[tdockweiler]

Quote:

HD598 > HD600 > HD650
My tastes run opposite of price in this case.

Same here and I actually prefer the HD-580 to the HD-600. I do know it's the same driver, but the HD-580 is less of a snore fest for me than the HD-600.
I did love the HD-650 for female vocals though.

 

[juantendo8]

Any of the HD6x0 are superior over the 598 in many ways as music headphones, but only when amped with good components. The only case where I would want to use the 598 would be for gaming or portable purposes. My personal preferences are HD650>HD600>>>HD598. Although some describe the HD6x0 as being sleepy, I personally find the HD598 to have the more thin and dull sound.

 

[TMRaven]

I'm with you on that.  I found the HD650 with its infamous supposed 'veil' to be less dull than any of the HD500 series, including the 598.

 

[Katun]

I'd say all three (HD598, HD600, HD650) are all equally great. But I'd take the HD600 or HD650 over the HD598. But I think the HD598 has 90%+ the SQ. Then again, I'm sure that margin would increase if you brought the HD6** out of it's shell with proper amplification. But generally speaking, they are all good and I'd be happy with any of them.

 

[Maxvla]

Any of the HD6x0 are superior over the 598 in many ways as music headphones, but only when amped with good components. The only case where I would want to use the 598 would be for gaming or portable purposes. My personal preferences are HD650>HD600>>>HD598. Although some describe the HD6x0 as being sleepy, I personally find the HD598 to have the more thin and dull sound.

Gone are the days where putting a huge chain upstream of HD600/650 makes any sense. Using new prices, HD600/650 for $400-500 + balanced amp ($700+) and balanced DAC ($500+) for a total of $1600 minimum vs HE500 ($700) + moderate amp ($250-500) and moderate DAC ($200-400) for a total of $1200-1600 and SIGNIFICANTLY better sound. The affordable orthos (HE500/LCD2) that perform well on inexpensive entry level gear, make the old super powered HD600/650 rig obsolete in every way.

I'd take a HD598 with an Asgard and Bifrost over my old balanced HD600/LD MKVI/Dacmagic rig any day for that matter. $250 + $250 + $350 = $850 (all new prices) vs $200 (used), $750, $400 (used) = $1350, what I paid for my rig and 2 of those were used.

 

[clarknova]

Having listened to many of the Sennheiser HD ranges (500-650 and I own a pair of the HD650's) I can say that the HD650 to me at least punches sky high with detail but they are what many would consider "relaxed" and compared to previous generations ... it all comes down to personal taste.
 
One person's sonic gold mine is another individuals harmonic nightmare. The only true way to know is to hear it and judge it for yourself.

 

[tdockweiler]

I think there is no BEST for all 3 headphones. What's best for you is not best for me. It all comes down to preferences really. HD-600 and 650 are good headphones but just don't have the signature I like. People can say the HD-600 and 650 are technically better all they want, but I only care about my preferred sound signature.
 
I guess this is one reason I always preferred the K501/K601 over the K702 or the Grado SR-225i over the 325i.
 
I imagine there are many genres the HD-600/650 will be better at than the HD-598. The 598 seems to do every genre well enough for me.
If I needed more bass I'd probably have owned and kept the HD-600 over the 598.
 
I would say the #1 reason I love the 598 over the HD-600 is that it has more forward mids (not upper mids) and it feels slightly clearer at times than the warmer HD-600/HD-580.
IMO the HD-600 soundstage size is a joke compared to the HD-598. I personally don't care about this, but for gaming it does matter.
 
I also generally hate warm sounding headphones so the HD-600 and HD-650 are not a good match for me. HD-598 is still fairly warm, but not too bad.
I actually don't think I can think of anything the HD-580 (or the HD-600) does better for ME.
 
Sure it has more bass and more forward upper mids, but that's about it. Somehow the 598 even sounds clearer despite the possible extra treble on the HD-600.
 
Now with the HD-600 at $399, it's just a rip-off. Sennheiser makes me sick. I can't believe they expect people to pay that much. Of course if you feel it's worth it, then go ahead..
 
I kept hoping Sennheiser made a headphone that's an upgrade to the 598 with a similar signature, but only better, but all we got is the HD-700.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[kabes]

I've owned both and I sold the 598s after trying the 650s. They are just more pleasing to my ears. They are effortless, relaxing, smooth....

598s are a great headphone though and with the 650s price seemingly on the rise, it's harder to justify the price difference. That said if my 650s broke tomorrow I would get a new pair without a second thought.

 

[Katun]

Quote:

I think there is no BEST for all 3 headphones. What's best for you is not best for me. It all comes down to preferences really. HD-600 and 650 are good headphones but just don't have the signature I like. People can say the HD-600 and 650 are technically better all they want, but I only care about my preferred sound signature.
 
Now with the HD-600 at $399, it's just a rip-off. Sennheiser makes me sick. I can't believe they expect people to pay that much. Of course if you feel it's worth it, then go ahead..
 
I kept hoping Sennheiser made a headphone that's an upgrade to the 598 with a similar signature, but only better, but all we got is the HD-700.

Exactly why the PX100 II is my favorite out of the whole Sennheiser lot.
 
That's an awful price. It used to be $315 for the longest time. Hit gold box deals for $270 once.
 
They are kinda out of room! They've only got one number left (HD599). Either that, or start with a new set of numbers.
 

 

[HiFiGuy528]

IMO, HD650 is Hi-Fi and HD598 is Mid-Fi.   Both are worth owning.

 

[Magick Man]

Well, I'm not a huge HD598 fan, I own a set but my wife uses them. I think the HD650s are leaps and bounds better, but I like dark cans.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

IMO, HD650 is Hi-Fi and HD598 is Mid-Fi.   Both are worth owning.

What makes the HD-650 "Hi-Fi" and 598 "mid-fi"?
 
The usual response is that the 650 is "technically better". What does this even mean. In what way?
 
Sure the HD-650 benefits more from amping than the HD-600 and HD-598 and I agree with this.
 
I'm honestly trying to come up with a list of what EXACTLY the HD-600 and HD-650 does better than the 598.
 
I don't mean better because each has a different signature.
 
I think someone once claimed the HD-600 has a more accurate (but smaller) soundstage than the 598, but I don't know about this yet.
 
I've only had my HD-580 (580/600 grills) a week so I'm still testing them both. I really love trying to pick apart the differences in headphones.
 
It seems I prefer the HD-580 with HD-600 cable and 580 grills. Somehow the mids sound less clear(!) and less engaging with the 600 grills!
If you keep the 580 grills on and use the 650 cable, the bass is a bit too much.
 
Since i've gotten a better DAC I'll once again compare the level of detail between the 598 and HD-580/600.
 
BTW the HD-600 does in fact really benefit from a good DAC. More so than the 598 it seems.

 

[GloryUprising]

If you don't plan on dropping a few hundred dollers on an amp and another few hundres on a dac, then you may be better served by the hd598. If you are expecting to upgrade your chain somewhere along the line, the hd650 will scale with you much better,

I have both hd598 and hd650 and think the 650 are much better (for all the qualities listed previously) only under good amplification. When using the 650s with only e17/e9 combo things are not as great. The hd598 does work very well with the e17/e9 combo tho.

Hope that helps.

 

[MattTCG]

I'll throw in my 2c...I owned the 598 and sold it after a month because it was too bass light for me. The mid and treble were very good but I do like "some" low end represented even when I listen to bass light material. Now others will disagree with me and in fairness I'm somewhat of a basshead as I enjoy d2k very much. 
 
The comfort of the 598 was great but they just didn't do much for me and I found that I didn't pick them up to listen to them very often. It is nice that they work well without an amp or high end amp though...

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 

 
Sorry for the tangent, but about bloody time I found someone who likes Jessie Cook!

+1 Another Jesse Cook fan here, though, unfortunately the lazy New-Agey Yoga-class centric engineers at Narada aren't doing him any favors.  The recording quality of his CDs is too compressed and suffers from terrible loss of the great detail that his playing provides.  Depending on the disc the recording quality ranges from so-so to horrible, never great.  Which is really a shame because he and Chris Church are fantastic musicians and I'd re-buy their CDs in a heartbeat if the SQ were cleaned up.