Sennheiser 599

[Deleted member 60987]

Is it just me or do they sound kind of muddy, lacking brightness and clarity? I ordered renewed 559 from Amazon and they sent me 599 by mistake. I hung on to them for a while because they have a better resale value, but eventually just returned them in the open box? Were they comfortable? Very much. Were they smooth sounding? Yes. Could I listen for a long time without issues? Sure. But they sounded like one wide midrange to me with no brightness, not much bass, and honestly, muddy. Even before comparing them to other cans with a headphone amp, the instant I put them on and played by go to reference track, "More Than A Feeling" I noticed the general lack of brightness. They sounded like a speaker with a blanket thrown over it. Are 600s like this? Are muted highs a Sennheiser signature? I consider my 280 Pros unusable as reference headphones because the whole lower half seems to lack clarity. I thought I read somewhere they played with the 599s to adjust this. But reviews all seem to be raving about how 599s are entry level audiophile. Smooth but boring doesn't impress me. Any one have thoughts on the 599s? Is Sennheiser in general overrated for headphones? I don't even know where I can go to HEAR 600s or 650s.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

I dont own one, but it is not surprising based on the data. A big bump centered at 300hz, which is also called the "mud region".

HD599

back to Sennheiser back to measurements home Published: Jun-25-2018 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Sennheiser tends towards a rather relaxed treble, but the models are very different from each other. For example, the 560s is rather the opposite and tends towards brightness.

You can predict the tonal balance of a headphone quite well by looking at frequency response graphs. I recommend you to watch the following video:

 

[Robin L]

My 599s are on permanent loan to a non-audiophile friend. The sound is as you describe. My regular pair is the Drop 6XX, essentially the Sennheiser HD 650s. The upper registers are clear, the lower midrange only slightly thick.

 

[Achim1812]

I owned a HD598 for years and was quite satisfied with the "relaxed" Sennheiser sound signature. Now, with a little more budget and a lot more time, I upgraded to first to HD800 and then, till today, to HD820. For me it sounds like my last headphone.
But back to the thread, I bought a 599 for my granddaughter and was sure, it topped my old 598. But that was a mistake. Not as good as the predecessor, in no way. Not a bad headphone, but even in this low price range are a lot of better options. I do not want to give a special recommendation because I've learned that headphones are a very, very personal thing.
Try as much as you can.

 

[Deleted member 60987]

I dont own one, but it is not surprising based on the data. A big bump centered at 300hz, which is also called the "mud region".

HD599

back to Sennheiser back to measurements home Published: Jun-25-2018 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Sennheiser tends towards a rather relaxed treble, but the models are very different from each other. For example, the 560s is rather the opposite and tends towards brightness.

You can predict the tonal balance of a headphone quite well by looking at frequency response graphs. I recommend you to watch the following video:

Good to know. I will watch out for that bump. I've seen it before in others. I didn't know there was a mud zone. And yes, my 280 Pro sounds very different than my 599s did. Can't remember how my 200 Pros sounded exactly but I sold them for being absolute garbage in comfort, build and sound. Sennheiser should use more consistency. For example AKGs may not be the flattest or most dynamic but they are never crap. At least the ones I've tried. I literally bought an extra K52 for $30 because I have a pair and like the price.

 

[chebum]

. I didn't know there was a mud zone.

Equalizing this hump doesn't fully solve the problem. Compared to Fidelio X1, HD 599 sound muddier. I equalized both headphones to Harman curve. Fidelio sound considerably cleaner while being cheaper. Unfortunately, Fidelio are also much heavier and have round ear pads which are less comfortable with glasses. Oval earpads seem to work better with glasses.

 

[ZolaIII]

Best you can do with those is to bring down mid bass hump from 2.8 dB to let's say 0.6 (-2.2) dB. Smooth the lower trable (3 to 5 KHz) and extend a bit uper treble (6 to 12 KHz). Don't try to make them what they can't do like Harman bass and it will be fine. Use diffuse field instead and only down to 55 Hz.