[swbf2cheater]

I can only go by what my ears tell me, and they tell me the HD598 is on the lean side of warmness.  
 
I'm going to stick with the hd598, but I am ready to purchase an edition 8 and possibly a T1.  I miss my T1 dearly and want it back.  

 

[Kail]

 I'm gonna buy another pair of HD 598 soon! One for usage on street, one for home.

 

[azmodien]

edit.double post

 

[azmodien]

Quote:

Really enjoying these phones.  I sold my LCD-2 about two weeks ago to recoup some funds and decided to get a "budget" phone like the HD598.  After a week with them, these are pretty incredible for $180.  The mids and sound stage are especially great for the price.  I've tried classical (Mahler), acoustic stuff (Sun Kil Moon) and rock (Black Sabbath) with them and haven't been disappointed. 

 

You have good taste in music. How would you compare the sound of the 598s with the Audeze. Was it a noticeable step down?
​

 

 

[baldnslick]

HD598 using a fiio 11 for PC
 
Need to get a proper set up....would you notice a difference using a proper headphone amp for hi fi set up? any recommendations
 

 

[Pettervo]

Got my pair of HD 598 a couple of weeks ago now, very happy with them so far. Im play music from my laptop using a creative x-fi HD usb dac/amp, and to my ears they sound good. However I'm really new to this, and dont really have much to compare them with, except for my Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro 32 Ohm. I must say the Sennheisers sound much more balanced and detailed. I prefer them to they Beyers with most kinds of music, except (heavy) rock and Hiphop.
 
As I am new to this I also wonder how much much better my headphones (and especially the 598's, as this thread is dedicated to them) would sound with an added amp? Do you think the x-fi HD do them justice?

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

Got my pair of HD 598 a couple of weeks ago now, very happy with them so far. Im play music from my laptop using a creative x-fi HD usb dac/amp, and to my ears they sound good. However I'm really new to this, and dont really have much to compare them with, except for my Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro 32 Ohm. I must say the Sennheisers sound much more balanced and detailed. I prefer them to they Beyers with most kinds of music, except (heavy) rock and Hiphop.
 
As I am new to this I also wonder how much much better my headphones (and especially the 598's, as this thread is dedicated to them) would sound with an added amp? Do you think the x-fi HD do them justice?

This is the newer X-Fi HD USB external sound card, correct? If so, I've found that this is a solid little DAC/Amp for headphones. It uses a high quality DAC, but the opamp used for the headphones is pretty standard (though it does put out quite a bit of power). You probably wouldn't notice much of a difference in sound unless you were to really step up to something much nicer.
 

 

[hans030390]

Would anyone be willing to recable my HD598s for me? I have neither the skills or the tools necessary for it. I'd want a second cable hole drilled in the right headphone cup so that it would be dual-entry. Cables would be soldered directly onto the drivers themselves (bypassing the little board that is already in there). Obviously I'd pay for shipping (to/from), all materials, and your time!

 

[Pettervo]

Quote:

Quote:

This is the newer X-Fi HD USB external sound card, correct? If so, I've found that this is a solid little DAC/Amp for headphones. It uses a high quality DAC, but the opamp used for the headphones is pretty standard (though it does put out quite a bit of power). You probably wouldn't notice much of a difference in sound unless you were to really step up to something much nicer.
 

Thats right, thanks for the reply
 
Ok, then I think I'll wait for some time before considering buying an amp, as Im not ready to get a really good one now, better to save up I guess. And I am very satisfied with my set up for now.

 

[Kail]

.

 

[Samsunait]

I own a 598, and i have a question that may seem strange. At day i usually place the headphone on the HH10, the headphone stand by Sennheiser itself.
Now, when i go to sleep i want to place the headphone inside my library, to protect the pads from dust and FROM MY CAT, who likes to play with both the pads and the wire, and obviously when i sleep i can't see what it's doing.
The only way to do this thing is to remove the cable and place the headphone inside; on the morning reinsert the cable and go on.
 
The question is, removing/reinserting the cable almost every evening/morning for years would lead to some problems on the headphone jack?

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

I own a 598, and i have a question that may seem strange. At day i usually place the headphone on the HH10, the headphone stand by Sennheiser itself.
Now, when i go to sleep i want to place the headphone inside my library, to protect the pads from dust and FROM MY CAT, who likes to play with both the pads and the wire, and obviously when i sleep i can't see what it's doing.
The only way to do this thing is to remove the cable and place the headphone inside; on the morning reinsert the cable and go on.
 
The question is, removing/reinserting the cable almost every evening/morning for years would lead to some problems on the headphone jack?

Shouldn't cause problems, even with years of use. If it did, you could always just recable them.
 

 

[palmfish]

I got my 598's today and had a chance to listen to them for about 1/2 hour. I thought I'd give my "fresh out of the box" impressions.
 
First I plugged them into my upstairs "casual listening" system which consists of a Carver Receiver and Pioneer turntable circa 1985 and a low-end Pioneer CD/DVD-A/SACD player circa 1995.
 
I must admit I was a little disappointed at first. I played Stimela (Coal Train) from Hugh Masekela's Hope CD (redbook) and found the bass to be a little bloomy sounding. Midrange (vocals and instruments) all sounded very nice but then the treble was ever so slightly sibilant but not crispy. If that makes sense. I then sampled tracks from the Roxy Music Avalon SACD, Steely Dan Gaucho DVD-A, Bucky Pizzarelli Swing Live SACD, and Steve Winwood Back in the High Life CD. I noticed the elevated and bloated bass with all of them but some discs were worse than others. It was not an intolerable effect, just noticeable and a little distracting.
 
I ddn't get around to sampling any LP's yet, but I suspected this characteristic might be at least partially the result of the phones not being "broken in" yet (although I admit I'm not necessarily a believer in this) and also the known mediocrity of the Pioneer players DAC's.
 
With this in mind, I headed down to the basement to sample the same music on my home theater system. This consists of an Oppo BDP-83 bitstreaming via HDMI to a Pioneer Elite AVR (with Burr Brown DAC's). Well, problem solved! These 598's sound fantastic down there!
 
The treble is slightly on the bright side of flat I think, but in no way is it fatiguing or distracting. Bass is perfect - no bloom whatsoever and nice and punchy with good weight. Overall, I am very happy. When I get a chance, I'll listen to some vinyl upstairs and also give them some break-in time overnight and check back. I'll also listen direct from my iPod just to compare (these are strickly home-use only headphones for me).
 
I admit I was surprised at the resolution I was able to detect compared to speaker listening upstairs. I have read that my upstairs player's DAC's were not the best, but it was always hard to detect before. Through headphones, it was immediately clear what quality DAC's can do.


Edit: I was able to listen to some LP's tonight and now I believe that my receiver is the reason for the blooming bass. The fact that I hear it with CD's and LP's upstairs, but downstairs the sound is nicely balanced tells me that my Carver is coloring the sound - not the headphones. I'm going to look into this further.

Edit 2: I listened to my iPod (Classic) with my 598's today and was very impressed. The headphones are not quite as full sounding as they are hooked up to my Pioneer/Oppo setup, but I think the sound was certainly very good. Adding an amp and/or external DAC would probably improve the sound some (especially for a true audiophile), but the difference would be small - not worth the added expense IMO. For what it's worth, all of my digital music was ripped and stored at 320kbps.

 

[Anaxilus]

The blooming bass sounds like you might have an output impedance issue w/ your Carver.  Do you know what the spec is?

 

[palmfish]

Quote:

The blooming bass sounds like you might have an output impedance issue w/ your Carver.  Do you know what the spec is?

No, it's an old receiver (25 years old) and the manuals I have found don't list the specification. Can you tell me how impedance can affect the sound? I understand how it might affect volume (efficiency), but not the tone.
 
I had the receiver serviced by a former Carver technician (a very reputable tech) just a few months ago and brought back into factory spec. I can call him and ask him...