[christcp]

After months of searching, I've narrowed my last decision down to the Sennheiser HD599 and the SMSL M3. It is going to be my first personal time touching/hearing audiophile grade headphones, I cant wait to get my hands on them. I'll be using the setup 90% on my pc, listening 70% of the time to music (flac, spotify etc.) and the other 30% to gaming (mainly csgo and bf1). I chose the hd599 because of the arguably wide soundstage and the almost neutral sound signature (should I just buy the hd598's?), and the smsl m3 because it can drive a very wide variety of headphones (even the power hungry ones) if i am ever going to buy one and because of its overall quality, even though i would like to have the bass boost option like on the fiio e10k/q1 (im not a very basshead guy, but why not). The price for the hd599 is 240euros and for the m3 80$ with free shipping to greece (im gonna buy the m3 off AliExpress, warn me if the purchase will be secure or not). My budget is 300-350euros. If you have any better suggestions than mine, tell me, I will appreciate it a lot.

 

[obobskivich]

I haven't heard the 599, but based on the differences between the 5x5 and 5x8 line, I'd just get the 598 and save your money.

I don't know that SMSL amp, but there's lots of inexpensive options - buy it from somewhere with a return policy and if it sucks, send it back and get something else. If you're running from a PC, you may consider getting a soundcard with built-in headphone amp instead, as it may give you more options/features that you'll find useful while gaming. Price should be around the same either way.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  After months of searching, I've narrowed my last decision down to the Sennheiser HD599 and the SMSL M3. It is going to be my first personal time touching/hearing audiophile grade headphones, I cant wait to get my hands on them. I'll be using the setup 90% on my pc, listening 70% of the time to music (flac, spotify etc.) and the other 30% to gaming (mainly csgo and bf1). I chose the HD599 because of the arguably wide soundstage and the almost neutral sound signature (should I just buy the HD598's?), and the smsl m3 because it can drive a very wide variety of headphones (even the power hungry ones) if i am ever going to buy one and because of its overall quality, even though i would like to have the bass boost option like on the fiioEe10k/Q1 (im not a very basshead guy, but why not). The price for the HD599 is 240 euros and for the m3 80$ with free shipping to Greece (I'm gonna buy the m3 off AliExpress, warn me if the purchase will be secure or not). My budget is 300-350 euros. If you have any better suggestions than mine, tell me, I will appreciate it a lot.

 
I have not found SMSL products to have the best reliablity.
If you like FPS gaming (headphone surround sound), I would say to get a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card.
If you do not care for headphone surround sound, then get a FiiO Q1
 
A Sennheiser HD558, with the black rubber tape removed from inside the cups, will give you something very close the the HD598.

 

[christcp]

I have not found SMSL products to have the best reliablity.
If you like FPS gaming (headphone surround sound), I would say to get a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card.
If you do not care for headphone surround sound, then get a FiiO Q1

A Sennheiser HD558, with the black rubber tape removed from inside the cups, will give you something very close the the HD598.

You're probably right, I'll buy the hd598 and the sound blaster z, however is the overall sound quality going to be the same with the fiio e10k/q1/smsl m3?

 

[PurpleAngel]

You're probably right, I'll buy the hd598 and the sound blaster z, however is the overall sound quality going to be the same with the FiiO E10k/Q1/smsl m3?

 
I'm not sure on the SMSL M3.
but I believe the E10K and Q1 use the same DAC chip.
I believe the SB-Z's CS4398 DAC is better then the one in the E10K/Q1 (not sure by how much).
Getting whichever device has the features you really need or want, might be a better deciding factor.
As over all audio quality might not be that different.

 

[nutric08]

  After months of searching, I've narrowed my last decision down to the Sennheiser HD599 and the SMSL M3. It is going to be my first personal time touching/hearing audiophile grade headphones, I cant wait to get my hands on them. I'll be using the setup 90% on my pc, listening 70% of the time to music (flac, spotify etc.) and the other 30% to gaming (mainly csgo and bf1). I chose the hd599 because of the arguably wide soundstage and the almost neutral sound signature (should I just buy the hd598's?), and the smsl m3 because it can drive a very wide variety of headphones (even the power hungry ones) if i am ever going to buy one and because of its overall quality, even though i would like to have the bass boost option like on the fiio e10k/q1 (im not a very basshead guy, but why not). The price for the hd599 is 240euros and for the m3 80$ with free shipping to greece (im gonna buy the m3 off AliExpress, warn me if the purchase will be secure or not). My budget is 300-350euros. If you have any better suggestions than mine, tell me, I will appreciate it a lot.

You are not far off from the HD6x0 series price wise. It would be a better "start" than the HD5xx range. Worry about an amp/dac later.

 

[christcp]

Im not too sure about that, if i were to buy the 650 which costs 360 euros(the 600 is not available here) i would definitely need to buy a good amp/dac later on, which is another ~130+ euros more.EDIT: Actually the e10k seems just fine with them, but will the use of the 650 be appropriate with the onboard dac for some months(supremefx on the z170 pro gaming, which is based on the realtek alc1150)?

 

[nutric08]

And where is here? If you are in EU you can get anything from thomann.de with free shipping over 300 EUR. The HD 600 is 270 eur and you can throw in an entry level amp just to get free shipping.
 
EDIT: Or get the HD650 for 299 EUR