[streetdragon]

Wow, your avatar is Latios

Lol what about it?

 

[leadbythemelody]

You gotta catch em' all

 

[leadbythemelody]

Any thoughts on the HD598 vs the HD650's? I've heard the soundstage is much better on the HD598's than the HD650's but the HD650's are superior in terms of resolution/sound quality. Has anyone had both to compare to each other?

 

[LoveKnight]

I heard HD598 and HD650 too. I can be so sure that HD650 is better than HD598 in resolution, detail, bass texture. The only thing HD598 can win is the sound-stage. At least that was in my memory.

 

[leadbythemelody]

Okay thank you for the info

. Just ordered my HD650's yesterday along with a JDS Lab O2 Amplifier. Plus, I just ordered a pure copper LOD from turkey; planning on connecting it to an ipod touch with a cirrus logic DAC, can't wait! Does it sound like a good set-up so far or is there more room for improvement?

 

[streetdragon]

You gotta catch em' all

Talking about headphones right?
Also heard both of them and i agree with the impressions.

 

[leadbythemelody]

Yea of course LOL
and that's good to know thanks, can't wait!

 

[ben_r_]

I own both the HD-650's and the HD-598's and they are def different cans. The 598's are more all around headphones that dont need (but can still benefit) from an amp. The 650's need an amp and I only tend to like them for vocal, classical, instrumental, natural sounding type music genres.

 

[Rem0o]

In comparison, the HD 598 sound thin next to the HD 650 and clearly lack punch. However, they indeed have a better sense of space.

 

[ztreb185]

Any tips on how to make the ear pads 'thicker' or stick out more on the 598s?  My ears tend to stick out and it gets painful touching the hard plastic.  

 

[streetdragon]

Any tips on how to make the ear pads 'thicker' or stick out more on the 598s?  My ears tend to stick out and it gets painful touching the hard plastic.  

Stuff cotton into the back of the earcup. Make sure it's densely packed (push it and compress it inside the earcup.) if not it will muffle the sound. Been using this method for over half a year now.

 

[walden]

Audio may be one of the worst hobbies ever. Allow me to explain.
 
It has been a while since I have posted here last and it has much longer since I purchased the HD 598's. Recently I've had some extra money lying around and thought "Hey! Maybe I should buy some new audio gear!". I've never owned external audio components before (amp or dac) so I looked into buying something to improve my already pleasant setup of Dell desktop --> HD 598. Drawing on prior knowledge and using some quick searches I narrowed my amp/dac options to the popular Objective and Schiit Combos many of you are familiar with. Here is the part that drove me crazy...
 
I looked into the differences between these two choices like I would any other piece of tech but found nothing that helped me. Some said that the Objectives are well tested and definitely the best choice. Some said they are both the same and that the Schiit is cheaper and thus smarter choice. Others bashed Schiit for simply being pretty Apple-esque boxes. These kinds of responses are what I found in every thread. Each response was based on nothing other than "I heard this", "so and so said that", or at best inconsistent empirical evidence and now here I am about to blow two-hundred dollars (more than I spent on the damn headphones to begin with) for something that may not deliver a discernible difference in audio quality. 
 
Please excuse my rambling. I'm just a young man who, as a lover of music, has as desire to learn more about audio through experience. With just about any other decision, one could weigh the cost benefit by garnering objective facts, but not with audio and certainly not on Head-Fi. Part of me wants to dive into the FOR SALE forums to buy and trade until I have come to some kind of conclusion to these questions and another part of me says to never buy audio gear ever again. 
 
Can anyone offer some guidance? What are your setups and why did you choose to or choose not to upgrade your 598 setup?

 

[Krutsch]

Quote:

<snip, snip>
 
Please excuse my rambling. I'm just a young man who, as a lover of music, has as desire to learn more about audio through experience. With just about any other decision, one could weigh the cost benefit by garnering objective facts, but not with audio and certainly not on Head-Fi. Part of me wants to dive into the FOR SALE forums to buy and trade until I have come to some kind of conclusion to these questions and another part of me says to never buy audio gear ever again. 
 
Can anyone offer some guidance? What are your setups and why did you choose to or choose not to upgrade your 598 setup?

 
Walden, I feel your pain, but let me offer some advice, as a relative newcomer to Head-Fi.  There is a TON of noise on Head-Fi, but if you carefully read the reviews of products from the more experienced reviewers, you will cut through to the  content.  As a great example, look at the recent review by ClieOS on the iFi products:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/ifi-ican-headphone-amplifier/reviews/9065
 
This reviewer is a stand-out, in my opinion, and reading stuff from Head-Fi'ers like ClieOS is good way to learn about various products w/o having to buy them all.  BTW, this fellow makes interesting comments about the O2 - he's a fan, for sure, but that doesn't mean you have to trust that person's judgement.
 
At the end of the day, you will need to make a 'buy' decision and try some stuff out - you won't really learn more about this hobby without exposing your ears/brain to new gear.  I don't have either the O2 or anything from Schiit, but from the reading I've done here I can't see that either setup will be a bad choice.
 
If spending $200.00 on a DAC/amp combo is too great a risk, then stick with your Dell desktop and spend some of your newly acquired cash on music and enjoy your HD-598s - I love mine - sometimes 

.
 
BTW, in answer to your second question, why did I upgrade?  Well, I already had most of my Head-Fi setup (see my signature) and I wanted to try some phones with a different sound signature and experience something new.

 

[walden]

I instantly recognized ClieOS from his mutli-IEM reviews which I keep bookmarked. He sure does write some phenomenal reviews. For those who don't know what I'm talking about http://www.head-fi.org/t/541204/concise-multi-iem-comparison-hifiman-re400-added-march-1st-2013
 
And what do you mean you sometimes enjoy the 598s!  

  

  Do you listen to your Grados more than you listen to the Senns?
 
I actually thought about buying some Grados to compliment the Senns because they're almost universally recommend here for some of my preferred genres. How do you like the RS2?

 

[streetdragon]

People keep different headphones for different reasons, some because of genre diversity, some because of the presentation style and the user's mood (eg senns are laidback and smoother but may be boing while grados are lively and energetic but may be tireing and harsh)