[Maker]

Hey guys,
 
I was about to buy the HD 558 but now I'am thinking of spending some extra money for the 598 (as people in other 558 vs 598 threads suggested). I do not care that much about the better clarity of the 598 because I was well satisfied with the 558 I tested in local store. However I do care about the soundstage. My question would be, Is the soundstage of 598 really that much better compared to 558, or is it only a slight improvement? At the same time I care about the bass. I compared 518 and 558 and

although the 558 bass is not that strong, it sounds good to me. According to frequency response the 558 and 598 bass should be nearly the same. But people say the 598 bass is really lighter. My question is... Is it really that light? Is it as noticable as the difference between the 518 and 558? Thank you in advance.​

 

[Aaron94]

There is a rather well known mod to the HD558 that involves taking out a small piece of foam on the inside of the headphones, it has been proven to a reasonable degree that doing this makes the HD558s sound exactly like the HD598. As for the soundstage, I dont think they are different at all, they both use the same driver, and for the most part the same driver housing.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

it has been proven to a reasonable degree that doing this makes the HD558s sound exactly like the HD598.

Nope. Worked with hd555 & hd595. Senn was probably was aware of the mod, and stopped it in the new models.
Grills between hd558 & hd598 are not same , which ensure differences persists after the mod.

 

[Aaron94]

Quote:

Nope. Worked with hd555 & hd595. Senn was probably was aware of the mod, and stopped it in the new models.
Grills between hd558 & hd598 are not same , which ensure differences persists after the mod.

Somewhere around the /g/ board on 4chan statistical evidence and graphs have been posted to support the foam mod for the HD558, if I can find them I will post them, but for now all I can do is tell you that its true.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

Somewhere around the /g/ board on 4chan statistical evidence and graphs have been posted to support the foam mod for the HD558, if I can find them I will post them, but for now all I can do is tell you that its true.

All right, mike discuss here the perceived differences  between the modded hd558 & hd598 :
http://www.headfonia.com/sennheisers-new-hd558-and-hd598/3/
4chan is a weird place to look for reliable information regarding headphones.
Usually 4chan is for all kind of trollings, and not "politically correct" jokes.

 

[Aaron94]

Found them.
 
http://archive.rebeccablacktech.com/g/thread/S34014325#p34014951
 
Basically all you need to see is the first 4 images on there, starting where the link takes you. The best evidence comes when the green line in the 1st image to the red line in the 4th image. The green line represents the HD558 after foam mod, the red line represents the HD598. Basically the mod effects only the upper mids, thats about it, but it makes the upper mids of the HD558 almost identical to the HD598.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Well, I  imagine it's not worth it to pay the price difference of  h598 over the hd558, but still (minor) differences remain after the mod. That's what mike from headfonia suggest in the comments: you'd rather  take the hd558.
Frequency response doesn't tell the whole story.
Having found the hd595 a bit boring, I'm anyways not attracted by these new models.
Between boring & boring, yeah, I'd rather take the cheaper model.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Someone on Amazon is selling their used HD558 for $117 shipped.
 
Digbuy is selling the Audio Technica ATH-A900X (closed) headphone for $155, plus tax & shipping.
I paid $256 for my ATH-A900Xs

 

[Maker]

I live too far from the Amazon sellers. Luckily I can have a new pair of 558 for about 150$ in my country (200 for 598).
 
Anyway I think I will stick to 558. Mike on Headphonia stated that the soundstage of 558 (maybe he was talking about the foam moded version) is very close or the same as 598's.
 
Could you guys take a look at my last post there please? http://www.head-fi.org/t/665379/hd-558-or-dt-990-pro-250-mainly-for-movies-and-gaming/15#post_9540266

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Imho, you'd want to upgrade the headphone  before you'd want to upgrade the source.
My hd595 worked nicely straight from an ipod, and getting a xonar stx didn't improved much the sound of my hd595.
I'm guessing that with the hd558, it would be the same.

 

[Maker]

Yea, I know what you mean and I agree with you, but I think ipod has better audio output than pc motherboard soundcard and mainly I want the Dolby headphone feature found on xonar cards.
 

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

 I want the Dolby headphone feature found on xonar cards.
 

can easily be emulated :
http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_dsp_dolbyhp
try it for free, on music .
 
Frankly I found that dolby headphone + hd595 sucks completely.
My hd595 already has it's "convincing soundstage" (more or less artificial),
add to this dolby to makes thing completely nasty.
I assume it would be same with the hd558.