[feds27]

FYI, J&R has the HD598 going for $169 but the pricing is only offered on phone orders.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

they really are incredibly pretty! but not for me i think.

 You're not pretty enough?

 

[Bacci]

Got my HD598 today and spent some hours listening. I'm by no means an expert and would merely like to share my impressions with you. After all, the plural of anecdote is data

After letting the headphones break in for a few hours, I started with the "world's greatest audiophile vocal recordings" SACD. Unfortunately, Rebecca Pidgeon's version of 'Spanish Harlem' did not have the striking clarity and soundstage I'm used to, nor did I find Livingstone Taylor's 'Isn't she lovely' cover to do justice to its dynamic range.
Moving on to Radiohead, I found the lower and middle frequencies to be very well reproduced, but the higher mids and upper range average. 'No Surprises' on "OK computer" for example lacked the bell like clarity I'm used to hearing on my KEF speakers.
Blues and rock are what make these cans shine though. Eric Clapton's "Old Love" version on the "24 nights" live album gave me goose bumps and the Crowded House eponymous LP and "speaking in Tongues" by Talking Heads sounded great as well. Beware that these headphones are quite unforgiving to badly mastered CDs, the very loud Peppers' Californication or Music for Men by The Gossip sounded awful. "Untrue" from Burial (dubstep) was next, and I was really enjoying the resolution and rich bass the headphones have to offer. Will be doing some more listening in bed tonight, mostly jazz and classical.

All in all I'm pleased with the HD598's price/performance, but left with some hunger for more and wished I bought a higher end model.

Cheers

 

[HiQualiT]

FYI, J&R has the HD598 going for $169 but the pricing is only offered on phone orders.

Are you seriously saying that those sexy new improved 598 is actually $169? Because if so im gonna have a hard time not scooping them up!

 

[feds27]

Great headphones.
 
Stating the obvious, you'll get different results depending on the source/DAC/amp combo so don't be so quick to blame the phones if you aren't getting a specific sound that you're looking for.  I'm also not implying to go buy a mega $$$ kit to match the phones either.
 
I like them most on my Marantz SR8002 using iTunes as source via USB PS Audio Digilink III DAC.  I'm fortunate that my receiver has a very good headphone section.  I set the receiver to Direct mode so the equalizer would not color the sound.
 
The iBasso D4 Mamba also gave good detail via USB but my preference was the Marantz/PS Audio comobo.
 
The headphones are open so I wouldn't go outside with them.  And yes, the HD598's will work with an iPod without an amp.

 

[MRiNiCK]

 
Quote:

Great headphones.
 
Stating the obvious, you'll get different results depending on the source/DAC/amp combo so don't be so quick to blame the phones if you aren't getting a specific sound that you're looking for.  I'm also not implying to go buy a mega $$$ kit to match the phones either.
 
I like them most on my Marantz SR8002 using iTunes as source via USB PS Audio Digilink III DAC.  I'm fortunate that my receiver has a very good headphone section.  I set the receiver to Direct mode so the equalizer would not color the sound.
 
The iBasso D4 Mamba also gave good detail via USB but my preference was the Marantz/PS Audio comobo.
 
The headphones are open so I wouldn't go outside with them.  And yes, the HD598's will work with an iPod without an amp.

but how long is the cable sennheiser give you?

 

[Slaughter]

IMO, It's a repackaged 595, so your results are not surprising.
 
Quote:

Got my HD598 today and spent some hours listening. I'm by no means an expert and would merely like to share my impressions with you. After all, the plural of anecdote is data

After letting the headphones break in for a few hours, I started with the "world's greatest audiophile vocal recordings" SACD. Unfortunately, Rebecca Pidgeon's version of 'Spanish Harlem' did not have the striking clarity and soundstage I'm used to, nor did I find Livingstone Taylor's 'Isn't she lovely' cover to do justice to its dynamic range.
Moving on to Radiohead, I found the lower and middle frequencies to be very well reproduced, but the higher mids and upper range average. 'No Surprises' on "OK computer" for example lacked the bell like clarity I'm used to hearing on my KEF speakers.
Blues and rock are what make these cans shine though. Eric Clapton's "Old Love" version on the "24 nights" live album gave me goose bumps and the Crowded House eponymous LP and "speaking in Tongues" by Talking Heads sounded great as well. Beware that these headphones are quite unforgiving to badly mastered CDs, the very loud Peppers' Californication or Music for Men by The Gossip sounded awful. "Untrue" from Burial (dubstep) was next, and I was really enjoying the resolution and rich bass the headphones have to offer. Will be doing some more listening in bed tonight, mostly jazz and classical.

All in all I'm pleased with the HD598's price/performance, but left with some hunger for more and wished I bought a higher end model.

Cheers

 

[NinjaBoot]

 
I just bought mine from Electronix Expo for $169 $175.99 shipped... Use this code (which has no expiration) LSDA1210

Quote:

Quote:

FYI, J&R has the HD598 going for $169 but the pricing is only offered on phone orders.

Are you seriously saying that those sexy new improved 598 is actually $169? Because if so im gonna have a hard time not scooping them up!

 

[sugarkang]

Now we're getting into reasonable price territory for these things.

 

[Hayang]

Would someone do some detailed A/B comparisons between the modded HD555/HD595 and the modded HD558/HD598s?  I'm a previous modded HD555 owner and I sold them to get the M50s.  But recently at a headphone meet I tried the HD598s (I do all my listening unamped) and I thought they sounded GREAT.
 
The main thing I didn't like about the HD555s was that they didn't seem to have enough bass to complement the rest of the frequency range (everything else was awesome)... and I don't really consider myself a basshead either.  But the HD598s seemed to have a lot more than I recall the HD555s having, which got me all excited to buy the newer line but after reading some other reviews I began to doubt my impressions since I didn't have the old ones to A/B.

 

[Head-fier 86]

I love these headphones and would strongly recommend them to audiophiles out there but if you're at least going to buy an audiophile headphone, I would still recommend the senn 650's or the akg k701 because their better sounding but if you're on a budget, these are the best high-end headphones you can get for $250.

 

[Rudolfs]

After some hesitation I ordered them. Now, after a week, I am returning them.
 
HD 598 are 'nice' looking, they sound better than Koss PortaPro and, while unamped, they are at least as good as any phones I have. When amped, HD 598 are even better, and clearly better than my lesser phones. They are possibly on a par with DT 770 Pro (250), but still nowhere near K 701 or DT 880/600('05). But of course you cannot really use the last three unamped at all.
So HD 598 are really good unamped and still better when amped. As such they have an obvious niche.
 
The downside is that unamped they are not considerably better than old HD 515. Or Sony V6. Different, somewhat better, but not worth the outlay. Amped HD 598 are better than those two, but I already have headphones which I like considerably better when amped.
 
To characterise the sound, I would say they are kind of bland. V6 are in your face, 701 are larger than life, 880 are like a scalpel, 515 cause a nervous tic, PortaPro are nicely booming, 770 more so. 598 are covering everything in a fondant. When you listen carefully, everything is there - but under the fondant. Sweet, smooth, nice and polite. This might pass for 'neutral', but I rather feel that it is a clever cheat, since V6, 880, 701 and even 770 are revealing much more. 598 just did not involve me. Everything was passable, but nothing was exciting.
 
Moreover, apart from the grilles and cable, the build quality of HD 515 and 598 is substantially the same. All main elements are made of the same type of plastic. OK, HD 598 have metal grilles, I give them that, but that's about it. Who on Earth cares for fake wood and pleather and/or leatherette?? I did not mind the colour scheme, but given the materials it is not stylish, but rather tacky. And just try to extrapolate the traces of wear of HD 515 (or 555 or 595 for that) on creamy HD 598, - they do not develop patina, they start looking shabby in a year or two.
 
Finally, one of the reasons for new headphones was to use them with MP3 language course material - and for speech I actually prefer HD 515. So HD 515 and possibly PortaPro will have to do as the language course "workhorse".

However, I kind of enjoyed Senn sound, so I am getting HD 600 while I can (Amazon.fr for me).

 

[JCred]

I own two pairs of Senns (HD203 and HD555) and don't find the mids to be recessed, at all. In fact, the clean, forward mid-presentation is what hooked me on Sennheiser. Just my opinion, of course. 

 

[wind016]

After some hesitation I ordered them. Now, after a week, I am returning them.
 
HD 598 are 'nice' looking, they sound better than Koss PortaPro and, while unamped, they are at least as good as any phones I have. When amped, HD 598 are even better, and clearly better than my lesser phones. They are possibly on a par with DT 770 Pro (250), but still nowhere near K 701 or DT 880/600('05). But of course you cannot really use the last three unamped at all.
So HD 598 are really good unamped and still better when amped. As such they have an obvious niche.
 
The downside is that unamped they are not considerably better than old HD 515. Or Sony V6. Different, somewhat better, but not worth the outlay. Amped HD 598 are better than those two, but I already have headphones which I like considerably better when amped.
 
To characterise the sound, I would say they are kind of bland. V6 are in your face, 701 are larger than life, 880 are like a scalpel, 515 cause a nervous tic, PortaPro are nicely booming, 770 more so. 598 are covering everything in a fondant. When you listen carefully, everything is there - but under the fondant. Sweet, smooth, nice and polite. This might pass for 'neutral', but I rather feel that it is a clever cheat, since V6, 880, 701 and even 770 are revealing much more. 598 just did not involve me. Everything was passable, but nothing was exciting.
 
Moreover, apart from the grilles and cable, the build quality of HD 515 and 598 is substantially the same. All main elements are made of the same type of plastic. OK, HD 598 have metal grilles, I give them that, but that's about it. Who on Earth cares for fake wood and pleather and/or leatherette?? I did not mind the colour scheme, but given the materials it is not stylish, but rather tacky. And just try to extrapolate the traces of wear of HD 515 (or 555 or 595 for that) on creamy HD 598, - they do not develop patina, they start looking shabby in a year or two.
 
Finally, one of the reasons for new headphones was to use them with MP3 language course material - and for speech I actually prefer HD 515. So HD 515 and possibly PortaPro will have to do as the language course "workhorse".

However, I kind of enjoyed Senn sound, so I am getting HD 600 while I can (Amazon.fr for me).

I have similar impressions as your's but my perferences are completely different. I found the Beyers and AKGs to sound just wrong. The HD598 is one of the most natural sounding headphones I've heard. The presentation of frequencies on the other headphones was intolerable for me