Sennheiser HD555 or HD595

Justinrog · 12-03-2007, 12:07 PM

Hi,

I just wanted to get some opinion on these two headphones as I am looking to pick one of them up. I know there have been many comparisons of the two and I have read through them, mainly saying that the HD595 are slightly better maybe?

Well, others say it is not worth the extra over the HD555. I will be listening mainly through my PC Sound Card. Listening to both mp3 and lossless and also watching movies. Now, I have found the HD555 for about £60 delivered and the HD595 for £85 delivered. The HD595s would be from a more reputable retailer, while the HD555s would be from ebay. HD555s are about £75-£80 at most online retailers. So there is a difference of about £25 or even £10 if I got the HD555 from a shop. So are HD595s worth a tenner extra basically? Or are the HD555s a better bet for a PC environment. I am not really looking to spend any more than this really as well.

Any suggestions?

As a side note, I am currently using the built-in sound on my new ASUS motherboard and it sounds ok. I do have an Audigy 2, however, I have left it out of the newly built PC for now due to not having that many PCI slots free in the new motherboard and secondly to have the least amount of conflicts as I have just upgraded to Vista. Does anyone think it would be noticeably better to use the Audigy 2? I may consider a USB alternative if anyone has any suggestions...

Thanks,

J

DorKnight · 12-03-2007, 12:34 PM

Do you know what the impedance is on the cans as I think they can vary on the different models?

E.g. Amazon list the HD595 at £85 but they state that they're the 150 Ohm version, you would really want to be looking for the 50 Ohm version.

thetargetarcher · 12-03-2007, 1:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DorKnight

Do you know what the impedance is on the cans as I think they can vary on the different models?

E.g. Amazon list the HD595 at £85 but they state that they're the 150 Ohm version, you would really want to be looking for the 50 Ohm version.

Amazon has an error on the page: there are only two types of HD595s available; a 50 Ohm and a 120 Ohm version. Amazon stock the 50 Ohm version.

thetargetarcher · 12-03-2007, 1:40 PM

Go for the HD595 for £85 or get a price match and beat from somewhere like Richer Sounds.

The HD555 if you get them on Ebay, get them from electromonster as they are a wholesaler. I got my HD595s from them for £74.99 and £9.99 special delivery shipping.

HD595s are brilliant.

Justinrog · 12-03-2007, 2:43 PM

Yeah, on Amazon they list the HD595 as 50-150ohm. So it looks like the HD595 is the one to go for then...?...

Thats a good idea with the price match, although I don't think I can get to a Richer Sounds for a while (closest is Nottingham I think). I wonder if Empire Direct price match? The best SuperFi could do on the HD555 was £90. They didn't have the HD595 as they said they only stock the HD600, saying the HD595s aren't worth it, as the HD600s are "that" much better...

J

**alexs2** · 12-03-2007, 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justinrog

saying the HD595s aren't worth it, as the HD600s are "that" much better...

J

I dont know about "not worth it"....obviously the 600s ARE better,but then they are more expensive and very different.

It's down to what the individual requires,and is willing to spend.

thetargetarcher · 12-03-2007, 3:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justinrog

Yeah, on Amazon they list the HD595 as 50-150ohm. So it looks like the HD595 is the one to go for then...?...

Thats a good idea with the price match, although I don't think I can get to a Richer Sounds for a while (closest is Nottingham I think). I wonder if Empire Direct price match? The best SuperFi could do on the HD555 was £90. They didn't have the HD595 as they said they only stock the HD600, saying the HD595s aren't worth it, as the HD600s are "that" much better...

J

There are some online retailers that beat prices and sell the Senns HD595 (50 Ohms):

www.advancedmp3players.co.uk
www.nusystems.co.uk

By the way the 50 Ohms version is the newer version. They replaced the 120 version. The sound quality according to Sennheiser is the same but the 50 Ohms version is easier to drive. It is strange how Amazon never corrected their mistake stating 150 Ohms as even a reviewer points out the error!

I was deciding between the HD555 and the HD595. AC ( Wholesale) Ltd -www.wholesale.ac (ElectroMonstor on Ebay) said that the HD595s would be better suited for film and music watching. Also reading numerous reviews on Headfi- read the Senn HD595 appreciation thread, made me decide to spend a few extra pounds on them.

A lot of people say to spend the most you can on a good pair of headphones than to start spending loads of money on headphone amps. Otherwise you will just end up upgrading in the future. The HD595s do not require an amp but an amp can improve them. HD650s are supposed to have a better sound when they are driven by an amp (they have higher Ohms rating so require an amp) but they are loads more expensive and are more suited to music listening. The HD595 is an extremely good all rounder.

Justinrog · 12-03-2007, 6:08 PM

Thanks for all the help. I have ordered a pair of HD595s, so that should keep me happy for a while. Now to decide whether to keep the on-board sound, switch to the Audigy 2...or get some sort of USB sound device.

Thanks again,

Justin

DorKnight · 12-03-2007, 6:17 PM

If you have an Audigy 2 then pop it in the machine and disable the on-board soundcard, well, that's what I would do.

Naqv · 12-03-2007, 8:21 PM

I bough HD-595 from electromonster and the left driver failed after two weeks.
It was a manufacturing fault, not the fault of the seller (electromonster).

However, in the process of returning the headphones to Sennheiser under their two year warranty, I found out that they would not accept headphones bought of ebay UNDER ANY circumstances.
They only accept headphones for repair, if they are bought of a wholesaler.

However, I bought them from the amazon market place, and they were repaired free of charge, minus the delivery cost to send the headphones back to Sennheiser.

So you did the right thing, by getting them from amazon/amazon market place.

By the way, I use them solely on the PC and they are absolutely fantastic.

At first I felt "cheated" as I could not apparently tell the differnece between the sound of these £100 and some £40 headphones, although the HD-595 are VERY comfortable to wear over a long period.

However, when I directly compared the two, there is no contest, the Sennheiser HD-595 are worth every penny. They produce VERY CLEAR audio, especially when using high bass sounds.

NOTE: Just realized you are using onboard sound.
GET RID Of THE ONBOARD CRAP ASAP. Otherwise, you will be blaming the bad quality sound on the headphones, rather than the onboard sound.

Although onboard sound is "fine" for speaker, for headphones, don't go near them, as they will produce a LOT of noise (especially the cheaper onboard). You really need a separate card for them.

I would recommend the Sound Blaster X-Fi Music OEM, so that you can at least use the CMSS-3D with them.

I am running the HD-595 of X-FI Fatal1ty and always have the CMSS-3D on. I will never go back now, the sound is awsome on headphones. It will change the way you watch films etc forever.

thetargetarcher · 12-03-2007, 8:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frodo60

I bough HD-595 from electromonster and the left driver failed after two weeks.
It was a manufacturing fault, not the fault of the seller (electromonster).

However, in the process of returning the headphones to Sennheiser under their two year warranty, I found out that they would not accept headphones bought of ebay UNDER ANY circumstances.
They only accept headphones for repair, if they are bought of a wholesaler.

However, I bought them from the amazon market place, and they were repaired free of charge, minus the delivery cost to send the headphones back to Sennheiser.

I have not yet had any problems with my HD595s from ElectroMonster. I am sure that if I did have any problems they would assist me as they are a reputable wholesaler and an authorised distributor. Even though I purchased them via their Ebay shop. They only seem to sell surplus stock via their Ebay shop and Amazon Marketplace.

Probably Sennheiser are trying to avoid being sent earphones that have been bought on Ebay which are fakes. There are a lot of CX300 and Creative EP-630 earphones around that are fakes.

It is best to purchase any headphones or earphones from an authorised distributor. I have even read that some people have received fake earphones from Amazon Marketplace.

Justinrog · 12-03-2007, 9:17 PM

I bought them from Amazon so I should be ok. This is one of the reasons I went with Amazon, to make sure the warranty will be ok. Thought the price was pretty good at £85.

They should be with me in a few days or so.

The problem with the soundcard is that I only have 2 PCI slots, 1 is taken with my wifi card and the other is free for now. I have just built a new PC base unit and I have not put everything from my old PC inside yet. I have had to get rid of a few things already and I have left out the Audigy 2 for now as well. I also went for Vista so drivers are a problem. The last PCI slot is probably going to be filled by my SkyStar2, so that leaves my Audigy2 without a home. It also leaves me with either on-board sound or pci-express/usb options.

I have heard good things about the EMU 0404 (although heard it eats processor cycles like ob-board sound!?), although without Vista drivers its not looking likely right now. I also can't really find any decent budget pci-Xpress cards out...

Maybe if the X-Fi came in PCI-X then that would be a good option?

Or, maybe to use the optical digital out of the SupremeFX onboard to feed a 0404 directly?

Also, when I get the headphones, would it be best to plug them into the volume device for my Logitech THX speakers, or directly into the sound-card?

Any suggestions are welcome,

Thanks,

J