Customer Reviews

Sennheiser HD570 Open Dynamic Hi-Fi Stereo Headphones (Black)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Forget the also-rans, Sennheisers are THE headphones to own! In true Sennheiser tradition, the 570's are an incredible pair of cans for the money offering a very neutral sound, great styling, comfort (you can wear them for hours without fatigue) and a cleverly designed detachable 3m chord. Add to this replaceable components, 2 years warranty and a sensible asking price well, it goes without saying you're on to a winner!

I have been using these headphones for just over 3 months now, I bought these to replace my old HD445's and the difference is startling. The 570's would disgrace some speakers out there costing 5 times as much! The level of detail these 'phones can retrieve from a well-recorded CD or LP is stunning. They sound as if a pair of very expensive speakers have been placed in your ears.

To say they are only suited to light classical or symphonic music is ridiculous! And don't let the 'Symphony' suffix fool you. The 570's offer a very neutral presentation and that makes them suitable for use with ALL types of music. I've tried them with rock, pop, dance, classical - the full gamut of musical styles - and the 570's never fail to impress.

I would describe them as having tight, taut and powerful bass with clean, smooth and superbly detailed mid-range, and crisp but not harsh or brittle treble. When I first bought the 570's, I tried them with some CD's that I had found virtually unlistenable on my old HD445's due to harsh and insistent treble. The Beatles back catalogue CD's (especially the early albums) from 1987/88, with their harsh and cutting treble, were unbearable to listen to on my 445's but are actually VERY listenable on these headphones.

These headphones really are a bargain for the money and will slot easily into any mid-priced or even budget hi-fi separates system. They are not really suited for use with portable equipment and if you want to hear them at their best, they need to be run in for a while (just like any other hi-fi component). I am starting to hear low-level detail on my CDs and LPs that I never even knew existed. For the money, these headphones offer incredible value.

I hadn't considered what high-end headphones could accomplish that cheaper ones couldn't. Then when my moderately cheap Sony's broke after two years of use, I went on a mad quest to find the best headphones money could buy for under $. Isn't it just always Sony converts that go to Sennheiser? Weird. Anyway, at first I heard that Sennheisers were a bit *too* accurate, dragging over all of the imperfections of the sound along with the music itself. They sure had the design down, but I overlooked them for a while. After changing my mind about a million times, I decided just to try the Sennheisers and stop listening to rumors of over-done treble and detail. To make sure I got the right pair, I got both these and the HD500 Fusions. The trial run began. Right out of the box, the 570's have much better design and extremely superior comfort. There's just no contest between the two: these are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. It's fascinating how they conform to your head and manage not to touch your ears. Since they aren't completely round, there's no plastic slopping over too far behind your ears, digging into anything you might be laying on. So design is very near perfect. However, out of the box, the HD500s had better sound. Sound on the 570s sounded obscenely inadequate right away, but doing the research I did, I knew about the 40 hour burn-in time. After giving them their due "warm up" session, it became quite clear that these had the best sound I've ever heard from headphones. I haven't tried the higher models, but the prices on those are just unjustifiable for most people. I can certainly hear some imperfections in mp3s with these, but if you get up past 192KB/s, that problem drifts away. I mainly use these for my computer (music and games). Excellent for both I'd say. However, I did try these with my iRiver SlimX iMP-350 CD/MP3 Player, and it simply couldn't power them enough to get any kind of decent volume. It may depend on the portable device. I can see how many of them won't be sufficient for these phones. Oh yeah, and I'll confirm that these will play any music you want with clarity and perfection. Classical music? I rarely listen to that. I listen to techno, dance, 80s, rock, industrial, some rap, etc. and there hasn't been a problem yet. No issues with treble or insignificant bass. I'm sure it's great to hear every instrument individually in an orchestra, but I assure you it's no slouch elsewhere. Sennheisers play what you put into them, so don't blame the phones if your equipment is weak or your music is low quality. CDs or good mp3s will do the job. Absolutely recommended for those with hi-fi equipment. As for normal people, these aren't for your $ walkman. Decent computer sound card? Reasonably nice stereo? Get these if you have the money. Most electronics should run them, no problem.

I'd honestly like to give these headphones 4 1/2 stars, but it's not allowed so I rounded up because I feel they are better than the headphones I see with 4 stars.

For starters, I own the Grado SR-60's and there just is no comparison. The HD570's midrange and highs are slightly better than the SR-60's (for the money, the SR-60's have the best midrange and highs on the market, IMO). The bass on the HD570, however, blows away the SR-60's giving it a much warmer, richer, and fuller sound.

On top of that, the HD570's are light as a feather and are comfortable for hours (I could never wear the SR-60's for more than 1 hour without a break). The first time I used the HD570's, I had them on for 3 hours, and they were still comfortable... I will say that the HD570's need more power than the average headphone (it's close to the highest quality headphone you can get without needing a headphone amp). The quality of sound when plugged into a discman vs. a headphone jack on a pair of computer speakers is quite startling - so this is not a set you'd buy for most portable equipment.

The only chink in the armor for me was the bass. Although it is much fuller on the HD570's, I found it to be not quite as musical as I'd like. More of a "boom, boom" than individual notes. This was not pronounced or distracting, however, just something that keeps it from being perfect. If you want perfection, you'll have to spend a little more money.

The first thing that you will notice when you put on the HD570s is the exceptional comfort, which is a notch above every other headphone that I've ever used. They are excellent overall, although not necessarily the ideal choice for you, depending on your personal priorities. They are a little weak in the deep bass, but if deep bass is not a high priority for you, then the HD-570 may be an excellent choice for you and an exceptional value.

The HD570s have the lowest sensitivity of any headphone that I currently own. If you were to try to use them with any sort of portable music device, they would not play loud or produce much bass no matter how loud you turned it up or enhanced the bass, so if that is how you would expect to use them and you like it loud, you would be advised to look elsewhere.

Sennheiser claims that the diaphragms in the HD-570 have improved damping characteristics. If so, they should produce less harmonic distortion than most headphones. They do in fact sound unusually clear, and after listening to them I found myself questioning whether the harmonic distortion produced by my HD-580s is audible, which possibility had never previously occurred to me.

There is an obvious emphasis over the treble broadly (confirmed using sweep tone) such that the overall octave-to-octave balance takes on a somewhat bright quality. The sound in fact is superficially similar to speakers with metal tweeters, however, whereas the overly bright sound of metal tweeters is partially due to one or two isolated resonances that ring on after the signal has been removed, in the case of the HD-570 headphones, the brightness is due to an emphasis broadly over the treble region, absent of any apparent resonance. If you like a slightly bright sound, you will probably like the sound of the HD-570, and if you find yourself entirely at home with speakers having metal tweeters, you will in all likelihood have no quarrels with the slightly bright sound of the HD-570s. For that matter, because the frequency response in the treble is unusually smooth albeit emphasized, that emphasis can be easily corrected simply by turning down the treble slightly, resulting in an unusually smooth upper frequency response and absent of the brightness, which happens to be how I am listening to them right at this moment.

The slight weakness in the deep bass, however, can't be corrected using the tone control on your receiver. If you turn up the bass, what will happen is that the mid bass and upper bass will get louder, but the deep bass won't be changed much, and the bass will take on a muddy character.

If loud, deep bass is important to you, the HD-570s are probably not the right headphone for you. However, if the deep bass is not that important to you, if you plan to use them with a system where the power supply is bigger than a three-volt battery pack, and if distortion-free sound and smooth frequency response from the mid bass all the way to the (tone-control-corrected) upper treble are what matters most to you, along with unparalled comfort, then the HD-570 should be an excellent choice for you, especially considering the price.

I have two HD-545 headphones and have gotten quite addicted to their lovely, rich, and incredibly clear sound. They were getting a bit worn however, and I have already replaced the cords on both of them. So I decided to try this headphone, mainly because the Amazon.com review said that the HD-570 was supposed to replace the HD-545.

Well, the HD-570 definitely has a different sound compared to the HD-545's. The Sennheiser website shows a frequency response chart for this headphone that describes it best, basically a dip in the midrange frequencies. And that's what I hear - the highs are quite sharp, the lows are definitely there, but the middle frequencies just seem to be dulled. And so the sound that comes out of these headphones lacks the rich fullness and ringing clarity of the HD-545's. With the highs and lows both registering fully, the sound can be both more shrill and booming at the same time, depending what's in the music that you are playing. "Muffled" isn't quite the right word, since the highs still come through, but yes, these headphones sound muffled.

Anyway, if you listen to the HD-570 exclusively, you can get used to the sound, it's not as bad as some of the reviews would make it. It's only when I do a direct comparison with the HD-545's that I kind of regret getting these headphones. Definitely, I like the HD-545's sound better, but then, I've been listening to them exclusively for about ten years or so.

(...).

Finally, there is a difference in the volume of the HD-570. It's not horrible, but on one computer, I have to max out the volume just to get it loud enough.

These headphones are good if your intentions are correct. Sennheiser calls them the 570 Symphony. They are specificially engineered for symphony music and it is clear in the audio. If you want to listen to your Mp3s, buying these headphones may be a bit overboard. If you listen to vocal-oriented music like opera or live recordings the SSSS's will make you cringe. The midrange feels very wierd. They do make classical sound good.

They also have absolutely amazing clarity. While the frequency responce is a bit ackward, if details of the sound is what you are looking for then these are what you are looking for. The Duofol technology, of which I was skeptical at first, is amazing. The sound is crisp and clear. There is no moaning and droaning from these headphones. The sound is very very detailed. These would be great for people listening through sound for small, quiet details or for sample editing when wavematching is needed. The detail provided is beautiful for that. So know what the headphones are designed for before you punch $130.00 into them. They help me, so I like them, but I can see that there may be some problems for some people.

Firstly, I would just like to say that the 5/5 rating should be taken with a grain of salt. The HD570's were my first and, so far, only encounter with Audiophile level products and, as such, this is as much a review of the level of product as it is a review of the headphones. I have little to compare them to in the same level of quality.

These headphones blew me away. I bought them to replace a broken set of Sony MDR-V500DJ's. When I first listened to them, I listened to one of my favourite songs which I know like the back of my hand. Amazingly, I was able to hear things with these headphones that I had never heard before, even when using the Sony headphones. These headphones will really let you hear your music in a way that you have never heard it before.

To address common complaints that I have read about the headphone:

1) Size. It is true, they are very big and very bulky. What I find is the best way to deal with the size of them is to disconnect the cord from the headphones, so that I can pack everything into two items: my backpack/bag for the CD player, CDs, and books, and the headphones. It is really not an issue (unless you are afraid to look silly with these large headphones on).

2) Power. Many people have made comments about the power of these headphones, and it seems that most people believe that a portable CD player will not adequately be able to power them. I tested them on my Panasonic Metal Shockwave (with radio), and they worked fine. If you have an older portable player, or are unsure if yours could handle the workload, electronics stores should have no problem with you taking you CD player in to test the headphones with.

3) Bass. Many people have commented on a "weak" amount of bass. I find this to be totally untrue. I found that there was plenty of bass with these, even without the bass boost of my amp on. I find that they provide a very balanced sound, from bass to highs.

4) Style of music. Many people have mentioned that they feel that these headphones only sound good with classical music. Again, I found this to be untrue. I tested them with some of everything, from extreme metal (Emperor, Carpathian Forest) to prog. rock (Rush, Dream Theater) to jazz/fusion (JATP, Steve Vai). They sound great with every style. I think a better way to put it is that they sound relatively bad on other styles...they sound great, but classical is just a fraction better, and so other styles sound bad in comparison.

So if you are upgrading to your first audiophile headphone set like I was, I would recommend these to you. They are comfortable, repairable, don't have nearly as many problems or issues as people seem to think (in my opinion), and sound damn good.

I'm not an audiophile but I wanted a great pair of headphones to use with my stereo and/or my computer. I tried the Sony VR600s, which, for the price were horrific. These were a step up in price but the sound is unbelievably satisfying. If you want great bass - you'll have it. If it's unbelievable highs - these are the headphones to get.

The sound is extremely accurate - they pick up everything the musician meant the listener to hear. And I had to push them pretty hard to get distortion. They cover the whole spectrum of sound and I can't imagine anyone not being supremely pleased with this purchase. Go out and get a pair!

First - the cons. Although the specifications state "open dynamic", they're more "open" than i anticipated.
You will have no privacy , and may upset commuters trying to catch 40 winks if you turn up the volume. Further , if you want loud ferocious headphones, look elsewhere. These have a mellow full-range, full-body sound, that can never be called "ferocious".

Pros - Excellent bass, mid-range and treble response...mid-range being the weakest. For those complaining of a weak bass, two points to think over -
1) Breaking them in makes them sound better over-all.
2) The 64 Ohm impedance means they are basically intended for receiver/amplifier/Hi-Fi use, and NOT for portable audio (small MP3/MD/Walkman players.)

The HD-570s sound fantastic when driven with sufficient power - HiFi systems, computer soundcards, etc. Repeat - not the best with portable audio, although that is what i use it for. I was sold on their comfort.

Despite the tag-line, these are not Over-Ear/Supra-Aural in design. They are in fact Around-The-Ear or Circum-Aural which is why I bought them. In theory and in practice, they do not touch any part of the ear, greatly contributing to the comfort quotient of the product.

I payed $200 for these headphones and since then my father has bought a pair and 3 of my friends, too. I wont argue with any reviewers as the specifications of the headphones speak for themselves, and I guaruntee that these headphones can out-sample any stereo system that you have.

Here are the specs: 18Hz to 28,000Hz @ 90dB.

What do you think the average human ear is capable of hearing? Approx. 40Hz to 22,000Hz. I use them for gaming, music, I even use them as ear-muffs when outside in the winter listening on my Sony MD. I have never needed an amplifier with these headphones. I run them straight from my sound card and any other device and they perform very nicely. The HD-570's comfort and quality is uncomparable to any headset on the market. Sennheiser represents professional quality at a price that is worth the cost.