My experience with Sennheiser HD598 with FiiO E9 and Turtle Beach DSS

In case anyone is on the fence regarding what accessories they should buy for their HD598 headphones, here's my findings:

For gaming and watching movies, the HD598 and Turtle Beach DSS (and no additional amp) sound great! The DSS does a tremendous job of adding "discrete" sound to my gaming experience. I thought fellow reviewers were exaggerating when they described taking off their headphones to make sure their surround speakers were playing, but I had this very experience. Besides improved spatial awareness, I prefer to not be hammered with sound constantly, as is the case while listening to media in stereo. However, the DSS doesn't do it all: stereo music sound quality is poor. 

For music listening, I pair my HD598 headphones with my Onkyo home theater receiver... a several years old model that was about $400 when I purchased it. It sounds pretty nice, but nothing that blows me away. I'm glad I bought nice headphones for gaming only, as my bookshelves still have the upper hand for music listening. 

Notice I haven't mentioned the E9 amp? Well, I'm disappointed with it. It can raise my the HD598's volume beyond what I would ever typically listen to music at, but at low to moderate volume levels there's audible "fuzz" in play along with my music. The fuzz is more noticeable the louder I crank the amp. Low impedance sounds better than high (which makes sense for my low impedance/high sensitivity speakers), but either way the amp is well outclassed by my standard fair av receiver, which can well exceed the E9s volume level and does so without any audible fuzz. Using the E9 with the DSS is pointless; the DSS is perfectly capable of producing loud volumes and detailed sound without the E9. 

I have no regrets buying the DSS over the Mixamp, which I had contemplated buying. The E9 has got to go, though. I probably get as good sound out of my stock computer sound card and better sound out of my av receiver. 

I used the E9 in the following configurations:

SanDisk Clip+ (mp3 player with 320kbps files) > E9 > Headphones

Turtle Beach DSS > E9 > Headphones

There wasn't any fuzz when the devices were connected, turned on, and no music playing (even if I maxed out the gain on the amp), but when I actually listened to music, games, or movies with the E9 there was always noticeable fuzz. Maybe a better DAC would've helped (I imagine that's why my stereo receiver sounds best for stereo sound - it must use a higher quality DAC and is a more powerful amplifier to boot), but I wasn't interested in plunking down another $80 to buy the E7. I'll just stick to smaller easier to drive headphones for portable listening and use my stereo receiver for music and the DSS for games. 

Anyway, the E9 is on its way back to the Amazon dealer I purchased it from. I wish there were an audio specialty store in my city so I could have demo'd the amp before purchasing it, but I hope my review will help others' buying decisions. I'm gladly keeping the DSS, though. It provides clarity gaming sound at a good volume and for cheap.

Agreed. I found numerous posts that disagreed with this opinion (you can do a search and find over a dozen E9 for HD598 threads), so I wanted to contribute my experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LimeANite 

This is typically with the E7 or another dedicated DAC though.  With the DSS, you're using a mediocre source and double-amping the signal, and unless you're using the Clip's LOD, you're double-amping that signal as well.

 

That said, the HD598 doesn't need the power from the E9 to sound good.

 

Edit: It could also be your music.  If you're using low-quality or poorly-mastered mp3 files, you could be hearing distortion from them.

Yes, you got me. I didn't use an LOD to hookup my Sansa Clip+ to the E9. I had no idea what an LOD is until you just mentioned it and I researched the device here. So, it's very possible that at least some of the fuzz could've been eliminated by using an LOD. However, the amp is on its way back to Amazon so I won't be able to test that theory.

Still, my takeaway from the E9 is that even if it had produced crystal clear sound, I could've achieved the same result listening through my receiver as the HD598s are not power hungry. It's true they take more juice than what a portable MP3 player can give them, but it's more practical to use portable and easier to drive headphones with an MP3 player, so I don't have any regrets returning the E9. Maybe someday I'll get the bug to really splurge on high dollar head-fi stuff.