invelity
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2012
- Posts
- 23
- Likes
- 12
Just received my 598 used (previous owner had roughly ten hours of burn-in). To be honest, I'm a bit underwhelmed. After a good time spent doing some research, the overall consensus was positive.
Research findings|
Notable pros: soundstage, mids, vocals, design
Notable cons: lack of bass
Personal burn-in time: approx. two hours
I had previously owned an Astro A40, w/ main use for gaming. Imo, they were great for gaming, but for music, they were just decent. I am very new to the audiophile scene, so my critical ear is perhaps a bit more forgiving than others on Head-Fi. To be blunt, the A40 was the first around-the-ear headphone I had ever used. Previously, I had owned a Sennheiser HD 238 (on-the-ear), picking them up at a Best Buy and knowing nothing about the brand and if they were reputable (what a surprise!).
The A40 overall have better bass (being a semi-open design) than my 598, which, in hindsight, I should have been more concerned about, I suppose. However, the bass on the A40 is not as tight/controlled as w/ 598.
Another thing that I will mention is that the 598 seems to be harder to drive (not by much) than the A40, which is interesting, considering they both are listed at 50 ohms. I use an Astro Mixamp, which I presume to be part of issue, and the issue of a lack of bass. I still want to keep the Mixamp, because I would also use the 598 for gaming.
Overall, I expected the bass to be more prevalent, but I guess that's the nature of an open design. Besides the bass, everything else happily meet my expectations for the amount I invested ($180).
* I'm not sure if I should return them for something better. Otherwise, is there something that I could do to improve the bass response, besides a recabling mod? I have a budget of ~$300 to work with.
Possible upgrades(?):
- Denon AH-D2000
- beyerdynamic DT 990
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beyerdynamic-DT-990-PRO-Behringer-HPS5000-HEADPHONES-/230728168446?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b87873fe#ht_6013wt_1270
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beyerdynamic-DT-990-PRO-Behringer-MINIFBQ-FBQ800-/320826346355?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab2bd8b73#ht_6757wt_1270
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beyerdynamic-DT-990-PRO-Behringer-ULTRA-DI-DI100-/230728168144?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b87872d0#ht_6548wt_1270
- beyerdynamic DT 880
Research findings|
Notable pros: soundstage, mids, vocals, design
Notable cons: lack of bass
Personal burn-in time: approx. two hours
I had previously owned an Astro A40, w/ main use for gaming. Imo, they were great for gaming, but for music, they were just decent. I am very new to the audiophile scene, so my critical ear is perhaps a bit more forgiving than others on Head-Fi. To be blunt, the A40 was the first around-the-ear headphone I had ever used. Previously, I had owned a Sennheiser HD 238 (on-the-ear), picking them up at a Best Buy and knowing nothing about the brand and if they were reputable (what a surprise!).
The A40 overall have better bass (being a semi-open design) than my 598, which, in hindsight, I should have been more concerned about, I suppose. However, the bass on the A40 is not as tight/controlled as w/ 598.
Another thing that I will mention is that the 598 seems to be harder to drive (not by much) than the A40, which is interesting, considering they both are listed at 50 ohms. I use an Astro Mixamp, which I presume to be part of issue, and the issue of a lack of bass. I still want to keep the Mixamp, because I would also use the 598 for gaming.
Overall, I expected the bass to be more prevalent, but I guess that's the nature of an open design. Besides the bass, everything else happily meet my expectations for the amount I invested ($180).
* I'm not sure if I should return them for something better. Otherwise, is there something that I could do to improve the bass response, besides a recabling mod? I have a budget of ~$300 to work with.
Possible upgrades(?):
- Denon AH-D2000
- beyerdynamic DT 990
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beyerdynamic-DT-990-PRO-Behringer-HPS5000-HEADPHONES-/230728168446?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b87873fe#ht_6013wt_1270
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beyerdynamic-DT-990-PRO-Behringer-MINIFBQ-FBQ800-/320826346355?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab2bd8b73#ht_6757wt_1270
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beyerdynamic-DT-990-PRO-Behringer-ULTRA-DI-DI100-/230728168144?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b87872d0#ht_6548wt_1270
- beyerdynamic DT 880