[grandcross]

  HD600's are $299 from an authorized dealer. https://www.buysonic.com/products/sennheiser-hd-600/

 
I'm considering it. Thing is, I had both the 598 and 600 in a cart before deciding on the 598. When I searched for 598 vs 600 threads here, I found that a couple of people thought the 598 were close to the 600, and had its own benefits (wider soundstage, for example). It might have been hyperbole on their part, not sure - but I figured if the 598 were in the same ballpark, might as well go for the cheaper option.
 

  I would advise you to stick with them.  I know it's hard when you have a window to return them, but it took me months to get used to these, again like you, coming from faster/brighter headphones (Grados), but now I appreciate that they have qualities that no other headphone has.  I would never get rid of them now, despite purchasing 'higher end' cans since then.  It's not either or for me with choosing headphones, I have a number of different ones for different listening purposes.  You will find it harder to get a more liquid and beautiful rendition of female vocals/small scale acoustic stuff for the price of these. My go to relaxing headphones, which my Grados are certainly not!!

 
Yeah...I'll try to get as much mileage with these headphones in the meantime.

 

[amigomatt]

I own the 598s and haven't heard the 600s, but from much reading through these forums, I fully expect the 600s to be better all rounders and neutral (ie not lending their character to the music) as opposed to the 598s which I can vouch for having a definite character that colours eveything (in a good way for me with the right material).  I can't imagine anyone really being disappointed having bought the 600s.  They may find them slightly boring if they want a more hyped sound, but I can't imagine anyone finding anything offensive to say about them.  They are in my mind the epitome of neutral and balanced.  Of course, someone please correct me if I'm wrong as I am commiting that cardinal sin of passing judgement on cans I haven't heard.  It's just my opinion and conjecture, of course.

 

[BillsonChang007]

I short listening, the HD598 will be better than the HD600 but after a longer listening, the HD600 is overall better. Soundstage doesn't matter anymore, the HD600 is a step better than the HD598 IMO

 

[Bansaku]

  Since we're talking about burn-in, is there anyway that a 'wrong' burn-in process can leave the phones with more inferior sound than their potential? For example if I only listen to songs that has too little treble, will the treble range be 'unopened' after the burn in process?
 

 
The frequency range does not affect the burn-in. I mean no disrespect to audiophiles who swear by 'pink noise', but it matters not what is being played through the headphones. Essentially, 'burn-in' occurs in a system which has a current running through it. The current causes heat. Heat causes the materials to slowly change over time. The process can be ongoing for the life span of the device, or it can reach a 'final stage'; Normally the latter is the case if the device is used under normal operating conditions. In the case of headphone drivers, burn-in occurs mostly in the voice coil. It is debatable if the physical act of a vibrating diaphragm is also playing into the burn-in process. My logic says yes because the drivers are vibrating at 20,000 times per second, something has to give. The actual current running to the drivers is relatively weak, hence why it takes so damn long for some headphones to reach their final sound, and why some people tend not to notice the process. There really is no way of measuring burn-in outside of a very astute memory; Test equipment is not as sensitive as our ears, which can detect the smallest of variation in sound. Some people say burn-in is not real and that listeners are merely experiencing 'mental burn-in'. Physics says otherwise.
 
 
 

 

 

[fauxfreshness]

   
The frequency range does not affect the burn-in. I mean no disrespect to audiophiles who swear by 'pink noise', but it matters not what is being played through the headphones. Essentially, 'burn-in' occurs in a system which has a current running through it. The current causes heat. Heat causes the materials to slowly change over time. The process can be ongoing for the life span of the device, or it can reach a 'final stage'; Normally the latter is the case if the device is used under normal operating conditions. In the case of headphone drivers, burn-in occurs mostly in the voice coil. It is debatable if the physical act of a vibrating diaphragm is also playing into the burn-in process. My logic says yes because the drivers are vibrating at 20,000 per second, something has to give. The actual current running to the drivers is relatively weak, hence why it takes so damn long for some headphones to reach their final sound, and why some people tend not to notice the process. There really is no way of measuring burn-in outside of an very astute memory; Test equipment is not as sensitive as our ears, which can detect the smallest of variation in sound. Some people say burn-in is not real and that listeners are merely experiencing 'mental burn-in'. Physics says otherwise.
 
 
 

 

 
Physics also dictate that the principal source of heat for a tire is the deformation it experiences while rolling and turning, rather than the direct friction from contact to the road surface.  Much like bending a paperclip over and over again until it breaks, then touching the broken ends and finding it's a bit...warm.    Cycle the material enough, while being closely coupled to the voice coil that actually gets a lot hotter, and you start getting the sound it's probably going to deliver for years to come.  So in principal, I agree with what you mean with the material cycling with heat and motion and changing its performance over time.
 
For me, it's more a matter of the motor assembly loosening up.  My MDR-V6s were always rather cold, until I spent 3 months doing electronic music production in a class with bass heavy genres.  Now they sound quite a bit different using original source gear and material I had when I got them 10 years ago.  Just in that short of time, I had to "recalibrate" myself and realize how much signal on the meters and spectrometers I was hearing.  My studio monitors were similar, to the point where I stopped using a sub as I kept having to change the gains.  I'll have to get a matching one later on so I can use XLR to it as well, but that's a different issue.    So I do it to loosen up the drivers, and on my recent AKG Q701s I would probably need 3 years of continuous Trap/Dubstep before I got them to the point of my MDR-V6s.  But that's partly why I like them.

 

[amigomatt]

I've ended up writing some impressions in another thread that I feel might be relevant to this thread, especially if anyone is interested in comparisons between HD598, HE400, NAD VISO HP50 and Sony MA900.  I'm also plugging the HRT Microstreamer to be THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE UPGRADE I'VE EVER BOUGHT IN NEARLY 20 YEARS OF INTEREST IN AUDIO GEAR.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/663121/sony-mdr-ma900-impressions-thread/1365#post_10897701

 

[gr8soundz]

  I've ended up writing some impressions in another thread that I feel might be relevant to this thread, especially if anyone is interested in comparisons between HD598, HE400, NAD VISO HP50 and Sony MA900.  I'm also plugging the HRT Microstreamer to be THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE UPGRADE I'VE EVER BOUGHT IN NEARLY 20 YEARS OF INTEREST IN AUDIO GEAR.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/663121/sony-mdr-ma900-impressions-thread/1365#post_10897701

 
Thanks so much for the comparisons.
 
I'm still tempted to get the HP50s but that headband.........
 
Don't have many hours on my HD598s yet so I started a long burn-in today after reading some earlier posts. Interested to see if the low end opens up after 200 hours.

 

[haysonics]

Hello, first time posting on a forum! I'm a proud owner of a pair of Sennheiser 598s. However, I'm experiencing an issue. After reading through a lot of this thread, I'm fearful there may be rattling in the driver in my left ear cup. I first noticed it when I was playing Halo 4 online, explosions definitely sounded like what I would describe as ending with a slight crackle. So, I proceeded to listen to a variety of music to investigate. It's almost imperceptible, and if I wasn't so annoyingly anal about my sound quality, I probably wouldn't notice. It sounds off with only certain bass ranges (deep) and seems to be just from the left cup. It's like the bass ends with a slight, well, rattle. It's not a constant problem, as I only seem to notice it during heavy bass / explosions. I really love the headphones, despite the issue, but I HAVE to know if it's a defect or something while I still have the warranty. I bought them through Amazon ($180!), if that's of importance. Running them through a 2013 Astro Mix Amp. I've tested them without the amp, too, also tried dialing down the volume and EQ settings on the mix amp. Everyone on this forum seems to know their stuff, so I figured this would be the best place to find help!

I bought the HD598 around the same time last year. I love it and had no issues until the day I recorded my bass guitar using a fuzz effect set to a very high level. The left ear cup loudly rattled on the low notes. I thought I had overdone it and caused either a screw, wire or driver to come loose. I then listened to the playback on my stereo and heard distortion (beyond fuzz). I re-recorded the bass using less fuzz and thankfully there was no rattle. I haven't had the issue since (touch wood). So I found that if you drive the headphone very hard on a low frequency you can cause something to rattle. That it happened in the left cup (like mentioned in the above post) leads me to think that the thing that rattles may only be found in the left ear cup. Hope this little experience helps future readers.

 

[SunshineReggae]

Many reports of this rattling... I wonder what is going on. Are drivers in the HD598 very weak? Because this surely can not be normal.

 

[mindbomb]

could it be a problem from the amplifier rather than the headphone? you guys try plugging them into different things?

 

[CharlesC]

I suspect that those with the rattle listen a lot louder than the rest of us.

 

[SunshineReggae]

I suspect that those with the rattle listen a lot louder than the rest of us.

I doubt it, these reports come in this thread from typical (average) users, if the problem was they were listening louder than normal, we would see also this problem with other headphones. But this seems very much exclusive problem with the HD598 (maybe also 558?)...

 

[CharlesC]

 
 if the problem was they were listening louder than normal, we would see also this problem with other headphones.

 
I don't follow your logic here.  My suggestion is that maybe the HD598s DON"T handle loud volumes as well as other headphones.

 

[haysonics]

My HD598 can handle loud volume as long as the bass is not at the stage where it rumbles. I assume rattling will occur at loud volume + tracks that have over-the-top bass, loud volume + films with earthquake effects and loud volume + bass boosted via EQ.  It's only a guess as I tend to turn down the volume in such cases. I won't deliberately make the headphones rattle as I am afraid the rattle may become permanent. I know things are supposed to be designed to handle their maximum rated power but ...

 

[Oscarilbo]

  My HD598 can handle loud volume as long as the bass is not at the stage where it rumbles. I assume rattling will occur at loud volume + tracks that have over-the-top bass, loud volume + films with earthquake effects and loud volume + bass boosted via EQ.  It's only a guess as I tend to turn down the volume in such cases. I won't deliberately make the headphones rattle as I am afraid the rattle may become permanent. I know things are supposed to be designed to handle their maximum rated power but ...

Hi...
I just bought my HD598 almost a like three weeks ago, and I'm very happy with them... I just love them. The clarity, the soundstage, the warmth, everything... and I also been noticing that "rattle" in very low frequencies, kind of a distortion on such a long bass lines in soundtracks or, as haysonics put it, very low end "earthquake" sounds in movies. All this of course on very loud volume. And I'm not talking about the bass punch in common songs, but really deep bass lines that you can find in movie soundtracks and movies themselves.
 
It doesn't feel as if they were defective or anything like that, but as if they just cannot handle that level of frequencies very well...
 
As I only listen to soundtracks (orchestral scores on orignal CD and some 24/96 flac files), many of them has that kind of very deep bass, so my question is, should I be worried? I don't wanna to have to EQ my receiver every time I listen music (Denon avr1713) because that's also where I watch movies, but I don't want my headphones to be damage for life. What do yo recommend? How easy is for them to be damage for life? I thought they just be always struggling with that kind of frequencies but didn't know they can be damage that way.
 
thanks