Help me choose which sennheiser headphone i should buy.

[Matthew Zepess]

Hi, ive been eyeballing sennheisers for awhile. Right now i own a pair of JVC Xtreme Xplosives model HAM55X but im wanting to upgrade to a nice pair of sennheisers. Either it be a used headset in good shape or a brand new one. Im Pretty low on money. But i found 3 headphones that i liked by Sennhieser Which are the URBANITE XL Which i found for $90 Used or $140 New, HD 598  were used $126 or new for $150 , and HD 558.which were new for $70. I prefer the first two, Im a noob at audio. but i noticed the hd598 had a 50 ohm impedance while the urbanite used only 18 ohms of impedance. also the frequency on the hd598 went about a thousand higher then the urbanite aswell as going about 4hz lower and two decibels higher on sound pressure. Is this a big difference? Ill probably be using this on a lg g4 and a laptop, i might get a amp eventually but right now i have to wait or maybe find a good diy tutorial on how to make one into a altoids can. Also i overall think the hd598 was pretty ugly looking. So out of the 3 which one would you get if your low on cash and you were in my shoes. or should i wait till these jvc headphones die.

 

[Armaegis]

Low on cash, you can built a cmoy for ~$40 (maybe 25 if you're careful and already have all the tools)
 
For which headphone to pick... it depends if you want open or closed. That pretty much makes your decision for you.

 

[Matthew Zepess]

Ive heard of a cmoy but i cant find a good tutorial and i cant read wiring diagrams. i do have alot of the tools i would think i would end up needing such as solder, a weller wes51 soldering iron, and a bunch of other stuff. Let me look up whats the difference between open and closed and can a lg g4 and a laptop both handle 50 ohms anyway? or will it definitely need a amp. whats the worst that could happen?

 

[Armaegis]

What's your total budget? (for both headphone and amp)
 
Open cans do not block any external sound, and likewise leak sound. Closed will block both ways.
 
The 558/598 don't necessarily need an amp, but do better with one.

 

[Matthew Zepess]

so i just took a looked it up i dont mind either but i guess i may prefer choosing between the 558 and the URBANITE XL just because the 598 are pretty bad looking, btw im 16 so thats a bit more of what a older guy would wear in my opinion. anyways, just by blindly looking through the specs. it looks like the 558 can do 600hz higher and 1hz lower then the Urbanite aswell as 32 ohms more of impedance and 2 more decibels of pressure and its cheaper so im guessing its probably best to buy a 558 considering its $70 on ebay brand new while the urbanite is double the price Or $90 for a used pair. now will the 558 work just as good if not better then the urbanite even if i dont have a amp at the moment. will my audio be really low or sound bad? and btw, i just saw your new post and i dont have a budget, its more of figure out a price that i think i can manage to get the cash for and then buy it as soon as i can.

 

[Armaegis]

Specs on headphones are almost completely useless. Pretty much any headphone will reach up to 18 or 20kHz, and frankly an extra 600Hz at that point is not something you'll notice anyways. A 1Hz difference in the bass is nothing. In fact, I'll bet those numbers aren't even specified correctly so they are meaningless.
 
The impedance (ohms) of the headphones don't really say much either. Sensitivity tells you how loud it can get with 1mW of power, but basically any headphone you're looking at in your budget range will get to earsplitting levels with very little effort. An extra 2dB of sound pressure at a given power rating isn't going to make a difference. Those numbers really only start to matter when you're getting into the headphones like a Senn HD600/650, Beyer DT880, or AKG K## family, and even then it still doesn't really matter.
 
Just go with the HD558, it'll be fine. If you want a dac/amp, then get something like a used FiiO e10k for cheap and call it a day.

 

[Matthew Zepess]

ok thanks, ill probably get the headphones and eventually buy a amp, if im not blown away by the difference of a amp ill just return it or resell it on ebay.