[VeXun]

I never thought they could match the sound quality because of the way the 598's are housed. I was told that removing the black rubber tape would actually make them more bassy, was I told wrong? I am tempted to put them back in to experiment. What I want overall is the most accurate sound I can get but for some reason if I can't hear very much bass it doesn't seem balanced enough for me, I always have to use an equalizer to enhance the bass from 40-80hz by a few DB, I used to be a basshead and would never have liked these headphones in the past because of their bass but I have grown up and my taste in music has changed.
 
If I listen to classical music, or jazz or classic rock then I am satisfied with the bass when not using an equalizer but if there is a song that has deep bass I like that subwoofer at a low volume sound. These headphones at high volumes can put out pretty good bass if using an equalizer but doesn't an equalizer defeat the purpose of what these headphones are mean to do which is sound balanced and accurate?
 
Anyway the black rubber tape removing it would make the sound stage open up and sound better right? 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I never thought they could match the sound quality because of the way the 598's are housed. I was told that removing the black rubber tape would actually make them more bassy, was I told wrong? I am tempted to put them back in to experiment. What I want overall is the most accurate sound I can get but for some reason if I can't hear very much bass it doesn't seem balanced enough for me, I always have to use an equalizer to enhance the bass from 40-80hz by a few DB, I used to be a basshead and would never have liked these headphones in the past because of their bass but I have grown up and my taste in music has changed.
 
If I listen to classical music, or jazz or classic rock then I am satisfied with the bass when not using an equalizer but if there is a song that has deep bass I like that subwoofer at a low volume sound. These headphones at high volumes can put out pretty good bass if using an equalizer but doesn't an equalizer defeat the purpose of what these headphones are mean to do which is sound balanced and accurate?
 
Anyway the black rubber tape removing it would make the sound stage open up and sound better right? 

As I have never listened to the HD598s and I removed the Black Rubber Tape a few weeks after getting my HD558s. I can't really answer your question in comparison with the HD598.
But, I do enjoy my HD558s, has decent bass.
They are fine for music and movies, to me.
I do think removing the black rubber tape helps with sound stage.

 

[streetdragon]

Removing the BRT, i feel that the HD598 has just a slightly more refined treble than the modded HD558, basswise im not sure

 

[VeXun]

How many hours do you guys have on your 558's now? I stopped leaving them on overnight because I want to hear their sound transform not have them left on.. I now find the bass to be satisfying with most stuff, I am so used to bass heavy headphones that It was hard to adjust to these but now I love them! The only downside is my Klipsch x10i now honestly don't sound as good as they used to, it feels like the treble isn't as bright It's sad because those were my favorite IEM lol.. like 75% of my music is 320kbps and 25% Lossless. I still need to get an amp..

 

[streetdragon]

i have mine for about close to a hundred hours now, i feel that the bass is plentyful, slightly bloated but extends pretty well with good impact, mids are full bodied, and quite clear and foward, treble is a little shy but still decently clear i feel. soundstage... not sure about this one

want to get rid of all my 196 and 128 kbps files, but i dun have any higher rez versions of them... T.T

 

[streetdragon]

sorry for waking a sleeping thread but just to let you knwo i replaced the foam pads in place of a piece of duct tape about 3/4 X 2 inches in size and put it in the centre like how the original foam pads were, they keep in the bass in better while not making the treble more dull like the foam pads (i used to have a 1/2 x 1/2 inch piece of foam in the middle where the sennheiser emblum sits and when i removed them there was a lot more detail in the headphones) 

so the duct tape keeps in more bass while still retaining almost all of the airy sound in
hope this helps^^

 

[spacemanspliff]

I did not like the 558 with the foam much. The sound stage felt too closed in. Without the foam, the headphones open up quite a bit more and I feel a sense of more air. Not sold on the sound yet though. Some things are good but the detail level or just accuracy of the mids is a bit confusing still. Only had them on head for a few hours though. 

 

[streetdragon]

I do feel that the soundstage is more concentrated stock, and more diffused modded.

 

[spacemanspliff]

I think that the sound stage is constrained a bit by the shape of the cups. It appears to be very good and detailed but a bit narrow and vertically inclined. I mean that if you took the sound stage and molded it into a shape, it would be like the cup itself with some sound extending out side it a bit. The movement from one ear to the other is good but the sound stage is just not that wide front to back of the ear. Damn good headphones for the money even so. Just wish the cups were larger. Seems like a smaller version of the AD900.

 

[spacemanspliff]

I took the pads out and then inserted some weather stripping to the interior ring below the pads which effectively pushed the pads up to about twice their normal thickness. I also took a dot of the stripping and put it directly behind the drive on the cup where the old foam was. Just a dot. Sound is better now with increased bass slam and sound stage is larger. Pretty cool effect.

 

[spacemanspliff]

I added some treble on my foobar eq. Running 44.1 khz, 2 channel stereo pcm digital into my receiver. Increasing the highs gives the, some added liveliness. Listening to Abbey Road stereo remaster and am enjoying the very high level of detail and separation of distinct sounds, voices and instruments. They sound like a really tight pair of bookshelf speakers.

 

[aidsbums]

Thank you very much!!!
 
Literally just did the mod...
At first i was sceptical about it, i thought it would be a very minute difference and very hard to perform the mod itself.
I asked my dad about it and he said it was probably just an urban myth. 
 
Once i had done it i went straight to my room and listened to all kinds of music. Instantly i had known it had helped... It really helped, and was easier than expected to carry out, the only bit i found hard was replacing the foam ear-pads, but it just took a fiddle.
 
The bass is less muddy and more clear, i feel more immersed in the music and it just sounds better in general, i don't know how to explain it. I am very happy with the headphones now and they haven't even fully burnt in yet.
 
Thanks a lot!!

 

[mamamia88]

Just did the mod myself.   Not sure if it's placebo or not but I think it sounds a little better

 

[apastuszak]

Hello all!  New poster here.
 
I just bought some HD558s during the Best Buy $99 sale, and just found this thread on the foam tape mod.
 
Watched a YouTube video and decided to try it.  The mod took about 3 minutes to do, and overall, I'm very impressed with the results.  Well worth the 3 minutes!

 

[balvan]

Hi,
I just got my new 558 from Germany, I opened them up, and to my surprise, there was no foam, it's not there anymore.
Could they have stop putting it there? can anyone confirm?