Sennheiser 595 Headphones
 

how are they?

if you're really in the market for $300 headphones you should already be well aware of the quality Sennheiser offers. what do you normally wear? are you familiar with open ear vs. closed ear headphones?

i've been rocking 515s for about 4 years now and they're only recently getting to the point of making me consider replacements. mainly due to the cloth ear covering. i've worn them inside, outside, in the sun, rain, snow, it's only when i started wearing them while video game drumming that i soaked the ear pads with sweat and things started being less than awesome.

go through the discussions at the head-fi forum to decide on your headphone.

not sure this is the right forum for this.

but I can't move it so....

Yeah, they are good headphones. You can compare them to Bose QC's, about the same level. They are entry level audiophile headphones, you will hear things in your music you've never noticed before if you're not used to audiophile quality, but it's quite nice once you get used to it. I had the Bose Triports for years but they recently broke and I switched to entry level Sennheisers. I'm considering upgrading to the 595's as well. If you have the money, I'd say buy them.

I currently wear Bose in-ear phones, but I've been looking to get some over ear headphones.

I've been hearing mixed reviews about Sennheiser, so I wasn't quite sure what to think. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the difference between Open and closed ear headphones, if you could explain it, I'd appreciate it.

My apologies, new to the forum, haven't gotten the hang of the layout quite yet. I was under the impression that the 595's were in the upper area of the Audiophile line, not the entry level.

These are your upper level... Sennheiser HD 800 Audiophile stereo headphones at Crutchfield Signature

I'm aware those are the tippy top, but i thought that the 595's were up there, upper middle class, if you will.

It's preference I guess. But 595's are where it starts to get really good IMO. They are great headphones for the money, only $240 on Amazon too.

Good to hear. I just won an auction for a pair of 595's for $172.

That's a great price.

I thought so too. It was too good of a deal to pass up.

Thanks for all your help guys, I really appreciate it.

kudos on the ebay score :thumb:

the primary difference in open and closed ear headphones is in how the cup is designed and manufactured.

open ear normally has a mesh or some sort of grill covering the outside edge of the cup which allows air and sound to travel freely in both directions.

the biggest pro for open ear is comfort, you don't get that half headache feeling after an extended listening session. the con is that because air flows both ways ambient noise can bleed into what you're listening to and anyone around you WILL hear whatever is coming through your set.

closed ear is, well, the opposite haha basically a hard plastic shell which forces the sound to be rebounded back into your ear. great for sound isolation and shorter listening sessions, but comfort normally diminishes the longer you wear them.

There's also a tremendous difference in fidelity, as well. open air headphones will actually give the sense of there being a 3-dimensional soundstage, instead of the common band-playing-inside-my-head effect that closed ear and in ear monitors are known for. There is a sacrifice in privacy and ambient noise, but to me it's worth it.

I got the headphones in today. I have to say that I am VERY impressed. Unlike the bose headphones I have, the bass is very well balanced. Everything is extremely crisp, and you can hear every detail of the vocals. I am noticing certain things about songs that I had never noticed before, somewhat made me stop for a second, as I'm used to hearing the same things through the phones, then something alien comes out and surprises me. Weird at first, but i'm really starting to like it after listening to them all evening.

check out the HD600's (second hand) very neutral sounding. i've got the HD650's, great sounding but perhaps a little too warm and flattering for some things

If you are not using a dedicated headphone amp or decent hifi amp you will be missing out on a lot, I have run my sennie 414 (real old school) straight from my MP3 player and also through a DIY valve headphone amp. the difference is like night and day and this will improve with better headphones as the impedance tends to be higher (around 300 ohms) on better phones and they need a bit of driving.

Ah... well... Bit too late, but I wouldn't consider Sennheiser in that price range.
I'd go with AKG or Beyer. But that's a bit too late now.
They will definately be a LOT better than your boses, so that's good :)