[netbususer]

I have the HD598 unamped at the moment and they sound fine to me through my iMac. (On my older PC, I hear a lot of static and mechanical noise. I'm sure it's just my audio card and I just need a DAC, but I listen mostly on my mac anyways...)
 
I've so far been very thoroughly impressed with the soundstage on these headphones, but the bass is very weak on them. I'll be buying a new amp for my DT990/600 soon and I'll let you know if the improvement is really that impressive... but the HD598 actually don't even sound bad out of my iPhone or my Samsung Galaxy Nexus... :S (All of my music is flac/alac at good bitrates, though so YMMV...)

 

[markzi]

Thanks. I think I might go for the E11.

 

[MohawkUS]

The 598s seem to rely more on the angling of the driver and the housing to get their soundstage, so I think the soundstage can still shine through in any amping situation. That was the biggest plus for them when I tried them, they had a very very good soundstaging. It made everything sound like it was being played outside and it didn't collapse on poorly recorded music either like a lot of headphones seem to.

A bit interesting on the mac, the computer I tested them with when I had them was a cheapie 2006 Acer so that is probably the cause of a lot of the issues I was having with them. I wish I could have tested them on my main rig(Xonar Essence at the time) but my computer had recently had a PSU failure so I couldn't.

 

[markzi]

First of all. Sorry about your PC
 And yeah, I think the best feature about these headphones is the soundstaging. I also noticed really good clarity. I can't wait to see how well they will do with an Amp

 

[MohawkUS]

First of all. Sorry about your PC
 And yeah, I think the best feature about these headphones is the soundstaging. I also noticed really good clarity. I can't wait to see how well they will do with an Amp

Thanks, but that was over a year ago. I'm sure you'll love them even more with amping.

 

[markzi]

Lol you hate these headphones XD

 

[PioBeer]

I've had mine for about a month now and they're really grown on me even without an amp. At first, I thought something was wrong with them as the bass just wasn't there, but after taking them down to my local hi-fi shop and listening to these through proper gear they came alive. With proper gear these headphones will thump like they should even at low volumes.

 

[markzi]

I'm struggling with the amp. I don't know if I should get the E10 or the E11. I might use it on my iPhone some day, so that's why I'm leaning towards the E11. But is the E10 better in terms of quality?

 

[Hailin]

Why not wait for the next batch release of the E17? You have been patient this long. That i what I am doing.
Quote:

I'm struggling with the amp. I don't know if I should get the E10 or the E11. I might use it on my iPhone some day, so that's why I'm leaning towards the E11. But is the E10 better in terms of quality?

 

 

[beeeatsme]

I've heard the 598s with the e11 and i think it made an appreciable difference in quality.  The burn-in effect was negligible for me, though.  I ended up returning the phones but it was definitiely a difficult decision (made slightly easier by the excellent Denon D2000s).

 

[yawny]

I have the 595 and while they arent exactly the same as the 598, they sound pretty good unamped through my sound card. Then again, my sound card is an Decent HT Omega, not onboard sound. I'm sure they'll sound better amped, but they're passable through a good sound card. 
 
 
My iPod, however, comes nowhere close to being able to drive them hard enough, and for that reason I jus bought an E17 to go with my new headphones. The 59x don't require a good amp, per say, but will benefit largely from one. 

 

[someguy6481]

I use Sennheiser HD 598's through a Cowon Iaudio9 without an amp and they sound steller, I use the BBE Headphone 3 setting which makes them sound fuller and gives the headphones some extra bottom end as well.

 

[phenomenology]

Can any one tell me if HD 598 are better than Philips SHP 8900 for using on Nokia N8 or laptop without amplifer.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

They really need amping. They do not run well at all through computer jacks.

Sorry that's just not true. I played them several days through an expensive asus stx with a good amp and dac...not great but good. Was ready to sell the 598's...sounded awful. Then on a whim plugged them into my laptop and they sound great!! You should ready the 598 appreciation thread for more info. Unamped is just fine.

 

[MohawkUS]

Sorry that's just not true. I played them several days through an expensive asus stx with a good amp and dac...not great but good. Was ready to sell the 598's...sounded awful. Then on a whim plugged them into my laptop and they sound great!! You should ready the 598 appreciation thread for more info. Unamped is just fine.

I was speaking from experience. Seeing how many people disagree with me on this though, I'm starting to think it may have just been the headphone jack on my dad's PC messing up the sound. I've heard multiple times around the forum that desktop PCs onboard is much lower quality than laptop onboard, something to do with the PSU in the PC vs. the battery in the laptop. My dad's PC is an Acer with a cheap OEM PSU, so it's pretty likely that was the whole problem.

Anyway, a lot of people seem to be reporting it playing well unamped, so I guess I stand corrected. I wish I had gotten a chance to try it out of my PC but at the time it was in pieces.