HD 598 audiophile headphones inspired by European sport sedans
Ergonomic Acoustic Refinement technology
Plush Premium metal mesh and sophisticated burl wood accents luxurious velour ear pads for long listening sessions
HD 598 Audiophile headphones with high gloss burl wood accents
This review is from: Sennheiser HD 598 Audiophile Headphones with High-Gloss Burl Wood Accents
In a hurry so I will try to be quick, but thorough. Forgive the lack of proper structure but I think you will find the review quite informative.
I think it would be quite helpful to do a comparison. In contrast to the 598s, the HD555 are quite affordable to most for a beg head fi headphone, and they do sound good. Also, yes the foam mod "works" when done on the 555 in that it opens up the headphones, bass is more prominent but still remain tight (this is a popular mod that is well known in the head-fi community).
The 558 mod (foam removal) will NOT make the 558 like the 598. It will make the bass somewhat heavier/looser (slightly overlapping the mids) which some may find as a negative.
The casings where the drivers sit are different and the drivers are tuned differently.
The sound on the 555 is laid back and the 555 is not as airy and open as the hd558 or the 598. The 558 is also laid back and darker than the 598s.
The 558s and 598 are more refined and the frequency is smoother throughout relative to the 555s; the 598s are undoubtedly more refined than both the 555 AND the 558.
The 598s are brighter than the 558, the 598 are awesome for vocals, that is, the vocals are more up front and pleasant (especially awesome when listening to female vocals, I love my Adele :)and piano (awesome with piano), the 598s definitely shine with classical music as well. The 598 also excel in a wide genera of music including pop, jazz, classical, jrock, jpop, acoustics.
Bass is weightier on the 558s and tighter on the 598s (tighter bass is what I prefer, I like the tight punch). Not only is the 598 relatively bright when compared to the Senn signature, but it is funner to listen to as its mids are more forward than both the 555 and the 558.
The 598s have a Grado approach without the treble being overly sharp.
Like others have said, and I concur, the 598s def open up/come alive when coupled with an amp/ decent DAC. But at 50ohms, an amp is not necessary to drive these babies.
A number of audiophiles have stated that: The sound from the hd598 are UNMATCHED by ANY other headphone. AGAIN, that doesn't mean they are better than, for instance, the hd800s but rather that they are unique, nonetheless, a notion is to be taken in a positive way.
Comfort is great on both the 558 and 598. BETTER than the 555/595. If you call Senn they will tell you that the clamping force is the same BUT I as well as a couple of others I know all agree that these are MORE comfortable, you pretty much forget that they are on your head (that says a lot especially because I wear glasses and I'm really sensitive to the pressure in that area).
If you are going to be playing electronic, house, metal then these headphones may be a bit slow for you, they could use some speed. If you want that, then I recommend the HD 25 1 ii. DO NOT get the hd25SP (easily mistaken since the picture is incorrect on amazon.com). The hd 25s are closed back, awesome for portable use and the no.1 DJ headphones in the world. They are also used by the broadcaster in NBA, NEWS etc (their version has a special mic attached of course).
If you were to do a AB testing bw all 3 like I did, you would definitely notice the difference, the HD598 is the clear winner in my estimation.
ALSO VERY IMPORTANT and thus should be noted, as stated by another reviewer there has been incidents in the past where there has been cracks that have been formed on the headbands of the 5xx series. Although Sennheiser essentially ignored the problem for several years they have INDEED taken corrective steps in manufacturing as of last year to prevent this. Further, they come w/ a two year warranty replacement and Ive heard pretty good things about the CSRs there.
Lastly, is it just me or do you guys also cringe when people/"reviewers" complain about sound leakage when reviewing an OPEN BACK HEADPHONE.
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This review is from: Sennheiser HD 598 Audiophile Headphones with High-Gloss Burl Wood Accents
I bought these headphones mainly due to how good they were supposed to be for gaming. Some reviews have also compared them to the AKG K501 and several people have mentioned they have slightly forward mids. That's a huge plus for me. I ignored the color and bought them anyway. I think the color is just plain ugly, but I guess I'm the only one who thinks this. It's growing on me though. I almost skipped them because the price seems kind of high. If I had knew how good they sounded I may have just paid full price. I hope the price on them comes down soon.
Out of the box there is some clamping force. Luckily it's not as bad as the HD-600 and the pressure went away after a few days. They're now the most comfortable headphones I own. They're up there with the D2000 and K240 Studio for comfort. One negative for me is that they have the larger jack. I think this isn't a bad idea, but I just don't like having to use an adapter. I do use them about 25% of the time un-amped with an Ipod Touch. This drives them fine, but I highly doubt a smaller mp3 player could drive them very well. The other times I use it with a full desktop amp (Schiit Asgard) and an Oppo DVD player or another source. All ALAC lossless files.
So what do they sound like? The first thing I can say is that it's signature is very smooth sounding. A perfect balance of everything. What shocked me at first is how they are one of the brightest Sennheiser headphones i've heard. Even more so than the HD-600! It's still quite "laid back" but not anywhere near as much as the HD-600, HD-555 or HD-650. The highs just feel way less rolled off. When some of my poorly recorded music is harsh and has annoying treble to my ears, it IS on the HD-598 and they don't try and change it and make the sound more polite like my HD-600 did. The sound signature is totally non-fatiguing, but it depends on the source files. Some of my music is just painful to listen to on any headphone.
It's mids are impressive. They're very slightly forward, but not as much as my Koss Pro DJ 100, Audio Technica ATH-AD2000. Maybe about the same as the AKG K601. Female vocals sound amazing on this headphone. ALMOST as good as my ATH-AD2000, but not quite. At first I thought these don't have a lot of detail, but I do think they do. What detail it has is forward sounding and easy to hear. On my HD-600 the detail felt a bit less clear and VERY slightly muffled, but not too badly.
I can't go into detail on this but the soundstage is quite impressive. It's much bigger than the HD-555 and maybe the HD-600! I haven't compar...
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