[neo5468]

Im thinking about getting HD 598 as a replacement for my old razer barracuda (yeah I think sennheisers will blow them out of the water). Now I have Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card. Is that considered as a DAC ? If so, do I need amp aswell? Since amp plugs as USB, my sound card goes to waste? I want to order from amazon only once so I need to know what equipment to buy with my 598. I dont want to bottleneck anything. What would be the best thing for me?

 

[Latuman]

Quote:

Im thinking about getting HD 598 as a replacement for my old razer barracuda (yeah I think sennheisers will blow them out of the water). Now I have Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card. Is that considered as a DAC ? If so, do I need amp aswell? Since amp plugs as USB, my sound card goes to waste? I want to order from amazon only once so I need to know what equipment to buy with my 598. I dont want to bottleneck anything. What would be the best thing for me?

Yes, it is a DAC. You might need an amp, but it's hard to say. "Need" is a subjective word in this case too. I'm sure they will reproduce music to you and in my testing the weaker sound sources simply thin out the bass, which has very high resistance with these headphones.
 
Amping the signal more will simply make upper bass (around 100Hz) fatter, which in my opinion makes the sound worse. I wouldn't be surprised at all that a dedicated sound card would give the best sound out of these headphones.

 

[tannerbnd]

i don't use an amp, and they are amazing

 

[Darkhymn]

Quote:

Im thinking about getting HD 598 as a replacement for my old razer barracuda (yeah I think sennheisers will blow them out of the water). Now I have Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card. Is that considered as a DAC ? If so, do I need amp aswell? Since amp plugs as USB, my sound card goes to waste? I want to order from amazon only once so I need to know what equipment to buy with my 598. I dont want to bottleneck anything. What would be the best thing for me?

 
 
Yes, your sound card will function as a dac. As for the need for an amp, you do not need one to enjoy the HD598. For my first few weeks of ownership I enjoyed my 598 out of the headphone jack on my Vaio and it sounded great. I got an amp (Fiio E10 Olympus) yesterday, and while the difference is in no way a game-changer, the headphone does sound a bit more robust in the bass particularly and perhaps the lower mids as well. At the end of the day, it's probably going to come down to personal taste and your budget.

 

[Arsis]

+1 for the Fiio E10 Olympus. I find the bass boost to be just right for the 598. Nice, clean little amp.

 

[mikeawesome]

anyone have any experience with the 598 paired with an Aune T1 or a modi/magni stack?

 

[kimvictor]

Quote:

anyone have any experience with the 598 paired with an Aune T1 or a modi/magni stack?

I have. They go well with Modi and Magni. It brings out the treble tiny bit and makes the bass a tiny bit punchier.

 

[teb1013]

anyone have any experience with the 598 paired with an Aune T1 or a modi/magni stack?

I have the 558s which have the same driver as the 598s. I use the Aune T1 and it is marvelous in bringing these to life. People on the Aune thread have similar experiences with the 598 and even the 600. This is a fine little unit if you are interested in tube sound.

 

[ikhayal]

Can you use the Momentum cable with the 598's ? And even more, do the volume buttons work? o.o! 

 

[kimvictor]

Quote:

Can you use the Momentum cable with the 598's ? And even more, do the volume buttons work? o.o! 

Nope. HD598 has a unique 2.5mm locking cable.

 

[streetdragon]

The locking slot on the Momentum is too narrow for the HD598 cable although the cable itself is small enough to fit inside. Also the HD598 is terminated with a balanced a configuration so the microphone cable would mess the headphone itself and cause it to not work.

 

[Phredd]

Quote:

The locking slot on the Momentum is too narrow for the HD598 cable although the cable itself is small enough to fit inside. Also the HD598 is terminated with a balanced a configuration so the microphone cable would mess the headphone itself and cause it to not work.

 
Au contraire! I use my HD598 with the Momentum cable and it works great! The microphone works with my iPhone when I'm on a call. The pause/next/back button works and the up and down volume controls work. And it still sounds great! It's another reason I love the HD598!
 
It does require some minor surgery, but it's very easy with just a small screwdriver. I think I got the idea from another Head-Fier, but if you don't find it, remind me next week and I'll take photos and show the steps. Basically, remove the left earpad, loosen the screws holding the connector board, remove the screws holding the locking sleeve and remove the locking sleeve. The Momentum cable will now fit and hold just as any typical headphone plug in a jack.

 

[Phredd]

How to modify your HD598 to use the Momentum cable:
 
NOTE: You accept full responsibility for damage or loss of warranty.
 
Remove the left ear pad by pushing the base of the ear pad towards the outside and lifting.
 

 
Remove the three screws holding the driver assembly.
 

 
Lift the driver assembly out and carefully place it out of the way. The attached wires are very thin.
 

 
Remove the two screws holding the board with the headphone jack.
 

 
Move the board aside and remove the two screws holding the retainer.
 

 
Remove the retainer and replace the screws holding the board.
 

 
Plug in your Momentum cable. You may prefer to put your headphone back together first. I did this for illustrations purposes.
 

 
Enjoy your HD598 headphones with the convenience of the microphone and wired remote. Press the center button to pause your music to to answer or hang up a phone call. Press and hold to tell Siri to play a song. Press the center button twice to play the next song or thrice to play the previous song. Top and bottom buttons increase and decrease the volume.

 

[kimvictor]

Quote:

How to modify your HD598 to use the Momentum cable:
 
Remove the left ear pad by pushing the base of the ear pad towards the outside and lifting.
 
 
Remove the three screws holding the driver assembly.
 
 
Lift the driver assembly out and carefully place it out of the way. The attached wires are very thin.
 
 
Remove the two screws holding the board with the headphone jack.
 
 
Move the board aside and remove the two screws holding the retainer.
 
 
Remove the retainer.
 
 
Plug in your Momentum cable. You may prefer to put your headphone back together first. I did this for illustrations purposes.
 
 
Enjoy your HD598 headphones with the convenience of the microphone and wired remote. Press the center button to pause your music to to answer or hang up a phone call. Press and hold to tell Siri to play a song. Press the center button twice to play the next song or thrice to play the previous song. Top and bottom buttons increase and decrease the volume.

Interesting... where can I buy a momentum cable?

 

[Phredd]

Quote:

Interesting... where can I buy a momentum cable?

 
I bought mine from Sennheiser. You might get lucky and find one on eBay.