I have recently gone on a bit of a headphone quest. During this time, I have come to realize that while I really enjoy the sound of my Grado SR-125s, the comfort is simply unacceptable. I have recently started to think of them as miniature ear torture devices. So I started looking at other "affordable" high-end headphones. Sennheiser HD580s have a good reputation at most review sites for providing high-end sound at the bottom of the high-end price range. So I decided to give them a shot. Here is what I found:

Out of the Box

Immediately after taking these headphones out of the shipping container, my eyes opened rather widely. The box that these come in looks rather like it was designed in the mid-Eighties by a German graphic artist with primitive computer software and a deep burning love for the colors blue and pink.

Alright, so I guess Sennheiser isn't very concerned with the packaging. I opened the box, and inside the headphones were packaged in a simple plastic mold, which certainly seems to be adequate to protect them during shipping. Again, no style points, but it gets the job done.

Construction

My first impression of the headphones themselves is that they look, well, sturdy. The transducer housings and the top of the headband are a very durable looking black or gray plastic. The headband itself is made of a fairly flexible metal. The bottom of the headband is padded with nice, soft foam. Why can't (or won't) Grado do this?

These headphones are circumaural, meaning that the earpieces rest around the ear. The ear cushions are a cushy foam, covered in a soft, velvety fabric. The cable seems decently solid. It splits into a Y and travels to each earpiece. The cable itself is made from oxygen-free copper, and is replaceable. The earpads are also replaceable.

These headphones are an open design. Open designs normally produce cleaner, more balanced sound. An open design also lets some sound out of the headphones, and allows outside noise in. So these are not really suited for public listening, unless you are trying to annoy everyone around you.

Appearance

The appearance is relatively good for a headphone this size. Since they fit around the ears, the earpieces are rather large. Overall, I would say they look somewhat like a large pair of gray plastic earmuffs. The Dorkiness Factor (a highly technical, scientific unit of measurement) is moderate. So while your family is only somewhat likely to point at you and laugh, wearing these in public would definitely earn you some strange looks.

Noise Blocking

The HD580s offer almost no noise blocking, as they are an open design. So these are much better suited to a quiet room at home than they are to traveling in planes, trains, or automobiles.

Comfort

These headphones are very comfortable. The headband is flexible, and does not grip your head (or mine) too tightly. The padding on the bottom of the headband is also very nice. And the earpieces are all soft foam and velvet, so they are also very comfortable as well. You are probably not going to forget that you are wearing these, but this must be about as comfortable as headphones can get.

On the Concept of "Burning-In" in Regards to Speakers and Headphones

If you are already familiar with the idea of burning in headphones, you might want to skip to the next section.

If you are familiar with the concept and feel it is a load of hogwash, stick around. Maybe I can change your mind : )

Have you ever noticed that your most comfortable pair of jeans is often also your oldest pair? When jeans are new, they are stiff and might be a tight fit in certain areas. After you have worn them a while, they loosen up and stretch to fit your body type. Thus, they become more comfortable over time.

A similar effect can be observed with speakers and headphones. Straight from the factory, the drivers on these devices will be stiff. Playing music through them over a period of time will loosen them up, subtly changing the sound. Most people think the sound of speakers or headphones will gradually improve over the first 10-50 hours.

Now, as with anything, you will encounter naysayers to this idea. Their most common, and credible, argument is that the sound of the speaker isn't really changing, but you are being burned-in, getting used to the unique sound properties of your new speaker or headphone. Of course, most of us prefer things that are comfortable and familiar.

Personally, I think it is probably a little of both. The sound of the speakers or headphones is bound to change a little bit as the drivers loosen up. The process of getting used to the sound of your new toy also probably makes you feel more comfortable with the new sound. So part of it is probably real, part is probably a sugar pill. But I have always been of the school that thinks if a sugar pill makes you feel better, who cares if it is a sugar pill? You feel better, so hurray!

So people, please let those speakers or headphones play for at least 10 hours before you start to evaluate them.

Do I Need a Headphone Amp for these Headphones?

The short answer is YES. The impedance of these phones is 300 Ohms. For reference, most normal headphones have impedances of around 32 Ohms. This much higher impedance makes the HD580 very hard to drive for most portable devices, and a challenge for many home audio headphone jacks.

Why would it be difficult for a portable device or home audio headphone jack to drive these?

In the case of portable devices, it is a matter of space, money, and battery life. The space is limited in most MP3 or CD players, so engineers often design them with small amplifiers. Portable device amplifiers also are often low powered because if they used more power they would reduce the battery life of the device.

When it comes to home audio, it is usually just a matter of profit. Companies do not put in better headphone amplifiers because they cost more money. Maybe they save a dollar, and if they sell a million devices, they save a million dollars. So many mass-market receivers have weedy little headphone amplifiers, which will not be able to drive these high impedance phones well.

This is where a separate headphone amp comes into the picture. Headphone amps are something of a newcomer on the audio scene, but there are now quite a few options out there. One inexpensive option is the cMoy amp. This is an amp designed by Chu Moy. Chu set out to design a simple, cheap, clean little headphone amp using common parts. Once he succeeded, Chu, being a generous fellow, published the plans on the internet for anyone to build or improve upon. This has started a bit of a revolution in the headphone world. These amps, normally referred to as cMoy amps, can now be found from many different builders on eBay. The price usually ranges from $40-$60. The quality varies depending on the skill of the builder and the quality of the components used, so be sure to check feedback before buying one. You can read more about cMoy amps, and headphone amps in general, here:

http://www.dansdata.com/cmoy.htm

I also have some pictures of my cMoy amp on my Profile Page.

I will discuss the impact of this brilliant little amp in the next section.

Sound

Initial Sound: Before Burn-In

I tried the HD580s using a variety of sources, including the headphone jack in my computer speakers, my Zen Sleek MP3 player, and my Onkyo and Marantz receivers.

The sound was really bright and lacking in bass when hooked up to the computer. I also had to turn up the volume much too high, as the high impedance took its toll.

My Zen Sleek MP3 player did better. It could drive the HD580s at a reasonable volume, and had better bass, nice clear vocals, and good separation of the instruments. The Zen sounded particularly good on acoustic music. I did notice some congestion and blurring of voices and high frequency sounds during very complicated passages, such as several of the very complex passages of System of a Down's Mesmerize album.

The sound on my Onkyo receiver was adequate, but nothing to write a 2000 word epinion about. Bass was again light, and vocals didn't sound quite right.

My cMoy doesn't work well with my receivers. I am not sure why, it might be because they have a bit too much power from their headphone jacks. However, when hooked up in combination with my computer speaker jack there was an immediate improvement. The cMoy effectively doubles the volume of the signal, without coloring the sound. I instantly noticed more bass presence, better vocals, and better overall treble. I also noticed better separation of the instruments and more details. The effects were similar with my MP3 player, producing a much better overall sound.

After Burn-In

I ran out of time, and needed to leave for work. So I hooked the Sennheisers up to my Onkyo receiver, set the CD player to repeat, and went to work. Burn, headphones, burn.

After I came home, about 10 hours later, I put the headphones on again. The sound seemed a bit better. Maybe. The sound was good, but I didn't spend $200 on headphones expecting to only hear good sound.

Then I tried the cans on my Marantz receiver. Wow, Marantz must have actually spent some money on the headphone circuit of their receivers. The sound was much better, with nice overall balance, if a tiny bit bright. I could probably go so far as to say this sounded very good.

Next I hooked up my Zen sleek and cMoy amp. Just in case you wondered, I have all my MP3s encoded at 320 kbps. Anything less is, well, uncivilized. Now this is more like it. Super accurate mid-range, and a good amount of tight, controlled bass. Good detail in the upper frequencies. I heard excellent separation of the various instruments. Vocals sounded good, although a bit polite. Where the Grado SR-125s put the singer right up in my face, the Senns placed him/her across the room from me.

These headphones sound excellent with acoustic music. They would probably be ideal for Jazz, and many people seem to love them for Classical music. I'm more of a rock and roll kind of guy. The Senns sound good on most rock music. They suffer a bit during really fast and metallic passages, with some minor congestion issues. I think they would probably be a bit light on bass for all the Rap/Hip-Hop fans out there.

The overall sound improved even more after about 25 hours of burn-in. The most noticeable improvement was more accurate vocals. The headphones also seemed to pick up a bit more low bass.

Another member, whose opinion I respect, has commented that using these headphones to play MP3s, even those recorded at the highest quality (320kbps), could be producing the slight congestion in the high frequencies that I noted above. This is certainly a possibility. I also did some listening to CDs and noted the same effect. However, my setup for CDs is not ideal, consisting of a relatively low priced CD player and a mid-priced receiver. If you have a high quality CD player (or CD transport/DAC combo) and headphone amp, you will almost certainly have better results with these headphones. However, if you have such a setup, you might want to consider the HD600 or HD650.

Other Considerations

The headphone cable is terminated to a 1/8 inch mini-plug. Sennheiser includes a 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch adapter. This adapter is actually pretty well designed, and when connected it is not obvious that an adapter is attached.

The cable is 3 meters long, or a bit more than 9 feet. This is a reasonable length for home or studio use.

Frequency response can often be misleading, depending on how it was measured. The claimed range for the HD580s is 16-30,000 Hz (-3dB.)

The manual is printed in German, English, French, and Spanish. It includes a very minimal amount of information no matter which language you prefer.

Overall

If you buy these headphones, you should either 1) have equipment with a decent headphone circuit or 2) be prepared to buy a headphone amplifier. If you don't meet either of these conditions, you are likely to be disappointed.

So now, assuming you either bought or built a sweet little cMoy amp, or maybe went over to Headroom and bought one of their amplifiers, we can talk about these 300-ohm headphones. (Think of those 300 ohms as a weight bar with 300 lbs. on it. You're going to need some serious muscle to move that bar, or to drive these headphones.)

If you are a Classical, Jazz, Blues, or Acoustic music lover, you are also probably going to love these headphones. If rock is more your thing, you should still be happy. If you only listen to speed metal or super-fast punk music, you should look elsewhere. Rap and R+B fans might feel that the bass is a bit too light. I have not found any headphones that will make Pop or Country music sound good.

The construction seems very solid; these cans should last for years unless seriously abused. The design is a bit plain, but not too bad. These Senns get very high marks for comfort. The price seems to be about right for headphones of this caliber.

When properly powered, these headphones sound like the gateway to high-end sound that so many of the reviews make them out to be.

If you can justify spending $150-$200 for headphones, it would be well worth your time to audition a pair of HD580s.



Recommended: Yes