[MRK1]

I just found my old Aqua - Aquarium CD laying around so I dusted it off and gave it a spin with the 598CS and man this genre sounds excellent with these. I've listened to this crap countless times but I don't remember it ever sounding as good as on the 598CS. The voices are just fantastic as is the instrument separation and the punchy beat are just perfect. Anyone who still listens to europop in this day and age, Barbie Girl truly sounds excellent with these headphones

.
 
Modern JPop also sounds very good by the way. These are probably the ultimate headphones in the up to 100 bucks price range for female vocal pop stuff.

 

[SirMarc]

I was just wondering why I prefer my open back 598s to all other cans I've heard or own.  There are many reasons, but one major reason is that they NEVER sound too loud or harsh or sibilant or anything like that.  They are the most non-fatiguing cans I've ever heard, yet they still reveal plenty of detail.  I'm sensitive to brightness.  Even my 650s can sound a bit bright at times with some songs.  The 598s never do, ever.  This non-fatiguing quality lets me turn up the volume quite loud and feel the bass without the mids or treble sounding too loud - so balanced. You can blast them continuously with no fatigue (I don't recommend it; save your hearing).  Also, I can easily fall asleep with them when I'm tired, even with moderate volume.

So I was thinking, why is that?  What about their design or tuning could contribute to this non-fatiguing perfection?  So I hopped over to Sennheiser USA website for more information.  Reading the list of features, there's one that stands out as the likely reason - "surround reflector for extended spatial sound field."  I'm not sure exactly what this is or what it's designed to do.  However, I'm going to guess by its name that it's something that reduces the amount of direct sounds that enter your ears.  Basically, I think it creates "reflected" sounds so that the sounds don't go straight from driver to your ears, but are instead bounced around a bit before entering your ears.  I think this attributes to the cans' softer, more laid back, non-fatiguing sound.

I've owned them for over a year and I'm still in awe of how almost perfectly tuned the 598 are.  Kudos to the engineers at Sennheiser for achieving what I believe may be the best headphone in the world in their price bracket.  Sennheiser, if you're reading this, please don't ever discontinue the original, ivory 598.  They're simply too good.  Haven't heard your 599 yet, but I don't see how it can get much better than 598.  I wish the 598 could be frozen in time like the Koss Porta Pro that's been around for around 30 years now.

I love my 598's, but wait till you hear your 650's properly amped, they're in a completely different league. Everything you love about your 598's and much more.

 

[gargani]

I've never heard the 518 or 558.  I read that 558 are almost identical to 598, but tuned differently, whereas the 518 are a bigger step down in sound quality to both 558 and 598.  Is that your impression as well?  Have you posted a quick comparison between the 3 anywhere that you can link to?  Would be interested in hearing your comparisons.

I agree with those statements.The 558's and the 598's sound very similar. But there are some subtle differences. I'll elaborate with an anecdote.
If I'm casually listening to some music with the 598's and I take a break for about 15 minutes, then I come back and start listening with the 558's , I don'the notice any difference; but, if I start listening more intently and switch back and forth between the two, then I start to hear the difference. The 558's have a bit more bass, the 598's have a touch more treble,and sound slightly more open and airy.Keep in mind the adjectives I'm using: a bit, a touch, slightly. I could say the 558's are a little thicker sounding or the 598's are a little leaner sounding.They sound very similar but not quite the same.
Everything I've said about the 558's as compared to the 598's, I could say about the 518's as compared to the 558's. As you would assume, the difference between the 518's and the 598's is more noticeable. The 518's are bassier, warmer, less bright,thicker and more closed in sounding.

Still, though, I can tell all 3 are from the same "family". They all have that relaxed, non-fatiguing quality.

 

[LazyListener]

Delete double post.

 

[LazyListener]

  According to this amazon reviewer the "surround reflector" is the lump inside the cups.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R27Q3ZCEOV4M9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0042A8CW2

 
 

I've noticed that the 598 SE and CS also has these reflectors.

 
I don't think that bulge inside the cups is the sound reflector.  That's by design to allow room for the hinge.

 

[stellarelephant]

The whole reflector thing sounds so odd. Isn't the whole reason for an open design to eliminate reflections?

 

[Mad Max]

It isn't that simple in the least.
 
The "surround reflector" thing seems to be for taming the treble, though at the expense of overall sound quality.  558's awful honeycomb grill actually contributes to reflections as much as closed back cups, and that is the source of 558's congestion with complex/"busy" music.  It could also be the cause of 558 having more bass.  598 has better grills that minimize reflections.
 
It's not that being open-back in design "eliminates" reflections, it's that it potentially vents/prevents some or most of the reflections.  The rest of the cup design has to be made to minimize reflections as well.  The grill itself should also be designed to avoid contributing to reflections, though that isn't the case here, especially with 558, unfortunately.

 

[LazyListener]

I think it's more about controlling the reflections vs just minimizing or trying to eliminate them.  It's all part of the overall design, materials, and tuning process, in order to achieve the desired effect.  Too many uncontrolled, reflected sounds trapped inside the cup will probably lead to congestion and basically, crappy sound quality.  Open design, but its nature, will release some of the sound pressure and allow those sound waves, that would normally be trapped and reflecting and colliding all over the place, to escape, thereby minimizing reflections.  However, I still think you want some reflected sounds that are well controlled to be channeled into one's ears.  If done properly, I think it helps to achieve a desired effect, whether that be smoother treble or a greater sense of distance and space, potentially leading to a more natural sounding can.

 

[NerdsofSteel]

I'm not sure if the Close version is part of this thread, but can the brainwavs hm5 earpads be added to to the CS version?

 

[Mad Max]

Yes.  The pads will take a little bit of stretching, just do it slowly and carefully.  I stretched HM5 pads onto an HD380pro I used to have, its cups and pads are the same as the HD5x8 series.

 

[KopaneDePooj]

I'm not sure if the Close version is part of this thread, but can the brainwavs hm5 earpads be added to to the CS version?

Why would you want to do that?
The original pads are perfect and special in materals and feel. Without them the Cs would be just another headphone. 80% of why I still have them is because of the earpads

 

[LazyListener]

Any 598 owners out there that were able to compare with Fostex T50RP MK3 care to share their comparative impressions?

 

[Cybrupt]

Hi, guys. I'm new here haven't really looked around. I recently bought and am working on selling my Sennheiser HD 598SE headphones. I have a lot of experience with microphones and listening to their frequency response. When I bought the Sennheiser HD 598SE I didn't know what to expect. I never had studio headphones in almost 10 years. I never had Open back headphones so I couldnt wait to try one of the most popular headphones on Amazon, lol. Well I have to say I was morbidly disappointed. It felt like I was listening to a Shure SM58 recording while listening to my headphones. It sounded like the top end cut off completely around 10khz just like a SM58 microphone. When I looked up the frequency response I was horrified. THESE HEADPHONES HAVE NO FREQUENCY RESPONSE PAST 10Khz! I tried to like them for a few days. Everything sounded like a SM58 recording. that is HIALRIOUSLY BAD. I then learned about the "sennheiser veil" it all makes sense now. Sennheiser has autism. I'm thinking about getting the DT770 80ohm or 250 ohm now. What do you think? The open back lack of sub bass was also a let down. The wider more open "stage" y'all speak of was not very impressive. I was considering the DT990 to get a more top end frequency supported open back but I'm starting to think the lack of bass is almost as bad as the lack of top end response. The 598SE also are focused more on the mids and lower mids with a lot of boosting in that area. so its pretty much all midrange and lower midrange like a blue baby bottle microphone. I Hate that microphone!. /rant. I used your forum to learn about the DT7070. Hopefully I don't have to upgrade after getting that and I don't get addicted to headphones. Thank god I learned to read a frequency response chart. I feel like I already know thats going on after owning one pair of headphones.

 

[r2muchstuff]

 

[Cybrupt]

 

are you trying to prove something with this? the fact is says it goes up to 38.5khz even though i said it cuts off at 10khz?
http://www.head-fi.org/content/type/61/id/563031/width/350/height/280
 
it actually cuts off starting at 9khz and from where it cuts off its already very low. aka sennheiser veil. so its actually quite a bit worse than i stated. the fact it goes back up at 20khz past human hearing is irrelevant lol.