[CaptainAwesome]

Long story short, I have these over 6 years old HD 555's that have seen better days. It's all kinds of wear and tear, but the worst is that the driver on the right can has come loose couple times more than I'd like, and unless my ears are lying, it doesn't sound 100% right anymore.

Anyways, I've been thinking about either getting HD 558 or HD 598 as a replacement. The general use for them is music, games and movies.
Which one would you recommend? Is the price difference between the two indicative of sound quality, or is there something else there that I'm not considering?
Or would you recommend something else entirely?

My main reason for asking about these two Sennheiser cans is that they closely resemble the 555's, and 555's fit my head perfectly. Specifically the rather large can size is what is important. I used HD 485's few years ago for a few weeks and those for example are way too small, on my ears, really uncomfortable.

I'm currently leaning towards 558's, what I've gathered around the internets is that 598's are more geared towards hifi audio, while 558's are more general purpose, kind of. Feel free to re-educate me if that is not the case.

Additionally, I was looking at older threads here and elsewhere, and came across the Custom Cable's 3.5mm Termination service.
I saw that some people had gotten a replacement cable with 3.5mm termination, was just wondering how have those cables been? Quality work I assume.



Thanks in advance.

 

[wje]

The HD-558 has a warmer signature.  The HD-598 is geared more towards other genres of music that might be less bass demanding.  You can find used HD-558s through Amazon in the low-$100s. The HD-555 is a great headphone, but as you've indicated, yours has seen better days.  Sennheiser wants $41.00 per driver and about $19.00 for pads.  This is before shipping.  So a pair of drivers and a new pair of pads has you nearly in the range of the HD-558 (used).  
 
Since you're accustomed to the comfort of the HD-555, the 558 will fit quite similar.  Initially, the headband will be a bit tighter until it loosens a bit over time.

 

[CaptainAwesome]

Thanks.
I grabbed a pair of 558's today online and am looking forward to them very much.

 

[streetdragon]

The earpads will be a bit stiff when you get them, but they get a lot softer as you use them for a few weeks

 
(Btw the HD558 colour scheme looks nice too.)