HD 598 or AKG q701? - Page 4

I think the HD598 are kinda overpriced at the moment. And people claim that Q701 doesn't sound good without a proper amp. How about some DT990 pro's? They're 180$ on amazon with a behringer amp bundle.

Edited by Headzone - 1/14/12 at 4:15am

The DT990 Pro is incredibly different from the Q701 and HD598. The 990s are bass and treble oriented, while the others mids oriented, with a slight tilt towards treble. 990s while great (IMHO), won't be as good as the others for vocals, but will make up for it in fuller bass, and energetic treble.

In short.

DT990 if you wanna dance
HD598/Q701 if you wanna be intently listen to the singing itself.

Dude, no. The HD598 has still no "tilt towards treble". It's warm. That's it! And the HD598 I know has absolutely no treble peak like you say. It rolls off smoothly in the highs. I hear what I've posted here.

 

I also don't agree with the DT990. In all the time I had the 600 Ohm version (paired with A1), there was absolutely nothing that would make me want to dance. Rich bass, no punch (I found it to be bloated).

 

We seem to have extremely different hearing.

 

Edit: Also the K701 isn't mids oriented.

Edited by Ultrazino - 1/15/12 at 4:06am

Here is my take on the HD595 and K702:

 

HD595: Warmish sound with an emphasis on midrange/vocals. Bass impact is pretty neutral and the treble has a slight sparkle but not overly emphasized.

 

K702: Abnormally large soundstage which messes with its vocal performance. To vocals never sound right on them - they sound distant and sometimes echoey. Sound signature is definitely on the bright side.

For the sake of having someone not die on me:

I agree with leng jai on most of this, though I consider the HD598's to be just very slightly bass shy, and the sound to be more NEUTRAL. I didn't get any warmth from it, but I was using the E9 which is a very neutral amp. I can see this headphone TURNING warm with a tube/warm amp. I definitely still get a very slight treble emphasis.

BTW, I A/B'd the HD598 directly with the PC360, which is essentially an HD595 with a mic. The PC360 came out as the more neutral of the two, with a tilts towards being slightly WARM as a whole (definitely warmer than the HD598, which is why I say the HD598 is on the brighter side). The PC360 had more bass (I'd call it's bass response neutral, therefore calling the HD598 slightly bass shy). HD598 definitely had more mids and slightly more treble.

I agree mostly about the K701, though off the E9, the mids were quite upfront in comparison to the bass and treble, so yes, I'd call them mid-focused, and yes, noticeably brighter than the HD598.

I'm wondering if people are pairing these headphones with tube amps, which would definitely make the HD598 lean towards warmth.

As for the DT990... I won't even go into that here... because frankly, that's off-topic, and I really don't wanna get into it with someone who's about to roid rage.
Edited by Mad Lust Envy - 1/15/12 at 4:43am

My impressions of the HD598 rely on iPhone 4 (close to 0 ohm output) and A1 amp (100 ohm).

Maybe it's time you give up and agree with the consensus.

 

Of course warmth is a very subjective perception, but experience and relative comparisons have taught most of us (not you, I guess) that the HD598 has a warm tilt. This is also obviously shown in both posted frequency graphs. It's not a "warm" headphone as such, but it's warmer than what reality sounds like. And Sennheiser does this on purpose. This is where the Sennheiser sound comes from. Elevated mid bass with warm mids. This is what makes them enjoyable to most and has a relaxed presentation.

 

Now the K701 looks extremely neutral on the graphs. However, It's lacking fundamental tone (sound becomes brighter) and it lacks resonance, making it sound thin and lacking body. Thus it appears bright and cold instead of actually neutral.

Further, the AKG has a very distant sound. Vocals never sound like they are upfront and personal or even in your head. This is completely different to the mid presentation of Sennheiser. In comparison, I don't see how you could say the AKG is mid oriented.

 

However, the human can only judge in relations. Objectivity does not really exist so we have to rely on experience. From other threads I have already noticed that we come from entirely different directions and also want to perceive sound differently. I see your posts all over the place and you seem to always have an opinion.

But in this thread, as I like neither of the two discussed headphones, I am as objective as I can be and my opinion heavily matches the consensus, especially with that of a well known German HiFi forum.

 

Have a nice day.

We could all argue this all day and never get anywhere. Kind of like with the people telling me the Q701 is a clone of the K702

Now I'm a fan of the E9, but don't use it a lot. I don't think it's as flat as a pancake, but pretty close. One thing it seems to be is fairly treble happy (slightly). Once you connect the E7 to it, it's like a double whammy. I always felt too that the E9 gave some headphones an artificially huge soundstage and I'm not sure how.

 

I should connect my HD-598 up to my E9 and see how it is. Maybe perhaps it's less warm, however this is posible? I don't think the E9 is even remotely warm, but I've tried the HD-598 with many different sources and always felt it was warm. Not very warm or slightly warm, but just warm. People coming from say an HD-650 wouldn't call it even remotely warm I imagine.

 

I don't think it matters since everyone has different impressions. Nobody here ever agrees on anything

 

BTW I do think the K702 is fairly mids oriented. It's funny how the last posted was describing the K701...all of that most definitely applies to the K702 (lacking body etc), but doesn't apply to my q701 on any amp. Don't ask me why...Q701 is almost as warm as my K601 somehow.

X2  definitely on the bright side compared to almost every phone I tried.. Mids sound kind of pale and diffuse....not enough weight and solidity. Agree about the sound stage....very wide, but also very unnatural.  Never heard the Q701 however. Hopefully it has more body in the midrange. 

 

Edited by lejaz - 1/15/12 at 4:12pm