@MRK1
You're clearly biased towards the Sonys because you bashed the HD 598 before in your posts. I don't know why are you still buying Sennheisers if you don't like the house sound.
The fact that you like overly bassy headphones impacts on your ability to make an objective observation.
The HD 598 sounding "distant" - most of us call that "sound stage" and are enjoying it.
I have the MDR-1A and it does not have any metal at the joints it only looks like metal but it is not. Also the joints in the MDR-1A are squeaky, and you have to apply silicone oil to fix that. Also the MDR-1A have bass ports that pick wind sound very badly. I don't understand this obsession with metal in the construction of headphones. It makes them heavier. If you use them normally you won't have any problems with the materials used in HD 598 CS. Why put metal grills if the headphones are closed?
The bass in the regular HD 598 is perfect in amount and especially quality, being tight and controlled, and if the closed version has even a bit more, it is perfect for outdoors, provided you know you're buying a headphone with a balanced signature and are enjoying it.