Non-Audiophile looking for some help in Headphones: Sennheiser HD 598 Vs. Sennheiser HD 600

The 600 really needs a decent amp to sound its best. My HD580 sounds like trash from my receiver. The 598 doesn't have the same need for an amp, but would still benefit. $250 is way too much for that headphone though. It's value is probably closer to $150. You also know that both of these headphones are open and will leak a lot of sound in and out? Not sure where you will be studying. Also, both of these headphone have a 1/4in plug and the adapter comes with the 598 could damage your Zune's jack, so you would need a different adapter. You would be better off with the HD555 if you are going for the open, Sennheiser sound. And none of these three will be very good for trance/techno imo.

You have the option of getting HD558s, which are very close in sound signature to the HD598s and cost a good $100 less.  Plus you don't need an amp.

Also:

Yes, the HD600's amp will change things, but thought this might be interesting to consider.

BY THE WAY.

both headphones will really blow your 212s out of the water.  Both series of cans are open and will give the sound a very spacious feeling, and they are very flattering to most types of music with their warmth, in my opinion.

To qualify that, however, you will be dissapointed if you put them on going OMG IM READY FOR NIRVANA, but after listening to them for a day or two you'll be thinking, "what have I been listening to?!"

Warning: open cans leak sound.

I've had the HD555s and I thought they were awesome.

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I've been researching this as well--the new line-up--as reviews and impressions are sparse. Some euro sites have a lot more short impressions, Amazon.uk included. From what I gather the 598 is basically an updated 595. For your usage (no amping out of portable/computer) and the genres you mentioned, especially the first two, I would discount the HD600. The HD598 @ $250 is also probably too high if it's basically an updated 595. You can find the HD598 for $165 and HD558 for $119 online. The latter is probably the sweet spot as the differences are probably just cosmetic and drivers are likely similar; probably will pick that up myself.

And yeah, even the 555 will be miles better than what you currently use. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayang 

You have the option of getting HD558s, which are very close in sound signature to the HD598s and cost a good $100 less.  Plus you don't need an amp.

 

Also:

Is that really the FR responses of those phones? According to that, they should sound almost identical. Those responses are closer than I'd expect of two of the same model except above 10khz.  How did Sennheiser manage that?

I just got my HD600 and I'm burning it in right now.  Stay tuned for my impressions and how it compares to the HD650.  Here's an unboxing video if you are interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpXis5oh6xg

Quote:

Originally Posted by pp312 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayang 

You have the option of getting HD558s, which are very close in sound signature to the HD598s and cost a good $100 less.  Plus you don't need an amp.

 

Also:

 

Is that really the FR responses of those phones? According to that, they should sound almost identical. Those responses are closer than I'd expect of two of the same model except above 10khz.  How did Sennheiser manage that?

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/403963/sennheiser-hd555-and-hd595-internal-comparison-shots

There is a lot of seemingly valid conjecture that the 595 is simply the 555 with a piece of foam removed.  I wonder if there is a similar relationship between the 558 and 595?  Wouldn't surprise me ...  That's why they would sound so close.

I am not a Senn fan, but I have the 595's and have heard the 600's for an extended time (borrowed from a friend).

I have to say that the 600's blew away the 595's in every way, so I would think the 598's would be too. The 600's simply are the more "hi-fi" can. Don't worry about amping: you can do that later, and with both unamped the 600's still killed the 595's imo. It's best to get the best can you can right away, no upgrading later.

I must say that I am very unimpressed with the 595's and think that there are much better options out there for much less. If I had to do over I never would of bought them and I certainly wouldn't spend over $100 on them (and that includes the 598's if they are anything like the 595's). The 600's, however, even not being a Senn fan, are a good headphone for $300ish (though I'd still say there are better options).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Brown 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by pp312 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayang 

You have the option of getting HD558s, which are very close in sound signature to the HD598s and cost a good $100 less.  Plus you don't need an amp.

 

Also:

 

Is that really the FR responses of those phones? According to that, they should sound almost identical. Those responses are closer than I'd expect of two of the same model except above 10khz.  How did Sennheiser manage that?

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/403963/sennheiser-hd555-and-hd595-internal-comparison-shots

 

There is a lot of seemingly valid conjecture that the 595 is simply the 555 with a piece of foam removed.  I wonder if there is a similar relationship between the 558 and 595?  Wouldn't surprise me ...  That's why they would sound so close.

 

Sorry, but I'm a little confused. Your FR graph identifies HD600 v. HD558, but your text refers to 558 and 595. What am I missing?

the FR graph is just a side note, something random I found.  But I thought it was relevant considering OP is choosing between a 5X8 series headphone and the HD600.

The first part of my post was just noting that the HD558 and HD598 are probably similar in signature, so it might be good just to go for the cheaper 558.

Does the HD600 really sound good unamped?  That's interesting...  I haven't listened to it unamped.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pratt 

I am not a Senn fan, but I have the 595's and have heard the 600's for an extended time (borrowed from a friend).

 

I have to say that the 600's blew away the 595's in every way, so I would think the 598's would be too. The 600's simply are the more "hi-fi" can. Don't worry about amping: you can do that later, and with both unamped the 600's still killed the 595's imo. It's best to get the best can you can right away, no upgrading later.

 

I must say that I am very unimpressed with the 595's and think that there are much better options out there for much less. If I had to do over I never would of bought them and I certainly wouldn't spend over $100 on them (and that includes the 598's if they are anything like the 595's). The 600's, however, even not being a Senn fan, are a good headphone for $300ish (though I'd still say there are better options).

Listen to this man!!  The HD598's are just a refresh of the HD595's and you'd be way better off with an HD600 even if you can't properly amp it yet.  I enjoyed the HD600's unproperly amped more than the HD595's and that was with a cheap setup. 

I'm not sure whether you plan to listen to these mostly from your zune or desktop setup but I know there are gonna people arguing about you not properly amping them. If you plan to listen on the go then an open backed headphone isn't the best choice anyways so you shouldn't be buying an HD598 or HD600 for that purpose alone.  However if it's your desktop then you would definitely want to upgrade your stock sound card as almost anything will sound better than that.  There are tons of options out there for $100-200 that will CONSIDERABLY boost the quality in your music over a stock sound card.

If you're more geared towards listening on the go then you'd be better off with a pair of IEM's or a cheaper portable headphone.  Also keep in mind you're going from a closed headphone to an open headphone so the sound is presented differently. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayang 

You have the option of getting HD558s, which are very close in sound signature to the HD598s and cost a good $100 less.  Plus you don't need an amp.

 

Also:

Yes, the HD600's amp will change things, but thought this might be interesting to consider.

 

BY THE WAY.

both headphones will really blow your 212s out of the water.  Both series of cans are open and will give the sound a very spacious feeling, and they are very flattering to most types of music with their warmth, in my opinion.

 

To qualify that, however, you will be dissapointed if you put them on going OMG IM READY FOR NIRVANA, but after listening to them for a day or two you'll be thinking, "what have I been listening to?!"

 

Warning: open cans leak sound.

 

I've had the HD555s and I thought they were awesome.

One thing that FR graphs with smoothed response curves don't convey is dynamics.

The HD650 is a lovely set of phones but not nearly as excitable as the HD595 which I assume is just a HD598 in grey which is just an overpriced HD558 if the 555/595 design is anything to go by.