Rating: 
Summary: After 3-3/4 years it is still my standard for sound.
Review: I bought my 570 way back at the beginning of the year 2000 and it still sound just as good. The first month was a little rough, I heard way too much sounds, like hisses and every bad mp3 recording mistakes out there. It took a month for the bass to even out and the sound became more balance. Like jeans, speaker cone need to be worn in a little. I was buying a lot of headphone under $50 looking for the perfect one before the 570, why spend over a $100 for a little headphone? When I first got this at $125 my friends though I was crazy, can the sounds be any better then a $20 Sony headphone? Over three years later, it is and I don't buy headphones anymore, maybe one or two, but they aren't any good.What to like:
I take care of my stuffs and a headphone being three year old is pretty ancient. The craftsmanship for the 570 is well design, my pair looks almost like new. The head foam is still the same thickness; the black plastic has no nicks. The sound has not crap out yet. The bass is still strong and it was never overwhelming, like a koss, that you don't get tired of listening. Sony headphone even expensive one always gave too much static, hisses and unbalance bass. The 570 is the best fitting headphone I ever encountered. It is light and soft on the head and ears. I can listen and wear the 570 longer and without much ear fatigue compare to other headphones. Not to like;
At first $125 was a lot, but after over 3 years it has overachieved my expectation. So, no real negative point, I can think of. I first used this on my old Pentium II desktop with monster sound card mainly for mp3 and it made the mp3 sound a lot better. I later plug it to my Sony ES line receiver and the sounds were a lot cleaner and smoother. Now, it is plugged into my Pentium IV laptop and the sound is still great. I get the nice bass balance, the cool affect of the treble, ting and the midrange. Plug this to a weak audio component and you will not get much, it needs some power for all the sounds to come out. No sound from any other headphones has equaled my sound preference as the 570 has. Only my acoustic tower speakers playing in a concrete loft space have I ever heard a sound being greater. The 570 almost match the high fidelity of the tower but not the surreal bass that a tower can produce. You must listen to a pair of headphone yourself, everybody have different preferences like clothes. After this pair of headphone starts to crack I am getting another $100-$200 Sennheiser, but it still have years a head of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Nice
Review: I don't know much about sound, headphones and the like. I read the reviews on this because I was looking for a nice, comfortable pair of headphones to replace my PC speakers. They seemed like a safe bet, even at the price, so I purchased them. I'm happy to say that I am very pleased with these! I have a 6 channel audio system on my computer is these pick up all the nuances of the latest and greatest PC games out there. MP3s sound amazingly better. Also, they are comfortable to wear for hours. The chord is also plenty long enough, so I don't feel attached to my desk. They're also sharp looking: not an eye-sore that needs to be tucked away unseen. I leave them plugged into my PC and sitting on my desk. My ugly speakers are now gone and I couldn't be happier. Bottom line: you won't be disappointed. They are well-build and perform as they should. You can't go wrong with these.
Rating:
Summary: Great Headphones
Review: I've had these headphones for about a year now, and listen to jazz, classical and rock on them, driven from a high quality Denon CD player. They are extremely comfortable and make a dramatic difference to what you can hear in the music you listen too (as compared with most standard headphones). If you research the other products in this price range you will find that no other product offers such good sound quality and comfort. I'm not sure how much better things would get if you spent more, but these are seriously good headphones. Criticisms of not enough bass, or too many Ohms to be run by a portable player, have proven incorrect in my experience. I'd recommend these without reservation. If you want to spend more then check out the HD - 590's.
Rating:
Summary: They _are_ that good...
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed!
Review: These headphones have possibly the worst sound I have ever heard. I have set of Realistic Nova 20(radio shack) headphones that are over 25 years old that sound a whole lot better. And those were more towards the bottom end of their price line back then. I also have a set of phones that came with my sony walkman that are better. (and these are cheapies.) One problem is the bass on these HD-570 totally gives out when you turn up the volume.( and that's not much volume.) And when you adjust the bass down all you have is a tinny sound with no character. I am using these headphones through a very good home receiver with a separate bass,mid, treble control knobs. I know how music should sound and these definitively don't deliver.*****
(Buy the Sony MDR-CD780 headphones, these have the sound you are looking for. I have just got a pair! They totality blow away the Sennheiser HD570 on sound and are just as comfortable. And the price is right,...
Rating:
Summary: Late Shipping
Review: I am waiting for your firm to ship my stuff for almost 3 days. So far, it haven't been ship yet and you note on your webpage that it usually shipped with in 24 hours. What's happening with your website.
Rating:
Summary: The best I'VE ever owned...
Review: I'm not a major audiophile sound engineer, but I do own quite a bit of pro-audio gear... (JBL EON 1500's, Mackie 1202, Numark CD mixing gear, etc) I've always used rather shabby headphones but I recently broke them. I plug the sennheiser directly into:
1) Mackie 1202 Mixing console
2) Numark DJ mixer
3) Boston Acoustics PC Speakers from Gateway (consumer grade gear)
4) Sony Mini disc player I have not yet found a signal that was "too weak" and I don't own a "headphone amplifier"... Each of these devices powered the headphones just fine for me. They sound MUCH better than any others I've ever used. It seems like some of the more discerning consumers were able to find fault, but for the price - my ears are happy.
Rating:
Summary: Sound good but WAY underpowered
Review: I bought these as a Christmas present for someone after owning the Sennheiser HD580 and HD600 for years, both of legendary sound quality. I A/B-d these with several other headphones in this price range, including the Bose Triport and, given enough power, these sounded the best, although of course they are not as good as the HD580 and HD600, which have a more balanced sonic spectrum. The balance seems to be in the favor of the bass end, but not the really low bass: instead, somewhere in the 50-60 Hz range. It isn't annoying, however, and after a while your ears just get used to it, and they really are a pleasure to listen to, having the same open and airy sound of the HD580 and the HD600. For the money, I think they are an excellent value, provided you already own a headphone amplifier. This latter point brings up the main issue I have with these headphones. Frankly, I am puzzled by the claims of some reviewers that these headphones can be fully appreciated without a headphone amplifier. I thought my HD-600s were inefficient! But these HD570's are by far the most inefficient headphones I have ever sampled and require far more power than any portable CD player is capable of delivering that I've ever used. Even my two console CD players (no slouches either: a Harman Kardon 720 and a Philips CDC 751) have to be turned up all the way for full concert volume, and when that happens the bass just falls apart and swamps the high end in mud, as obviously the tiny amplifiers in these CD players are being over-modulated. This could explain the reports in various reviews below that these headphones have a muddy sound. However, plugging these into my Musical Fidelity X-Cans headphone amplifier, a revelation takes place: the base firms up, the mid-range becomes silky smooth and the treble bursts to life. Suddenly the HD570's become very musical and a pleasure to listen to for long periods of time. It seems a little weird to manufacture headphones in a mid-price range that require an expensive headphone amplifier to produce excellent sound. Anyone going to the lengths of purchasing a headphone amplifier is going to be looking at premium headphone performance, and because the frequency response rises in the bass area, these don't quite reach those airy heights. However, to break them in, I listened to them for eight solid hours through my headphone amp. The fact that this was not fatiguing in the least speaks to their very smooth, distortion-free sound, as well as the sheer physical comfort of the phones themselves enveloping my tender ears all these hours. In summary, I would not give the HD570's as a Christmas present to anyone who intends to listen to music directly plugged into a CD player. So what am I recommending these for? Well, these are a present for my 94 year old mother-in-law who likes to blast one of our TVs to high heaven when she visits us two or three times a year for a couple months duration each visit. This constant racket emanating from the TV is extremely annoying to the rest of the household. So my presents to her are these headphones and a nice, new, Panasonic flat-screen 27" TV (which stays on the premises) with a headphone jack on the front. Now she can blast herself into oblivion for all I care. I tested these headphones both on the TV I bought for her and on a 20" Toshiba with a front headphone jack. Surprisingly, both TVs had enough "umph" to drive these highly inefficient headphones to far beyond tolerable listening levels (just like my Musical Fidelity headphone amp is capable of doing). So that's what I'd recommend these headphones for, which is a rather limited market, I would think. What also makes these phones ideal for the hard-of-hearing television viewer is that they are extremely lightweight and so comfortable that after a while you don't even notice that you're wearing them: ideal for the 94 year old, half-deaf mother-in-law glued to the tube. They also have a 10 foot cord, which makes them ideal for watching a 27" TV. Speaking of the cord, I would be wary of the robustness of this cord. At one time, Sennheiser was notorious for having a fragile cord that easily became shorted out when repeatedly tugged upon at the connection. This problem has been solved for the HD580 and the HD600, but I'm not so sure it has been solved for the HD570. The sample in the store was partially shorted out and to hear stereo you had to push laterally on the connector near the phones. Obviously, this connector did not withstand the rough and tumble of a store demo, so to be on the safe side treat the connection gently.
Rating: 
Summary: Classical music 5 stars...anything else 2
Review: I should have tested these headphones before buying them. If you only listen to classical music in quiet surroundings, these are great headphones. If you listen to music with ANY bass you will be returning these in short order. The bass is horrible, but these were not designed for it. Also, the open design does not shield you from any outside noise which is very annoying unless you are home with the door shut. If you listen to many different kinds of music, I would recommend the Bose TriPort headphones. The sound is very impressive and the bass is full without distortion except at very high volumes.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe it's just me but...
Review: I have owned several pairs of Sennheiser phones over the last 20 years and have been quite happy with them. I recently purchased the HD570 however and was not impressed. In fact, I am returning the item. The bass seemed muddy and the treble muted. I tired them with my PC and regular stereo system and compared them to the $$$ Sony phones that came with the PC. I prefered the Sony in each case. They did seem like they would be quite comfortable however.
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