I didn't like mine at all the first day either.
Now I've had them about 2-3 weeks and i LOVE them.
Now I've had them about 2-3 weeks and i LOVE them.
Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
barneypooch
@chimmycham
Hi, can you say where/how they improved? There's a lot about them I do like. Might be worth burning in for a bit longer...
Hi, can you say where/how they improved? There's a lot about them I do like. Might be worth burning in for a bit longer...
doktorsteve
These need a lot of burn in. After using mine for a couple of hours a day for 2 months I think I can still hear improvements in the level of bass and male vocals are becoming more natural (not quite HD600 yet). Some have said that 50 hours is needed. I like these headphones because I can either get really involved in the music or just run them as background. If I listen to the headphones crtically then I know that there is something missing, but very soon I get sucked into the music and end up playing the whole album when I wanted to play 1 track.
I think the "spend most of the budget on the front end" came about in the late 70's when the mags started to notice the Linn LP12 and realised that a decent turntable could make even mediochre speakers sound OK. Personally I bought the O2 and ODAC then started to look for headphones. I bought the HD598s DESPITE testing them on the appalling Sennheiser test stand at my local hifi store.
I think the "spend most of the budget on the front end" came about in the late 70's when the mags started to notice the Linn LP12 and realised that a decent turntable could make even mediochre speakers sound OK. Personally I bought the O2 and ODAC then started to look for headphones. I bought the HD598s DESPITE testing them on the appalling Sennheiser test stand at my local hifi store.
XxDobermanxX
Go buy some athm50 and enjoy
XxDobermanxX
and the shures you have are $600 bucks and you should research the nature of in ears before posting (saw your review on amazon 
)
)
AgentCOPP1
I have a lot of problems with this review. First off let me say that I completely respect other people's opinions. Not everyone is the same so it's only natural for us to have differing opinions. But here's the problems with this review: 1. You're comparing an open back, over-ear set of headphones to IEMs. That's just a big no no here in the audiophile world. That's like comparing a moped to a street car. 2. You're comparing two different price ranges to each other. I would be more liable to take you seriously if you had compared two $500 sets of cans. It's only natural that a more expensive set is more likely to sound better, but I still have trouble believing that you think the 598s are mediocre.
It seems to me that you're hold the 598's to a top-of-the-line type of standard which they were never meant to hold up to. They're meant to appeal to the mid-range type of headphone customers, not the high end. Now it's obvious to me that these aren't better than higher-end headphones at all, but I certainly don't compare them to higher-end headphones. That just doesn't make sense.
It seems to me that you're hold the 598's to a top-of-the-line type of standard which they were never meant to hold up to. They're meant to appeal to the mid-range type of headphone customers, not the high end. Now it's obvious to me that these aren't better than higher-end headphones at all, but I certainly don't compare them to higher-end headphones. That just doesn't make sense.
barneypooch
I don't think I could have been more respectful, or careful of others' opinions than I was in my review. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear.
As I said toward the end of my review, I'm not sure how the star rating on head-fi is supposed to work. Is it a measure of ultimate performance, or is it a measure of performance within their own category? When you think about the rating system, it's a bit of a logical mess.
Not to be a ******, but I have owned some good gear in my time (eg the Stax Lambda Pro), and thus my rating of three stars is exactly right, in my experience. What I DON'T know is how good the 598s are, in comparison with other mid-price phones. I'm prepared to believe that, at the very least, they hold their own in their price band.
If anything, my criticism was aimed at MYSELF, not the 598s. My mistake was to think that mid-range open-back phones would somehow be "high end" when, of course, they aren't. I should have spent more money, it's as simple as that. My bad.
They're fine 'phones for the money, but they're not some sort of super bargain. That's life!
As I said toward the end of my review, I'm not sure how the star rating on head-fi is supposed to work. Is it a measure of ultimate performance, or is it a measure of performance within their own category? When you think about the rating system, it's a bit of a logical mess.
Not to be a ******, but I have owned some good gear in my time (eg the Stax Lambda Pro), and thus my rating of three stars is exactly right, in my experience. What I DON'T know is how good the 598s are, in comparison with other mid-price phones. I'm prepared to believe that, at the very least, they hold their own in their price band.
If anything, my criticism was aimed at MYSELF, not the 598s. My mistake was to think that mid-range open-back phones would somehow be "high end" when, of course, they aren't. I should have spent more money, it's as simple as that. My bad.
They're fine 'phones for the money, but they're not some sort of super bargain. That's life!
The HD598 is better than the Philips X1 and in most respects better than the HD600 unless you pair the HD600 with a killer amp. Transparancy, detail, soundstage, balance is spot on.
They do lack bass impact though.