[dannydamsky]

I mainly listen to Symphonic and Power Metal music and I'm considering these two. I mainly listen to bands like Epica and Kamelot, their song have many instruments in them and very powerful vocals, so hearing those things as pleasantly as possible is a priority to me. So for my taste which would be better?

 

[KG Jag]

  I mainly listen to Symphonic and Power Metal music and I'm considering these two. I mainly listen to bands like Epica and Kamelot, their song have many instruments in them and very powerful vocals, so hearing those things as pleasantly as possible is a priority to me. So for my taste which would be better?

 
Don't know your music.  The Senn is the more balanced and neutral can.  The X1 is a good basshead-lite can.
 
Do your prefer neutral or enhanced bass?

 

[mysticstryk]

  I mainly listen to Symphonic and Power Metal music and I'm considering these two. I mainly listen to bands like Epica and Kamelot, their song have many instruments in them and very powerful vocals, so hearing those things as pleasantly as possible is a priority to me. So for my taste which would be better?

Fantastic taste in music!  Just saw Kamelot live back in may for the 5th time!
 
As for your question, I don't have the X1 but I do have the X2, which is pretty great with those genres.  I also have the HD595 which was replaced by the HD598.  Also very good, though maybe slightly weak in the bass department.  From what I understand the 598 is a bit more lively than the 595.
 
Again though, I don't have those two headphones you specifically asked about, just other versions of them.

 

[dannydamsky]

I don't mind a headphone with a bit of a bass emphasis, as long as the mids and highs don't suffer from it. How do the mids and highs of the HD598s compare to the fidelio X1?

 

[Armaegis]

I would consider the mids and highs of the 598 better than the X1. That being said, the 598's benefit more from amping and scale a little better, whereas the X1 performs better without an amp.

 

[dannydamsky]

Amping is not a problem because I own a Xonar DGX and it should amp them both just fine. So with amping taken into consideration, which will sound better?

 

[dannydamsky]

  Fantastic taste in music!  Just saw Kamelot live back in may for the 5th time!
 
As for your question, I don't have the X1 but I do have the X2, which is pretty great with those genres.  I also have the HD595 which was replaced by the HD598.  Also very good, though maybe slightly weak in the bass department.  From what I understand the 598 is a bit more lively than the 595.
 
Again though, I don't have those two headphones you specifically asked about, just other versions of them.

 
That's really cool man. Sadly I never saw Kamelot live because they never came to my country

 

[KG Jag]

I don't mind a headphone with a bit of a bass emphasis, as long as the mids and highs don't suffer from it. How do the mids and highs of the HD598s compare to the fidelio X1?

 
The X1 has much more than "a bit of bass emphasis".  That why I place it in the basshead lite camp.  The more expensive X2 meets your description.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hopefully you disabled the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, before installing the Xonar DGX and it's software.
Swapping out the Xonar DGX, for an Xonar DX (used, $50-$60) and a FiiO E11K headphone amplifier ($60) might improve any headphones you have or plan on buying, over the Xonar DGX.

 

[Armaegis]

  Amping is not a problem because I own a Xonar DGX and it should amp them both just fine. So with amping taken into consideration, which will sound better?

In my opinion, the Senn HD598 will outpace the X1 for resolution with proper amping. The X1 still has more bass overall.

 

[LenaLena]

Seriously, I *just* unpacked my 598's today.  I was directed to Head-Fi by a friend who was tired of hearing me agonize over what to replace my crappy ass sound with.
 
Anyway.. 8 hours into a burn in (can't hurt, might help category) I stopped them to play some vid's and headed directly here.  I am absolutely hearing elements of music that I've never heard before, that alone will take some getting used to but I like it so far.  However, at the moment the sound seems to be all over the place.  Sometimes okay, sometimes great, and sometimes bassy and muffled.  I'm almost glad I missed out on the Fidelio's during Amazon's Prime Day.  :s
 
Anyway, I'm pretty much a complete audio noob and I bought these on a whim after reading the various recommendation guides and forum threads.  I appreciate quality so I'm way gonna let these burn in and listen to a lot of varied sounds before making any decisions but I thought I'd chime in here because they aren't quite what I expected re: the bass.  It just seems to be overly forward in some tracks.  
 
For reference, my sound tastes are decidedly main steam/pop/classical/80's hair bands etc.

 

[dannydamsky]

From what I understand about the headphones, they have neutral bass, and as for sound being "all over the place", that's because they have a wide sound stage, so you're supposed to tell which instrument is playing in which part of the room. I think the muffled bass is from your songs rather than the headphones, as I've mentioned before they're neutral so it must be the songs or maybe the quality of the playback, or maybe the source that you're using, either way the problem is not the headphones.

 

[dannydamsky]

Thanks guys for all the help I will be going for the HD598's

 

[dannydamsky]

  Hopefully you disabled the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, before installing the Xonar DGX and it's software.
Swapping out the Xonar DGX, for an Xonar DX (used, $50-$60) and a FiiO E11K headphone amplifier ($60) might improve any headphones you have or plan on buying, over the Xonar DGX.

 
Yes I have, I've disabled my motherboards on-board audio. And the DGX is only temporary, I bought it about 2 months ago because I couldn't stand the on board audio. I will eventually move away from PCI-E altogether and I will probably go for the FiiO E10K, it's DAC is better than the Xonar DX's and the amplifier in it is enough to power the Sennheisers. I prefer never to buy ASUS again, their driver support is terrible, they never update them, I think I'd prefer a plug-and-play USB audio device like a FiiO E10K. 

 

[cel4145]

I prefer never to buy ASUS again, their driver support is terrible, they never update them, I think I'd prefer a plug-and-play USB audio device like a FiiO E10K. 

Do you know about the UNi Xonar Drivers?

http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/

This is a good alternative to Asus's drivers.