[Dinerenblanc]

nice. mine also arrived at mu U.S. shippin agent address but will have to wait to get them another week... I hope it is worth the wait though.

could you comment on sound ? as a first pair of cans for you, it is interesting to know what your thoughts are on them in general...

Sound wise, they're very spacious and natural sounding, with the former being not a surprise considering that they're open-back headphones, but that natural sound is very enjoyable. There's also quite a bit of sparkle. The bass however is a little subdued. It doesn't punch very hard and there's little sub-bass. I'm not sure if that's the norm with open-backs though. Instrument separation is good, but there's definitely room for improvement. I can tell that these are not top of the line headphones, even as an IEM user. Considering that I only paid $108 for them, I'm very happy. If there was ever an entry-level headphone that could convince an IEM user to drift over to this side, it would be the HD598.

 

[amigomatt]

The bass response gets better when they are amped well, both in impact and extension.

 

[Dinerenblanc]

The bass response gets better when they are amped well, both in impact and extension.

I'm running them through my Sound Blaster Z, which should be enough. Theyll be used exclusively on the PC, so I haven't really bothered with other sources or amps yet, but I might do so at a later time.

 

[youchew]

so I decided to get the vali+modi and it arrived today
this is SUCH an improvement to whatever the on-board sound on my PC is
 
I thought I was gonna regret buying it but nope! 

 
 
oh and I read somewhere that using the vali for too long is bad for it; is that true?

 

[nihontoman]

Sound wise, they're very spacious and natural sounding, with the former being not a surprise considering that they're open-back headphones, but that natural sound is very enjoyable. There's also quite a bit of sparkle. The bass however is a little subdued. It doesn't punch very hard and there's little sub-bass. I'm not sure if that's the norm with open-backs though. Instrument separation is good, but there's definitely room for improvement. I can tell that these are not top of the line headphones, even as an IEM user. Considering that I only paid $108 for them, I'm very happy. If there was ever an entry-level headphone that could convince an IEM user to drift over to this side, it would be the HD598.

 
 
thanks for the impressions. can't wait to get mine spacious and natural sounding is my kinda sound
 

The bass response gets better when they are amped well, both in impact and extension.

 
I'm gonna power them with my iBasso DX50. If you have one, could you comment on how they sound paired with this dap? or maybe Fiio X3...

 

[seatown7]

Has anyone figured out an easy way to swap out the cable on the 598s? I'd like a shorter cord with the 3.5 plug so I don't need the adapter.

 

[potterpastor]

I have a short cord for the 598. I bought it directly from Sennheiser for like $12

 

[seatown7]

Does it have the smaller plug too?

 

[potterpastor]

Yes, the 3/5. Perfect for smart phones and iPods

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I had that cable from Sennheiser.  Unfortunately, I started getting intermittent dropouts in one ear.  I greatly feared it was the female jack on the headphone, but when I switched away from that cable, all was well, so I conclude that the Sennheiser cable had a bad jack.
 
I then went to the following, which is a short cable on eBay that ALSO has an in-line remote for iPod play functions (volume, skip/repeat, pause).  Completely satisfied now!
 
If you want a 4.5 ft cable with iPhone remote that has metal rather than plastic jacks (my plastic jack one stopped making firm connection inside the Sennheiser headphone), go here...  http://www.head-fi.org/t/645819/sennheiser-5x8shortcable-with-3-5mm-plug-now-available-for-hd-5x8-owners/30#post_10758909
 

 

[potterpastor]

I have had no trouble at all for year and a half with that Sennheiser cable. It is thick and durable. If given the choice, I choose to get my cables and accessories from the same company that made the headphone.

Sennheiser stands behind their stuff. I don't know if that would be the case with an aftermarket cable or not.

 

[seatown7]

Thanks. I'm ordering the EBay cable because the remote is attractive to me.

 

[Jazic]

I got this one for $21 shipped: http://www.headphone.com/products/sennehiser-hd-5x8-short-cable It's official Sennheiser cable that's shorter and has the 2.5mm 4 pin. 
 
On another note I had a spare pair of HM5 pads both velour and leather. I put the leathers on and it made them sound too thick and bassy for my liking. It increased the upper bass to overwelm the sound to the point of not being fun. 
 
I switched over the velours and it might have changed the soundstage by a very small amount but it's still as wide. I wish I had another pair to A/B. That said the sound has improved and made it worth any shortcomings in the soundstage department. Instead of the headphones sounding like they are throwing the sound behind your ears it now sounds like it's beside your head instead. It brought up the bass and reduced the slight sibilance in the upper mids and lower treble. It smoothed that out and just left the upper treble sparkle. It made it slightly V shaped. Also the comfort level went up another step. They are already incredibly comfortable but this just made them moreso. Now they are like pillows on your head instead of just comfortable pads. Now when a drum hits (not just bass drum) it tickles your ear. That's something that it was missing before. 
 
 
 
 
EDIT: I went ahead and ordered one of those cables from Ebay. For $16 with a mic is a no-brainer. I just got the Xbox One controller headphone adapter and it supports TRRS headset/headphones so I could use one when gaming and chatting.

 

[arthasss]

Can someone make a quick comparison between these ,dt880 and q701

 

[Jazic]

Can someone make a quick comparison between these ,dt880 and q701

 
I had the Q701 for a short while but my best recollection of them were that they were kind of set to the lighter side of the sound characteristic, meaning they were opposite of what one would consider a warm headphone. Bass was similar, mids as well but I think the treble extended a bit further. I got a little more sibilance out of the Q701 than I did the HD598. Soundstage was wider on the Q701. Comfort was better on the HD598. 
 
Not sure about the 880's.