Sennheiser HD 559 Open Back Headphone - Black

I've only had these for an hour, but already I know these are a keeper. Pulled the trigger on them seeing that they were at 47% off. My first pair of open back phones, so I am not really used to the lack of noise isolation, but I'm getting used to it. The benefits, of course, is an incredible, wide soundstage, an open, airy sound. More like your ears are close to speakers, rather than being enclosed in headphones. Sound leakage is par for the course here due to the nature of them. The out-of-the-box sound is really quite good. Surprisingly good bass extension for open backs. Quite detailed mids, although upper mids/lower treble is a little lacking, they do have a bump in the highest registers. All of this can be remedied with an EQ. I use them with my Denon RCD-M41 which has an adjustable headphone gain for higher impedance headphones. Although at 50 ohms, they are relatively easy to drive. I find the "mid" gain setting to be just right. If the bass is boosted at the source, then at higher volumes you can detect a bit of distortion, but that is at a level that I rarely listen at. I haven't taken them off since I received them - they are really quite comfortable. Easy clamping force, and the materials used on the ear cups and the head band relief are very soft. Great for long term listening. No real cons what so ever, although a small gripe - there is no included 3.5mm adapter. My Denon unit only has a 3.5mm headphone jack, so I had to order that separately. But, I also found a replacement cable that has the locking mechanism that is on the original cable, made for Sennheiser headphones that do terminate in a 3.5mm plug. Better than using an adapter in my opinion. Overall, quite surprised, and satisfied with them. Now I can listen to my Vinyl and CD's without being compressed through Bluetooth.

These headphones came relatively quickly and arrived in pristine condition. The box comes with a manual and the headphones, nothing else. That being said, I was a little disappointed at first because the headphones terminated in a quarter-inch plug that I couldn't use, so I had to buy https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAKBHKM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (replacement cable) that ended in a 3.5 mm standard plug. After setting the headphones up, I was absolutely blown away. The sound quality on these are nothing short of amazing. Comfort is a definite 5/5 as well; I can wear these for hours and not feel anything. I can probably even sleep with these on because I hardly feel anything on my head!The padding at the top is nice and soft, and the earcups are made of a nice velour material. Overall, these are an amazing pair of headphones, and I think these will be one of the biggest bangs for your buck you'll find around this price point. Bass is plentiful, but not overpowering, mids and highs are just fine and, like in some other headphones, are not drowned out by huge amounts of bass. Does well with rap/hip-hop, classical music, and EDM.Side note: These are open-back headphones, meaning that when audio plays out of the headphones, some sound leaks out of each side. This divergence of sound aims to improve overall sound quality and sound stage that these provide, but it comes at a cost: this sound leakage can easily allow for outside noise to travel into whatever you're playing, and can also be heard by people around you. I wouldn't recommend these for just constant public usage or places packed with people, but they are fine anywhere else.Overall/TL;DR: Exceptional headphones in sound quality and comfort, you should probably buy them! Just note if you plan to use these with electronics such as your laptop, phone, or desktop, you may have to buy a replacement cable as the cable that comes with the headphones ends in a 6.3 mm plug, which won't fit the aforementioned devices. This is a good cable that can be used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAKBHKM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought several pairs of headphones before landing on these and I’m very happy with them. I had a set budget and at just under $100.00 these were right on my price point. I knew I wasn’t going to spend huge bucks but I still wanted something with good sound. Although these are in the lower-mid range of the Sennheiser product line, the sound quality is, at least to my ears, very good. I am no audiophile, I just know what sounds good to me. These have nice bass response without feeling like my eardrums are being beaten up. Mid and upper range sounds clear and clean. I use an iPad to listen to music and I commonly like it fairly loud. The sound with these stays good all the way to max volume. One of the best features is that the ear cups are nice and large, completely surrounding my ears. I wear glasses and ear cups that are smaller smash my ears over the arms of my glasses against my head. After an hour or so of listening, the area where my glasses loop behind my ears would become so tender I couldn’t stand it. Maybe I have larger ears... I don’t know for sure but I do know that with these I don’t have that issue. The reason I didn’t give these five stars is two-fold: 1) The cord is just too long. It’s a relatively heavy duty cord compared to some, which I appreciate. However, the cord is every bit of 12 feet long. If I were walking around a bunch maybe it would be handy, but for just sitting in my chair listening or sitting at my hobby bench listening while I’m working, the cord becomes a lot to manage. 2) The padding on the ear cups is a little too firm. I’m hoping it will soften over time, but in the meantime they would be more comfortable if the padding had a little more give to it.

These felt comfortable while on without being too heavy. Cord was a little short that was included so I ended up ordering a longer cord. Sound quality is great (though I'm no audiophile).

I use these almost daily with a Sony digital Walkman (mp3s). They sound great to me! I did also buy the NewFantasia Replacement Audio Upgrade Cable which seems sturdier than the original. I highly recommend this as well as the cable.