[Beagle]

 
My HD 598SE passed authentication at Sennheiser's site, as did others.  So, apparently they can be authenticated at that website.  It's just that some have passed, while others have failed.  I have no doubts that all units sold by Amazon.com are authentic.

 
What happens on the ones that have failed, the soundstage is no good perhaps? I figure a Sennheiser is a Sennheiser and quality should not be an issue?

LazyListener,

Great posts and great info!

I totally agree that making these kinds of mental notes on the sound of cans is pretty objective. Or objective enough to be valid for a given person, anyway!

My SE's now have about ten hours on them and they have indeed opened up and the bass has improved, but they still fall short of my 595's! It's like they took the 595's and modded the foam in front of the drivers to take out more upper mids--particularly the upper part of female vocals, thus making the bass seem louder by comparison. The 595's sound louder and clearer to me. I feel the need to nudge up the volume on the SE's. So it's trivially easy for me to tell which ones I'm listening to in a blind test.

I don't notice any annoying sibilance and to me it's less "bright" than the 595's, overall, and less detailed and natural and open.

That said, the 598SE's have a very similar sound profile and character to the 595's to my ears.

As for replacement pads, it looks like 595 pads are exactly the same as 598SE pads.

So, I think I'm probably going to return these to Amazon.

 

[raband]

   
What happens on the ones that have failed, the soundstage is no good perhaps? I figure a Sennheiser is a Sennheiser and quality should not be an issue?

They failed the online authenticity check that Senn provide where you can see if your cans are legit and not fake.
 
Issue seems to be that they haven't updated it for all the SE's, so some are failing the check and appearing as if they're not the real deal.

 

[Edric Li]

 

 

LazyListener,


Great posts and great info!


I totally agree that making these kinds of mental notes on the sound of cans is pretty objective. Or objective enough to be valid for a given person, anyway!


My SE's now have about ten hours on them and they have indeed opened up and the bass has improved, but they still fall short of my 595's! It's like they took the 595's and modded the foam in front of the drivers to take out more upper mids--particularly the upper part of female vocals, thus making the bass seem louder by comparison. The 595's sound louder and clearer to me. I feel the need to nudge up the volume on the SE's. So it's trivially easy for me to tell which ones I'm listening to in a blind test.


I don't notice any annoying sibilance and to me it's less "bright" than the 595's, overall, and less detailed and natural and open.


That said, the 598SE's have a very similar sound profile and character to the 595's to my ears.


As for replacement pads, it looks like 595 pads are exactly the same as 598SE pads.


So, I think I'm probably going to return these to Amazon.

I've A/B'ed 598 against 595 once briefly. 598 outclassed 595 in every aspects. 
I would recommend you to burn-in for at least 150 hrs. 

I can easily imagine that 150 hrs of burn-in would improve things like spatiousness, soundstage, imaging, tightness, etc. But I do not believe nor has it ever been my experience that the basic frequency response of a headphone changes much, if at all, during burn-in.

And this is the problem. I'm sure that for many others the FR differences between the 595 and 598 would push them towards the 598. But for me, it's the opposite.

There is no way that any amount of burn in would bring these cans to where they would "outclass" my 595's. Heck, I'd be surprised if they would get to the point of merely equaling them. Seriously.

So maybe this is another pointer that the SE's are inferior sonically? Maybe I would feel differently if I had gotten the beige ones! Or maybe not. I'm just speculating. I'll be interested to see how others feel about the SE vs beige.

In any case, thanks for the advice but I'm just not willing to put 150 hours on these.

 
By "outclass" I mean: noticeably better transparency and imaging. No more no less.
I am not taking FR or personal sound sig preferences into consideration here so take my impression as a grain of salt.
 
For your reference I was using Lotoo Paw Gold as source. 
From my experience, 598 is able to reproduce decent sound out of an iphone. But still lacking in bass body and soundstage compared to 598 driven by more powerful sources. No sure about the 595 though. 

 

[_js_]

Edric Li,

Ah! Ok. Got it!

Those things would definitely improve with burn in, I agree.

 

[pergo1211]

Got mine today finally, enjoying them so far. This is my first pair of real quality cans though so don't take that as some kind of review or anything!
 
For some reason I thought these came with a case, but obviously not. Anybody have recommendations for one? Or how do you guys usually store yours when not in use or if carrying them around with you?
 
Thanks.

 

[_js_]

Got mine today finally, enjoying them so far. This is my first pair of real quality cans though so don't take that as some kind of review or anything!

For some reason I thought these came with a case, but obviously not. Anybody have recommendations for one? Or how do you guys usually store yours when not in use or if carrying them around with you?

Thanks.

I use the Slappa Full Sized hardbody Pro case:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009NE7B06/

The 598's fit very well in this case.

 

[7keys]

 

Got mine today finally, enjoying them so far. This is my first pair of real quality cans though so don't take that as some kind of review or anything!

For some reason I thought these came with a case, but obviously not. Anybody have recommendations for one? Or how do you guys usually store yours when not in use or if carrying them around with you?

Thanks.

I use the Slappa Full Sized hardbody Pro case:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009NE7B06/

The 598's fit very well in this case.

THANKS!

 

[pergo1211]

I use the Slappa Full Sized hardbody Pro case:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009NE7B06/

The 598's fit very well in this case.

Looks like exactly what I am looking for. Fit was my biggest concern in just picking something out myself, so thanks for the tip.

 

[_js_]

No problem!

It's been a great case for me, both for storage when not in use as well as carrying. It's held up really well and provides great protection. It's pretty strong! I mean, I wouldn't stand on it or anything, but if someone sat on it briefly / accidentally , it'd probably shrug it off and keep the cans inside nice and safe.

 

[7keys]

Good news is that Amazon says it shipped today
 

 
Bad news is tracking says I received it yesterday.

 

[LazyListener]

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Will the HD 598SE eventually replace the beige HD 598, or will both models continue to be offered indefinitely?  If the beige HD 598 is being discontinued, how long before that will happen?
 
A couple of days ago, I checked Crutchfield and their site stated that the HD 598 was "discontinued by manufacturer."  Now their site says "no longer available."
 
Could you please shed some light on Sennheiser's plans for this model?

 

[opiePRO]

Ok so i bought the black hd598 on black friday and i threw out the box. now idk how to test that. 
i talso sucks that these are my first audiophiles and my noob ears cant tell the diference between good and bad. can someone help

 

[7keys]

  Ok so i bought the black hd598 on black friday and i threw out the box. now idk how to test that. 
i talso sucks that these are my first audiophiles and my noob ears cant tell the diference between good and bad. can someone help

The HD 598 SE is a product exclusively sold by Amazon and hence only Amazon can purchase this headphone model from Sennheiser. If you purchased your HD 598 SE directly from Amazon (ie: the product was sold and shipped by Amazon directly) then you have a genuine Sennheiser product.

 

[Sinosino]

I think the online authenticity check issue has been fixed. Mine was failed before and it now authenticates as genuine product.

 

[flaw3d]

Likely a dumb question but where do I go to check authenticity online?