New HD 599s sounding worse than my old HD 555s?

Submitted by IrregularDuck t3_y4nydp in headphones

Massive newbie when it comes to talking sound so forgive my lack of precise vocabulary with describing the issue!

I’ve had my Sennheiser HD 555s for basically a decade now and they’re looking quite beat up, minor superficial cracking in the plastic etc. But never had a complaint about their sound - perfect enough for my ears. So saw the HD599SE on sale and figured for the price it’d be a decent replacement and potentially a bit of a sound quality upgrade, albeit very minor.

So having just tried out the 599s I gotta say I was massively disappointed. The sound feels less clear, as if slightly muffled, compared to the 555s. Vocals harder to make out, less clarity on strings/piano and drums not hitting as cleanly, sounds blending together a little like it all sounds a bit too “smooth”. Way I’d describe it, vs. the 555s the 599s almost sound like they’re closed cans rather than open, if that makes sense?

In terms of setup, I plug them into an old midrange Onkyo home cinema amp for the majority of my at-home music listening, music source being streaming on an Apple-TV. A far way from audiophile standards for listening to music I’m sure, but always sounded rich and clear enough to my ears to enjoy. And I’d have thought perfectly sufficient to drive the 599s, given they seem to occupy roughly a similar price/consumer bracket to the 555s, just maybe the next step up?

Any suggestions here as to what might be causing a perceived step down in quality and how to fix?

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NeonEonIon t1_isezp2v wrote

You have been used to the sound signature of the 555s for a decade as you said, so a change could probably sound bad to you. I recommend listening to the 599 for some amount of time, keep in mind not to exceed the return window if you still don't like it.

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IrregularDuck OP t1_isfpapn wrote

Yeah the more I listen the less outright ‘bad’ it sounds, just different. Well, at least for certain songs. There are definitely some songs just sound outright worse, though some sound better. Why can’t this stuff ever be linear improvements? 😫

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sverek t1_isf5crl wrote

Well, to be honest HD555 are pretty good headphones.

Sennheiser reworked HD500 series a lot, so the sound quality scales with MSRP. Still, I think HD599 sound pretty good, HD599 could sound a bit more warm than your HD555 and have different sound signature.

Try listening HD599 with different device, like smartphone, to make sure that it is not your AV that colors the sound.

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IrregularDuck OP t1_isfp2tx wrote

See I had read what people refer to as the “Sennheiser sound” so presumed (in my ignorance) their over ears would all broadly sound similar to a certain extent. 🤷‍♂️ Good shout in different device; smartphone has no jack so I’ll try it on my MacBook.

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fUSTERcLUCK_02 t1_isfavst wrote

HD599 are v-shaped so what you’ll be noticing is the decrease in midrange response. It’ll take some time to get used to

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IrregularDuck OP t1_isfpt26 wrote

Just had to research V-shaped and I guess that could be it, though I would have naively assumed the drum sounds would be coming through cleaner if the bass was being boosted. Going to rack up some listening hours to see if my ears just get used to it.

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hurtyewh t1_ish0jmx wrote

There's a lot more bass, upper bass and lower mids in the 599's so you are used to a very different tuning. I would certainly prefer the 599, but I'd recommend using them a week or two and then compare again to the 555. EQ would do wonders, but the source should be a PC.

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