[BotByte]

HD598: The 600+ Hour Assestment​

 

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So I see a lot of reviews from right after that person bought that headphone. But they are also are within the love or hate “Honeymoon” period.

So saying after a good, roughly calculated, 600 hours of listening, I’m conducting my long term review.

 
Note: I have not modded these one bit. That’s weird for me.
 
 
 

Build:

The build is solid to the point that I would say that these are plastic, and yes it’s strong.
 
“The strength in metal is not how rigid it is, but the flexibility until it breaks.”
That said, these are strong as titanium. With these I feel that I can take them to a point that they might break and still push beyond that.
 
The cord is nice. Not as thick but also not as thin as you’d want. The plug is strong and flexible. Detachable, yes. Worth it? No. There is no way the cord could be pulled from the lock and I only see it as if you cut the cable, you can order a new one. I’ve never been a fan of detachable parts.
 

Comfort:

 
The pads are nice. Velour? Yes. Smooth? Not so much. Difficulties with my sideburns rubbing the pads and irritating me arise. But that’s me. The pads are a little stiff for my liking though.
The top pad is different. After a good 200 hours, it softens and widens. Lately I forget it’s up there on my head.
 
Clamping force is decent. Meaning that either it can be too strong at times or not enough. I have problems with keeping these cans on my head while doing something, but then also feel pressure at my temples at time. No way to change this sadly, no metal in the headband to adjust.
The sliders are the worse part, to me. I like my headphones to not adjust and made mods to do this to my T50RP, SR80i and Portapro. These, if not careful, will change size pretty easily and no way to change this also.
 
One note is that the oval shape pads and deep well within create a cavern for your ear. The first 100 hours I had a problem with my ear barely scratching the driver port. Barely. But after a while, I forgot this… Now I feel it again, oh bother…
 

Design:

 
Decent.
 
That’s it.
 
The clamping can’t be adjusted. Pads feel stiff at times. Cord is stuff off one side to jab at your collarbone. Non-folding. Horrid cable for portable use. Sliders adjust by themselves. Headband can’t adjust. I can’t tell if its piss colored or rotten cream colored.
 
Other than that:
 
Angled driver is nice. Deep ear wells. Replaceable parts. Comfort and sizing are really nice. Very strong and flexible
 

Driving and usage:

 
They DO need an amp to drive correctly. Not a big deal, but helps around the upper lows and lower mids. Any amp more than a FiiO E5 will work great.
Best use if at home. Portable is not an option. Using these outside is a train wreck already in happening, later to be reported by the evening news.
Yes they are open and don’t isolate well. Yes the leak, but not bad. If the volume is up, then the sounds escapes but it’s mostly the bass.
 

Sound:

 

Everyone skip to here then read the rest please.

 
I’ll compare these to my Grado SR80i/Sr225i, MDR-V6 and Modded T50RP – think of a LCD-2 please.
 

Sound simplified:

Lazy Grado with soundstage.
 

Highs:

Sharp to the point of shattering like a Grado. But not without a smooth roll. Not so much detail in the higher end as I would get from a Grado but also not as harsh.

Mids:

Detailed to the point of counting guitar strings, that’s it. The details are nice and clean, but then everything interrupts and then explodes. With my T50RP I can hear is the guitarist hit a fret within his cord, with these the sound is smoothed over by the bass.

Lows:

The bass is bloated. I know, you’ll scratch at this, but anything I listen to seems like I’m constantly being thrown at a wall then to watch the wall come closer. The details of the lows gets blurred by a slow driver speed – that’s the best way I can explain it. There is simply not enough speed in the driver with the amount of bass it wants to put out to give you an accurate bass. Too much power = uncontrolled bass. But this is compared to the LCD-2’s bass, take with salt please.
 

Soundstage:

Less forward then Grado, more forward then a K701. The stage seems close, and then something can be thrown into the distance at times. Odd but works well.

Clarity:

I find that the driver speed slow, and to me that defines clarity. With the bloated bass and singing highs, there is too much happening to tell for any open spaces.

Genre choice:

One of the best cans I can think of for cross genre choices. I use these as my go to all headphones. Rock sounds great. Acoustics, metal and Jazz next. Classical and Electronic and Rap/Hip hop too. Only thing I hate through these are older or more compressed recordings.
 
 

Conclusion:

Despite all I hate these headphones for, I find that they are the only headphones I truly can just listen to. When I’m writing I wear them for 6 hours straight. When I’m relaxing I fall to sleep in them. From browsing the internet to analyzing music, I find myself turning to these.
 

Most hated part:

 
Bass. Ungh… Horrid. EQ to the rescue!

Most loved part:

 
Just plain FUN headphones without any finicky modding or treatment. Plug and play and enjoy.
 

 

Thank you for your time.

 

[Questhate]

Quote:

Most hated part:

 
Bass. Ungh… Horrid. EQ to the rescue!

 

 
Thanks for the review. 
 
Just curious, you said the bass is bad because the driver is too slow to pick up detail in the low frequencies. But, how can EQ remedy this? 
 
 

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

 
Thanks for the review. 
 
Just curious, you said the bass is bad because the driver is too slow to pick up detail in the low frequencies. But, how can EQ remedy this? 
 
 

The bass just seems it can't keep up for some reason.
 
It's almost like it tries to take over then entire sound spectrum while everything tries to take its place.
 
Some EQ helps by dulling down the bass end and raise the mids and highs some more. The sound tries to be balanced but then if you set it to sound like a Grado the sound equal outs

 

[CatboyMac]

I've demoed a few headphones recently, and the 598s reminded me the most of my Portapros. I almost considered breaking my HD650 fund apart to buy them.

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

Originally Posted by BotByte /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Any amp more than a FiiO E5 will work great.
 
The bass is bloated. I know, you’ll scratch at this, but anything I listen to seems like I’m constantly being thrown at a wall then to watch the wall come closer. The details of the lows gets blurred by a slow driver speed – that’s the best way I can explain it. There is simply not enough speed in the driver with the amount of bass it wants to put out to give you an accurate bass. Too much power = uncontrolled bass. But this is compared to the LCD-2’s bass, take with salt please.
 

How do you know the first part is correct when you experience the second part of that quote? I for one never experienced such terrible bass on my Anedio D1. Flabby bass is a sign of underpowering the headphones as explained in this impedance graph. 100hz impedance peak, right before sub-bass frequencies begin.

 

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

 

How do you know the first part is correct when you experience the second part of that quote? I for one never experienced such terrible bass on my Anedio D1. Flabby bass is a sign of underpowering the headphones as explained in this impedance graph. 100hz impedance peak, right before sub-bass frequencies begin.

 

My receiver deliver more then enough power. I've powered K1000's with my Receiver without a problem.
 
My receiver is also pretty neutral, might be on the warm side a bit, but mostly neutral.

 

[tdockweiler]

As for the bass. Try many different amps and report back. Thanks

Most of us have not experienced this. The HD-598 is not even remotely bloated, so this is just beyond bizarre to me.
Maybe it doesn't like your E5 or even your receiver. It's possible. Even if it has enough power to drive them.
 
If you think the HD-598's bass is bloated, I hate to see what you think of the HD-650.

 

[Questhate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BotByte /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
The bass just seems it can't keep up for some reason.
 
It's almost like it tries to take over then entire sound spectrum while everything tries to take its place.
 
Some EQ helps by dulling down the bass end and raise the mids and highs some more. The sound tries to be balanced but then if you set it to sound like a Grado the sound equal outs

Okay, understood. So EQ'ing doesn't exactly fix the problem, as you seem to imply in your review. You're simply changing the frequency balance to mask the shortcomings. 
 
This model has been on my map for a while, so it's interesting to get more perspectives -- especially from someone who isn't in the "honeymoon phase" as you alluded to in your review. 
 

 

[Sennheiser]

Thanks for the review, BotByte!

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

Okay, understood. So EQ'ing doesn't exactly fix the problem, as you seem to imply in your review. You're simply changing the frequency balance to mask the shortcomings. 
 
This model has been on my map for a while, so it's interesting to get more perspectives -- especially from someone who isn't in the "honeymoon phase" as you alluded to in your review. 
 

Well I see that phase all the time and It's like watching a movie. Right after you finished it, you love it. But then after a week or so, you forget it.
 
I see that i wanted to do a long term review rather then a short "got these, love them"
 
 
I do say that I was a little poised on hatred on them. Yet they still are around my head 6-8 hours a day. So great headphones, but I like to list the negatives.
 
 
But remember people:
 
TAKE WHAT I SAID LIGHTLY, IT'S ONLY MY OPINION

 

[tdockweiler]

Yes, it is your opinion, but there HAS to be a reason for the bloated bass. Could be anything really. That's why I suggest another amp or source to see if it changes.
I mean wouldn't it be nice to find out, to know for sure? Sure you don't have the E5 bass boost on accidentally?

Only kidding....
Quote:

Originally Posted by BotByte /img/forum/go_quote.gif
But remember people:
 
TAKE WHAT I SAID LIGHTLY, IT'S ONLY MY OPINION

 

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

Most of us have not experienced this. The HD-598 is not even remotely bloated, so this is just beyond bizarre to me.

I agree with this. It was very balanced when I heard it, though I still EQed down the upper mids and also the treble a bit more. I found the HD598 a bit sterile in the midrange initially and the bass was in no way bloated. Lacking? Yes, but definitely not bloated. The drivers on the HD598s are also not slow. They are faster compared to Grados of higher price range (ie. SR325i).
 
Either way, it's an honest review and I agree with everything else.

 

[Katun]

I didn't find bass bloated at all. I just found it didn't extend too well.

 

[DjAmTraX]

I just ordered one from Amazon for $178 delivered.  Can't wait!

 

[olor1n]

Quote:

 

Sound:

 

Everyone skip to here then read the rest please.

 
I’ll compare these to my Grado SR80i/Sr225i, MDR-V6 and Modded T50RP – think of a LCD-2 please.
 

Sound simplified:

Lazy Grado with soundstage.
 

Highs:

Sharp to the point of shattering like a Grado. But not without a smooth roll. Not so much detail in the higher end as I would get from a Grado but also not as harsh.

Mids:

Detailed to the point of counting guitar strings, that’s it. The details are nice and clean, but then everything interrupts and then explodes. With my T50RP I can hear is the guitarist hit a fret within his cord, with these the sound is smoothed over by the bass.

Lows:

The bass is bloated. I know, you’ll scratch at this, but anything I listen to seems like I’m constantly being thrown at a wall then to watch the wall come closer. The details of the lows gets blurred by a slow driver speed – that’s the best way I can explain it. There is simply not enough speed in the driver with the amount of bass it wants to put out to give you an accurate bass. Too much power = uncontrolled bass. But this is compared to the LCD-2’s bass, take with salt please.
 
 

Conclusion:

Despite all I hate these headphones for, I find that they are the only headphones I truly can just listen to. When I’m writing I wear them for 6 hours straight. When I’m relaxing I fall to sleep in them. From browsing the internet to analyzing music, I find myself turning to these.
 

Are you interchanging the T50RP with the LCD-2? Is it really that good? Really? Dang... could've saved myself a grand.