I first started getting into audiophile grade headphones in high school (5 years ago) with Sennheiser HD515 headphones which were (at the time) the best headphones I had ever tried. Since then I have sought other headphones, in pursuit of new sound, new experience, and a perfect headphone. I paid 40 dollars for Sennheiser HD515 on amazon in 2010, and a hundred and fifty for these HD598 now. The quality has gone down in my opinion. Sound stage on the HD598 feels small in comparison, for the money I expected a flat but clear sound and to be honest it sounds very distorted in some songs, and seems to push mids above all else, the highs are no where near as clear as my HD515 and the bass seems to be a good level. I can hear a drum and not a thundering boom in Arctic Monkeys "Do I wanna know?" but in Fireflights "For Those Who Wait" the pitch doesn't get as high as other headphones.
 
The soundstage, the reason I bought these headphones in the first place, seems small not massive like my HD515 and can't reach the highs that I expected. The HD598 seem good but not great, barely worth the one hundred and fifty I paid for these, definitely not worth the two hundred and fifty they retail for.
 
This is my first review, I plan on working on my writing with these reviews.