First Impression of the HD 598 - Page 4

Is this a joke? So many things wrong here that I don't think I will even bother to reply at length.

Soundstaging on the HD-598 "really fell short" but the closed M50 doesn't?

Where to begin...
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by saisunil 

I had them for a week as well and are no where near the sound quality of AKG701 - not transparent enough - bass was wooly - was good sounding only with poor quality mp3. For lossless acoustic instruments and soundstaging it really fell short - I would pick up ATM50 over these anyday ...

 

I am sharing my impressions cause I bought them after reading glowing reviews by folks including Jude ... this phone just did not do it for any purpose - not for the money and not for the sound quality ... I have better choices for listening to MP3 and so many IEMs can do a better job for the same price ...

 

Cheers

Sunil.

I was thinking the same thing.  I loved my M50's but there is very little if any that can touch the 598 SS to my ears.  Perhaps the HD800?  Acoustic timbre w/ wood instruments on the M50 is fabulous though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rudolfs 

After some hesitation I ordered HD 598.

Spent a week with them, returning today.

HD 598 are 'nice' looking, they sound better than Koss PortaPro and, while unamped, they are at least as good as any phones I have. When amped, HD 598 are even better, and clearly better than my lesser phones. They are possibly on a par with DT 770 Pro (250), but still nowhere near K 701 or DT 880/600('05). But of course you cannot really use the last three unamped at all.

So HD 598 are really good unamped and still better when amped. As such they have an obvious niche.

The downside is that unamped they are not considerably better than old HD 515. Or Sony V6. Different, somewhat better, but not worth the outlay. Amped HD 598 are better than those two, but I already have headphones which I like considerably better when amped.

 

To characterise the sound, I would say they are kind of bland. V6 are in your face, 701 are larger than life, 880 are like a scalpel, 515 cause a nervous tic, PortaPro are nicely booming, 770 more so. 598 are covering everything in a fondant. When you listen carefully, everything is there - but under the fondant. Sweet, smooth, nice and polite. This might pass for 'neutral', but I rather feel that it is a clever cheat, since V6, 880, 701 and even 770 are revealing much more. 598 just did not involve me. Everything was passable, but nothing was exciting.

 

Moreover, apart from the grilles and cable, the build quality of HD 515 and 598 is substantially the same. All main elements are made of the same type of plastic. OK, HD 598 have metal grilles, I give them that, but that's about it. Who on Earth cares for fake wood and pleather and/or leatherette?? I did not mind the colour scheme, but given the materials it is not stylish, but rather tacky. And just try to extrapolate the traces of wear of HD 515 (or 555 or 595 for that) on creamy HD 598, - they do not develop patina, they start looking shabby in a year or two.

Finally, one of the reasons for new headphones was to use them with MP3 language course material - and for speech I actually prefer HD 515. So HD 515 and possibly PortaPro will have to do as the language course "workhorse".
However, I kind of enjoyed Senn sound, so I am getting HD 600 while I can (Amazon.fr for me).

Thanks for the review. At least it's a fair review unlike some others. I personally would never use these without an amp. I do think it's not good to group them in with $300 headphones. They're $175 after all. Sure, often you can find the K702 for $250 new and the DT-880 for around the same price, but still...Technically they're probably not better than the DT-880 and K702, but I prefer listening to most of my music with the HD-598. HD-598's sound is far more engaging than the DT-880 and my K702 to me. Not sure about the K601, but maybe. My HD-650 totally transformed once I got a new amp and cable so they're now up there with the HD-598.

It's all preferences, if people don't like them, that's OK. Not everyone will. To me, I find them one of the most engaging and fun headphones there is.. If you find the HD-598 bland, I'd sure hate to know what you'd think of the HD-555 and HD-600! Some people just won't like the Sennheiser sound. The HD-598 is at least the easiest one to like. If you were not a fan of the HD-598 and found it bland, I'd be shocked if you loved the HD-600. For me, I like that headphone, but it's kind of a snore fest compared to the 598 IMO. The silver screened version was a LOT better than my older muffled version. I actually find it more laid back (with stock cable) than the HD-650, which seems to go against what most people say!
 

For me, I think it's the K702 and AD700. It's too bad though that the Ad700 sounds a bit weird with some music and has recessed mids. I need to try and mod it to bring out the mids if this is possible. Even my various amps didn't help. For being so cheap, it sure is detailed and sounds quite good at times, but it's design kills it. The AD700 soundstage feels massive compared to the HD-598. Overall the HD-598 soundstage is the third largest I've heard. Personally I don't care about having a huge soundstage. The HD-598's soundstage is just about perfect and doesn't make music and vocals sound distant.

Even for gaming I prefer the HD-598 over the AD700 despite the larger soundstage of the AD700. Only thing that matches the HD-598 for gaming for me is the K702 and maybe the K601. The sound of the K702 is a little more clear and detailed. I don't think I could ever live with JUST the K702 for music though and I'd probably take the HD-598 over that. Some genres sound better on the K702 though. Like ambient music Lately I've been loving "Helios" on the K702.

It's also too bad my K702 has such a huge soundstage that often music (mostly vocals) sounds too distant, but it depends on the recording. I've found that a mid-centric amp helps a lot. The E9 really brought them to life and the Micro Amp really helped fixed that distant sound to them. Sometimes my amps change them so much that it's really hard to know for sure what they're supposed to sound like! I bet a tube amp would be amazing for the K702. I hope I can tame the brightness of my K702, but it's getting better.

BTW I sure wish my HD-650 had the soundstage of the HD-598! It got larger with a better amp though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anaxilus 

I was thinking the same thing.  I loved my M50's but there is very little if any that can touch the 598 SS to my ears.  Perhaps the HD800?  Acoustic timbre w/ wood instruments on the M50 is fabulous though.

May I ask you - from the point of neutrality, which are better: HD558 or HD598 ? From the review on Headfonia I got impression that HD558 are more tonally accurate - am I wrong?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnegans 

May I ask you - from the point of neutrality, which are better: HD558 or HD598 ? From the review on Headfonia I got impression that HD558 are more tonally accurate - am I wrong?

I would say the HD598. The HD558 are too dark. The HD598 refines the HD558's signature, adding more brightness and clarity, while refining everything in the sound including the bass.

Warm, not dark.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katun 

 

I would say the HD598. The HD558 are too dark. The HD598 refines the HD558's signature, adding more brightness and clarity, while refining everything in the sound including the bass.

     Quote:

Originally Posted by Anaxilus 

Warm, not dark.  

Thanks!

If anyone has or has had the HD201 can you tell me how the bass on these compares?