[MegaMushroom]

Quote:

I don't care. That's the other people's problem, not mine. For once in their lives it might actually do them some good to listen to good music instead of that garbage they listen to now-a-days anyway.

 +1... But my issues is having sound leak in.  Only so much music people can enjoy (while drowning out the puking kid behind me) before I lose my hearing.  I've said this many times, and I will say it again.  With amping the 598s are hardly bass anemic.  Sure they lack the slam of the Ultrasones, but I find the bass to be very pleasing, and perfectly adequate for games and movies. 

 

[dorino]

The bass on the HD598 is not anemic. That's very unfair - it's not bassy, it definitely is bright, but it's not like a Grado by any means.
 
On noice cancellation - Nothing to do. If you expect to comfortably use the HD598 in public, you're gonna have a bad time.

 

[IPodPJ]

The bass on the HD598 is not anemic. That's very unfair - it's not bassy, it definitely is bright, but it's not like a Grado by any means.

On noice cancellation - Nothing to do. If you expect to comfortably use the HD598 in public, you're gonna have a bad time.

Who's comparing the 598s to Ultrasones? I like many Sennheisers but I've yet to hear an Ultrasone that suits my tastes let alone would want to purchase one. The only one I thought was okay was the ED8 but at that price you have so many better options. The ED8 is in the HD600 league or below to my ears.

One headphone I used to own that I really liked back in the 90s was the Sony CD1000 which, while not as good as the CD3000 came pretty darn close. I passed up the chance to purchase a brand new in box pair of CD3000 from Partstore.com about two years ago when they had several in stock somehow for under $600 or maybe closer to $500. That's a killer price considering used ones in rough shape have sold for $800. Back when they were new they sold for about $600-$700 and the CD1000 for about $350 if I remember correctly. They sounded terrific with a device I owned which was revolutionary at the time and one of the first Dolby Pro Logic units for headphones made by a company called Aura. I can't find anything about it now on the net so I don't know what happened to them. It came with a box that connected to your stereo and a wireless handset with all the controls (and it had way more than any dolby headphone unit today) so you could use the headphones plugged into the handset for decent surround quality or plug them into your receiver or headphone amp jack for much better quality. It was only single ended and still cost like $600 but it sounded way better than any of the Headphone surround implementations I've heard today. You could adjust the level of center channel presence and amount and position of the rear channels, and it did a pretty good job of it. Actually, I suppose the Smyth Realiser is a much better unit but I haven't heard it and it's in a much higher price bracket. If you are ever able to locate a functioning Aura device on the cheap pick one up. It's highly customizable but the handset is kind of big. I wouldn't recommend using the amp inside the handset but rather connect the base station to your headphone amp and run it that way. You could even have someone mod the insides of the base station with top-shelf components for even better sound. I don't remember if it had one or two inputs or one or two outputs but even if it only had one input and output it would be worth picking up. It's a shame these guys went out of business because it was revolutionary for the time and by now they could have invented some amazing headphone surround systems. I remember that it didn't sound artificially full of cheap DSP processing, and because it was customizable you could just add a subtle hint of it. There was distortion when plugging into the handset but I don't remember there being hardly any on the base station unless you had everything maxed out. Surely by now though the technology would have caught up with the idea and a high-end version would have been produced. I owned it and used it exclusively with the CD1000 but tried it with the CD3000 too and it was eargasmic at the time. Keep in mind this was when the CD1000 and CD3000 were fairly new items so this was early to mid 90s. I got the CD1000 and the Aura system from a hi-fi store in Beverly Hills, CA. Had a friend not destroyed a driver in my CD1000 I might still have them today. The 1000 and 3000 had serious potential and if driven properly (they seemed to sound best with tubes but solid state has come a long way since then) they really shined. In some ways I found the CD3000 to outperform the R10 but the R10 was of course the better headphone, unless you consider the bass light version of the R10 to sound good in which case we have a difference of opinion. The bass heavy (or really bass neutral) version of the R10 had wonderful and lush tonality but the CD3000 might have had the edge when it came to detail since wood imparts more of its own flavor than ceramic cups.

Rant/tangent off.

 

[Uhly]

I've just got the HD 598. Now, how should I burn it in? I mean, I wonder at which volume level I should set the sound and for how long.

 

[TMRaven]

Just listen to it.

 

[GloryUprising]

hi guys, just had a quick question about the hd598s. Basically, how are they for gaming? I've heard that they are excellent for competitive gaming as they have nearly pin-point directional accuracy (is this true?), but i wont really be doing competitive gaming, just fun fps mainly. which is why im looking for a headset that will completely immerse me in the experience (movie theatre style). I've heard that the bass on these isnt that great, which could be problematic if explosions are going off all around me but it fails to move me. Im trying to decide between these, the AKG q701s and the DT990 Pro, which ive heard both have better bass than these and just as good and if not better soundstage and imaging. 

Any thoughts on the differences between them and whether or not i will get the immersion im seeking?

THanks guys!!

I game exclusively with these cans (tf2, metro2thousandwhatever, diablo3, bf3, ect) and they sound the best out of my small collection of cans. I would, however, suggest that you invest in a good sound card for maxiumum gaming performance (I found my music dacs to be lacking)

 

[Dukedudez]

Alright guys, I need your help. I really need to upgrade from my HD280s. I really want to get a bigger soundstage and I'm between HD598s and ATH-AD700s. I've found a pair of refurbished AD700s for $80 on Amazon and refurbished HD598s for $170 on this website: http://www.dakmart.com/p12252/SENNHEISER-HD598-OPEN-EAR-STEREO-HEADPHONES-W-WARRANTY/product_info.html#description&osCsid=dlj2m5nm7k5j9c35o6ofk1toc0
What should I go for? If there's not a huge difference between them then I would love to get the AD700s because they're half the price. Also, is that website legit for the 598s?

 

[goropeza]

Currently own the AH-D 7000 and I bought the HD 598's as sort of a nice contrast to the forward sound of the Denons and man I am happy about the purchase. This is just what the doctor ordered. Smooth, gentle, and never fatiguing. Oh yeah, and it has great mids...something I don;t get the chance to hear much with the D7000's. The price just makes it that much more appealing. What a wonderful product!
 
Oh and @ korky
 
I fully echo GloryUprising's response...the soundstage is pretty damn precise. I can definitely see how they would make a GREAT gaming headphone.

 

[bmeat]

void

 

[walden]

Quote:

i agree with tmraven. just listen to the headphones if you want, play them overnight at a volume a little higher than listening level.
 
supposedly the 558 are a bit more bassy than the 598, according to sennheiser, but i doubt its that much noticeable.
 
whenever i hold my headphones by one of the ear cups, and the other one falls down, i hear a cracking at the top of the headband. is this normal?

Just took mine off my head and shook them around like a fool.
 
They make some noise, but it's not a cracking noise. For me it sounds like the sliding mechanism is just moving around a bit inside the headband.

 

[bmeat]

void

 

[dorino]

It sounds like you may (or may not - I can't be sure based on your description) have a busted headband. Do you have one of the older HD598s?
 
Anyway, got an O2 today. Love it with the HD598. There wasn't issues powering the HD598 with the Cmoy I've had, but the O2 definitely seems to control the bass better (better [lower] impedance?). Also, the O2 only suffers from channel imbalance at very low volumes, but with the Cmoy I had to turn the amp to 12 o'clock before it was free of imbalance. This necessitated turning down software sliders (usually a no-no for purists) to achieve comfortable volumes... No more! It's also nice not to have to rely on replacing/recharging batteries. Thanks, AC power!

 

[bmeat]

void

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That's normal. I heard it with the PC360 myself.

 

[converge]

Quote:

It sounds like you may (or may not - I can't be sure based on your description) have a busted headband. Do you have one of the older HD598s?
 
Anyway, got an O2 today. Love it with the HD598. There wasn't issues powering the HD598 with the Cmoy I've had, but the O2 definitely seems to control the bass better (better [lower] impedance?). Also, the O2 only suffers from channel imbalance at very low volumes, but with the Cmoy I had to turn the amp to 12 o'clock before it was free of imbalance. This necessitated turning down software sliders (usually a no-no for purists) to achieve comfortable volumes... No more! It's also nice not to have to rely on replacing/recharging batteries. Thanks, AC power!

 
Interesting, as I wasn't sure if people were going to try the O2 with the HD 598. How does the HD 598 sound at low volume with the O2 as opposed to no amp? I don't listen to music that loud and I'm wondering if the amp will have a real benefit.
 
One of the things that attracted me to the HD 598 was its low impedance, meaning it can sound good even without a separate headphone amp.