[Bansaku]

  and do they have the best soundstage?

Wouldn't call it forced, or artificial by any means, but the imaging of the instruments/sounds is not totally accurate. Not a problem unless you are a competitive gamer. In terms of extending the sound outside of your head, probably the only headphone that has a better soundstage would be the HD 700/800. There is a reason why I still keep mine.
 

 

[apaar123]

Wouldn't call it forced, or artificial by any means, but the imaging of the instruments/sounds is not totally accurate. Not a problem unless you are a competitive gamer. In terms of extending the sound outside of your head, probably the only headphone that has a better soundstage would be the HD 700/800. There is a reason why I still keep mine.

i was asking for gaming only.

 

[delSol]

 
 Most definitely!
 

If I understand it correctly, phones can be EQ'd to produce a greater QUANTITY of bass, within the limits of the frequency response of the phones........HOWEVER, all the EQ'ing in the world cannot result in bass frequencies LOWER THAN the phones are capable of reproducing.
 
In other words.....EQ'ing can't magically get 20hz out of a pair of phones that are only capable of 40hz.
 
Cheers, del Sol

 

[Bansaku]

  If I understand it correctly, phones can be EQ'd to produce a greater QUANTITY of bass, within the limits of the frequency response of the phones........HOWEVER, all the EQ'ing in the world cannot result in bass frequencies LOWER THAN the phones are capable of reproducing.
 
In other words.....EQ'ing can't magically get 20hz out of a pair of phones that are only capable of 40hz.
 
Cheers, del Sol

Yup, but a dedicated hardware bass boost works wonders! Just as long as it's analogue and not electronic.
 

 

[Mad Max]

  If I understand it correctly, phones can be EQ'd to produce a greater QUANTITY of bass, within the limits of the frequency response of the phones........HOWEVER, all the EQ'ing in the world cannot result in bass frequencies LOWER THAN the phones are capable of reproducing.
 
In other words.....EQ'ing can't magically get 20hz out of a pair of phones that are only capable of 40hz.
 
Cheers, del Sol

 
Yes, EQ can in fact make 20Hz audible, but it depends on the headphone in question.  You may think that it can only go down to 40, but with EQ, you may find that it can go down to even 10, giving you some respectable low end rumble.   Or not.
Fortunately, HD5x8 can go to 20Hz audibly, and appreciably more than barely.
 
 
 
 

 
Yup, but a dedicated hardware bass boost works wonders! Just as long as it's analogue and not electronic.

 

 

[LazyListener]

@Mad Max  Care to elaborate on your "graphic" reply to Bansaku's comment about analog vs. digital bass boost?  I think I know what you mean, but not sure.

 

[Bansaku]

  @Mad Max  Care to elaborate on your "graphic" reply to Bansaku's comment about analog vs. digital bass boost?  I think I know what you mean, but not sure.

Don't mean to answer for him, but you kinda of answered it yourself. Technically, analogue could be considered as "electronic", and therefore what I posted could be taken as me saying the same thing twice. However, your brain picked up on the fact that "electronic" is another term for digital, and that is in fact what I was referencing.
 

 

 

[Mad Max]

Can't say that I've ever seen "electronic" being used as a synonym for "digital" when this hobby is nothing but electronics.
 
And "analogue" how?  Headphone mods?  Low-pass filters built into the headamp's feedback loops?

 

[LazyListener]

 
Don't mean to answer for him, but you kinda of answered it yourself. Technically, analogue could be considered as "electronic", and therefore what I posted could be taken as me saying the same thing twice. However, your brain picked up on the fact that "electronic" is another term for digital, and that is in fact what I was referencing.
 

 

Nah, I got what you meant by electronic.  I myself sometimes use electronic instead of digital.  That's not what prompted my question to Mad Max.
 
From personal experience, I can say that digital EQ (bass boost) can sound just as good as analog EQ.  DSP has come a long way since yesteryear.  Sure, there are still some poor implementations of DSP that sound like crap.  But there is also very good DSP, that sounds indistinguishable from analog EQ.

 

[LazyListener]

  Can't say that I've ever seen "electronic" being used as a synonym for "digital" when this hobby is nothing but electronics.
 
And "analogue" how?  Headphone mods?  Low-pass filters built into the headamp's feedback loops?

I'm not sure how analog EQ works from a scientific perspective.  I'd guess it has something to do with modulating amplitude of the analog waveform at specific frequencies.  I honestly don't know.  Just guessing.  Anyway, I guess that's off topic.

 

[apaar123]

who all have done gaming in them?how was your experience? Please share

 

[Fal2okh]

why Sia sounds horrible on my hd598 + e10k ?
just wondering!

 

[MisterMudd]

why Sia sounds horrible on my hd598 + e10k ?
just wondering!

Her recordings are generally not well made. A good place to check this stuff is the dynamic range database. Just Google it.

 

[ContractorHei]

  who all have done gaming in them?how was your experience? Please share

Hi. I see you're on the edge of your seat for either the HD598 or HD650, or maybe you're looking to upgrade.
 
I got myself a HD650 very recently (from a HD598) and the HD650 is definitely a lot more pleasing sounding and neutral compared to the HD598 to me.
Though you probably want a good amp to make the most of them.
 
Both of them are great for movies and gaming. Can't really comment on music as I don't listen to all genres. But they'll probably sound great.
The soundstage on both of them is great. I've had multiple experiences where I actually thought the audio came from around me.

 

[Mad Max]

  who all have done gaming in them?how was your experience? Please share

 
Mad Lust Envy says it is amazing for gaming: http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-3-18-2016-mrspeakers-ether-c-1-1-added
 
Bear in mind that soundstaging on HD598, HD558, and related HD5xx headphones works best when the drivers are aimed right at the entrances of your ear canals.  So it is possible to wear the headphone too high or low and bork the soundstaging, depending on your outer ears' shape.