HD 599 Around-Ear Open Back Headphones - Ivory

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.

I bought these at around 200 pounds, and think them a good buy at that price. The HD599 SE can be bought for less than half of that, usually as an Amazon exclusive. There is no functional difference. The only difference is the colour. Quality is good, which is generally pretty standard for this brand. The main body is plastic but it still feels sturdy. Comfort is among the best out there. The soft, plush ear cups can be worn for hours without feeling restrictive. They're more comfortable than the Sennheiser Momentum 4s that I also own, and those are very comfortable. These are open backed headphones. That means there is no noise cancelling at all. In fact, there's very little noise blocking either, because your ear isn't sealed in. That's how they're supposed to be. Sound is pretty neutral. Probably suffers a bit in the mid range sounds, but these are expensive yet not hyper expensive headphones. They suffer slightly in the mid range because they're a mid range product; however, they don't tend to misrepresent sounds in the same way that the hugely bassy Beats Pro Over ear wired headphones did [the really chunky metal ones from 10-15 years ago around £400]. You're getting a neutral listening experience for an entry level audiophile headphones. These are wired headphones with no battery life and no option to. You probably could with some sort of Bluetooth dongle, but why would you want to? These are for sitting in a comfortable chair and listening to your vinyl records. These come with a 1.2 m cable with 3.5mm jack and 3m cable 6.5mm jack. The former is for your portable device, probably a phone. It'll need to be pretty quiet wherever your using these because, as I said, they're open backed. If you live in London and you're on the Jubilee line, even with the volume at maximum, the only thing you'll likely be able to hear is the Jubilee line. I think the 1.2m cable is an afterthought to increase the options. Nice to have but i'll never use it. Make no mistake, these are sitting down indoors headphones. The main cable will plug straight into your amp. 3m should be plenty of length for that purpose, depending on room setup. I suppose you could use a 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapter to plug it into most televisions that feature headphone jacks [nearly always 3.5mm], but 3m seems pretty close to the TV to me. You could use an additional adapter to join the two cables together to create a 4.2 metre cable, if you wanted to be further from the plugged in source. You'd need a female to female 3.5mm adapter to do that. Assuming any adapters used were well made and the connection good, the sound should not be affected [physics doesn't work that way]. 1.2m = 3'11" 3m = 9'11" I own quite a few sets of quality headphones and earbuds. Different things for different occasions. These are a worthy addition. They've more than earned their place. If you like black, the under £100 SE version is a no brainer. I've seen those for as little as 70 quid brand new. That's a lot of quality for not much money.

Tested with ifi Zen Dac These 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.

The HD599's really are good! In relation to the rest of the HD5 range, the 599's are basically a slightly updated version of the HD598's. The specifications are pretty much identical apart from SPL which is reduced from 112dB to 106dB but that's pretty much a non-issue. The big difference between these and the 598's that I noticed straight away is the build quality. These are just a little bit weightier (in a good way) and feel much stronger and a lot less flimsy which was one of my major gripes about the 598's and why I eventually returned them. The headband looks a lot more stylish with it's brown faux-leather finish and overall the aesthetics are much more desirable than the already good looking 598's, however the padding on the headband is reduced, somewhat in favour of the visuals, meaning they could possibly become uncomfortable quicker than their predecessor. The ear-cups are the same material as most of the HD5 range; very soft but firm enough to hold their shape, and I must say (having somewhat larger ears), they feel a lot more roomy than the 598's shallow design. The sound quality is great! Though they do sound very similar to the 598's (because they are essentially the same headphones but with a bit of a face lift), I find the sound a lot clearer, a little sharper and just all round less muddy! These headphones are open-backed, but the mesh is a lot thicker than on the 598's and when I shone a torch (flashlight) through them their was definitely less light coming through. This passes onto the sound leak. Whilst there is still sound leakage (they are open-back after all), they leak a lot less than the 598's, even to the extent where you could probably get away with using them in a public space without people getting annoyed! However, because of the reduction in sound leaking, there is also less outside noise and the sound itself is a lot warmer and a little more intimate than the 598's so I would probably class these as semi-open backed. If you are worried about the sound-stage... worry not! I'd say that, despite the more intimate sound, the sound-stage still feels as wide and as spacious as the 598's. Overall, a great update to Sennheiser's flagship HD5 series, with smart audio updates and striking asthetics! If you can stretch your budget, I would definitely recommend this great pair of headphones!

Clear, detailed and solid sound stage, at least with most of my music collection. I have been buying various forms of the cheaper Sennheiser headphones for many years, my favourites were probably the portable PX100-II unfortunately no longer available and not very durable. I also had a pair of HD 495's back in the day, very low price and perfect, only Sennheiser do not offer replacement pads etc for them, still have them just in case I find suitable replacement parts. These are all open back and provide clear relatively undistorted bass, detailed mids, especially vocals, and some reasonable higher frequencies. These headphones are almost perfect, mids and very solid and appear exactly where they should be on the sound stage when I am using higher quality source material, well pressed vinyls, well sourced high res audio and even some masters played on Youtube. What is surprising is that it is forgiving with some lossy compressed content, but the bass seems a little out of control with even the the highest quality content. I don't think the bass rendition is accurate, but it is pleasant with some content and just lacks precision at times. I have used driven these phones using: My PC, headphone jack, on an AORUS X570 Pro. This is a high quality device, sound section has been designed with gamers and audiophiles in mind, DAC up to 192khz 24bits very low noise (I wired the jack myself to ensure the lowest noise). Just about anything I play on this sounds great as long as the source material is good. Have not done much with gaming to comment. Behringer UMC202HD, used with Laptops while working on tests with various turntables and cartridges and other audio sources. This device provides DAC and ADC support for up to 192khz 24bit sampling, have had some great results listening to my vinyl collection, capturing the audio to add to my digital library. PiFi DAC+ clone, using a Burr-Brown PCM 5122, still experimenting with this. Have actually driven these phones directly from the 5122, probably not a good idea, but they still sound great. Use this as the main way to access my music library. Supplied with two cables, a 1.2 meter with 3.5mm plug and a 3 meter with 6.3mm plug with an adapter to take it down to 3.5mm, the adapter is large does not sit well in most devices offering a 3.5mm socket. if anything rubs or taps on the cable I can hear it very clearly on the left, very annoying! Worth finding a replacement cable, still have not found one. These are good headphones IMO, but for the price I'm not sure, also if you are looking for a good clear accurate punchy bass, going by other reviews I think I would consider the HD 560S, wish I had!

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.

I can't emphasize my disappointment with the looks of the headphones though. The pictures made it look like painted metal gold, it seemed reflective and looked really high quality. In reality it's a very cheap looking plastic. More of a pale yellow cream. Looks exactly like a plastic toilet seat. Another issue is the lack of sturdiness as shown in the picture. Pick them up from one side and it bends like shown in the picture. A £20 pair of Behringer HPX headphones have better build quality. As time goes on, I'm more and more disappointed with buying these. Adjusted my rating to 1* and changing my review to say that I expected a £150 pair of headphones going through my audio interface to sound better than Anker Q30 bluetooth headphones... They don't... They were also more expensive than my cheap Eris 3.5 studio monitors, and sound worse. I've ended up using the Q30s more often than these headphones. I wish I sent these back. Worst impression I've ever had of Sennheiser, who I thought were supposed to make top quality products.

I wanted a pair of over the ear headphones as I was beginning to be intolerant to wearing my regular ‘on ear’ ones due to the pressure on my head. I had some Sennheiser Momentums which have served me well over the years, so when I found these I watched some Youtube videos which were positive and also the majority of the comments here on Amazon were also positive. The ivory is very attractive and they look good. I was a little concerned, having a small head, that they would not be snug enough but happy to report that they are with a fully adjustable headband which is tight enough for me. They are very comfortable to wear and I am able to tolerate them for a longer time that the ‘on ear’ type. When I listened to them for the first time they seemed to produce what I’d call a warm, mellow sound and brought a new quality to some of my more in depth albums; for instance, Soul Cages. They come with two cables with different cable jacks one of which is a 3.5mm for an MP3 player. If you want to change the cable you twist the cable to the left and pull gently. Very happy with these.