SennheiserHD 599 Around-Ear Open Back Headphones - Ivory

Tested with ifi Zen DacThese are just amazing, they are very light and with little clamping force, it is easy to forget you have them on and you can wear them forever with no discomfort, the pads a re the first I have ever owned that do not touch my ears at all. They even look gorgeous in ivory and brown. There is no wireless option here, nor any noise cancelling, you just get amazing sound from them.At 50 Ohms, these are easy enough for a phone to drive but you may also want to consider a headphone amp to really give these phones the best signal to work with.Sound wise, the sound is very relaxed, I was concerned that after previous Sennheisers, these would have a very boomy bass, they don't, they have sufficient bass though they probably wouldn't be suited to bass heads. mids and highs are relaxed which I like for the evening when I am just listening. I have headphones and earphones which have far livlier highs but these I find to be tiring. One thing to note is they are not forgiving at all of poorly recorded or mastered tracks. You can stream the high bit rates from spotify or tidal and they will sound great but if there is source is poor and has too much dynamic compression these will let you know about it so things like China in Your Hands will sound like garbage even from vinyl or SACD.The sound stage is not the widest I have heard but things do exist outside your head whilst listening, I have sometimes found myself wondering and checking that my speakers were not also playing the music.As these are open backed, you will hear the world around you and they will hear your music, so they are best listened to alone.I listen to most types of music and have found that whilst most types do well on these, classical really shines out on them and you can picture the instruments around you. These are not heaphones for dancing with, or wearing for a workout. They are also not really suited for analytical work in the studio but they don't try to be for any of those things, they are for relaxing in comfortable chair with a glass of good single malt whisky and for that purpose they are amazing.Update, can I make these 6 stars? They have an undocumented feature, in that they are internally wired as balanced, and if you can find a compatible balanced cable teh sound goes to the next level, it is incredibly clear and the sound stage is wider. Search around for a cable (warning some that claim to be compatible may need slight modification to make the groove in the 2.5mm plug deeper) and you get great sounding balanced headphones for a ridiculously low price.

First off, I wish to mentioned that collecting headphones was my hobby and this may give my review better validity. Unsurprisingly, this headphone will probably blow your mind if you are coming from earbuds or other cheap headphones but the HD599's predecessor HD598 was actually one of my least liked headphones and I'm happy to say that this isn't true with this current 500 line topping model. I have to make a disclaimer here that I no longer have any of my other headphones and I'm only going by memory here. Some of the headphones I had in my collection - Sennheiser HD595, HD598, HD600, HD650, Beyerdynamic DT150, AKG K702 and K240.So what changes I have noticed. In comparison to the HD598, this headphone has an overall more refined sound and gone seems to be the veil, which made the HD598 sound a bit murky and as if the sound was coming from a cave and you were listening outside. It was just a boring headphone and the lack of transparency made me get rid of it twice. Now, this headphone doesn't stray away from the HD598's sound signature much - the presentation still is laid-back and unfatiguing, meaning that the treble isn't piercing and you are not presented with a wall of sound but you are sitting a few rows back from the stage and are enveloped with music. I think what has helped to get rid of the veil is my observation that this headphone is just more detailed, especially in the treble and bass region. The bass in particular exhibits no signs of boominess and the subbass has been extended. Both the quality and quantity of the bass has been increased slightly but without it spilling into the midrange, making instruments and voices sound so sweet and lifelike. These aren't bass monsters by any means I should say. They aim to reproduce music in a neutral way, with an emphasis on the midrange where most instruments and voices reside but you do get nice bass that makes you tap your feet. The treble is very nice on these. It is somewhat recessed, not making this an analytical or sparkly headphone like AKG K702 or other headphones designed for studio work, but these have plenty of detail in the upper region if you simply turn up the volume. This characteristic also makes the HD599 very unfatiguing to listen to for extended periods of time.Compared to the HD600 or the HD650, these have an entirely different sound signature and I would consider them a lesser headphone but not by much. Perhaps not to the HD650 but to the HD600. However this may come down to your personal taste now that the clarity has improved on these and what difference remains is how music is presented to your ears. The HD600 have a smaller sound stage but they also have superior resolution and are more balanced across the frequency spectrum. I remember it as a very musical headphone that could present timbre of instruments so realistically that it gave me goosebumps.AKG K702 is a better headphone specs wise. The bass goes lower but it's still a very lean sounding headphone and there's more energy in the treble region. The resolution is higher as well. However, that's not to say that the HD599 will disappoint anyone looking for a transparent headphone. The K702 is just tuned differently and will therefore offer a different kind of sound, not necessarily a more likeable one. Ultimately it may be a case of which sound signature you prefer.One thing to note is that this headphone doesn't require a powerful amp to sound good but it has a potential to sound better if you use better equipment in your chain. It sounds good from my smartphone but the extra clarity and power provided by my Audioquest Dragonfly Red makes it go from good to magical. They are detailed enough that your average laptop or smartphone headphone output will just not take full advantage of their potential.Comfort. These haven't changed from the HD598 as far as I can see. They are light and there's not any excessive clamping force. The pads go around your ears. I don't like it when pads rest on my ears. They don't make my ears warm and sweaty.Design. I liked the HD598's design better. These look cheaper. The main colour yellow isn't beige or ivory like it used to be but 90's computer plastic yellow.Bonus points. It comes with a standard 3.5mm cable! The HD598's included a barrel adapter that was so unwieldy. You get a 6.3mm cable as well and another adapter.To sum up, this headphone scores well across the board and is kind of a jack of all trades. It offers a very pleasant audiophile-level sound but it may not be an exciting and analytical headphone like some higher end models. It's also great for films and gaming due its large soundstage and dialogs will sound absolutely delightful on these. It doesn't require that you spend a lot of money on other equipment to match its class, so stepping into the audiophile world without breaking the bank is possible. If you're not a gear head like I was, you will probably never need to try another headphone. This one does everything just right.

Getting these for only 150 feels like ive committed a crime because these are easily 300-400 pound headphones. They are incredibly light (granted its mostly plastic) but do not feel cheap or flimsy whatsoever, this makes them both feel premium and are very easy to wear. I'm a massive fan of the over-ear styles and these are my first open back pair as well. I have always used closed back just due to the immersion and the noise cancelling, however these are a game changer.The open back style allows for fantastic depth of sound whilst retaining brilliant bass and audio awareness. I'm actually more of a fan now of being able to hear what's going on around me as these are used at home. Of course there are benefits to having closed back, but im much more of an earphones guy when out in public just due to the infamous headphone dent that is quite embarrassing.I got my Sennheiser's in Ivory and they look gorgeous, the cream outer cups with the brown velour inners make them really nice to look at hanging from my desk. With this velour ear comfort, the headphones dont vac seal to your head like my previous ones (Razer BlackShark V2's) which had a sort of carpet material which was both uncomfortable, hard to clean and not particularly nice to look at.All in all, these sound brilliant, are the most comfortable headphones you'll ever wear and are very reasonably priced considering the quality. 10/10.