[Ggroch]

The stock cale it comes with is not that great and there is some hiss/static going on when using stock. Once you upgrade that cable, most if not all that hissing will be reduced and make it sound a bit better.

My experience is not the same as yours.  Your have far more posts than I, and I do not want to be rude, but the stock cable sounds fine on my set, and I am certain it is not hissing.  
 
I have difficulty seeing how a cable (which is just a piece of wire) can hiss...unless it is somehow defective in making or isolating contacts.  
 
I can see how a poorly designed cable with a high impedance might effect the sound, smearing detail slightly,  but it still would not hiss.  
 
The cable is a standard 3 contact plug, so if your source is not designed for standard 3 contact 3.5mm plugs (if it has mike or switching contacts), it is possible that things are not lining up right would cause issues.  
 
It is possible that a cable with a built in microphone may sound different because it may have circuitry designed to reduce noise to the listener...but that would not be cable hiss, it would be removing hiss from the actual source. 
 
I have used  other 3 conductor cables on the SHP9500 to get a shorter length and they sound exactly the same to me. I am certain if the stock cables were hissing you would see it in the majority of SHP9500 reviews.  
 
Come to think of it, I have never heard "cable hiss" described in any professional review of any headphone.   

 

[Apex Eight]

The stock cale it comes with is not that great and there is some hiss/static going on when using stock. Once you upgrade that cable, most if not all that hissing will be reduced and make it sound a bit better.

 
I'm not sure why you replied to me with this comment.

 

[Grayson73]

$49.99 at Newegg:
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Apply Code: EMCAVKR86 at checkout

 

[TomM]

They were recently sold for 43€ on Amazon.de (Germany).
Got a pair of these and really like them. 

 

[RedHarlow]

I guess they are great for gaming right? With the detachable cable I can easily use them with my v-moda boom pro microphone.

 

[AxelCloris]

  I guess they are great for gaming right? With the detachable cable I can easily use them with my v-moda boom pro microphone.

 
I just had a pair delivered and I've connected a BoomPro. They're currently burning in. I'll get a chance to try some gaming with them either Sunday or Monday.

 

[djmuzi]

Can anyone do a direct comparison between the SHP9500 and the HD558? I know that they're supposed to be two different headphones I'm terms of sound signature but it'd be cool to hear from someone that has extensive experience with both. Thanks!

The 9500 sounds more direct. The upper bass is a bit more massive, vocals sound more in your face.
HD558 has deeper bass and more extended treble. Bass is far more textured. Overall the 558 has more details. The HD sounds more laid back and a bit more natural.
Overall the HD558 is the better headphone to my ears.

The 9500 sounds enjoyable too.

 

[Apex Eight]

The 9500 sounds more direct. The upper bass is a bit more massive, vocals sound more in your face.
HD558 has deeper bass and more extended treble. Bass is far more textured. Overall the 558 has more details. The HD sounds more laid back and a bit more natural.
Overall the HD558 is the better headphone to my ears.

The 9500 sounds enjoyable too.

Wish you had posted this earlier! I have since gotten a pair of SHP9500s, and while I think they are good headphones, they have not really impressed me with their ability. I don't regret getting them though. They were super cheap at $50 with free shipping and are really comfortable. I just think the sound of my RE-400 earphones have spoiled me. I might be getting my second pair of headphones in a couple months and the 558 still interests me. I might go for a close-back though, Idk. 

 

[DangerClose]

The 9500 sounds more direct. The upper bass is a bit more massive, vocals sound more in your face.
HD558 has deeper bass and more extended treble. Bass is far more textured. Overall the 558 has more details. The HD sounds more laid back and a bit more natural.
Overall the HD558 is the better headphone to my ears.

 

 
Good timing for this thread bump since I listened to my foam-modded HD558 for hours yesterday, and today did some A-B'ing with SHP9500.  I've already compared them in a couple posts, but time and experience can alter perceptions, or at least make them easier to describe.
 
And now I will disagree with your post. 

 
The HD558 has more extended treble?  I think it needs to have some treble first.  Ok, it's not that bad.  I'm exaggerating in order to emphasize the difference.
 
The 9500 sounds more direct, but only left and right, and only in a certain zone left and right since the 558 lacks depth and height.  
Most people will say 558/598 has forward mids.  558 vocals are so in my face it's like they're at my nose or inside my head.  And they're forward/close/compressed on the sides too, so most vocals from the front are either at my nose or in my head, and many vocals from the sides are right at my ears in a blob of noise.  SHP9500 sides might be at my ears too, but it's not a blob. 
 
The 558 is definitely more laid back.  If someone wonders what a "Sennheiser veil" sounds like, I'll direct them to the 558.  And that includes after the foam mod that adds more air and brightens them up.  With the foam in them they're worse. 
 
The SHP9500 is more open, has more separation, has more clarity, and has more dynamics.  Part of the dynamics is from the better soundstage height and depth.  SHP9500 sort of feels like the soundstage is a globe.  The HD558 soundstage is more like if you take that globe shape and compress it from the top and bottom, compress it from the front and back, and extend it out the sides left and right.  558 has a wider left-right soundstage than the 9500, but it's smaller everywhere else, including the overall size of the sides.  558 is wider left-right, but the sound is more jammed in there like in a tunnel.  Add the "close talker" vocals to that, and suddenly the "big" HD558 soundstage kind of isn't.
 
Clarity.  I'll enjoy the no-foam 558, but then I'll put on the 9500 and wonder where all the little extra notes I'm now hearing came from.  Part of it is the lack of height and depth and thus separation of the 558, but part of it is simply that the HD558 sounds like it smears vaseline over the notes.

 

[djmuzi]

Well the HD558 has far more even frequency response in treble. Maybe I was lsitening to a song, where some information were missed on the Philips but there in the HD558.
IMHO the HD558 is another class headphone. Everything is smooth.
But it's all a personal taste
 

   
... but part of it is simply that the HD558 sounds like it smears vaseline over the notes.
 

They are people who think Sennheiser HD is veiled and people who don't I'm from the second kind. Maybe there are faulty units out there...

 

[luedriver]

does anyone else use these to listen to records/vinyls?
 
and if so, what are your thoughts?

 

[djmuzi]

Grab your ears and move them around You'll experience different sound from every position of your ear.
I think what you actually hear is highly dependent on the shape of your ears.

 

[DangerClose]

 
They are people who think Sennheiser HD is veiled and people who don't I'm from the second kind. Maybe there are faulty units out there...

 
If I listen to a concert with the crowd clapping along, the SHP9500 lets me hear more individual claps.  The HD558 more mushes the clapping together.  And that's with the foam mod.  
 
The 598 is apparently brighter and clearer than a modded 558, yet it still has people who point out how it smooths the notes. I don't have a 598 to directly compare, but the way the 558 slurs things makes me think it or I have been drinking.
 
My HD580 has strong mids and more bass than the SHP9500, but I wouldn't call the HD580 veiled or slurry.  The 580 has similarities to the SHP9500 actually.  Overall soundstage size and presentation, depth, and detail.  
 
In a sense, it's all relative, since most everything sounds veiled after listening to something like an AKG K701.  It's not like the 558 is a bad headphone compared to lots of stuff out there, but I don't think it's all that great especially unmodded, and imo it's worse at pretty much everything compared to the SHP9500.    

 

[djmuzi]

I'm using the Philips for a few days.
It's a very capable headphone - no doubt.
 
But this peak in the treble department can be very annoying on some tracks. I like a more even response like with the HD558.
 
I disagree with you. My HD558 sounds far more detailed than the SHP 9500. Bass is far more detailed too. I can distinguish different bass lines better with the Sennheiser. And the deepest bass, it's not much in quantity on the HD either, but it is more noticeable.
Some frequencies on the SHP 9500 are more pronounced and this i maybe fooling you more details
 
One example:
Hearing the song "Bass I Love You" (please take it from Spotify, not the overblown YouTube versions!!!) the HD 558 delivers the bassline far more textured; it doesn't shake your ears like a Sennheiser Momentum On Ear (this is brutal ot this ); but I can clearly hear the rumble around 30Hz. Then the song is very spacious and this experience on the HD558 is far better than on the SHP 9500. All the details are there and are simply flying.
 
On the Philips the bassline is a weak breath, it's almost indistinguishable from the other parts. The space sounds OK but not comparable to the HD558.
 
Btw: I have reverted the mod on my HD558. Stock configuration sounds much better IMHO (I'm not the only one thinking this way)

 

[DangerClose]

 
Btw: I have reverted the mod on my HD558. Stock configuration sounds much better IMHO (I'm not the only one thinking this way)

 
There's something for everyone out there.  I wrote down a note the first time I listened to the stock Sennheiser HD558.  It says: "Oh. God. No."