Mid-fi Shootout - HD600 - HD598 - Focal Spirit One - Philips Fidelio L1 - Page 5

Fantastic read, enjoyed myself thoroughly and was very impressed by the detail you went into. Thanks to snai for the thread resurrection~ :)

Thank You for such a thorough and complete review....will look forward to more of them!

Sometime i'd like to see a review of the HD-580 vs the HD-600. 99% of everyone really does believe they're identical in sound.

The HD-580 has less bass, slightly more treble and maybe forward mids. The difference isn't huge. HD-580 sounds much clearer to me.

It made my day yesterday when someone else posted they also liked it more than the HD-600. Sachu I believe.

If you mod your HD-600, it would beat all the others maybe. Since modding my HD-600, my HD-598 has been collecting dust. Now it's almost like an HD-598 on steroids.

The 598 now just has less bass and a larger soundstage. Maybe a tad more treble.

I keep the HD-598 because it's stupid easy to drive and I can even use it straight out of my Clip+

As for my favorites, i'd rank them as:

HD-600(modded)>HD-580>HD-598>HD-600>HD-650

BTW a modded HD-600 sounds much closer to the HD-598. It does remove some of it's warmth, but not too much. So crystal clear when modded.

I do need to try the HD-650 again. I read some silly posts somewhere that claim it has less forward upper bass than the HD-600. To me that'd be a huge plus.

thanks for review. I recently heard 650 and 598 and agree with your assessment. 598 was much more lively, more forward sound stage, and better bass.

Good review, helped me clarify my thoughts on my upgrade purchase. My HD 595s are getting old after 10 years and im looking to upgrade without spending too much money and 598 seems like a good safe bet since the only thing i didn't like about the 595s is the bass

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercatorn 

Good review, helped me clarify my thoughts on my upgrade purchase. My HD 595s are getting old after 10 years and im looking to upgrade without spending too much money and 598 seems like a good safe bet since the only thing i didn't like about the 595s is the bass

The HD598 has a greater bass presence, and overall a fuller presentation of the sound frequency though the HD595 was quite well balanced as well. Superior timbre and soundstage (imaging). Probably the biggest differences will be the treble (brighter presentation, but not fatiguing) and the midrange (more forward, more textured, centered, etc.) 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mkubota1 

Nice review!  I like the format and your style.  You spent an almost equal amount of time setting up the review with your background and preferences, which to me are as important if not more important than the review itself.
 

 

 

Quote:

.I'm still the only person I know of who goes to Head-fi meets with a notebook and pen and takes notes for every rig he listens to. Analytical listener or not, I still don't understand why people don't do this.

 

This sort of surprises me too.  It's rare to see this- I've only seen it once.  Human auditory memory is quite bad, especially when comparing things that to most people are essentially the same.  I sometimes take notes on my iPad which I can also use as a source for portables and familiar material.  

I feel you dude, I always have a pen and paper when I audition audio gear. I usually take pictures to... I went into best buy for my first AUDITION of cans and well... I'm glad I took notes. Many of the mid and low fi cans I was curious about... got sufficent listening experince... 

still I liked ur review, and the Phillips L1 might be a purchase of mine soon :D