[TMRaven]

Eh they started rolling off at around 60hz for me.  I don't think any amp or source would correct that.  The well regarded HD650 rolls off starting at 50hz, even it doesn't have low bass prowess.  Mid-bass is decent on the 598.

 

[dorino]

All of Sennheiser's HD5xx and up series have that impedance hump, from what I've seen/heard. It's not huge, but it's there. A low output impedance amp helps with it.

 

[dorino]

These headphones are fragile. A molding fragment chipped off the earcups, scuffing it pretty badly in that corner and just generally making it look unpleasant.
 
 
Hopefully I got the paint matched, though, and I think it'll turn out okay. Hopefully. :|

 

[Dukedudez]

Where is the best place to buy these? I remember like a year ago a lot of people here were able to get them for under $200 but the cheapest I've found is around $240.

 

[MegaMushroom]

Quote:

Where is the best place to buy these? I remember like a year ago a lot of people here were able to get them for under $200 but the cheapest I've found is around $240.

 
That was indeed the case last year, but after the HD700 was announce I believe that Sennheiser started cracking down on retailers.  I believe that the 600 and 650 went back to their normal pricing as well.  Eitherway... totally worth the 240 dollars as far as I'm concerned. 

 

[dorino]

I'd agree it's worth 240, too. Just be careful with them.

 

[imackler]

Pretty sure Brian at RazorDogDeals will beat that price of $240. Can almost guarantee it!

 

[SubBass]

Hello

I bought the 598 some days ago, and sadly I must say I'm very dissapointed.
 
I tested them at a local electronic store, where they were connected to bad amps and you could hear a constant humming^^ Then I also tested them at a HiFi Store where they were connected to an expensive CD Player and Amp. Both time I was impressed^^
 
Then I bought them and thought that they sound like crappy headphones. I am comparing them to my HD25. My 598 have no real highs and are not clear at the tops. Also the ''Sub Bass'' is hearable as an annoying low buzzing. The HD25 sound sooo much better and I not sure if I got a bad headphone or if they are suppoused to sound like that.

Im using a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 as an audio card and I tried all kinds of music.

Any advice or explenation?

 

[DarkAndroid]

 
Quote:

Hello

I bought the 598 some days ago, and sadly I must say I'm very dissapointed.
 
I tested them at a local electronic store, where they were connected to bad amps and you could hear a constant humming^^ Then I also tested them at a HiFi Store where they were connected to an expensive CD Player and Amp. Both time I was impressed^^
 
Then I bought them and thought that they sound like crappy headphones. I am comparing them to my HD25. My 598 have no real highs and are not clear at the tops. Also the ''Sub Bass'' is hearable as an annoying low buzzing. The HD25 sound sooo much better and I not sure if I got a bad headphone or if they are suppoused to sound like that.

Im using a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 as an audio card and I tried all kinds of music.

Any advice or explenation?

 

Give them some time to burn in. You can try to run pink noise through them to break them in a bit faster. I was initially disappointed with mine too out the box, but after a week or 2 the sound quality improved greatly, particularly the bass response and overall clarity. If you dont like the HD 598, dont know which other headphone you would like because the HD 598 is definitely one of the top of the range headphones. The only thing that it lacks compared to some other headphones such as the Audio Technica M50 is bass impact, which isnt really a problem if you are not a bass head or are mainly listening to acoustic, jazz, etc type of music.

 

[SONIC BOOM]

 
Quote:

Hello

I bought the 598 some days ago, and sadly I must say I'm very dissapointed.
 
I tested them at a local electronic store, where they were connected to bad amps and you could hear a constant humming^^ Then I also tested them at a HiFi Store where they were connected to an expensive CD Player and Amp. Both time I was impressed^^
 
Then I bought them and thought that they sound like crappy headphones. I am comparing them to my HD25. My 598 have no real highs and are not clear at the tops. Also the ''Sub Bass'' is hearable as an annoying low buzzing. The HD25 sound sooo much better and I not sure if I got a bad headphone or if they are suppoused to sound like that.

Im using a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 as an audio card and I tried all kinds of music.

Any advice or explenation?

 
I dont know if the komplete audio 6 is good with the hd598s, I find them picky with amps/dacs

 

[parkjs94]

Hey guys!

Totally new here and after snooping around, I've decided to buy some HD598s because of all of you 

. Before I purchase it, I want to clear some questions though...

I'm reading a bunch of stuff on amps and DACs, and frankly, I'm getting very confused here. I've read that the HD598s don't need an amp, but then others are recommending amps...How about DACs? Will I need to buy one? I'm tight on budget so I'm primarily looking at Fiio.
So far I've seen people mentioning E7, E9, E10, and E11...so which one 

? I can't afford E17 right now so that wouldn't be an option. Also, I'll be using through my MacBook Pro and iPhone 4.

If you guys could help me I'd really appreciate it...I'm really confused and just wanna order my HD598s 

!
Thanks ahead!

 

[PurpleAngel]

 
Quote:

Hey guys!
Totally new here and after snooping around, I've decided to buy some HD598s because of all of you 

. Before I purchase it, I want to clear some questions though...
I'm reading a bunch of stuff on amps and DACs, and frankly, I'm getting very confused here. I've read that the HD598s don't need an amp, but then others are recommending amps...How about DACs? Will I need to buy one? I'm tight on budget so I'm primarily looking at Fiio.
So far I've seen people mentioning E7, E9, E10, and E11...so which one 

? I can't afford E17 right now so that wouldn't be an option. Also, I'll be using through my MacBook Pro and iPhone 4.

If you guys could help me I'd really appreciate it...I'm really confused and just wanna order my HD598s 

!
Thanks ahead!

 
The Sennheiser HD598 (50-Ohm) can work fairly decently without a headphone amplifier, but using a headphone amplifier will usually improve the sound of headphones to some degree or another.
The Macbook Pro and iPhone 4 should do a decent job of driving the HD598, apple audio players (and products) seem to come with decent audio output that is a little better then what people would expect.
So you should be all right with out an add-on headphone amplifier.
The Macbook Pro and iPhone 4 both come with built in decent DACs.
Adding an external add-on DAC to the Macbook is easy, but way more expensive to add an external add-on DAC to the iPhone.
In the future, you could get something like the Fiio E11 headphone amplifier, it would work well with both of your apple products.
 

 

[melie]

 
Quote:

Hey guys!

Totally new here and after snooping around, I've decided to buy some HD598s because of all of you 

. Before I purchase it, I want to clear some questions though...

I'm reading a bunch of stuff on amps and DACs, and frankly, I'm getting very confused here. I've read that the HD598s don't need an amp, but then others are recommending amps...How about DACs? Will I need to buy one? I'm tight on budget so I'm primarily looking at Fiio.
So far I've seen people mentioning E7, E9, E10, and E11...so which one 

? I can't afford E17 right now so that wouldn't be an option. Also, I'll be using through my MacBook Pro and iPhone 4.

If you guys could help me I'd really appreciate it...I'm really confused and just wanna order my HD598s 

!
Thanks ahead!

 

No, you don't need an amp for the HD598's. But.. It will sound better with a simple amp like the Fiio E7. Also the bass boost helps a lot with the HD598's imho. I know a lot of people on here don't like equalizing but I find with most open ended headphones a small bass bump does wonders when you don't have a good amp.

 

[Nachash]

I'm really happy with my combo HD598+E10

 

[dorino]

An amp will help with the impedance bump, plus Sennheisers are designed for low-output impedance sources, (<1 ohm) and a lot of on-board sound isn't in that kind of range.