[chicolom]

Quote:

I've seen a variety of comments regarding the 598s. Never have I heard anything about them having "too much midrange". Well except just now by MLE. I did hear some complaints about headphones like the AD-2000 though for having too emphasized of a midrange. 

 
I've certainly never seen them described as "V" shaped or having recessed mids

.  People usually talk about their mids as being one of their best strengths (along with soundstage).  Having strong mids may be a pro for some, but a con for others. 

 

[NimbleTurtle]

Quote:

 
I've certainly never seen them described as "V" shaped or having recessed mids

.  People usually talk about their mids as being one of their best strengths (along with soundstage).  Having strong mids may be a pro for some, but a con for others. 

But it's not even that the 598s have strong mids. It's forward compared to other headphones but that's how it should be in the first place. I suppose there is some discrepancy coming from how loud you listen to the music. If you're the type of person who listens to music at a low volume, bass and treble emphasis should be fine. But if you listen moderately loud, than the midrange becomes a very important aspect of the sound and you can hardly ever call it "heavily pushed forward" because the bass and treble will exponentially sound louder (fletecher munson curve). This is why you'll very rarely find people complaining about how mid-centric a phone is. And in this case, the 598s are not even remotely close to being "overly midcentric"; it's actually very well balanced out with the frequencies, more so than the 595/ PC360 which are more lacking in both bass and treble. 
 
The HD 598s, like I said, sounds quite different from the rest of the Sennheisers, including the 558. To truly see the difference, you have to directly compare them (and preferably with a double blind test if possible). You can't really rely on others' comments all the time, and there are always discrepancies. Here is one example: 
 
"...[size=10pt]Oh, by the way, my pair of HD595 headphones doesn't even come close to the sound quality of the HD598.  The HD595 is dull, two dimensional, and boring in comparison to the HD598." - Violetta88[/size]
 
Just as a side note, the Q701 did not sound too thin in the midrange, though not as full as the 598s. It was mostly in the lower midrange that I noticed such thinness. As a cellist, the timbre of the cello is pretty important for me. This the Q701 failed to represent and even around the bass region, acoustics of the guitar and drums sounded too... "airy" or "with a hint of plastic". 

 

[tdockweiler]

Q701 sounds pretty decent with just the E10 on High Gain. A little thin sounding and not very full, but nothing too bad.
Definitely a step down from the E9, but i'm surprised at what this little thing can do.
 
Best of all it's soundstage isn't that small, which is usually a sign of not being well amped.
 
BTW why does the line out to amp sound worse than headphone out to amp?
 
The line out just seems to reduce the soundstage size and make the mids more fatiguing and forward.
 
With my amp I might actually like the E10 more than the HRT MSII. Not even kidding..weird.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Sorry but mids being forward 'as it should be' is a bit much. I personally feel mids should at most, be balanced with the bass, or with the treble, to slightly forward, and not as obviously forward. To me, instead of it sounding like you are in the first or second row of a stage, the HD598 makes it sound like the singer is belting out notes right next to you. I didn't like it. It needs SOME distance for me personally. Its as fatiguing as treble being too prominent.

I think the Q701 has the perfect amount of mids to me. It has a rich, balanced sound, with no real bothersome peaks, unlike the old K701 which had a nasty upper mids peak which.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdockweiler /img/forum/go_quote.gif

BTW why does the line out to amp sound worse than headphone out to amp?
 
The line out just seems to reduce the soundstage size and make the mids more fatiguing and forward.
 
With my amp I might actually like the E10 more than the HRT MSII. Not even kidding..weird.

 
Try it with the E9?  The Line out sounds fine on mine, but I've never tried double amping it to another amp. 
 
The E10's amp is decent, but I always thought it was bottlenecking it's own DAC.  Just meaning, when I run the E10's line out to another amp like the E9 or M-stage the soundstage gets a lot bigger.  Like they're extracting more out of the E10's DAC.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Sorry but mids being forward 'as it should be' is a bit much. I personally feel mids should at most, be balanced with the bass, or with the treble, to slightly forward, and not as obviously forward. To me, instead of it sounding like you are in the first or second row of a stage, the HD598 makes it sound like the singer is belting out notes right next to you. I didn't like it. It needs SOME distance for me personally. Its as fatiguing as treble being too prominent.
I think the Q701 has the perfect amount of mids to me. It has a rich, balanced sound, with no real bothersome peaks, unlike the old K701 which had a nasty upper mids peak which.

I never get this impression with the hD-598 at all. I find it's entire signature very smooth and even more so than the Q701. The 598 is even great for garbage tracks unlike the Q701 (not that this is a positive..well I guess)!
What's weird is that I find the 598 more balanced sounding than the HD-600!
 
I know you agree, but I still think the 598 is warmer than the Q701, but just by a tiny bit

It's no HD-600 though..
 
My only negative is that the 598 could sound a bit clearer. It's not even as clear as the HD-580. I'm not talking about cranked up treble or anything to fool me.
 
Well anyway, I love both. I just will use the 598 when I don't want to be bothered by my garbage tracks. That hasn't happened much lately.
 
I should compare the 598 and Q701 more later. IMO they don't sound similar.

 

[Chris J]

Any thoughts on the Q701 driven by a FiiO E17 via a laptop computer?

 

[Gallade475]

i would like to ask, How do the q701 compare to DT990 and HD598 for electronic, hip hop, prog rock, classic rock, hard rock, and jazz? And as a extra little tidbit, if the DT990 comes out on top, how does its brightness compare to Grado SR325is I-cant-stand-it-brightness?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The DT990 is known to have Grado-type brightness. Avoid it, or EQ-it down if it's an issue. The DT990 is a lot more 'lively' and aggressive than either the Q701 and HD598. The bass is energetic, the treble is in your face, and while the mids are pushed back, they are still very clean sounding. The Q701 to me is near perfect. A slight bass boost is all it needs to be god tier in it's price range. I just don't like the HD598 for music at all...

 

[Gallade475]

i think i'll take a risk and plunge on the dt990s anyway. alot of my audio stuff(consumer crap like tv,  Logitech PC, and laptop speakers, and old shelf system)is all sibilance at work and doesn't really bother me too much although it is painful in other ways to listen to. You're right, I can just EQ if i'm not happy with it.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

i think i'll take a risk and plunge on the dt990s anyway. alot of my audio stuff(consumer crap like tv, logitech pc speakers, and laptop speakers, and old shelf system)is all sibilance at work and doesn't really bother me too much although it is painful in other ways to listen to. You're right, I can just EQ if i'm not happy with it.

 
Sure, Why not?
Personally, I like the DT990, it has a lot of fans, many prefer it over the DT880. I think both the DT880 and DT990 have their advantages, depends on what music you are listening to, source, amp, etc.
The DT990 has a bit more bass and a bit more treble than the DT880, it's a very attractive sounding headphone.
For my ears, the DT990 is easier to listen to than the SR-325, I find the SR-325 to be very bright, but lacking in bass to balance the whole sound experience out.
Personally, I would take the SR-225 or the RS-2 over the SR-325.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

JUST got my DT990 32ohms in.

IT's LESS peaky in the treble than the 600ohm. The 600ohm is clearer, due to less bass bloom which to me casues a stronger treble presence which adds to clarity, but it's a minor difference.

This is my FOURTH DT990, so I know what I'm talking about.

It sounds 95% as good as the 600ohm, without the hurtful treble peak, less finicky with amping, and more versatile.

That is what I'm hearing.

I'm actually upset that people jumped straight to the 600ohm without realizing that the 32ohm could possibly be better with their equipment. My NFB5 prefers lower impedance cans, and is definitely pairing up quite well with the 32ohm.

They sound very much alike, though the 32ohm is going towards DT880 treble presence, rather than 990/600.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

JUST got my DT990 32ohms in.
IT's LESS peaky in the treble than the 600ohm. The 600ohm is clearer, due to less bass bloom which to me casues a stronger treble presence which adds to clarity, but it's a minor difference.
This is my FOURTH DT990, so I know what I'm talking about.
It sounds 95% as good as the 600ohm, without the hurtful treble peak, less finicky with amping, and more versatile.
That is what I'm hearing.
I'm actually upset that people jumped straight to the 600ohm without realizing that the 32ohm could possibly be better with their equipment. My NFB5 prefers lower impedance cans, and is definitely pairing up quite well with the 32ohm.
They sound very much alike, though the 32ohm is going towards DT880 treble presence, rather than 990/600.

 
Hmmmm, call me cynical, but makes me wonder why Beyer keeps pimping the 600 Ohm versions as the premium versions.
 
When I bought my DT880s, I auditioned the floor model which was 32 Ohm thru an Audiolab CD player.
I bought the 600 Ohm version because I thought it may work well with my Matrix M Stage.
When I got home, I didn't think the DT880 600 Ohm and Matrix sounded as good as the DT880 32 Ohm and Audiolab.
I just assumed that the Audiolab had a better haedphone amp.
Maybe I should have stuck with the 32 Ohm versions.

 
The story has a happy ending, I do like the 600 Ohm version with my tube amp.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The 600ohm has a clearer sound, but that clearer sound comes at the cost of less bass presence, and more treble presence. The 32ohm doesn't have the ultra clarity, but its still quite clear, and less tiresome overall. Again, they sound quite similar. I'd say the 600ohm needs a warm tube amp, while the 32ohm doesn't, and sounds good off any decent amp.

 

[rrwatch]

Q701 thread has turned into a Beyer thread  lol. Is there a Q701 and  Beyer  comparison thread around ? I dont have Beyer HPs  but I likes my Q701's