Dobrescu George
Reviewer: AudiophileHeaven
No cracking has been reported for over two years now. I think it's safe to buy.
Totally! i never knew that it had a problem.. Truth is, i did not knew of their existence until one year ago..
No cracking has been reported for over two years now. I think it's safe to buy.
For sure it will work electrically BUT, if you look at this (and many other so called Sennheiser cable replacements) bayonet plug that plugs into the headphones you will notice that the 3.5 mm connector barrel only has three discrete contacts versus the 4 that are on the original Sennheiser cable. This means that instead of having two separate two conductor pairs that connect together in the 3.5mm connector at the source, one of each of the conductors in the pair are connected in the headphone socket. So what you say? With a nominal 50 ohm earphone impedance, sharing even a meter of common return wires reduces the channel separation and could increase crosstalk. Maybe not important for you but if you are driving these phones from a no compromise DAC and headphone amp, why risk degrading the sound of these incredible headphones? It would be better to just cut off the plug from the stock cable, make it whatever length you want and then reconnect the wires to a 3.5mm or 1/4" plug so that the two sommon wires are connected there, keeping the headphone wire pairs separate all the way to the headphones. Capice?
I realize this thread is old but I had a question that no one seems to have addressed since the above posting from oldogee:
I know that the official Sennheiser HD598 replacement cable (5X8ShortCable) has the 4 discrete contacts on the 2.5mm bayonet headphone side and this matches the stock cable that comes with the unit. But I notice that many folks purchase one of the many Chinese replacement cables which have only the standard 3 contacts on both ends and are quite happy with them.
I was wondering, does having the 4 discrete contacts on the 2.5mm plug on the headphone end make a true difference in peoples' experience? Or is it just more theoretical? I mean if Senn's official cables have the 4 on the 2.5mm end why don't the unofficial replacement cables have them too? Probably a cost and hassle issue? Any insight appreciated..
Would the HD598 be preferable over the HD600 for gaming?
Thanks.
You have 3 connectors on the plug you put into your device, right?
Having 4 on that end is to enable usage of balanced, if it was implemented. Otherwise, it is not really a help. The connectrs on the wider part are both groun ones in normal headphones. In balanced module, they are cold signals.
I think that most people will hear no difference between having one or two connectors there, both contain the same signal, ground signal.
Thanks for the reply. I guess what I'm asking is, on a given HD598 cable, is having the 4 contacts on the 2.5mm headphone end and 3 on the 3.5mm device end, the way Sennheiser has built the original and short replacement cables, necessary for a 3rd party replacement cable?
In other words, are you going to have a degraded signal if the unofficial replacement cables have 3 contacts on both ends vs the Sennheiser design. Note: I think I've actually seen a Chinese replacement that had the 4 contacts on the 3.5mm device plug end with 3 on the 2.5mm headphone end.
I was wondering, does having the 4 discrete contacts on the 2.5mm plug on the headphone end make a true difference in peoples' experience? Or is it just more theoretical? I mean if Senn's official cables have the 4 on the 2.5mm end why don't the unofficial replacement cables have them too? Probably a cost and hassle issue? Any insight appreciated..
Can anyone comment if the 598 is compatible with the brainwavz memory foam ear-pads ?
Can anyone comment if the 598 is compatible with the brainwavz memory foam ear-pads ?
I just upgraded from Sennheiser HD555s to Sennheiser HD598s. I was very happy with the HD555s, I've had them for about 10 years but the velour foam cups were starting to lose their foaminess to the point where my ears were just touching the inner grill. I figured I'd treat myself with an upgrade to the HD598s, but on first impressions, I'm bitterly disappointed. The sound is significantly inferior particularly weaker mids (almost absent), the bass sounds about the same, and the treble is much 'sharper'. It sounds very tinny compared to the HD555s and requires a higher volume (maybe 20%) to get the same amount of sound out of them. My first thoughts were that maybe it needed some burn-in time, but I had read elsewhere that this isn't really needed on the HD598s, and in any case, I'd be surprised to hear such a difference in sound.
Is this normal? I'm very tempted to send them back and just replace the foam cups instead for the HD555s instead, but I thought I'd double check with you guys first if I'm missing something here. I'm driving the headphones via a Logitech PC speaker amp ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Z-4-Speaker-System-Black/dp/B000BSTXFE ) which I know is not the highest quality, but I've never had any problems with it before and I thought the HD598s are fairly easily driven. I also have AKG K550s which I don't have a problem with on this set up. It did occur to me that some of the differences in the sound I'm hearing might actually be because the foam is so old and worn, and the drivers are essentially closer to my ears though.