Hello, everyone. I am brand new to posting here but I've been reading reviews and forum posts for quite awhile. Music is absolutely essential to me, as I'm sure it is to all of you and I have always demanded the best listening environment that I could create. With that said, I've always been a home audio nut but not as much a headphone nut (the most extensive set up I currently own is the Fiio E07k and the Bose ie2 and Philips Fidelio S2). I've invested lots of time and money into setting up my home audio system but, living in a very urban area now, I'm finding neighbors don't appreciate it quite as much as i do.
I decided the time had come to take the music into my head and thus the search for a great home headphone/dac/amp setup begun.
TL;DR - new to Head Fi, neighbors hate loud music.

Anyways, thank you to this community for all of the helpful reviews, comments, etcetera as they have helped me put together what I believe will be a fantastic home setup. Basically at this point, I'm looking for feedback and perhaps some tweaking tips. I went ahead and purchased the Schiit Magni and Modi and paired those with the Sennheiser HD598. I also got some pretty nice cables to hook up the Magni and Modi. The reason I ended up with this combination lies in the simple fact that I tend to rotate through music faster than I change moods (note: that happens a lot) and the music I listen to is on my computer or in Spotify (I am a premium subscriber and only use "extreme" mode). I'm hoping I made the right choice here and, once again, I'd love to hear what the community has to say. Btw, if you're curious what I've been listening to lately, I have everything set up with last.fm under the same user name - don't judge, my range of music is all over!

Howdy, and welcome to Head-Fi! The saying here is, "sorry about your wallet!"

Sennheiser 598's are a lovely headphone that got many started in this hobby, and the Schiit stack is held in high regards as a fantastic value. I don't think you could find a better way to start this hobby!

Thanks for sharing, and be sure to post your impressions when everything arrives!

Cheers!

Hey, thank you so much for the kind welcome!
 
So I finally got everything in and have been putting in a few hours listening thus far (busy work week and lots of commuting) and am honestly quite blown away.  I am also quite shocked to be hearing new dimensions of songs that I have been listening to for years!
 
Something I am wondering about, however, is how long should I expect a real burn-in process to take?  I have read everything from 20 hours to 80 hours and beyond.  I have also read that both the amp and the headphones require burn-in.  Is there anything that you can recommend to me while I continue this process and how much do the amp and headphones open up over time? 
 
Thanks again and I'll be sure to share more as I spend time with this new headphone rig!

NP! I'm sure you also heard people debate how long burn in takes as well as if it even really exists. Some amps are notorious for burn in, even from some non beleievers. My iem's I'm listening to as we speak sounded very echo-y in the upper mids until after about 20 hours. After that, they relaxed and opened up. Some people argue burn in is all mental, but I heard none with my Audeze LCD-2's, though they use a different driver design to most.

So to more directly answer your question, I'd give them the full 80 just to play it safe. Some burn in with music, others with pink noise to get all frequencies evenly. You could always ask in the item specific threads... But if you aren't happy after that time, well... Refer to the motto

I'm glad you like them! Any particular songs you like?

Pippup, as a rule Burn-In time for any headphone to reach maximum performance is 300 hours at least. I know it sounds ridiculous but this is true. Be patient in the meanwhile and use those 300 hours to SELECT MUSIC TO PLAY ON YOUR BURNED-IN HEADPHONES, is a very good exercise for you. No so loud and not so smooth

jodgey4 said:

NP! I'm sure you also heard people debate how long burn in takes as well as if it even really exists. Some amps are notorious for burn in, even from some non beleievers. My iem's I'm listening to as we speak sounded very echo-y in the upper mids until after about 20 hours. After that, they relaxed and opened up. Some people argue burn in is all mental, but I heard none with my Audeze LCD-2's, though they use a different driver design to most.

So to more directly answer your question, I'd give them the full 80 just to play it safe. Some burn in with music, others with pink noise to get all frequencies evenly. You could always ask in the item specific threads... But if you aren't happy after that time, well... Refer to the motto

I'm glad you like them! Any particular songs you like?

Click to expand...

 
Lately, I have really been getting into hardstyle again (I am wondering if I should keep this on the DL and call it my secret pleasure as most people just raise brows at it).  Honestly, that style of music is just too much fun!  That said, 90% of my listening on these new headphones has been a mix of classical music (heavy on the string instruments because it's truly mind-blowing on a pair of headphones such as this), Within Temptation, Armin Van Buuren, and my trusty 80's playlist.  I have also been really digging Shiny Toy Guns album, III, and Daft Punk's newest album, Random Access Memories.  Thanks again for the helpful replies and I am quite excited to be adding yet another very expensive hobby to my growing list (I probably need to draw the line somewhere, but you only have one life)!
 

criollazo said:

Pippup, as a rule Burn-In time for any headphone to reach maximum performance is 300 hours at least. I know it sounds ridiculous but this is true. Be patient in the meanwhile and use those 300 hours to SELECT MUSIC TO PLAY ON YOUR BURNED-IN HEADPHONES, is a very good exercise for you. No so loud and not so smooth

Click to expand...

 
Thanks for your reply and I am already starting a spreadsheet (total data-nerd here) of music to return to once my ears deem them fully burned-in.  300 hours is a long wait for someone as impatient as I but it really gives me something to look forward to!  I am already really digging the sound of this setup as it has brought a whole new dimension to music I have been listening to for years and I really can't wait to hear just how amazing these headphones sound once fully burned-in!

Take all this "Burn-In" stuff with a grain of salt...
Just listen to your music and enjoy your new gear!

Pippup, is your Burn-In Process done?. If this is positive: Specifically, what is the difference in the sound for you?

trolldragon said:

Take all this "Burn-In" stuff with a grain of salt...
Just listen to your music and enjoy your new gear!

Click to expand...

+ ∞
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criollazo said:

Pippup, is your Burn-In Process done?. If this is positive: Specifically, what is the difference in the sound for you?

Click to expand...

At this point, I've probably only logged about 50 hours at most with them (commuting 3 hours each day leaves little time for music). I could certainly burn them in by leaving them in the closet and letting them run around the clock but I enjoy hearing the sound evolution.

In the 50ish hours I've logged, I've not noticed a ton of change. I think the biggest change may be in how my ears have adjusted to the new listening environment and now interpret this particular sound signature. The sound stage is still impressively wide with well-defined and extremely clear vocals and mids, but the bass seems to be softer than I'm used to coming from home theater rigs. Perhaps I've been listening to music incorrectly before with overpowering bass (subwoofer too large for the space) or perhaps bass just really comes to life on these cans after further burn-in. Either way, I'm certainly loving the music and I'd say these work wonders on 85% of music while perhaps lacking in the bass on the other 15%. On that note, I will admit that the bass is well-balanced in regards to the rest of the soundstage, I just think it's more balanced than I'm used to, with much less thump.

Could I be perhaps expecting too much, just not used to how music should sound through a proper headphone rig, or is bass one of the last things to come out during burn-in?

That sounds like 598's, which burn in won't really fix. It's accurate levelled & warm bass, though not very extended, so you won't ever hear theatre-type rumble. They're great though!

Pippup, so far you are in the digital recordings world, my advice is make your "Dream Team" of well recorded music, don't try only with the music you like. Easy is if you go 80's and 90's on original CDs, or any DSD recording. Streaming is a good option but you need to train your ears first if you would like to understand what sounds good and what sounds artificially good. Finish your Burn-In Process and ask older people for CDs at least, play them in someone's good stereo gear, training your ears is going to be your new standard for listening music in your excellent headphones system, you will enjoy them better because you will have already trained-by-yourself. If you live in USA go to Goodwill Store or Flea Markets and with no more than $30 you will pick up excellent recordings in CD format. Priority are Japanese and European recordings because most of them by that time were recorded and mixed in an analog "environment" before digitalized them, is what I do call "THE HEAVY CD ERA". Compression and Decompression of digital formats make the electromagnetic waves less real in these days. If you want to be a Jedi FIRST you need to be a Padawan... MAKE THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

I forgot you like bassy music, easy also, Orff Carmina Burana and Tchaikovsky overture 1812 are dramatically picky on the "real bass extensions" for headphones in my experience, look for those in your repertoire, are easy to find. Too many non real bass sound in recordings today. Classical Cello concerts you must have also