Sennheiser HD 599  Headphones Review

The Sennheiser HD 599 have a similar design to the Sennheiser HD 598, with better padding and a more premium look and feel. The ear cups are also a bit different, with more metal around the cups but cheaper-feeling plastic grilles. Apart from the silver branding on the HD 599, it's difficult to distinguish them from the HD 598 at first glance due to the similarity in their design. They come in 'Ivory' or a special edition 'Black'.

These are very comfortable headphones. They have large oval ear cups that are well-padded and should fit comfortably around most listeners' ears. The padding is covered with a soft material that feels nice against your skin. The headband is also amply padded and not too tight on the head. These headphones shouldn't cause fatigue, even when you're wearing them for hours on end.

These are decently breathable headphones. They trap less heat against your ears than a lot of closed-back headphones. They aren't intended for sports use, and you may sweat more if you wear them while exercising.

The Sennheiser HD599 have poor portability. They're bulky and don't fold, so they're cumbersome to carry around without a bag. Unfortunately, they don't come with a carrying case, meaning that they may get scratched or damaged if you toss them into a bag or backpack, which is slightly disappointing.

The Sennheiser HD599 have a decent build quality. They feel about as well-built as the Sennheiser HD 598, although their headband is a bit different since it's covered with a more premium leather coating. They also have more metal accents on the ear cups. However, the frame still feels weak compared to some other headphones, and the hinges feel like a weak point in the build. If you're looking for better built Sennheiser headphones, consider the Drop + Sennheiser HD 8XX.

These headphones are adequately stable. They should easily stay in place during casual listening sessions. Their cable is detachable unless you lock it into the ear cups, and you can pull it out if it gets hooked on something instead of yanking the headphones off your head. However, they aren't intended for workouts and aren't as tight as other models from Sennheiser, like the Sennheiser HD 560S. The ear cups can sway a lot and slip off your ears if you use them during exercise.

• Sennheiser HD 599 headphones
• 1/8" TRS audio cable
• 1/4" TRS audio cable
• 1/4" to 1/8" adapter
• Manual

Their sound profile is slightly smooth and warm but overall well-balanced. Their open-back design means they lack some low-bass, but their exaggerated high-bass response adds extra warmth and boom. Some mixes may sound slightly muddy, but the well-balanced mid and treble ranges ensure instruments and lead vocals are present and clear. Unfortunately, they don't have a companion app with an EQ or presets to customize their sound.

The Sennheiser HD599 have excellent frequency response consistency. Their bass and treble delivery is much more consistent than the Sennheiser HD 598's and doesn't vary too much depending on the headphones' fit, seal, and positioning. You don't need to worry too much about adjusting them to get the same sound each time you use them.

The Sennheiser HD599 have good bass accuracy. Like most open-back headphones, they lack low-bass, so mixes are missing thump and rumble. The mid-bass range is neutral, so music has the right amount of body and warmth. However, overemphasis in the high-bass range adds boominess.

The Sennheiser HD 599 have excellent mid accuracy. The mid to high-mids are very well-balanced and neutral. However, the bump in low-mid, which is the continuation overemphasis in the high-bass range, makes mixes slightly muddy.

The Sennheiser HD 599 have excellent treble accuracy. The low and mid-treble responses are very neutral, so instruments are clear and well-articulated, while sibilants like cymbals and S and T sounds are present and bright.

The Sennheiser HD 599 have good peaks and dips performance. There's a peak from the mid-bass to low-mid that adds boom and muddiness, while a dip in the high-mid somewhat weakens instruments and lead vocals. There are also some peaks in the low-treble that add harshness to some instruments. The biggest peak is in the mid-treble range and makes sibilants like cymbals seem piercing.

The Sennheiser HD 599 have a great imaging performance. The group delay falls below the audibility threshold for the entire range, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers are well-matched in amplitude and phase response, and even though there's a small mismatch in the phase response's treble range, it shouldn't be audible. However, they're also slightly mismatched in frequency response, which may cause holes in the stereo image at certain frequencies. Please note that these results are only valid for our unit, and your experience may vary.

These headphones have a good passive soundstage performance. Thanks to their open-back design, they create a very open and spacious passive soundstage. Sound is likely to seem to come from inside your head rather than speakers in the room around you.

These headphones have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion present at very high listening volumes, but it shouldn't be very noticeable with real-life content. Audio reproduction is mostly clean and pure.

These are the settings used to test the Sennheiser HD 599. Our results are only valid using this configuration.

These headphones are bad at noise isolation, but it's by design. Like most open-back headphones, they block out virtually no ambient sound, except a little bit of high-pitched noise like the hum of an A/C unit.

These headphones have a poor leakage performance, which is typical of open-back headphones. They leak a lot of audio at high volumes, so people nearby can hear your music even in moderately noisy environments. They aren't ideal for use in a shared space, like an office.

These wired headphones come with a detachable 1/8" TRS audio cable, a longer 1/4" TRS cable, and a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter.