[streetdragon]

Quote:

I need some help, I've been listening to my 598s throughout the day, I just got back from a quick road trip and now when I play bassy music I would hear A LOT of grainy sound from the left. I hope the driver isn't busted :'(

i think you got some dust or dirt in your left driver, maybe hair

 

[Frosty3258]

Now find me a headphone that resembles Amber Heard's tongue and I'm in.  Literally.  

 

[egokun]

Audio may be one of the worst hobbies ever. Allow me to explain.

It has been a while since I have posted here last and it has much longer since I purchased the HD 598's. Recently I've had some extra money lying around and thought "Hey! Maybe I should buy some new audio gear!". I've never owned external audio components before (amp or dac) so I looked into buying something to improve my already pleasant setup of Dell desktop --> HD 598. Drawing on prior knowledge and using some quick searches I narrowed my amp/dac options to the popular Objective and Schiit Combos many of you are familiar with. Here is the part that drove me crazy...

I looked into the differences between these two choices like I would any other piece of tech but found nothing that helped me. Some said that the Objectives are well tested and definitely the best choice. Some said they are both the same and that the Schiit is cheaper and thus smarter choice. Others bashed Schiit for simply being pretty Apple-esque boxes. These kinds of responses are what I found in every thread. Each response was based on nothing other than "I heard this", "so and so said that", or at best inconsistent empirical evidence and now here I am about to blow two-hundred dollars (more than I spent on the damn headphones to begin with) for something that may not deliver a discernible difference in audio quality. 

Please excuse my rambling. I'm just a young man who, as a lover of music, has as desire to learn more about audio through experience. With just about any other decision, one could weigh the cost benefit by garnering objective facts, but not with audio and certainly not on Head-Fi. Part of me wants to dive into the FOR SALE forums to buy and trade until I have come to some kind of conclusion to these questions and another part of me says to never buy audio gear ever again. 

Can anyone offer some guidance? What are your setups and why did you choose to or choose not to upgrade your 598 setup?

I feel your pain, my friend. My sentiments exactly.


I'm still curious about the HD598. The day I found them in a store, I found they were too expensive (audio stuff in Italy is grossly overpriced in B&M stores compared to online prices), and I couldn't figure myself wearing headphones with that color scheme, ha ha. So I walked put with HD558.

Now, whenever I see a picture of the HD598, I think it's beautiful... And I wonder about the sound.

 

[Krutsch]

Quote:

What's a good replacement cable with a 3.5mm jack?

 
If you search this thread on the topic, you can see photos and a description.  But here's a link:
 
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chuya-online/item/70943/

 

[ben_r_]

Quote:

 
If you search this thread on the topic, you can see photos and a description.  But here's a link:
 
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chuya-online/item/70943/

Urgh, it irritates me that that really is just the stock cable with the headphone connector side cut off and that metal sleeve put over the connection to the rest of the cable and their trying to gets $50+ dollars for it. I have half a mind to just buy a cheap spare cable and cut my own for a fraction of the price!

 

[cammerarian]

Sorry if it has been mentioned earlier but I understand that Sennheiser now have a shorter 1.2m cable with a 3.5mm termination available for the HD5x8 series in their parts catalogue .

 

[ben_r_]

Quote:

Sorry if it has been mentioned earlier but I understand that Sennheiser now have a shorter 1.2m cable with a 3.5mm termination available for the HD5x8 series in their parts catalogue .

Yep, and its resonably priced at $13, however they charge another $10 for shipping, plus tax so that cable ends up being about $25.

 

[ben_r_]

I just ordered one. Total came to $24.79. We'll see what I get.

 

[cammerarian]

My guess is that it will be pretty close to the Momuntum cable. It would be great if you could post a pick when it arrives.

 

[Nachash]

I've bought the Hd598 in the 2011 for 130€, now everywhere is pretty expensive (190€). Why? Is it because is discontinued and there's something better?
 
($170 vs $250)

 

[kimvictor]

Quote:

I've bought the Hd598 in the 2011 for 130€, now everywhere is pretty expensive (190€). Why? Is it because is discontinued and there's something better?
 
($170 vs $250)

They are discontinued? Never knew that.

 

[Nachash]

I doubt it, I was just asking because of the price.

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

Urgh, it irritates me that that really is just the stock cable with the headphone connector side cut off and that metal sleeve put over the connection to the rest of the cable and their trying to gets $50+ dollars for it. I have half a mind to just buy a cheap spare cable and cut my own for a fraction of the price!

The general cheapo cable from the hardware store is pretty bad though. I wire modded a hd202 to accept 2.5 mm so i could use a spare cheapo cable and the HD558 cable. Even on the HD202 i noticed the sound was more muffled with the spare cable vs the sennheiser cable. But then again depends on what spare cable you are planning to use so I can't say for sure.

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

They are discontinued? Never knew that.

Not discontinued, there is no successor and it is still pretty new, even something as old as the HD600 isn't discontinued.

(sorry for double post I forgot to multi quote)

 

[Krutsch]

Quote:

Urgh, it irritates me that that really is just the stock cable with the headphone connector side cut off and that metal sleeve put over the connection to the rest of the cable and their trying to gets $50+ dollars for it. I have half a mind to just buy a cheap spare cable and cut my own for a fraction of the price!

 
I'm guessing that you haven't actually seen one of these cables, but you are not correct.  I own two of these - one longer version w/ a 6.3mm connector for use with my home theater and desktop rig and a shorter cable with a 3.5mm connector for portable use.  The cables are definitely not the same as what originally ships with the phones.  The site describes the materials used in the cable and the leads, but you can definitely feel the difference, physically.  It's heavier and stiffer - whether that's meaningful or not.
 
EDIT: and FWIW, they do sound great.