Sennheiser HD599

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by lm4der, Dec 28, 2016.

  1. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    I ordered the hd599 from Amazon awhile back, paid full price ($249), and spent a few weeks with it. Listening was done on a Modi2U4490 + Vali1, and a Bifrost Multibit + Valhalla2.

    For context, I own the hd598 and the hd650. Although the hd650 is a much better HP, the 598 stays with me mainly because it is easy on my ears, and less fatiguing than the 650s. For a lower cost HP, I really like the tonality and tonal balance of the 598s. The 598 is typically $149 on Amazon, but can be found on sale as low as $115 around holidays. I bought the non-ugly one (the hd598se).

    So I bought the hd599 hoping for basically a slight improvement over the 598. I was looking for a 598 + 1. ie if the 599 could have the relaxed and easy qualities of the 598, but with some sonic improvements, that would be the win for me.

    The 599 doesn't have a Special Edition yet, meaning it comes in one color. Fuuuuu. Gly. It has this sort of old yellowed t-shirt color with an opalescent sheen. Combined with the brown earpads, it would allow one to listen to music indefinitely without fear of ever getting laid. By anything.

    The 599 definitely has its sonic roots in the 598, and a super quick cursory listen would give the impression of an hd 598 that is a bit clearer and more resolving. As I spent more time with it, it quickly became apparent that the sound of this is quite a bit different from the 598.

    From a 50,000 foot view, I would describe it as a 598 that has had all of the screws tightened down. It has a much more controlled sound across the frequency range. Clarity is really good. Treble is more precise, imaging and instrument separation is better, and the bass is both higher quality, and higher in quantity. Also, it has a much more slammin' sound. It sounds pretty good... but...

    For my taste, the bass quantity is a tad too much. It is kind of fun and addicting though, for some music, whereas maybe not quite right for the majority of my listening, which is classical and metal. It is a tighter and better controlled/resolving bass than the 598. I think I could have forgiven this extra bass, for the purposes I use this HP, if not for the other issues.

    The treble, though sounding tighter than the 598, also sounded more rolled off. Or it may be that the added clarity was revealing of the rolled off nature of the treble. But it feels like the airiness or upper treble sheen just goes off a cliff and disappears. More rolled off than the 598? I am not sure, because the 598 is a little smeary in the treble, but in the end I preferred the 598 as it somehow doesn't feel like the treble ends abruptly. This was a less forgivable issue for me.

    There is something about the way they cleaned up the sound on this HP that seems to cause it to reveal its weaknesses - like now that the screws are all tightened up, we hear an enclosure problem, or who knows what, but the instrument timbre is off, and sounds slightly unnatural. I didn't really notice this on the 4490+Vali1. That combo just ins't quite precise enough to make it very noticeable, but I did notice it on the Bifrost Multibit+Valhalla2 combo, which has a way of being pretty focused. With the latter combo, instruments come into focus reasonably well on the 599, but there is a funny timbre to my strings and french horns. It's a result of the extra bass combined with something out of character in the treble. At least that's what it seems like to me.

    Also, something about the slammin' nature of this HP, the extra bass, and the rolled off treble sounds to me like the HP is slightly more closed, like maybe the grill in back is providing more backpressure, at the expense of air.

    So, overall I am not really sure where to place this HP on the sonic scale, or the "is it good" scale. I ended up returning it to Amazon within my 30 day Prime period. But I returned it, not necessarily because it isn't a good HP, probably better than the 598 overall, but because it didn't work for my purpose - I want the laid back presentation of the 598, not more slammin', not more bass (although better bass would be good), and the treble on the 598s is inoffensive, whereas on the 599s it took a step forward in resolution and a step back in timbre and air.

    I think this might be a HP some people would like, it just wasn't for me. It's at this point that some better ears with more experience could give these a better relative sense of place among a wider variety of cans. They are interesting for what they do well.
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2016
  2. Renekton

    Renekton Acquaintance

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    OH, HEY, BRO! If you feel like it, could you do me a favor and put a piece of tape over the grill on your 598 in a similar shape to the plastic in the middle of the 599? To see if that will make them sound similar to the 599? I'm curious if the 599 has other changes at all apart from that chromey plastic or whatever center part?
    EDIT: BTW come on, why can't we make it like facebook so I can like my own post? xD... ;_; people LIKE us exist... Ha. Ha-ha. ha. Yeah, I just said that, please don't hate me C:
     
  3. Rianoris

    Rianoris New

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  4. riker1384

    riker1384 Acquaintance

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    Well it's one better, innit?
     
  5. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    Randos...

     
  6. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    Is this a thing? That is, where is this information coming from? It would fit with what I was hearing, but I would like to know more about the provenance of this explanation.
     
  7. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Well, it could be partially tested by using that piece of tape as previously mentioned to mimic the 599 plastic in the middle of the grill. It might not be exact, but if it provides a similar tonal change then that's a strong clue in the right direction.

    Has anyone done a teartown of these yet to find the differences with the 598? Back in the day we all knew about the 555/595 piece of tape on the grill. The 558/598 was similar but I believe there was a slight enclosure difference.
     
  8. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    Interesting. I will do the tape test on the 598 later today. If conditions are right for critical listening.
     
  9. Rianoris

    Rianoris New

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    Nice. The result should be interesting!
     
  10. Renekton

    Renekton Acquaintance

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    Ayyy, thanks for backing me up. I nominate you for the King of Randos.
     
  11. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Hah! Me a rando... once upon a time perhaps, but I think deep down I was always an old snark.
     
  12. Renekton

    Renekton Acquaintance

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    Oh, no, no, no, I know you are from the changstar days, sorry, I meant you were the only one to understand me so I made a dumb king joke. Anyways.
     
  13. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    I haven't forgot about this. I did put some clear packing tape on the 598, mimicking the shape of the plastic piece on the hd599 a couple days ago - gave it a listen, and pulled the tape off for comaparo... and... i wasn't really sure what to make of it, so I decided I needed to spend more time comparing with and without the tape. But I wasn't able to do it right then, so I'm still planning to come back to it.

    FTR, the tape increased bass quantity. But as for whether this brought the sound closer to the 599, and whether this started to reveal sonic reflections from the tape, I just wasn't sure. I will say this, based on that one test, adding tape did not bring the clarity and treble definition up a notch in the way that the 599 has these qualities. I basically thought the tape just made the 598 more muffled. But it was at that point that I realized the finer nuances of the change were hard to identify for me. So take that all with a grain of salt.
     
  14. damaged-goods

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    @Im4der thanks for the review. I've recently had a HD599 and came to the same conlcusion, there's something in the treble that bothers me. I've just listened for an hour or so though and in the meantime I wonder if "ear pad burn in" might solve this issue. How much time did you spend with your HD599 listening?

    As for the tape test, the HD579 has stickers of foam inside the cups similar to the HD558 and HD555. I've never removed it though. The HD579 sounds close to the HD558, better bass, slightly more bass, slightly less midrange, slightly cleaner and slightly smoother treble. Slightly darker and more body than HD598. Very nice headphone.
     
  15. sealand1

    sealand1 Almost "Made"

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    Recently I bought a 2nd hand hd579 and like it very much. For its comfort and good sound, I did a small mod as diyaudioheaven posted for hd58x, the result is not bad, mid is a bit better than original, also compared 579 to 58x and found I like 579 more.
     

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