[howzz1854]

now i am leaning towards HD598 consider it has a wider sound stage than DT880, if that's true. 
 
would it be a noticeable difference going from AD700 to HD598, or will it be more noticeable going to DT880. again, i like the forwardness of the AD900 but it's just too much and too thin. so it'll be nice to have a little bit of that forwardness and mid range clearity but not having to bleed my ears out.
 
can i also assume that HD598 has a punchier bass than DT880?

 

[howzz1854]

and what does it mean when people say the DT880 can sound a bit dry.. what do you mean by dry like wine? does it mean it sounds a bit bright? can a phone sound wet?

 

[SennHI808]

I think you should look at the 598 and the Q701, you can't go wrong between the two. They are both gaming beasts and do really well with all sorts of music. Buy them at a place where you can return them and give both a try! Good luck, I personally like my 598s over the others but that is just my opinion. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Now I am leaning towards HD598 consider it has a wider sound stage than DT880, if that's true. 
Would it be a noticeable difference going from AD700 to HD598, or will it be more noticeable going to DT880. again, i like the forwardness of the AD900 but it's just too much and too thin. so it'll be nice to have a little bit of that forwardness and mid range clearity but not having to bleed my ears out.
can i also assume that HD598 has a punchier bass than DT880?

I own the Senn HD558 (not HD598) and two DT880 (250-Ohm & 600-Ohm).
I like the sound a little better (slightly) on the DT880 Pro 250-Ohm (more life in the sound) then the HD558s
(Testing with Essence STX with AD797BRs op-amps)
On my HD558s, I've removed the black rubber tape from inside the cups, makes the cups more open like the HD598.
One thing to point out is the Senn HD598 is only 50-Ohms, so you can plug is straight into your current sound card.
The DT880 (250 or 600) would require you to buy a new sound card with a built in amp (like the Essence STX) or get an external headphone amplifier to plug into your current sound card.
Price wise the HD598 and DT880 Pro 250-Ohm are close in price.
I vote HD598 as you can plug it straight into your current sound card.

 

[howzz1854]

i think i am going to give HD 598 a try you guys.
 
now i just have to return my AD900 first and get refund so i can get the  598. 
 
after 140+ hours of burning in the AD900, i really don't think it's my cup of tea/can. it had its fair shot. 

 

[SennHI808]

Let us know the outcome!

 

[howzz1854]

guys i don't think i've ever been so anxious before for a set of headphones. i really can't wait. 
 
but i have this thing, this principle about not overspend. so i have to wait till my AD900 is processed for refund to order my new HD598. i just mailed back the AD900 this morning after i got the RMA last night from 8th street. it'll arrive on Tuesday, hopefully it won't take too many days for them to refund the money. i really can't wait. 
 
i was equally excited when i was waiting for the AD900, however, my excitement quickly was bursted. needless to say, i wasn't impressed with AD900. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

guys i don't think i've ever been so anxious before for a set of headphones. i really can't wait. 
 
but i have this thing, this principle about not overspend. so i have to wait till my AD900 is processed for refund to order my new HD598. i just mailed back the AD900 this morning after i got the RMA last night from 8th street. it'll arrive on Tuesday, hopefully it won't take too many days for them to refund the money. i really can't wait. 
 
i was equally excited when i was waiting for the AD900, however, my excitement quickly was bursted. needless to say, i wasn't impressed with AD900. 

Chances are your current sound card has a high impedance, which is a negative for sound quality for 40-Ohm headphones like the AD900/A900.
I believe the Senn HD5XX (50-Ohm) series is a little better at working with higher impedance headphone jacks.

 

[howzz1854]

could you elaborate more on that. or is there anywhere i can read up on that. cause that's very interesting if there's any truth to that. 

 

[howzz1854]

i should also mention that i brought both AD700 (32ohm) and AD900 (35ohm) to my neighbor's studio, who is a recording artist. we plugged it into his equipment, and the AD900 still sounds too bright and not enough bass punch, while AD700 sounded smooth, perhaps just a bit recessed on the mid. so i am keen to think that it's not my soundcard. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Could you elaborate more on that. or is there anywhere i can read up on that. cause that's very interesting if there's any truth to that. 

Impedance is resistance. so OHM can be the resistance rating of your source (headphone jack) or the resistance rating of your headphones
You want to use (recomended) a headphone that has an Ohm rating eight times more then the impedance of your source.
If you were using my sound card, the Asus Xonar Essence STX which has an impedance of 10-Ohm, then you would want to use (recomended) headphones that are 80-Ohms or higher.
The lowest Ohm rating for a sound card is 10-Ohm and can be as high as 100-Ohm for other cards, the Titanium HD has an impedance of 35-Ohm.
Some  external amplifiers can have an impedance rating as low as .5-Ohms.
Now I plug my Senn HD558 (50-Ohm) into my Essence STX and it sounds fine. So there is some wiggle room in the "eight times" recomendation.
My ATH-A900X which is around 40-Ohms sounds sweet with my Fiio E11 amplifier, which has a ,5-Ohm rating.
You can get things like poor bass control if the OHM rating of the source & headphone are close.
Your sound quality problem may not be because of of Ohms, I just put that out there as one possible cause.
Chance are I'm going to sell off my ATH-A900X because I can't get the headphones very loud plugged into my Yamaha receiver.

 

[howzz1854]

very interesting. i'll definitely have to keep that in mind and look up more info on that in the future. 
 
while that's a good piece of info, it's well known fact that the closed version of A900 has a much punchier bass than its open cousin AD900. so i really don't think it's soundcard impedance related. 
 
but thanks for the info. 

 

[howzz1854]

guys!!. i ordered the HD 598!!!.. it's on its way!!!. i CAAANNNTTTT WAAAAIITTT i want it now. 
 
will update.

 

[howzz1854]

BTW, does anybody know where the amazon Seller Dahmart ships all his phones from? is it from the east coast?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Very interesting. i'll definitely have to keep that in mind and look up more info on that in the future. 
While that's a good piece of info, it's well known fact that the closed version of A900 has a much punchier bass than its open cousin AD900. so i really don't think it's sound card impedance related. 

I was just throwing something out to keep in mind.