, rap, metal, heavy rock. The HD555's and 580's are my top picks as of now.

I enjoy Bach, Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, Feist, Death Cab, and the Fugees. Just to name a few if that helps with recommendations.

 

[will75]

The 580 may not be the best choice unamped. I have the 595 50 ohm and they are easily driven from my pc. Good sound too. Bass is lacking but other than that they are nice.

 

[dag655321]

Having only owned a few Senns, I am not the expert, but if your budget can afford it, you sound like a good HD-595 candidate. It is a fairly well rounded can for anything other than heavy rock. Some people swear by it, but not me. I don't dislike it, but for rock, nothing beats a Grado.

 

[wnewport]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dag655321 Having only owned a few Senns, I am not the expert, but if your budget can afford it, you sound like a good HD-595 candidate. It is a fairly well rounded can for anything other than heavy rock. Some people swear by it, but not me. I don't dislike it, but for rock, nothing beats a Grado.

Thats the thing Rock music is pretty low on my list, I listen to lighter stuff. For the price the Grado's are very appealing though. I have also looked at AKG but it seems like most of those need an amp to power them.

Whoa, I didn't know you could get 595's for under 200 bucks.

 

[AlphaOmega]

Sennheiser HD590, HD555, HD485; The HD580 and HD 595 are too
expensive in Canada.

 

[wnewport]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaOmega Sennheiser HD590, HD555, HD485; The HD580 and HD 595 are too expensive in Canada.

Ok I have narrowed it down to...
HD555 about $120
HD580 about $170
HD595 about $190

Will any of these sound great without an amp, I am not an audiophile and currently own e2c and px100 cans. I would expect the senns to sound noticably better than either of those. Overall I prefer my px100's to my e2c's unless I am doing something where I need the isolation.

Thanks for the info Borat (I love Ali G), The hd580s with an amp are looking really good right now. Good call on the 1/4 plugs on the other headphones. Also good find for price.

Just to confirm, would the hd580s sound good without an amp, and better with an amp later on? Also, dumb question, would they sound noticably better than my px100s and e2cs?

 

[Borat]

You want the HD580 or HD600, but do not pay over $200 for either one. Both of those headphones have the benefit of using 1/8 mini plugs so they will not mangle your iPod jack and you won't have to buy an adapter. The HD555/595 use 1/4 jacks so you will have to purchase an adapter since you cannot use the included one as it will put too much stress on your iPod jack. The sound will be pretty good unamped and they will scale very well if you upgrade the rest of your setup. Try to find them used if possible to save $.

You can find the HD580 for $132.99 at PC/Macmall here. I have never purchased anything from there so maybe others can chime in with experiences. Then you can use the rest of your money to buy a Sik Ram Din and an amp if you want. You will have a nice rig.

 

[Borat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnewport Thanks for the info Borat (I love Ali G), The hd580s with an amp are looking really good right now. Good call on the 1/4 plugs on the other headphones. Also good find for price.

No problemo. Froogle is your friend.

You may find a slightly better price if you search some more. That was just a quick glance through froogle. Try looking some more.

I've owned the HD555 and now the HD600. The HD555 are okay, but they don't scale very well with upgrades in equipment like the HD580/600/650 do. Also they get a little grainy in the highs, don't sound as refined as the HD580/600. I think with the type of music you listen to that the HD580 is the best Senn for you.

Quote:

Just to confirm, would the hd580s sound good without an amp, and better with an amp later on? Also, dumb question, would they sound noticably better than my px100s and e2cs?

Yes, yes, and yes. But this is my opinion. Unfortunately only you can be the final judge of that and it requires actually hearing the headphones compared to one another. One person might find the differences to be staggering while another may perceive no real difference at all. It's true for all things audio actually.

Good luck.

 

[DobsOnly]

I agree with Borat and while I can't comment on the HD580 would tell you to consider the HD600. It is a set of cans I think I will always own. They continue to improve as you upgrade source and amps. An amp even if it's just a CMoy helps but IMO is not a must. Shop around and then check with some of the forum sponsers. I think at least a few of them will price match. Good for you and helps the cause here at head-fi.

As for sounding better than the PX100's "Without a doubt" To my ears, Mix together the Ety Detail with the PX100 Senn house sound, extend and tighten the bass a little, then increase the sound stage, you get something that's getting close to the HD600 sound quality.

But take this with a grain of salt because I really like my HD600's.

Good Luck!

 

[bgravato]

Quote:

Originally Posted by will75 The 580 may not be the best choice unamped. I have the 595 50 ohm and they are easily driven from my pc. Good sound too. Bass is lacking but other than that they are nice.

50 ohm? Is that a new version of the 595?

My 595 are 120 ohm, and I can't drive them well from my sound card or my discman (they will produce some sound, but can't compare that to what you can get from an amp or a dedicated cd player prepared for high impedance headphones)

If your going to use it on an ipod or soundcard without amp, I don't think that the Sennheiser High-End headphones are a good choice... Choose some 32 ohms model instead.

Even so, if your going for the 595 don't worry about jack size, because it comes with an adapter, but consider getting an amp or some other source capable of driving an 120 ohm headphones.

About the sound quality... well there are many threads here about all Sennheiser high-end models. I've listened to the 595 and 600. I liked the 600 more, but considering the price I decided to buy the 595 and I'm very happy with it.

 

[[AK]Zip]

I used the HD580's out of the Audigy 2 ZS without an amp a bunch of times and never had a problem with volume. Yes they will benefit from an amp, but they do NOT need one.

-Alex-

 

[~AZ~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgravato 50 ohm? Is that a new version of the 595?

Most of the newer 595's are 50 ohm. I can run them straight from my Zen with no problem although of course the higher you go up the source/amp chain the better they sound.

 

[bgravato]

When I wrote my previous post I wasn't aware of this new 50 ohm models, so my comment was based only on the 120/300 ohm models.

I haven't tried out any of this new models, but with that impedance they're probably well driven from a pc soundcard or ipod, so you might consider them again has a solution.

If the quality of sound of the new 50 ohm model really matches the 120 ohm model I would recommend the hd-595 has a good choice, if you're willing to spend that money.

I only see two negative points on the 595:
1) If you're planning on using them with a portable player, you must not forget that they're big! So maybe not the best option to be walking around in the street.
2) They're very comfortable, but a bit warm, that's fine on winter, but on summer, I can't wear them for much time... but that probably happens with most circumaural headphones.

and btw, I think sennheiser should have changed the model name (or added a letter or number to it) when they changed from 120 ohm to 50 ohm, because that can drive into some confusion when people order these models.

 

[Ypoknons]

Also when buying Senn's in the States always check against J&R quickly for prices - they are usually very good prices from a reliable store, and if you live in the NYC area, you can just go pick them up.

 

[wnewport]

Thanks for all of the responses. The hd595's are out of my price range, everyone thought I was crazy for spending 75 dollars on my e2c's haha. But it is nice to be able to mow the lawn and listen to Classical Music at 18/25 volume on my zen.

The only other concern I have is all of the hd580s I have found online are 300 ohms. Also I read somewhere that the stock cables are bad and cause problems. Is that a frequent problem, or for my use should it not be a concern?