[Mad Lust Envy]

I would personally go for the HD598, as it's less polarizing than the AKGs, and less demanding. Though I have not heard the Quincy Jones versions which might put the AKGs over the HD598 for general purposes.

There is a lot of hate for the AKGs for music here on Head-fi. The HD598 is quite popular.

 

[Riku540]

Quote:

Hey,
 
I've been reading through this thread and its been a massive healp in narrowing my possible choices. Basically i'm looking for an all purpose headphone which does my music (pop, rock, classical- in that order) and games and films in DH.
 
I'm down to the HD 598 and K/Q701 at this point. I notice that people say the AKG has more clarity and precision than the Sennheiser. This sounds attractive for gaming in DH, but I wonder whether it is worth it if it is going to be too revealing for my music. I mostly listen through Spotify and, though I don't currently have a set up which I can test this on, I assume that even set to high quality streaming (allegedly 320kbs), it will get found out by the K701?
 
Second point is price: in the UK the HD 598 is approx £170, the K7xx £210 and the Q701 £265. I don't have an amp yet, so i would need to buy one for the AKGs. I don't think my budget will do the Q701 and an amp atm and i'm not convinced that its worth the mark up (to me) over the K7xx anyway.
 
So, ultimately, would the improvement in DH clarity (and, indeed, in music as well) be worth the extra money for the K701 (+ say an E9), and not make my streamed music sound terrible, to justify going for it over the HD 598?
 
This is my first serious headpohone purchase.

 
Food for thought:
 
Would you buy an SDTV/monitor to mask the compression artifacts in streaming video/YouTube, over an HDTV/monitor?
 
If not, why would you do it with headphones?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I wonder how good the quality is on those streaming sites. I wonder if it's like 192kb or better. If it is, I'd be okay with any headphone. People worry too much about bit rates and not enough about the actual mastering of the track. Plenty of less than savory bitrates that sound better than badly recorded FLAC tracks.

Of course, good mastering and bitrates = YAY.

 

[Riku540]

Google Music streams 320kbps given that your songs are at 320kbps. Love it when I'm on the go, or don't have my lossless library with me. Can't wait for true FLAC support, but probably won't happen considering the drastic increase in bandwidth requirements, across how many millions of users.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I mean like Spotify and Pandora.... what are their MP3 bitrate equivalents?

I don't listen to streaming anyway, but it's good to know.

 

[Riku540]

http://bit.ly/yTUZ3K
 
Quote:

What quality does Spotify stream in?

We use the Ogg Vorbis format for streaming. There are three quality ratings that we use:
 

1. q3 (~96 kbps)
2. q5 (~160 kbps)
3. q9 (~320 kbps)

 
Note: not all tracks are currently available in high bitrate.
 
Desktop: Streams are q5 quality. Premium subscribers can enable higher bit rate streaming at q9 from the preferences menu.
 
Mobile: A higher quality q5 is offered, along with a “low bandwidth” option of q3. You can choose separate qualities ratings for streaming and synching in the More tab of your Spotify mobile app.

 
http://bit.ly/xIErHw
 
Quote:

Audio Quality

 

Pandora on the Web plays 64k AAC+ for free listeners and 192k for Pandora One subscribers. All in-home devices play 128k audio, and mobile devices receive a variety of different rates depending on the capability of the device and the network they are on, but never more than 64k AAC+.

If you're listening to Pandora in your browser:

On the main page at www.pandora.com, click the Pandora One button in the upper-right corner of the screen and select Audio Quality. If you're listening with the Desktop Application, click on the menu arrow between the two Thumbs icons and select Preferences. The Audio Quality selection can be made there.

 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm assuming that 64K AAC+ is the equivalent of 128kb MP3.

 

[suitheist]

I have never had any complaints about the SQ of Spotify on the high quality setting, but then my current headphones/ stereo aren't anything special. As a service, its very slick and, I would say, very good value. For me, its basically a very cost effective way of getting all the new music as it comes out. Of course, I still have and use my collection of older songs (CD rips) on my PC. Though, I dont know how much bandwidth Spotify uses. I haven't tried any of the other streaming services.
 
The other headphone I considered was the DT 880, but im a bit put off by the lack of directional cues from behind which you noted in your original post. I really love the 360 degree immersion effect you get in DH; i'm currently playing through Dead Space with it- which is brilliant (and more than a little unnerving) for ambient noise, footsteps, agonising screems etc coming from all directions- and i'm not willing to lose that from my games. That said, I would like to find a nice balance between getting the directional details and some of the other immerive effects like bass for explosions etc. I think in reality, i'd rather be able to believe i'm actually there in the game, than max my kill/death ratio in mp fps.

 

[Naingolann]

I've been told that the Q701 do not require double amp because the mixamp/DSS can drive 'em properly...Though, you could always buy the second amp sometime later if you feel like it.

 

[suitheist]

I should probably have said that i'm playing on a PC using the Xonar DG which i think tops out its amp at 150 ohms. I don't know how this compares to the mixamp or DSS though.
 
I asked on the Q701 appreciation thread whether they were easier to drive than the K701, but I was told they have the same driver and would be exactly the same in that respect.

 

[Hailin]

I got my HD598 and put them through the musical ringer last night. I don't know if it was and is just my mood (due to a nice wet cold winter.) or what it is. But I am just not that impressed with them. I wanted to be blown away. I wanted to walk over to my HD668's and say goodbye old friend and put them in my electronic graveyard.
Some one on a another thread described them as smooth and polite that is what they definitely are. They don't have the bass impact or the brightness of the HD668's. They do have the resolution detail, soundstage and mids over the HD668. I was picking a lot of different stuff out of my music that I had never heard before. Mainly vocal details like S's and P's. Also high hats and other cymbals just scream "We are here." With the HD598's but not in a nasty sibilant nature. Due to the soundstage live songs sound a lot better.
If was stuck on a desert island with these headphones and could only bring one artist it would be Portishead. They were the only thing in my collection that excited me.
 
This is a case of either I need an amp now or they are just not for me.
 
If Denon sold the D-series in Canada I would be ordering now. I am still tempted to get the 990pros to at least try them out. I know I could put my HD598's up for sale and get 200+ for them since they are so hard to find up here for under 270 and I don't want to go through the hassle of returning them south of the border.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah, I mentioned it before, the HD598 isn't a terribly exciting can. They are what i consider boring for music, but they work exceptionally well for hardcore gaming.

This is why it's a good idea to always have a set of fun cans that are exciting, even if they aren't technically going to win awards. I will always choose a fun can for music over balanced, boring cans.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

There is a lot of hate for the AKGs for music here on Head-fi.

 
Quoted for truth.  And I don't know why 

 
 

 

[obazavil]

Quote:

 
Quoted for truth.  And I don't know why 

 
 

Indeed... lot of haters here.
I tested my K702+Lyr against E9+DT990/600, and to MY ears, they had the same amazing bass. Sounded VERY good with many music (specially daft punk hehe).
 
ppl here tend to overreact to everything, from good to bad aspects to cans (ed8 were not so long the best closed cans money can buy, and now lots of ppl bashes them for signature pro).
 
And for PS3 games... I think I have not finished a single game so far hahaha ...
MGS4 closed since 2009
MGS HDCollection closed since december
Tekken 6 never finished campaign
GT5 still in its box
KZ3 haven't played yet
KZ2 never finished campaign
CoD BLOPS never finished campaign
Dead Space player 1 hour
GoW 3 never played it...
.. i forgot what else I have
 
damn... i don't know why I even bought the PS3 or mixamp.
 
don't have kids if you want to play

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

 
Quoted for truth.  And I don't know why 

 
 

Impressions, nao!