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Meet the HD 598 Special Edition
Jun 13, 2016 at 4:38 AM Post #361 of 379
gloriouslettuce said:
awesom2. Not risky to buy? Hope theyre not gettig ridd of a faulty batch or something
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No risk to buy, mine are working perfectly. They just do promotion prices from time to time, turning rounds on different Amazons. Besides you can scan the hologram on the box to check if it is original, and mine were OK.
 
Jun 17, 2016 at 7:18 AM Post #364 of 379
yangian said:
How about its sound compared to HD600?
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Hd600

Way forward mids, balanced bass, refined treble
Soundstage average in width, great presence, sound magical and timeless

Hd598

Forward mids but not as much, slight bass recess imho, even tho somewhere boomy, also great treble
Soundstage quite big
Very interesting to listen in quiet volume, reveals tiny details
Grainy with metal and distortion music, best for acoustic or clean tones, electronica and pop sound great too
 
Jun 17, 2016 at 7:21 AM Post #365 of 379

Purchased mine recently too. I'm normally a closed-can type of guy. These are awesome open cans. Detailed and accurate sound. Price to performance ratio make them a steal! 
wink.gif

 
Jul 12, 2016 at 7:06 AM Post #366 of 379
There is absolutely nothing out there for the price as good as the 598se and like any headphones a good setup will bring out the strength in the headphones.If you planning to use them for gaming and running directly off say a ipod it still sounds good but it really shines with a tube setup.
 
Jul 15, 2016 at 1:01 AM Post #367 of 379
Yes, the hd598 se's are great. Had a pair a couple of months ago ( used/refurb ) and hated them. Just received a new pair today and these things are night and day to my previous pair. Something must have been wrong/defective with that previous pair. Cannot believe how Great my new SE's are. Everything, highs, mids, and yes, lows! Fantastic headphones. Also had 2 pairs of 558's, modded and un-modded which do not sound anything like these. I mean Nothing like these. So pleased and thinking of getting another pair just to keep in it's box.
 
Jul 31, 2016 at 10:02 PM Post #369 of 379
veggiepopper said:
Totally agree! It would be boring if we all had the same tastes. Also, for twice the price and being a planar, it only makes sense that the HE 400S is an upgrade to the 598. To be honest, the recent reviews make me consider this phone later on.

But for now, I'm in love with the 598, and I admire that even if you prefer the 400S, you still respect the 598 and enjoy them enough to keep them despite owning a better set of cans.

Cheers.
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Thanks for your nice comment.
 
Actually I own several headphones attached to various outlets (4 DAPs, 3 server outputs) and must admit the 598, although very good, is surpassed by the others for serious classical music listening, but they are more than good enough for casual portable use.  
 
Top of the heap here are the Sennheiser HD800S, used in balanced mode for the serious listening post.  They displaced the HD800 which is now in use for the best DAP (Sony ZX100) via an aftermarket cable I butchered to silver solder on a 3.5 plug.  And the AQ is brilliant, just underlining how important the headphones are.  The HD800 are significantly better than the HiFiMan 400s, something expected when you look at the price difference. And they can be got used now for around the $800 mark, still expensive but worth it if the budget allows.
 
There may be even better headphones out there but I've ventured into this world more than originally intended already so am trying to be sensible and be satisfied with what I have.
 
Aug 4, 2016 at 9:17 AM Post #370 of 379
_js_ said:
 
Indeed!
 
The fact that Grado goes to the trouble of matching transducer pairs with each other points out this variation quite prominently, I think.
 
Also, I once read about an experiment where people were listening to the exact same speakers for each listening session.  Not just the same make and model, but the exact same speakers in the exact same room with the exact same upstream chain and source material.  The only thing that changed was the color of the cloth covering the speaker grilles!  And yet, across all genders and age groups, there was a significant difference in the perceived sound, especially with certain colors.  And, black didn't fare that well, actually!  IIRC it came across as cold and thin.  Blue and red did better.  Yellow was harsh.  Etc.  Anyway, point is that it really is crazy what kind of subjective stuff can happen in this realm.  And in this case, maybe the brown and beige vs. the black color is having an effect!  (Maybe!  Or maybe not, since you can't see the cans when you're wearing them.)
 
And yet, despite stuff like this, we all make comparisons against cans we've heard before but not longer own, or never owned, etc.  I do it.  It seems necessary.  It feels reasonable.  I made a bunch of comparisons between the Grado RS2e's and the SR225e's, despite the fact that I had only auditioned the 225's in a Stereo store for 2 hours a week before.
 
And I still think there was something objectively true in this.  Certain parts of certain songs were physically painful on the 225's (upper treble) which didn't stand out much at all on the 2e's, and so on.  That seems to be more than just subjective.  But then, on some days our ears and hearing is different than on others, depending on how much sleep we got, whether we are hungry or not, stressed or not, happy or not, etc.  So who knows!
 
In any case, I will be interested to see if a consensus develops here in regards to SE vs. beige.  Unfortunately, I only own the 595's, so my comparison will be between that and the 598SE's.
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I've heard of a study along the same lines, involving hot chocolate. The same brand of hot chocolate was put into different colored mugs. The test subjects were told that each mug had a different brand of hot chocolate, and were asked which brand they preferred. Most of the subjects made a choice of preference for the hot chocolate in one colored mug or another. (the power of suggestion,expectation bias) . By the way, the hot chocolate in the red mug was the ' winner'. It was the most preferred ' brand '.
 
Oct 31, 2016 at 7:41 AM Post #371 of 379
Well i am about to accept a deal and let a pair of ivory hd598s go....i was offered a deal envolving a pair of hd600s (my hd598s (payed 70 euros for them when i got them) plus 70 euros for the hd600s....)....

Do you guys think its a smart deal?
If i miss the hd598s and decide to buy this hd598ses do you guys think i will regret it? Or they all should sound the same and the differences heard are simply some badly manufactures units?

Cheers..
 
Nov 15, 2016 at 9:42 PM Post #372 of 379
pedro oliveira said:
Well i am about to accept a deal and let a pair of ivory hd598s go....i was offered a deal envolving a pair of hd600s (my hd598s (payed 70 euros for them when i got them) plus 70 euros for the hd600s....)....

Do you guys think its a smart deal?
If i miss the hd598s and decide to buy this hd598ses do you guys think i will regret it? Or they all should sound the same and the differences heard are simply some badly manufactures units?

Cheers..
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From what I've heard, the sound should be identical aside from quality control from the manufacturer.
 
Feb 23, 2017 at 11:31 AM Post #373 of 379
I've been using my HD 598 SE for a few days now and am loving them. I was using the old HD 280 Pro for a few years and bought the HD 598 Cs a couple weeks back. I really enjoyed the Cs but decided I wanted to compare them the SE so I bought it. I immediately realized that the open back SE was much more enjoyable to my ears in most situations (especially for gaming) and I sent my HD 598 Cs back to Amazon for a refund. Sure, the HE 598 SE is more bass light and neutral, but if I want to listen to music with heavier, harder hitting bass I can use my trusty old HD 280 Pro. Some people aren't a fan of the HD 280 Pro and I can respect that, but I personally like they way it sounds. I just find them to be a little fatiguing after an hour or two though. I can wear the HD 598 SE all day and its like a soft pillow on my ears. 
 
I had a little scare last night and while listening to a random bassy electronica song on Tidal and thought my HD 598 SE was developing a rattle in the left driver. I plugged in my HD 280 to compare and found that it was just that particular track on Tidal and not the driver. Massive sigh of relief!
 
Feb 23, 2017 at 5:11 PM Post #374 of 379
riflemanfirst said:
  I've been using my HD 598 SE for a few days now and am loving them. I was using the old HD 280 Pro for a few years and bought the HD 598 Cs a couple weeks back. I really enjoyed the Cs but decided I wanted to compare them the SE so I bought it. I immediately realized that the open back SE was much more enjoyable to my ears in most situations (especially for gaming) and I sent my HD 598 Cs back to Amazon for a refund. Sure, the HE 598 SE is more bass light and neutral, but if I want to listen to music with heavier, harder hitting bass I can use my trusty old HD 280 Pro. Some people aren't a fan of the HD 280 Pro and I can respect that, but I personally like they way it sounds. I just find them to be a little fatiguing after an hour or two though. I can wear the HD 598 SE all day and its like a soft pillow on my ears. 
 
I had a little scare last night and while listening to a random bassy electronica song on Tidal and thought my HD 598 SE was developing a rattle in the left driver. I plugged in my HD 280 to compare and found that it was just that particular track on Tidal and not the driver. Massive sigh of relief!
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So you're saying the HD 280 gets fatiguing in comfort, not in sound?  Agree, 598 open > 598 Cs.
 
Feb 23, 2017 at 7:05 PM Post #375 of 379
lazylistener said:
 
So you're saying the HD 280 gets fatiguing in comfort, not in sound?  Agree, 598 open > 598 Cs.
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Correct. For me, the HD 280 clamps down much tighter on my head & ears than the HD 598. Because I wear glasses, it sometimes causes soreness of the ears after a while. Also, the leather ear pads make a very good seal & trap in heat, causing sweating at times.
 
The only time they ever get fatiguing in sound for me is if I'm listening to music with really punchy bass at (probably) excessive volume levels. At reasonable volumes that doesn't happen.
 
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