I would love to attend. I have some pretty basic mid-fi gear, but would be willing to bring what I have.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their time and equipment. I really enjoyed meeting everybody and sharing their impressions of the different gear. Hope to see you guys again!

I've never been to a meet before, but this is literally just around the corner from me so I will be there :)   What's the best way to bring music with you to audition? CD's, USB drives or ??

A coworker asked me if they sounded good because they were the ugliest headphones he'd ever seen. I said "hell yeah". :)

The only mod I would consider would be adding some foam to the inside of the cup to prevent reflections. The first time I tried them I picked up on a slight "boxiness" from the cup reflections but I don't even notice it now. I'll bet they sound great with some damping inside though. Also the...

I realize a lot of headphone experience is subjective, but I would in no way describe this headphone as sounding "muddy". In fact I was expecting more rolled off treble than this. I would say the sound signature is fairly close to the HD 600.

Just got mine today from the UK and the hi hats are clear to me. Running it off an objective 2 at work right now.

You definitely lose some detail with DH. I feel the processing/reverb tends to obscure some of the audio cues. EQing can help a little. Just try to bring down everything from the upper bass to lower bass.

War tapes is supposed to sound all clipped like that. It's supposed to sound like old war footage. Try "home cinema" or "hi fi" instead.     x7007, You probably don't want to use the in-game "headphones" setting with virtual surround. That's for people who don't have a surround output device.

Just a reminder, it's free until the end of the month (donation is optional). After that it looks like it will be $20, so if you have any interest in trying it you should get it now.

I think you will find that they're all like that. I remember reading another thread discussing this. If you notice, it's the left side and it corresponds with the cable entry. It is not a defect and it does not affect the sound.   Here's a link to the main 598 thread discussing the fused area...

I had some 545's back in the late 90's before I upgraded to the 580's, which sounded the same, but with more detail. For under $100, I would suggest the 558's if you can get a deal, but I haven't heard them personally. I do have the 598's and I feel they are similar enough to recommend.

I've got most of the BOM stuff in a cart on mouser, but they don't appear to stock tube sockets. Would this be appropriate? Oh, and those leads for the MOSFETs, anyone know where to get those?

It doesn't really work well with any of my high end open headphones. The positioning is always off. For my ears, it works really well with the ATH-M50, and decent with Koss supra aural headphones. Of course every one's ears are unique (size, shape, etc), so rear positional cues might not sound...

Just got a pair of these, and love the way they sound, but I did not expect the pads to be the most uncomfortable thing ever. There's almost zero give to the pads. The headband bumps are minor compared to the pressure it puts on my cheekbones and jaw. The pair I've got now is brand new, so my...