[kuhchuk]

  Put them on your head..................and enjoy. No burn-in required.

Exactly this.
Just beware that you may need to give your brain a day or two to burn-in

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Thank you for the support, but I think the general concensus for the meaning of burn-in refers to the gear changing, not your brain adjusting. 
 

 Dude, I know exactly what burn-in means. I was simply saying placebo effect differently, e.g. brain burn-in. And it is always so telling when people try to refute the notion of brain burn-in saying that it is mechanical burn-in by stating I heard a difference as if that could ever be evidence. The nature of expectation bias (which you form when you expect mechanical burn-in or deliberately do burn-in rituals) is that you will be unaware of the process of bias, and further, you have no control over your perception for that matter.
 
While of course I can't say with complete certainty that mechanical burn-in doesn't exist, I feel very confident suggesting that both expectation bias and brain acclimatization is really behind the changes we perceive. It is telling that nobody ever finds burn-in to make the sound worse, it is always a positive, which is of course highly unlikely. If it is mechanical change surely the odd time somebody will not like the change, but in the thousands of posts I have read here and elsewhere, I have never, ever heard somebody say burn-in resulted in a negative effect on sound quality.
 
That is strong evidence for brain burn-in and expectation bias, which in both cases would most certainly result in a positive effect being noticed.

 

[dbkelly]

When I received my HD558 I immediately had to have a listen and was very disappointed. My Grado SR60s sounded so much better at nearly half the price paid for the Sennheiser's. I took them off, set my CD player to repeat and didn't pick them up again for 30+ hours. Even after this short time, the harshness mellowed and the soundstage really opened up. My SR60s sound anemic and congested by comparison. Now that I've been listening to them another 30+ hours, the comfort has improved also - clamping force has eased and the cushions seem softer. I wear eyeglasses and have not experienced any discomfort (the Grado's sat on the ear and pressed the ear onto the bow causing irritation after a while).
 
As an aside, I want to spread the word that using the 1/8" adapter for mobile devices really puts a strain on input jacks  and can damage them (speaking from experience). I ordered the short cable (terminating with 1/8" plug) from Sennheiser's website and received it within a week. Much more manageable when using my DAP at home.

 

[peter123]

Please take general discussion about burn in to the correct part of this forum and let this thread be about the Sennheiser's.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Please take general discussion about burn in to the correct part of this forum and let this thread be about the Sennheiser's.

Come on Peter, I get your point and agree, but you have been around here long enough to know that this always happens, and it always fades away quickly. It is part of the experience and fun. Not to mention the burn-in was part of the Sennheiser discussion, and as such fair game within reason.

 

[peter123]

I don't think that just repeating a thing makes it right and I usually post the same message when I see this happening.

I'm totally uninterested in other peoples opinion about burn in but I'm very much interested in other people's opinion on the HD5X8 and that's why I subscribe to this thread.

It's not a big deal but it's also pretty meaningless to discuss so if that's important to you there's a dedicated place here to talk about it....

 

[Sonic Defender]

Like I said Peter, this seems to me to be a natural part of head-fi, and as long as it doesn't get personal, or derail a thread I see no reason why these things can't coexist a little. Not to mention, the idea of burn-in is a very significant concept and new headphone users may not know to look in the sound science forum and only engage with the concept in the other discussion topics. Sometimes I find thread derailments very interesting, and as long as they don't take over the thread I accept a reasonable amount as part of head-fi. We can fight it, but we both know that battle will never be won, it is human nature. Anyway, I'm done derailing in this thread as it feels like it is crossing over into being rude if I continue on so cheers brother.

 

[peter123]

Like I said Peter, this seems to me to be a natural part of head-fi, and as long as it doesn't get personal, or derail a thread I see no reason why these things can't coexist a little. Not to mention, the idea of burn-in is a very significant concept and new headphone users may not know to look in the sound science forum and only engage with the concept in the other discussion topics. Sometimes I find thread derailments very interesting, and as long as they don't take over the thread I accept a reasonable amount as part of head-fi. We can fight it, but we both know that battle will never be won, it is human nature. Anyway, I'm done derailing in this thread as it feels like it is crossing over into being rude if I continue on so cheers brother.

When I posted 14 of the last 16 post was about opinions on burn in. To me that's derailing.

Again: if this is important for you to discuss there's a dedicated place here just for that, why not use it.....

 

[serman005]

Just wondering if you guys think it's worthwhile to upgrade from 558 to 598 or not. I listen to jazz, country,rock, bluegrass, edm. Bass is important to me, but so is detail on the acoustic stuff I listen to. I'd say they're about equally important to me. Thoughts? Many thanks for your help!

 

[Midgetguy]

  Just wondering if you guys think it's worthwhile to upgrade from 558 to 598 or not. I listen to jazz, country,rock, bluegrass, edm. Bass is important to me, but so is detail on the acoustic stuff I listen to. I'd say they're about equally important to me. Thoughts? Many thanks for your help!

I hear that it isn't. Stuff I've heard range from the 558s and 598s using the same drivers to some that even claim the 558 foam mod makes them sound almost like 598s. Still, the most plausible thing I know of is that the 5x8 series has a generally similar sound sig, but each step up is a refinement in that sound sig. My opinion is that based on what I've heard, there's no reason to go up from 558s to 598s.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

This might have been said a thousand times - but the HD558, modded or not, is not the HD598. It doesn't even come close. I once "heard" the same thing, went on to do the foam mod myself, and while it certainly does open up the sound a bit, the modded HD558's sound sig is still too different from the HD598's. The HD558 is warm, has more bass, while the HD598 sounds more open, smooth and refined. For heavier music, the HD558 may be preferred, but neither really excel at Metal. For Pop, Country, Classical, it all depends on your liking.

 

[Midgetguy]

  This might have been said a thousand times - but the HD558, modded or not, is not the HD598. It doesn't even come close. I once "heard" the same thing, went on to do the foam mod myself, and while it certainly does open up the sound a bit, the modded HD558's sound sig is still too different from the HD598's. The HD558 is warm, has more bass, while the HD598 sounds more open, smooth and refined. For heavier music, the HD558 may be preferred, but neither really excel at Metal. For Pop, Country, Classical, it all depends on your liking.

Thanks for the further understanding. To my understanding, there's just as many people that say the foam mod work and others like you who say it doesn't, but another testimonial is always insightful. I didn't really find a reason myself to foam mod my set of HD558s so I can't say how that performs. However, being in the same 5x8 series, I figured there was no reason to go from 558s to 598s. That's why my upgrade path went from the HD558s to the HD600s instead of the HD598s. Agreed that the HD558s do offer a warm sound sig.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

I agreed that upgrading from the HD558 to the HD598 is really pointless, even though they're very different. I would say that the HD558 and the HD598 are entry level cans. That's to say that while they're great for the price, they leave a lot to be desired, and if you've already owned one and have about ~200 to spend, it's more reasonable to go for another brand like Beyerdynamic, AKG or Grado.
The HD600 and HD650 are more refined and arguably some of the best choices for the <$500 price range. In my country they were the end-game cans for many people. However going from the HD5x8 to the HD6x0 requires quite a budget for amping, while the HD558 and HD598 can still sound great on $100 DAC/amp.

 

[vaibhavp]

  Just wondering if you guys think it's worthwhile to upgrade from 558 to 598 or not. I listen to jazz, country,rock, bluegrass, edm. Bass is important to me, but so is detail on the acoustic stuff I listen to. I'd say they're about equally important to me. Thoughts? Many thanks for your help!

 
I am also considering going from 518 to 558. but finding it hard to justify.
 
I want to keep same signature but better technicalities.
 
650 is even better but is quiet a bit more expensive.
 
598 is quiet a bit different. I have not heard it but people say its treble centric which I dont want.
 
Anyone looking for 650 level resolution for 598 level price should look at akg q701 or beyer dt880. I myself own akg k550 which I feel is quiet ahead of 518 technically. both complement each other beautifully sound sig wise.
 
akg is very engaging, dynamic while senn is very relaxing, dark, natural.

 

[serman005]

I have only passing familiarity with q701, but my memory is of its detail. Love dt880--but I had thought it was more expensive than the 598 (?). Will have to look into this.