Sennheiser HD 559 Open Back Around Ear Headphone - Black/Anthracite

Product Information

So if my budget was limited to 70-100 euros and I wanted to experience good and spacious sound, I would re-consider these once again. Anyway, where do these headphones fall on the spectrum? The bulleted list I provided above, or the muddy junk some reviewers would have us believe? To be completely honest, at the price these sell for the only serious complaint I have is the recessed treble. Again the Sennheiser HD 559 headphones can be considered an entry-level audiophile set of headphones with Hi-Fi sound quality. My initial impression was rather bad, in fact it was considering returning it at some point. It seemed to be hard to drive compared to what I was used to and would also distort bass pretty bad relatively early. Compared to my expectations anyway, in practice it's not really that bad but neither is it as good as other more expensive Senheiser 5xx.

Sennheiser HD 599 review - SoundGuys Sennheiser HD 599 review - SoundGuys

The SR80e is more high-mid-centric. As a result, vocals are beautifully detailed and crisp in addition to sitting a bit higher in the mix than they would otherwise. This high-mid emphasis combined with the warm and colorful high frequencies — a Grado signature in my opinion — makes vocal breath and cymbal sustain sparkle in a unique and warm way across genres and vibes. As a result, the high-mids have a nice sense of depth and contribute to the detail of its expansive sense of width. Suffering from the slight compression in the upper mids (a recurring theme we’re seeing with a lot of the new Sennheiser models), the HD 559 may not do some vocals justice, but the rest of the midrange remains largely intact, with adequate detail and good clarity. The 559 comes in a standard Sennheiser box. Inside, you’ll find the headphones, a detachable headphone cable, and a warranty booklet.The cups are very large and deep, so your ear will stay suspended inside the cups, not really touching anything. Initially it seemed like it got better, but in practice I got used to the sound signature, tending to ignore its flaws. Like the other review said, this kind of tuning with recessed lower treble will be much more forgiving to flaws in mastering compared to a neutral or bright headphone which can give the sensation of piercing your ears with some music. I think part of the reason I didn't notice this at first is because I was so used to speakers over the last few years. These are voiced similarly to mid-fi speakers in that the timber has a cardboard flavor to it. They do sound very fun, though. That hasn't changed, but I won't be using these for long sessions or critical ones, either.

Sennheiser HD 559 Review - Major HiFi

Recently, seeing that it was collecting dust I decided to give it another try. The headband was partly detached (a typical issue on many Senheiser 5xx series), so I glued it with gel type super glue and let it cure overnight on the headphone stand. It's defintely wider than the HD 650, and most definitely wider than the HD 569. I'd say the sound stage is about on par with the LCD-2F. There's no 3-headed blob here. Sounds pan left and right very nicely. There's no congestion, either. The torture test I put them through is Brian Eno and David Byrne's "Home." The HD 559 passed with mostly flying colors. I also play Rush's Tom Sawyer to hear how the drums pan right to left. No issues here. In lesser headphones, they pan from your right ear, over your head, to your left ear. With the HD 559, they pan through your head. Impressive. Before I jump into my review, I feel it's important to give some context about myself that ultimately influenced my review. It's not really a big deal, but at this low price you will need to add ~20euros for a new cable if you need it.

Should you buy the Sennheiser HD 599?

So in regard to comfort, for the money you're paying (as of 2023 these are available for ~70euros) you really get very good comfort. EQ can make this headphone close to neutral sounding, apart from the sub-bass region. Elevate the sub-bass in EQ and distorsion will rise exponentially, allowing you to only listen at low to medium levels.

Sennheiser HD 559 Open Back Headphone - Reviews

Note that if you're a basshead this headphone is not for you. If you're used to the V-shaped sound signature with bass region elevated by as much as +10dB compared to the Harman curve, these will seem like they don't have bass.Next day, after cleaning the headband and pads a bit, I decided to give it a listen on one of my cassette walkmans. I would not use it much with a DAC/amp or a DAP, as for serious listening I have much better pairs. The mids are good. Male voices sound nice. Where the HD 569 were a little honky and shouty, the mids on the HD 559 are smooth, open, and natural. They have a little bit a rough edge to them, especially when compared to the HD 650, but then again, which headphones don't in that comparison? But since that can be fixed with EQ (it's already included in Equalizer APO AutoEQ), there's not really much I can complain about for this price range. If you want neutral sound and have a bit more money to spend, the HD560S is the one to go for, but do keep in mind that one is much harder to drive at 120Ω impedance. It's way better at all aspects, but also about twice the price.

Sennheiser HD 559 vs Sennheiser HD 599. Which is the Best Sennheiser HD 559 vs Sennheiser HD 599. Which is the Best

After listening to speakers and other headphones for years, something seemed off. They were a little too congested, veiled, and boring. They immediately felt like the 3-headed blob of sound. The sound stage wasn't very wide. They were also quite fatiguing after a while because they were too polite. It's as if they were too relaxing and safe that it felt like a huge weight was dragging them down. A few years ago, I could find no fault in these headphones, but tastes and experiences change, I guess. The oval cups give plenty of room for the ear and the pads don't touch the ear at all, giving a really nice feeling of freedom. These are great headphones for using with your high definition home entertainment system or enjoying the depth and detail in your music. As already stated, don't expect the sound signature on these to be neutral (at this price I would not expect this anyway). While not very far from neutral, the recessed lower treble and missing sub-bass rumble are obvious.This means that the sound signature may not be perfectly balanced, but the performance is very good for the price. At 50Ω, the HD559 are at the boundary between low and high impedance. While they are not that hard to drive at 95dB/mW (don't be fooled by the 108dB/V given in specs, as the voltage sensitivity is always much higher), most low power devices won't be able to drive them hard, meaning you will only get a medium to reasonably loud volume. The SR80e doesn’t have a lot of low end extension, and has modest lows in general. However, it regains some of its energy down there by a boost in the low-mids, where bass guitars love to bump.Due to a scoop in the midrange, music with a lot of electric guitars and synths feels a little thin and less powerful than one might want. Therefore, these headphones are better for folks listening to acoustic music such as folk, jazz, Bluegrass, or any vocal centric music that don’t rely on low-end for emotional impact. Sennheiser HD 559 I used to be active on these forums for years, and I thought I did a decent job of building a mostly endgame system for myself within my budget: Teac HA-501 amp, Schiit Gumby mulitbit, HD 600, HD 650, Shure 1540, DT990/600, and LCD-2F. I even had a Trafomatic amp in rotation before it developed a static. Still never got that repaired, mainly because the Teac sounded so good to me.