Bass & mids, clarity (woman's vocals!), comfortable, build quality, performance/price

Open type design (Is this weakness?) - they can be noisy from outside

When I was on my 'buying tour' 4 moths ago, I was listening various headphones: Sony, Philips, Koss, AKG and Sennheiser brands. I decided to buy these Sennheiser HD-590 Prestige, because of their clarity and detail (comparable to their price). I have listened them for 4 months now and I am very pleased with their presence. They are very comfortable to wear. German high build quality and superb design is with no comment. They are really great! You can listen them for couple of hours and you will not go tired with them - there is still possibility that you fall asleep after listening them for 3 hours :-). Bass is deep, detailed and well controlled (maybe they has not as much bass as HD-580 or HD-600 produce, but the HD-590 plays just what is recorded on CD or other media - no more, no less). Mids & highs are crystal clear - woman's vocals or violin/strings are great! They have open/airy sound which has deepness and space.
Their sound is neutral - you can listen classical, popular, rock or dance music and you will still love them.

For the price, they are highly recommended! Sennheiser HD-590's are worth of it!! Listen to them and you will see/hear...

PS: There is also something I didn't mention. They have 3 meter cable, which is connected to the phones with 2.5 mm jack. If you damage the cable (or you want to replace it with longer/shorter one) what you need is just unplug it and use another cable...

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD-580, HD-600

Bass, detail, excellent for dance and bass driven music

High price

When I went to the shop for a pair of headphones I didn't want to spend too much money. I listened to a range of headphones mainly Sennheisers and Sony's, especially to dance music. Of all the headphones the 590's sounded noticably different than the others with a lot more detail and clarity and very good bass.
Unfortunately the price is high, but the excellent sound quality compensates it all! I recomment these phones to all dance-and techno-lovers out there they're really worth the money!

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD-540 Reference 2

Extemely Comfortable

Price.

I bought the Kenwood 510's at a local electronics store about 3 years ago for $100. They were the first
head phones that I've spent a lot of money on. I was happy with my purchase and they spent many hours
on my head over the last 3 years. They broke about a year ago and I had to repaired them many times.

I finally got feed up with them and decided it was time for a new set. I heard a pair of Sennheisers when I
was picking out the Kenwoods. I liked them a lot and had been wanting a pair ever since, they were
about $150 though and I couldn't afford them. Three years down the road Sennheisers were obviously
my first choice. I looked on the internet and came close to paying $150 for a set of 570's. I'm glad I didn't
because I demoed them at a local hi-fi shop and was kind of disappointed. They sounded kind of hallow.

I then saw an Ebay auction for the 590's for $150 and took a risk in buying them with out audition. So
when I got them in the mail I was skeptical. I took them out of the box and put them on and they were
unbelievably comfortable. I noticed the open air design, because I could the hear people talking to me as
if I wasn't even wearing a set of head phones. I would find later that this contributes to there great sound.

My first listen was the Pat Metheny Group CD, Imaginary Day. This CD is an amazing recording, I would
say it's the best i've ever listened to. So I knew that I would be feeding the head phones the best possible
material so they would give me the best possible impression. I used my cheap panasonic portable CD
player, because this is what I will most likely be forced to listen to them with. They work great through my
portable!

Well they were louder than my Kenwoods, full volume was hurting my ears so I turn it down. The
instruments jumped out at you, they had incredible definition. I heard more detail on the recording then I've
ever heard before. So I was very impressed with their sound. The difference in comfort level was a joke!
I've actually fallen a sleep with them on, I forgot I was wearing them! The open air design also helps to
keep your ears cool. The pads make sure that no part of the headphone touches your ear. Making them
sound more like a good hi-fi stereo system.

I've had them for 4 days and have listened to about every CD in my collection. Dream Theater, Awake;
Pantera, Cowboys From Hell; Dave Matthew's Band, Crash; Metallica, Master Of Puppets, even some of
my classical CD's, Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi. It doesn't matter what kind of CD or music or recording,
everything sounds better. Yes you can also hear the flaws better, as I've heard a lot of reviews say. But
how does a good set of phones make a CD sound worse, I just don't see this relationship, or the logic in
that assumption.

I haven't even broken them in yet, as a lot of reviewers have recommened. Even with out being broken in
yet they sound great! The high's might be a little on the harsh side because of this, so I'll give them a good
brake in and see if they sound better. If you use head phones like I do, like 6 hours a day. I would
recommend you spend a little extra on these phones, you will not regret the purchase!

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood 510

see below

see below

Well, I posted a review either late last night or early this morning, but I would like to add a few more items that I forgot to mention in my original review.

In my judgment, the only headphone in the "similar products used" section of my original review that comes close to these Senns is my Grado SR-60's. The Sonys, on the other hand, lack detail, but that makes them more forgiving of poorly-recorded music; my MDR-V6's are the best of that Sony bunch, followed very closely by the MDR-V900's that I returned to Guitar Center; the MDR-V600's that I used to own, on the other hand, don't bother to ask.

My opinion: If you feed either the Sennheiser HD 575/HD 590 or any of the Grados crap, you'll certainly get crap out of them. But buy the Grados if you want a more-forward midrange, otherwise, the Senns are excellent.

Happy listening!

Similar Products Used:

see below

Clear sound, comfortable to wear.

Escaping noise annoys partners, etc, due to open back design.

I really like these headphones. They are very comfortable to wear and I enjoy the sound. There is plenty of bass and treble and it blends together well to give an all-round sound (ie. not just sound pumped into your ears). I can listen for hours though which is something I haven't been able to do with headphones in the past.

My only complaint is that so much of the sound escapes to the outside world so it's hardly private listening. However, this affects my wife, not me the listener so it's a minor point.

Similar Products Used:

Cheap Sony, JVC headphones in the past.

Comfy! Build quality. Removeable lead. Nice long cord.

Metallic vocals?

These are delightful headphones to use! They are really comfortable, and prolonged use is not a problem. As far as sound goes, there has been a noticeable improvement over my amp and speakers. Friedrich Fischer-Dieskau singing Schubert lieder is amazing, it is like he is standing just beside your right ear...
Some female vocals sound a bit metallic, or processed, or something, but this is probably due to my CD player (Marantz CD4000) which I have the headphones plugged directly into.
I'll probably get the Musical Fidelity X-cans headphone amp as a next upgrade...

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD600

spacious, airy sound, detachable cord

"open" design is great but not ideal for all purposes

If you like the spacious, airy sound that is characteristic of Sennheiser's "open aire" dynamic headphones, these are an excellent choice. I thought these were a step up in sound from the 580, and a big step up from cheaper models.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD 535, 570, 580, 600, Sony MDR-V6

Sound quality
Comfort
Build quality
maintenance

Haven't found any yet

Wow. I like these.

They feel great, really comfy. They're better at all-round music types than the SD25, because of the more even bass emphasis on the 590.

Also, it looks like everything, down to the soft padding, can be replaced individually at any time. That should mean low cost of ownership over the long term.

Only downside is, now that I can hear all the weaknesses in my other hardware, I feel the need to upgrade my amp, PC sound card, etc...

Similar Products Used:

Senn HD25

Can pick out weaknesses in music. Needs HiFi amp to get the best.

I coupled these headphones up to my Arcam Alpha 9 and I was in for a treat. I found the quality was excellent and very natural.

I have also used them on my MP3 player, with mixed results. Yes, they do sound better than any other phones I've tried but I wouldn't buy these just for portable music, they really need a good quality amp and source behind them.

I was listening to a track which contained samples - you could hear where the artist drops them into the mix, which I found quite interesting and not at all offensive.

All in all a excellent buy, not cheap but very very good.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD range

WOW! Bass, Mids, Highs, long cord, detatchable cord

Open design, however that's hardly a weakness

These are simply the best headphones I've ever listened to. Bar none. I used AudioReview to help decide which model to buy and I wan't disappointed at all. The open design sucks if you're trying to keep your music to yourself, but if you're just trying to keep music from waking up everyone else in your house (me) than it's fine. Personally, I think the open design sounds way better than closed. SUPER comfy. I wear these things for hours on end (literally) and when I take them off it's like I wasn't wearing them in the first place. I had a pair of Koss cans that hurt after 30-45 minutes. Not these. If you're even remotely considering buying new headphones get Sennheiser. And spend the extra bucks for one of the high end models. You will not be disappointed. These simply RULE. Get one of the THX Bass tests and these cans will shake on your head. Classical music is fantastic. Rock, R&B, punk, etc. ANYTHING sounds great on these. The better the source the better your sound. My Sony discman doesn't quite do the trick, but my SB Live X-Gamer does a pretty nice job. I have a Denon reciever which workds well too. But don't try to hook it up to a $20 discman and expect wonderful results. Overall, these headphones absolutely rule. I don't think the 600s are worth it, and I've heard of many bad cord problems on the 580s. I listened to the 570s at AudioKing and they were nice, but I thought for 20 bucks more (on ebay versus in the store) why not get the higher model. I actually bought these based on the reviews. I'd never heard them before I forked out the money for 'em. But I love them. Sennheiser isn't A name in headphones, it is THE name in headphones.

Similar Products Used:

Sony MDR-V6