i've just bought the hd 590 prestige headphones, purely upon the impetus provided by a favourable online review. first impressions..its open sounding, very comfortable, the highs however are a bit too high for me. and the overall sound was a bit woolly. thinking that these cans needed some burn in time, i had had a test and burn in cd playing on repeat mode and when i get tired of listening to the meaningless noise generated, i had some music..all kinds, from classical to jazz to pop playing. im still playing music thru the phones..the police..every breath she takes..la la la..anyway, after 2 days, the sound has taken on more form and substance..the highs are sweeter, the mids more open than before and the bass just right. i reckon its going to take a couple of days more of burning in to get these headphones working right. the phones are hooked to an arcam alpha 6 plus and marantz 63 se. i think that for the price, these phones are great. whether theyre mind blowing, i will let you chaps know in a couple of days. i dont usually listen thru headphones but will have to do so now as wifey doesnt share my musical taste..haha... so for now its 3 stars..i will post again in a couple of days time..cheers

After continual run-in for over 3 days, this open-air HD590 now delivers highly impressive performance on both classical & popular music. Superb
clear & natural mid to high frequencies. Slightly soft low ends. Transparent & spatial sound with incredible details. Comfortable even for long
listening.
Favourably comparable to the old HD580 which is 25% more expensive (in Hong Kong).

Very clear distinct sound. You can hear things that you never heard before, at least I did. I could actually hear the guitarists pop the strings.

None yet.

I plugged this into my Pioneer receiver the other night and I couldn't believe the definition that I was hearing. I could hear distinct sounds from all of the instruments and the spatial voices were amazing. Good bass and great treble. I would definitely recommend these. They are light, super comfortable, and only have one cord extending from the left side. My stereo system actually sounds better with the headphones.

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Sony MRV1000

Good frequency response
Comfortable/light
Detachable cord

Long burn-in time
Require an amp to enjoy to the fullest
Very detailed - may make some crappy recordings crappier ;)

After shopping around audio stores, trying pair
after pair of headphones, I was really impressed
by the Sennheiser 590HD's - they were truly the
most natural-sounding pair of headphones I had
ever heard. I also liked their very opened design,
which I made the sound much more "spacial" than
closed headphones I had tried before.

After hooking them at home, I was a bit
disappointed - they didn't sound like the ones
I had listened to at the store. What was wrong in
my setup? Was it my amp? My player? These
headphones being my first pair of "hi-fi"
headphones, I wasn't aware of burn-in, but
learned about that after reading information on
AudioReview. After burning them for 32 hours or so,
the improvement was *very* noticable. The frequency
response was much better, the bass was more present,
the highs were attenuated.

But there was still something missing: When plugged
in my Yamaha CDC-675 player, they sounded just fine,
but when plugged in my portable, the sound was
"muted" in some way, and got distorted as soon as I
raised the volume high enough for the portable to
struggle (blame my crappy Sony portable). After buying
a Little Headroom amp, I can honestly say that I am
truly satisfied with my purchase. This is great way
to have music "on the go" without compromising sound
quality, which was the purpose of buying hi-fi
headphones in the first place.

They are great for listening to rock (grunge,
rock'n'roll, metal, etc.), pop, etc. And since buying
these headphones, I've rediscovered my passion for
classical music. These headphones reproduce the music
the way it is recorded, which can be both a blessing
and a curse (depending on the recording you're
listening too.. these headphones make certain pieces
frustrating to listen to, enhancing every flaw in
the recording so that they are very obvious..)

Overall: Satisfied customer :)

Sound quality

need a headphone amp to sound their best (so I've heard)
bring out the flaws in music

These sound really good, but I recommend an amp for them. The reason I say this is that they sound really good, but I would of expected better; I don't have an amp so they probably would meet my expectations if I did. There are so many songs I've listened to and heard things that I've missed (probably due to the promedias on my pc). For the $200 I paid for these they are definately worth the money, you won't be disappointed. If you listen to mp3s these will breath life into them.

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not sure of names, but haven't heard better

The first impression about these headphones was very good, you can read it in my earlier review, but after listening for longer periods, they failed to keep my attention. Bass was running through the rest of the music, not being part of it, which is quite annoying if you like techno and dance. The treble can sound harsh on low volumes which worsened on higher volumes, in the case of techno and dance again.
I changed the 590's for the 600's, and in my opinion these really sound like music should sound, very clear, open, solid bass and smooth treble. I can turn up the volume and treble stays pleasant, while the bass really rumbles.
The 590's can be convincing, but because of the subtle differences with the 600's, I prefer the latter.

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HD-600

The very best for this money. Extremly good bass. You hear every little thing on your record. On second place for me, it's the Beyer DT 931. Nearly the same good sound. Also I've heard the Sennheiser HD 570, but they are really bad, especially the bass is terrible. It's a big difference between the HD 570 and the HD 590. You have to spend this additional money if you want good sound, believe me. But it's only my opinion.

well gentle folks, im back again. this time to tell you that im returning the 590s and have placed an order for the hd600s. that i suppose puts in a nutshell what can be a loooong story.

neutrality, comfort

I was upgrading from 10 year-old HD250 - I wanted a more airy sound (that comes from open-type headphones). HD250s are excellent for monitoring - although my HiFi speakers are good, occasionally, when I couldn't hear a particular lyric, out would come the HD250. No speakers (at any price) can outperform (in terms of clarity) a good headphone like the HD250!
So, I was in the shop and two choices - HD580 and HD590.
After almost an hour of backward and forward comparison (with the shop assistant beginning to doubt my intention to buy) I chose the 590.
I think the 580 was warmer (ie. emphasis on lower midrange Hz) whilst the 590 were neutral.
The 590 is easier to drive with my Technics portable (on 580 just as with HD250, at low frequencies and high volume I'd hear pops) since it's lower impedence and I am not ready to buy a headphone amp just yet.
590 sits on the head better too.
Close tie, but 590's less emphasis on bass won the day.
(It is possible that I am biased against warm headphones due to my conditioning on the HD250 which are quite light in this area, however, it's better to have a bit less than more since I mainly listen to Dance and overly high bass tends to overwhelm the delicate layers that good DJs build.)

PS. I listened to the 590s on the Creek OBH-11se (with and without the Creek special power-supply) and couldn't tell much difference between it and my Technics headphone output (I have to admit that the former did add a bit more low bass). Worth CAD$460 (discounted)? I don't see how.

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HD580

Clear treble, warm mid-tones, poweful bass, a headphone that plays the music exactly as it is!

Price..

I have learnt one thing! if you should buy a headphone don't buy mainstream marks like JVC sony etc, buy from a company (Sennheiser) who is specialist on making headphones!

I did a lot research before buying this headphones, on the internet, and by the phone. And when i finally got to listen to the headphones i was astonished, if you want a par of headphones that lasts all of your life and plays EXTREMELLY WELL on all types of music, buy a par of HD-590

I love to lissen to tracks with a lots of BASS in it, and i the HD-590 just makes my wishes come true!

a another good thing about HD-590 is that you can replace the cord if you should destroy it, no mor gapping headphones, just plain quality!

so GO to your closest store and bring a CD of your own taste and a compare your self the models, i can promise you that you will love the HD-590 prestige! i dosen't matter wich type of music you like, HD-590 does it ALL!!!

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JVC Headphones