[Yaox25]

Hi, i am planning on buying a pair of HD 598 by the end of this month, i already have a pair of HD 555 that i bought about 2 years ago, and i found them great and extremely confortable but lacking a bit of bass and punch. So after that i bought the ath m50 , closed cans with bigger and nicer bass, but i find them quite unconfortable to use for hours.
 
I mostly use my opened cans on my computer to play video games, watch movies and listen to music in that order, i have an ASUS Xonar DG sound card , the one that costs around 20 bucks, is this sound card enough for the HD 598?? or should i buy an AMP/DAC device? if so, which one is recommended? my budget is around 150 US$. I wish to get it all from the HD 598.
 
Also can anyone make a short comparison between the HD 598 and ATH M50 regarding the clarity of sound, i find the ATH M50 awesome for music, with a big deep bass, which i found awesome for heavy drumming songs, but regarding gaming and movies i find the ATH M50 lacking compared to the HD 555.
 
Thanks in advance,

 

[NA Blur]

My first concern is the lack of significant and to my ears no different between the sound of the 555 and 598.  If you want more bass in an open-back headphone go with something like the Sennheiser HD449.
 
Here are the frequency graphs for the three headphones mentioned:
 
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=3751&graphID[]=563&graphID[]=2851&scale=30
 
See how the 555 and 598 are almost identical?  This is more evidence that they are very similar sounding.
 
The 449 has an increased bass response compared to the others.
 
You can read a bit more about the 449 here:
 
http://www.headphone.com/headphones/sennheiser-hd-449.php

 

[Yaox25]

So, what you are saying is that the difference between the HD 598 and HD 555 are not worth the almost 100$ more that they cost?
 
My HD 555 are almost worn out so i gave them to my little brother, that's why I'm planning on buying new ones, is it best to buy the hd 558?
 
Which headphones do you recommend for movies and music? around the 300$ and 400$ budget.
 
Thank you

 

[alanriedi]

If the 555's bass is not enough for you, the 598's bass probably won't be too.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but the 598 has a bright signature.
I really enjoy these headphones, but I'm not a basshead.
I think that your Xonar DG is fine for the HD598.

 

[xero404]

I started from a HD280 for my closed set which was a little too flat to a hd555. After years of service (7!) I wanted more bass and upgrade my setup so i ended up ordering a Philips Fidelio X1 and has a great sound signature with much more bass but not too bloated. It runs pretty well off my xfi-titanium hd, ipod\ipad and Samsung GS3 but it did sound marginally better on my Asgard 2.  I'm also waiting on a set of mad dogs next week to complement as a closed set to replace the hd280s but i think they need more power being orthodynamic.  

 

 

[joshwalnut]

If your 555's are lacking in bass, you need to buy an amp. My 558's bass is crap without my fiio e10. Now the bass in the 5x8 series is there, but it won't do anything if you're a basshead. It's punchy and accurate, but you'll never feel it like you would with a closed back. The 598 actually has less bass impact then the 558 stock (so i've heard, i've never listened to the 598's myself).. so if you're going to get one of them.. you should get the 558 IMO.
 
I would suggest the HD 650's if you like open backed and a lot of bass. But that's way out of your budget.

 

[Yaox25]

Well, i'm not really the bass freak, i just like the punch of it when i hear the drums, my music taste is far beyond the hip hop genre , i mostly listen to Altenative Rock, and Indie Rock .
 
Almost all my music is on FLAC format, yesterday i tried the Grado sr225 which they are offering me for under 200$ and i liked them, but the cord is really short.
 
I am really lost here hehe, i don't know if i should spend a lot of money on headphones that i will not be able to drive on my ASUS XONAR DG.
 
Would i be able to notice the difference between the hd 600 and hd 598? because i could save for a couple of months to get them.
Is there a huge difference between the hd 600 and 650?
 
Thanks

 

[NA Blur]

Yes there is a big difference between the 595 and 600/650.  There is not a big difference between the 600/650 more like subtle differences in the bass and treble.  Many users think that the 650 is more colored and I tend to agree.
 
Another option would be to go with the AKG Q701 which sounds very close to the HD600/650, but can cost a bit less.

 

[joshwalnut]

You could look into the beyerdynamic 990 250ohms, i've heard really good things about them with their bass for an open can, yes, they're hard to drive, you could always get a better amplifier down the road though, your focus should be on getting the best headphone for you right now, worry about the amp stuff later on. Lookie here http://www.head-fi.org/t/513393/guide-sonic-differences-between-dt770-dt990-models-more
 
If you still don't want to do that, you could always look into the audio technica headphones (the A,AD,W series), most of them are 42ohms and are really easy to drive, they sound great without an expensive amp. Look more into it but the AD900x's are suppose to have decent bass for an open backed headphone (and just an all around good headphone). I'm actually looking into getting the A900X's (the closed back version of the AD900X's), they're more of a fun sounding headphone compared to my 558's.

 

[xero404]

Not sure if you've seen this thread but the x1 did phenomenally in Mad Lust Envy's review. It is super easy to drive at 30ohms @500mw which would match your xonar as it does great straight out of the x-fi. I do alot of PC gaming so it was an interesting pick. I would love to hear a set of hd650s though down the road.