[l00l]

Quote:

The HD598 is like the Q701 but even more mids, and less refinement. The Q701 is more balanced. No doubt for me, the Q701 is better.

I love the looks of it as well! Too bad it´s damn expensive here. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I think the looks are more impressive online than in person. I've said the same with the white K701. It looks SEXY online, but once you have it home, it looks like it's made out of toilet bowl porcelain. It looks horrible when worn too. I honestly think people shouldn't be fooled by online images. Almost every single headphone I've tried have looked better online, except maybe the ES7. That thing is sexy no matter what. Just wish is wasn't so damn uncomfortable. Even the D7000 isn't as impressive looking in person.

I think only the HE-4, ES7, Premium DT770/880 are the prettiest out of all the headphones I've tried.

The one headphone that REALLY turned ugly from how pretty it looked online was the HD598. MAN, that thing is HIDEOUS and cheap looking in person. Only the wood looking accents looked bearable.

 

[l00l]

Don´t know about all the others you are mentioning, but I thought the HD 598 looked great when I got it. Can´t complain about the looks.
What turned me off - and that was ultimately the reason I returned them - was the fact that it showed cracks and I was not willing to pay quite a lot of money for a HP that starts to break after only a couple of months.
 
But from what I heard Sennheiser fixed that problem - is that true?
 
In any case I will get a secon headphone for music and overall use, besides my Beyer, and that will be the 598 or a better alternative at a similar price level.

 

[chicolom]

HD598 cracking was fixed a while ago.
 
I haven't heard the HD598, but the PC360 is definitely more upside down "U" shaped (forward mids) than Q701.  Q701 is darker sounding, with more bass and body to the lows and mids.  When listening to music with PC360s, I think the upper mids sound too exaggerated and makes things sound a little honky.  Less of a problem when gaming.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The mids on the HD598 are even more forward than the PC360. I felt it was brighter too.

I personally felt the PC360 is about as balanced as it gets (nothing really is noticeably emphasized over anything else), though the Q701 is clearer and a noticeably better than the PC360.

If I had to personally rate the quantity of the headphone balance (0 being no emphasis)

sub bass | punchy bass | mids | highs

PC 360

0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0

HD598

0 | 0.5 | 2 | 0

Q701

0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0.5

K701

0 | 0 | 1.5 | 1

DT990 Premium

2.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 3

DT990 Pro

2.5 | 3 | 0 | 2.5

DT880

1.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 1.5

D7000

3 | 0.5 | 0 | 1

Pro 2900

1 | 1 | 0 | 2

 

[l00l]

This is a real noob question now, but how exactly can I hear the mids and the sub bass, or what is the difference to punchy bass.
I mean, I know how the DT 990 pro sound and they are very bass heavy and the highs are too high for my taste. So bass and highs is something that I can identify. But how can I identify the mids and sub bass?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Think of sub bass as the deepest, lowest rumbles in bass, and mid bass is a bit higher in the spectrum, (typical in drum and bass music).

I'll try and see if I can find a good comparison... might not be the best...

Sub bass:

Vibrasphere: Erosion

Mid Bass:

Pendulum: Plastic World

Pay attention to the bass, you'll notice that the Pendulum track is a bit higher in pitch in general.


Mids:

Usually where vocals are. With bass and treble heavy phones, mids take a step back (obviously), so vocals sound distant, whereas bass and treble are in your face. With a headphone like the HD598, vocals tend to be more upfront compared to the bass and treble.

That's not all the factors to the sound. Lots of songs have their own balances, which is why sometimes a balanced headphone like the Q701 can sound bass heavy, and some songs can have distant vocals no matter what headphone you use.



If you don't know highs/treble, well then, quit head-fi, lol.

Oh yes, 'Pendulum - Salt in the Wounds' does both sub bass and mid bass pretty close to one another. You can easily hear the range changed between sub and mid bass for some of the effects.

I'm not an expert on saying when sub bass ends and mid bass starts, but I can usually hear the diff, because the D7000 doesn't really do much to mid bass (it's more or less in line with the mids). It's emphasized quite obviously in sub bass.

I guess the difference would be easily told apart with the XB700 and XB500, which excel in differing areas. the XB700 is really sub bass heavy, and the XB500 is mid bass heavy, though it can go quite low itself, just not as much as the Xb700.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U18WfcbCRmk[/VIDEO]

A clear difference between sub and mid bass. At 1:38 is when the mid bass range kicks in a bit. Before that, it's mostly sub bass.

 

[kellte2]

New DSS2 user here.  Noticed a quirky behavior with the device and wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing what I'm hearing...
 
When pressing the "Surround On/Off" button, does it seem like the master volume is turned down?  I'm noticing that the volume drops rather significantly after going into "Stereo Mode" and even after re-enabling "Surround Mode," I can't dial the volume back up all the way back to where it was initially set.  The only way for me to fix the lower volume is to cycle the DSS2 on/off. 

 

[Hailin]

Quote:

 
Very interesting.
I have to admit that I can´t exactly tell how the 598s sounded, all I can remember is that they soundes very, very good to my ears, at least at that time.
Comfort is great for me on both, so no problems there. 
 
What do you mean that the 598 sound "way to mid forward"? And you also think they lack in bass?
 
My problem with the DT 990 pro is that they sound just great for gaming and movies, but for music the treble is just too much. I don´t like the scratching highs and from what I remember the 598s were smoother and more balanced and hence better for music and tv. Especially watching TV is no fun with the 990 pro.

What I mean is the Mids are so powerful in my case. (This won't be everyone's) I find the Mids to overpower everything. Hence why they are so beautiful with female vocalists and liquid drum and bass.
For my ears they were anything but balanced. But again different sources, and ears all that jazz. 
 
I am just one of those people that finds mid range overpowering in a lot of cases. Hence why the DT990pro is painful to most due to the treble range and I find them to be almost the perfect headphone. Seems all I seem to own and enjoy are brighter headphones. KSC75/DT/SuperluxHD668B. Which is a shame really.
 
I think if you find the HD598 smooth and balanced you should definitely give them another shot with a place with a great return policy. Or save up the extra you might need for the Q701. This is the same reason I want to try the Q701 so badly that I might just bite the bullet and order them so I can compare them directly with my HD598s before they sell. If I dislike them I can always just return them or sell them super quickly online I am sure.
 
MLE I wonder if you take a quick moment out and tell me what this song sounds like on your Q701s and Denon D7000. James Blake - Limit to your love. My Beyers love this track. The HD598 I found lacking and boring for the most part. I would really appreciate it. Thanks
 

 

[l00l]

Thanks for the explantation @ MLE
 
It´s actually not a matter of saving up the money for the Q701, it´s much more that I don´t wanna pay € 300 for a headphone that costs much less in the US. I just don´t wanna do that. 
What I might be doing, before getting the 598s again, is to get the Fiio E17 and just see what it can do in terms of EQ and overall sound to my Beyers. And if I am satisfied with what I get I´ll just stick to the Beyer. If not I can still get the 598 for a good overall headphone. I guess the E17 is a good investment in any case.

 

[Hailin]

Well let me know how it goes with the E17 as I am also interested in purchasing one as well. Ouch 300 euro bucks is high. I understand where you are coming from now.
 
So I said screw it and pulled the trigger on the Q701s.(Only live once.) I am going to get them try them out and decide whether I need an amp or not right away. If I do it will be a choice of whether to get a E17/Matrix  external style or an internal sound card like the Asus ST. Hope I enjoy them more then the HD598s.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

MLE I wonder if you take a quick moment out and tell me what this song sounds like on your Q701s and Denon D7000. James Blake - Limit to your love. My Beyers love this track. The HD598 I found lacking and boring for the most part. I would really appreciate it. Thanks

My Q701 is currently on it's way to calpis as thanks for lending me his Pro 2900, so I won't have them for awhile.

Listening to it now. That bassy breakdown, Jesus...wow. Pretty powerful with the D7000. The voice is pretty intimate and up close. It'd probably be way too close and pushy with the HD598.

I have never heard this song. I did NOT expect that HUGE bass section. XD It scared me actually.

Pretty damn good with the D7000. I can see how this would probably lose it's effect with a non-bassy headphone. The song is mostly acoustic, but the bass brought it all together.

 

[VN1X]

Hey all,
 
Short time lurker, first time poster!
 
So after doing some reading on the subject (mostly on these forums) I figured, why not join up and get a more specific answer for myself. With that being said, this has probably been asked a bunch of times before so bare with me sirs!
 
As I said I've been reading up on quite a few headphones on Head-Fi. I've already learned more than I wanted to lol and it seems my wallet isn't going to like me very much but alas, I want excellent sound quality. Some advice already given to other members include: A: I need a proper sound card with built-in amp and B: I need a card that powers a pair of 250ohm headphones (such as the  Beyerdynamic 990 pro or the Sennheiser HD595).
 
I'm not exactly an audiophile but definitely recognize great sound when I hear it. I'm mainly in it for gaming purposes but I suppose with the following setup I can get best of both worlds?
 
I'd like to get the following:
- ASUS Xonar Essence STX 
- Beyerdynamic 990 pro  
OR
 
- ASUS Xonar Essence STX 
- Sennheiser HD 595
 
It seems these two headphones are all the rave when it comes to gaming and have been recommended by a number of members so far. 
 
Will these provide their respective 'bang for buck' and will I hear Battlefield 3 like never before? 
 
I'm currently rocking the Sennheiser HD515 (without a dedicated sound card). I thought about getting the ASUS Xonar DGX along with a '5.1 gaming headset (mic included) but after doing some 'research' I might as well go all out and get some proper gear. 
 
PS I listen to all kinds of music but predominantly Metal. Just thought I'd mention that as well.
 
EDIT: On other forums I've read that this sound card isn't what one would get when you're in need of full-on surround sound? Is this true? 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The STX is a beast of a soundcard, and one I'd get. I'd say the DT990 Pro would have more of a wow factor than the Sennheisers which are very well balanced, but not very exciting in any way. Just keep in mind that the DT990 Pro's bass hits like a mack truck. It's good bass though, and not sloppy. Just a lot of it.

The STX has Dolby Headphone, so you're fine.