Sennheiser HD 598 Impressions Thread
Aug 20, 2012 at 10:17 AM Post #1,607 of 7,532
Quote:
After this maybe I will never buy any Fiio products.

 
I wouldn't say that.  It's true the E10 is not quite a perfect product, but Fiio has a track record for continually improving upon previous product designs.  The E17 is a very much improved E7.
 
Aug 20, 2012 at 5:28 PM Post #1,608 of 7,532
It's NOT a faulty device. 99.9% sure that's an intentional roll off.

Look at these DAC responses...

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB5/NFB5EN_Specs.htm



Display 5, Linear Phase, Soft knee. Also, Minimum Phase/Soft Knee also produce a similar roll off.

Wanna know what other DAC uses it? IIRC (I think either I or someone else asked Justin Stoddard what type of 'filter' the Bifrost used) possibly uses a similar filter, and that DAC is very highly regarded here.

Relax.

The Fiio's 'smoothing' or whatever must be coming from the amp portion, not the DAC, if the person complaining is hearing it with the E10, but not when he hooks up another amp to it. That just means the E10 has a smoothing on the upper range (which many people tend to LIKE, as around here, treble spikes are the devil, and a slight smoothing is welcome). I have owned the Lyr, and it had a similar issue even with neutral tubes. I felt everything was too smooth. Had nothing to do with the DAC. If it bothers you, then the E10 is not for you. That doesn't mean it's an issue or whatnot. That's like me hating on the HD650 because it's too smooth, and calling it a faulty headphone. We all have our preferences. Doesn't mean it's faulty.

BTW, I use this one...



...and when I A/B between that and the first graph, I can't hear the difference, and if/when I do, I'm pretty sure it's all in my head.

I'll take back what I said earlier when I said I'm sure that's what gives the E10 a slightly hint of warmth. The different filters don't change tonal balance on my NFB5, so I'm sure it's the amp portion on the E10 that is what is adding warmth.
 
Aug 21, 2012 at 4:41 PM Post #1,612 of 7,532
More 598 love!  I bought a set of M50's first, and loved them.  I probably still love them, but I worked way too much this summer and decided to buy me a set of open headphones.  I thought the M50's were comfortable, but there is just no comparison with the 598's! 
 
At this rate, I could very well be an audiophile not long from now
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( for my wallet) 
darthsmile.gif
(for my ears)
 
Aug 24, 2012 at 10:53 PM Post #1,613 of 7,532
Does anybody know of a pair of closed headphones that have a sound signature and soundstage that are similar to that of the 598s? I love them, but I live in a very noisy house 
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. If it helps, I listen mostly to classical so the soundstage is very important and the headphones need to be analytical and articulate.

I'm not sure if this is too much to ask for in a closed can, aren't they known to be the opposite of all these things? Help would be very much appreciated.
 
Aug 25, 2012 at 12:24 AM Post #1,614 of 7,532
Quote:
Does anybody know of a pair of closed headphones that have a sound signature and soundstage that are similar to that of the 598s? I love them, but I live in a very noisy house 
frown.gif
. If it helps, I listen mostly to classical so the soundstage is very important and the headphones need to be analytical and articulate.

I'm not sure if this is too much to ask for in a closed can, aren't they known to be the opposite of all these things? Help would be very much appreciated.

Sorry but I consider the HD598 to have the best soundstage of any cans I've heard, and I've heard many cans near the $1000 range. And judging by the reviews, I think it's a safe conclusion. But lately I've heard the Philips Uptown Citiscape which surprisingly had a good sense of soundstage. Don't take my word for it though since I haven't been able to listen to it with my own music. Try it at your local Best Buy store. Their noise isolation is ABSOLUTELY fantastic due to their strange memory foam characteristic. For that reason alone, I would get them. They're perhaps a tad bit bright for classical but you can EQ it down the treble a bit. I think it's safe to say these have a better soundstage than the M50s, which I've listened to. 
 
P.S. these are only $120 until August 31st on Amazon 
 
God I feel like I'm advertising these but in all honesty, I liked these cans. 
 
Aug 25, 2012 at 11:58 AM Post #1,615 of 7,532
Quote:
Sorry but I consider the HD598 to have the best soundstage of any cans I've heard, and I've heard many cans near the $1000 range. And judging by the reviews, I think it's a safe conclusion. But lately I've heard the Philips Uptown Citiscape which surprisingly had a good sense of soundstage. Don't take my word for it though since I haven't been able to listen to it with my own music. Try it at your local Best Buy store. Their noise isolation is ABSOLUTELY fantastic due to their strange memory foam characteristic. For that reason alone, I would get them. They're perhaps a tad bit bright for classical but you can EQ it down the treble a bit. I think it's safe to say these have a better soundstage than the M50s, which I've listened to. 
 
P.S. these are only $120 until August 31st on Amazon 
 
God I feel like I'm advertising these but in all honesty, I liked these cans. 

Thanks for the info, I will check them out when I run into Best Buy soon. Also, I noticed on the deals thread that Best Buy has these on sale for $99 right now. I'll check online to verify, but that sounds like a pretty sweet deal. 

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Would something like the DT 770s or the AKG K550s work for my purposes?

Thanks in advance.
 
Aug 25, 2012 at 1:04 PM Post #1,616 of 7,532
akg 550 seals pretty well, but ensure that a seal is archived, cause it can be tricky. dt770 doesnt seal well with its valour pads.
 
Aug 28, 2012 at 1:07 AM Post #1,617 of 7,532
Hi guys, I've had a PC-350 for a few years now, and it's staring to wear out, and personally I'm getting bored of it. So after reading some threads here, I'm planning to get a set of HD 598s. I currently have a Asus Xonar Essence ST sound card, and mainly will be using this for gaming, movies, music. Heard these were pretty good for gaming, kick PC-360's ass. So I was wondering if that was valid, and would I benefit with a headphone amp, or would the amp in build to the Essense ST be enough? Thanks :)
 
Aug 28, 2012 at 9:38 AM Post #1,620 of 7,532
Hey guys!
 
I´m going to buy new headphones soon and I need some information to determine, whether the HD598 could fit my needs.
My ears are quite big and stick out, so I often have the problem with them touching the driver of my headphones, which is painful after a while.
 
So I´d like to ask you, if anyone could tell me, how "deep" (what i mean is the distance from driver to the outer "edge" of the earpad) the earpads of the 598 are.
 
Thanks in advance!
 

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