[endallchaos]

Hi, so I've been reading a few threads about this, but I still don't know which one to get. These will be my first pair of Open Back headphones. Okay, so, I listen to almost everything, but I will try to buy one of these for slower music like, folk, blues, some indie, slow soundtrack etc... While I'll leave genres like Hip-Hop, rock (metal, alternative etc...) for my M50's, until I upgrade to the Momentum. Which one do you guys think sound better, overall?
I will be using them with my iPod Touch 4th gen and Fiio E11, most of my music is 320 AAC, with some ALAC and MP3, thrown in there.

For a better explanation of what I'm going to listening to, I'll post a couple or few videos:

Joe Bonamassa - Blues Deluxe


John Mayer - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room


The Last Of Us OST/Gustavo Santaolalla - The Choice


as you could tell, a lot of it has guitars, so I would also want to know which one would bring the guitar playing to life, or make it sound better...

 

[KG Jag]

They have very different sound signatures.  The HD 598 is smooth with a touch of the Senn veil.  The Q701 pulls apart the music so that you can every musical voice, but in doing so sacrifices impact.  It all comes down to what flavor of ice cream you prefer.  You should make every effort to hear for yourself.

 

[endallchaos]

They have very different sound signatures.  The HD 598 is smooth with a touch of the Senn veil.  The Q701 pulls apart the music so that you can every musical voice, but in doing so sacrifices impact.  It all comes down to what flavor of ice cream you prefer.  You should make every effort to hear for yourself.

That's the problem, I went to a couple of Best Buys, Guitar Center and even Frys, but couldn't find either . Which one do you think would make the guitars and vocals sound better? in your opinion.

 

[KG Jag]

 

They have very different sound signatures.  The HD 598 is smooth with a touch of the Senn veil.  The Q701 pulls apart the music so that you can every musical voice, but in doing so sacrifices impact.  It all comes down to what flavor of ice cream you prefer.  You should make every effort to hear for yourself.

That's the problem, I went to a couple of Best Buys, Guitar Center and even Frys, but couldn't find either

. Which one do you think would make the guitars and vocals sound better? in your opinion.

I prefer the Q701, but other reasonable ears will go for the Senn.
 
P.S. with some effort you should be able to find both in Vegas.

 

[endallchaos]

I prefer the Q701, but other reasonable ears will go for the Senn.

P.S. with some effort you should be able to find both in Vegas.

Well, I guess I have to wait for more opinions, then lol 1 vote/point for Q701.

Hmm... I really don't know of any other places I could demo headphones... I guess I'll have to go to google and see if I find something lol

Thanks for the info, though!

 

[kraken2109]

The 598 are hard to dislike, they do everything fairly well and you'd probably be happy with them.
However, the Q701 do some things much better, but other things are often considered worse. e.g. many people feel that the Q701 are lacking in bass, or soundstage is too big etc

 

[AnalogSavior]

  The 598 are hard to dislike, they do everything fairly well and you'd probably be happy with them.
However, the Q701 do some things much better, but other things are often considered worse. e.g. many people feel that the Q701 are lacking in bass, or soundstage is too big etc

 
I pretty much agree with this.  HD598s are pretty good all around headphones.  Fairly neutral, maybe a touch on the warm side, with an impressive (if maybe exaggerated) soundstage, and pretty decent bass in most genres.  They are a pretty fun, and safe intro into open headphones.
 
Both the Q701 and HD598s will leave you wanting in very bass heavy music (or if you like bass emphasis in general), but both will serve you well.  Good choice either way.

 

[endallchaos]

The 598 are hard to dislike, they do everything fairly well and you'd probably be happy with them.
However, the Q701 do some things much better, but other things are often considered worse. e.g. many people feel that the Q701 are lacking in bass, or soundstage is too big etc

I pretty much agree with this.  HD598s are pretty good all around headphones.  Fairly neutral, maybe a touch on the warm side, with an impressive (if maybe exaggerated) soundstage, and pretty decent bass in most genres.  They are a pretty fun, and safe intro into open headphones.

Both the Q701 and HD598s will leave you wanting in very bass heavy music (or if you like bass emphasis in general), but both will serve you well.  Good choice either way.

And in your guy's opinions, which one would make vocals and Guitars sound better?

Yea, I've heard from a lot of people that both of these are lacking bass, but that's why I have the M50's and will own the Momentum (soon) for the genres that need bass. I'm not a Basshead, btw.

 

[KG Jag]

 

The 598 are hard to dislike, they do everything fairly well and you'd probably be happy with them.
However, the Q701 do some things much better, but other things are often considered worse. e.g. many people feel that the Q701 are lacking in bass, or soundstage is too big etc

 

I pretty much agree with this.  HD598s are pretty good all around headphones.  Fairly neutral, maybe a touch on the warm side, with an impressive (if maybe exaggerated) soundstage, and pretty decent bass in most genres.  They are a pretty fun, and safe intro into open headphones.

Both the Q701 and HD598s will leave you wanting in very bass heavy music (or if you like bass emphasis in general), but both will serve you well.  Good choice either way.

And in your guy's opinions, which one would make vocals and Guitars sound better?

Yea, I've heard from a lot of people that both of these are lacking bass, but that's why I have the M50's and will own the Momentum (soon) for the genres that need bass. I'm not a Basshead, btw.

Sorry, it's not that simple.  All good mid-fi cans (which is what we have here) will do a good job on both.  These are mids to lower treble sounds.  The question comes down to what presentation of these sounds do you prefer.

 

[endallchaos]

Sorry, it's not that simple.  All good mid-fi cans (which is what we have here) will do a good job on both.  These are mids to lower treble sounds.  The question comes down to what presentation of these sounds do you prefer.

Okay, Thank you!