[tommy321]

Are the pads on the 558/598 any different from the 518? I don´t really care for the material used on them, but its tolerable. If they are better on the higher models, then that might be a minor way to mod them.
 
Can I also have a question? I´m quite new to head-fi, and I have no Idea what the driver actually is. I failed to find it in the glossary and wikipedia as well. rather than googeling endlesly, I thought I´ll just ask bunch of nice people
 

 

[johan851]

The pads on the 558 and 598 are nicer than the 518.  They're velour, so they should be softer to the touch and also a little less stiff.  I agree that that would be a good modification, and those should be easy to source from Sennheiser and replace.
 
The driver is the speaker element in the headphone - the part that generates the sound.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

 
The driver is the speaker element in the headphone - the part that generates the sound.

 
And plays only 50% of the role in terms of the actual sound you will hear.   The enclosure or the headphone has a lot to do with the sound. Keep the same driver, change the enclosure, and you will get a completely different sound. Just compare the HD598 and HD380pro,  they have the exact same driver, but sound absolutely and totally different.

 

[streetdragon]

gonna chime in here, i have actually attempted to take off the grill of my HD558 (already removed the foam, tried various damping options and still decided that nothing extra in there was the best) and the hardglue spot is acually not that hard. it can be pushed a way with your fingernail. and to my disappointment after pushing out all the connecting locks it was only the silver rim that came out. the hexagonal grill and the earcup is a single piece of plastic. so removing it would require a hacksaw.....
not sure about the HD518 and HD598 though

OP would be alright to know if the locks with hard glue holds down the entire outer grill or just the rim?

also the earpads are switchable between the 3 models, HD598 being the softest of the 3, HD558 being still soft, and the HD518 being more firm

 

[tommy321]

Quote:

 
And plays only 50% of the role in terms of the actual sound you will hear.   The enclosure or the headphone has a lot to do with the sound. Keep the same driver, change the enclosure, and you will get a completely different sound. Just compare the HD598 and HD380pro,  they have the exact same driver, but sound absolutely and totally different.

and the best sound is when the rear enclosure is virtually non-existant? I noticed that you guys give pretty high ratings to the HD600, and it seems that there isn´t much behind the driver except a mesh, that probably protects the driver. The mod for HD555 consisted basically of taking one mesh out from behind the driver which supports my hypothesis... I´m starting to think that the "best" headphones would be speakers with padding

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

and the best sound is when the rear enclosure is virtually non-existant? I noticed that you guys give pretty high ratings to the HD600, and it seems that there isn´t much behind the driver except a mesh, that probably protects the driver. The mod for HD555 consisted basically of taking one mesh out from behind the driver which supports my hypothesis... I´m starting to think that the "best" headphones would be speakers with padding

definitely looks like it

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

and the best sound is when the rear enclosure is virtually non-existant? I noticed that you guys give pretty high ratings to the HD600, and it seems that there isn´t much behind the driver except a mesh, that probably protects the driver. The mod for HD555 consisted basically of taking one mesh out from behind the driver which supports my hypothesis... I´m starting to think that the "best" headphones would be speakers with padding

 
 
Well, yes, sort of. The best possible sound would be if only the sound waves produced directly by the speaker drivers would reach your ears, without any additional interference from sound waves that are reflected away from others parts of the headphone enclosure. That should in theory give the purest sound.

 

[xuxoemc2]

Hello guys!
In my country the prices of the hd 5x8 line are:
 
HD 518 -> $150 dollars
 
HD 558 -> $250 dollars
 
HD 598 -> $350 dollars
 
I know, they're very overpriced.
 
I'm a little short of money and i'd like to buy the hd 518 and a xonar dx/dg but if the HD 558/598 worth the extra price i could make an effort.
Any recomendations for the headphones and the sound card?
 
Thankyou for your replies!

 

[john57]

Yes I find the very same thing. Very different in sounds. Thanks for the heads up that they are using the very same driver.
Quote:

 
And plays only 50% of the role in terms of the actual sound you will hear.   The enclosure or the headphone has a lot to do with the sound. Keep the same driver, change the enclosure, and you will get a completely different sound. Just compare the HD598 and HD380pro,  they have the exact same driver, but sound absolutely and totally different.

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

Yes I find the very same thing. Very different in sounds. Thaks for the heads up that they are using the very same driver.

yesterday i tried to put  2 pieces of cut eraser at the back of the earcup to create an angled earpad. what i didn't expect is that the mid-high bass was greatly amplified when i did that

 (the eraser's natural resonant frequency i suspect)

 

[john57]

Another great advantage of the HD5XX series is that it is easy to convert to balanced mode just by changing the 1/4 jack to a 4 pin XLR for my balanced amp since the cable contains separate grounds for the left and right.  I have the Little Dot VI+ balanced tube amp. The LD does have single ended outputs available as well. I converted my HD598 to balanced output and it sounds so much better with a very natural soundstage. The advantage of using the balanced mode is that I have up to 70v peak to peak available if needed for the headphones and makes it easier for the amp to drive the headphone. The HD6xx series seems to have more extended highs than the HD5XX but does it have more clarity? I was planning to get the Beyers DT770 32 ohm LE but the seller found out he did not have any in stock in the first place. I wonder does the DT770 has may advantage over the HD518 other being closed?

 

[fedor12]

Quote:

Hello guys!
In my country the prices of the hd 5x8 line are:
 
HD 518 -> $150 dollars
 
HD 558 -> $250 dollars
 
HD 598 -> $350 dollars
 
I know, they're very overpriced.
 
I'm a little short of money and i'd like to buy the hd 518 and a xonar dx/dg but if the HD 558/598 worth the extra price i could make an effort.
Any recomendations for the headphones and the sound card?
 
Thankyou for your replies!

I got both the hd518 and the hd558 2 days ago, im the returning the 518s as the sound quality was definiteley clearer on the 558s but bass was a bit more powerful on the 518s on amazon uk there was only a difference of £30/$48 so not too much but i would definitely recommend the 558s if you dont mind paying the extra money but otherwise get the 518

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

I got both the hd518 and the hd558 2 days ago, im the returning the 518s as the sound quality was definiteley clearer on the 558s but bass was a bit more powerful on the 518s on amazon uk there was only a difference of £30/$48 so not too much but i would definitely recommend the 558s if you dont mind paying the extra money but otherwise get the 518

and if you don't mind paying the extra money i would definitely recommend the HD598

 (of course only if you budget allows, if not the HD558 would do good)

 

[fedor12]

Quote:

and if you don't mind paying the extra money i would definitely recommend the HD598

 (of course only if you budget allows, if not the HD558 would do good)

The hd598 was only £30/$48 more than the 558 and looks alot nicer but i heard that the 518 has the most bass and 598 the least with 558 being the middle ground is that true? Because that is why i picked the 558 as i wanted a decent amount of bass but obviously the 598 has the biggest soundstage out of the 3. Also remember that u can mod the 558s to sound almost excactly like the 598 but apparently it voids the warranty so i will not be trying it anytime soon lol

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

The hd598 was only £30/$48 more than the 558 and looks alot nicer but i heard that the 518 has the most bass and 598 the least with 558 being the middle ground is that true? Because that is why i picked the 558 as i wanted a decent amount of bass but obviously the 598 has the biggest soundstage out of the 3. Also remember that u can mod the 558s to sound almost excactly like the 598 but apparently it voids the warranty so i will not be trying it anytime soon lol

well yes everything you stated is true. but nevertheless the HD558 should still be plenty clear