Sennheiser HD595 Reviews

These cans look a little bit funky, kind of extra-modern. The color (grayish green) is not something I would have picked, but I guess it’s not that bad. I like the look of the logo underneath the grilles. Build quality seems good; they feel solid and I don’t worry about damaging them in routine handling.

I find these cans the most comfortable worn for long periods of time. They have velour pads and a padded headband. To make them sound best, you must position the headband forward on your head, but this doesn't make it uncomfortable either. I've read reviews where people mention a little head-clamping, I guess my head is just not that big enough. They are also light for full-sized cans.

What drew me to these headphones is the reviews say that the phones are somewhat in the middle of Grado’s overly harsh bright sound and the dark “veiled” Sennheiser sound. These are extremely well-balanced cans. They spit out a very authentic reproduction of what’s fed in. If you like bright, then find a recording that’s bright to begin with; bass heavy, then find a bass-heavy track. This is “fidelity” for me. If you want headphones that color the sound in a particular way, this is not the way to go.

I listen more to rock and electronica than anything else, I do listen to acoustic and classical enough of the time that I wanted a headphone which doesn’t sound bad going there (a real weakness of the Grado sound).

Bass extension is good, clear and not exaggerated. Sometimes I feel that I need a little more bass from them, but not to the point that it bugs me.

The mids are also well-balanced. The Sennheiser “veiled” sound for me means that there is a bit of boost in the lower mids, which the 595s don’t have. Listening to female vocals and pianos is just magical. Detail is excellent and ambient sounds are placeable. Mids are sometimes a bit grainy, and exacerbated on bad recordings.

Highs are clear and detailed, and not overpowering. In classical, the HD595s handle violins very well and not make them sound screechy. They resolve detail in the upper register very well and cymbals actually sound like cymbals.

Soundstaging is excellent. It’s deeper than the 580 soundstage, but not as wide. I’m constantly impressed with how good the soundstage is.

Finally, they’re not hard to drive but using an amplifier does indeed make a difference. They sound good out of my iPod, but they definitely sound better amped particularly in the bass region.

If you listen to entirely rock or hip-hop, these might not be the best choice. If you can get past the comfort issues with Grados, they are tough to beat. The 595s bank in somewhere around the SR225-SR325 price range depending on what kinds of deals you can find, so for the same money you’re in a pretty nice spot in the Grado line.

If you listen to entirely acoustic or classical (especially symphony), your money is probably better spent on something from the Sennheiser 580/600/650 family. The classic Senn sound is more lush and full and I would recommend those over the 595s for classical. The 595s come in kind of in between the HD580s and the HD600s on price.

So, if instead of $250 for one pair, you have $500 to spend on two cans, you can drop $350 on your primary desire and $150 on your secondary cans, and you’ll definitely be better off than if you try to do everything with the 595s.

The thing about the 595s is that they do almost everything well but they aren’t the best at anything (except maybe for comfort). Kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. I think that’s why some people really don’t like these; for every application, there’s probably something better in this price range.

However, if you listen to a wide variety of music and only have the budget for one good set of headphones, I really think this is a very strong option, particularly if you’re really into detail and can stomach a bit of grain in the mids to get it. They are indeed more lively than the classic “veiled” sound, but they’re not as forward as Grados, so they hold up dramatically better for music that isn’t happy with ultra-forward presentation.