Headphones

[jc_the_trucker]

Ordered a set of Sennheiser HD598 headphones last night for my birthday coming up at the end of the month. I did some research before purchasing, and they seem to be about the best thing for the money. Just wanted to know if anyone had any experiences with these that they'd like to share so I have some idea of what to expect. They should be here tomorrow according to Amazon, so I'll be happy to share my impressions if anyone is interested.

[crofk]

Always interested. Let us know what you think of them.

kc

[Joe in Seattle]

I used them as my primary phones for about 5 years. I found them balanced, detailed, clear, non-fatiguing, and very enjoyable. My father in law is still using them. My wife bought me the 650's for Christmas when they came on the market. I think you will be very happy with the 598's.

[Joe in Seattle]

Loops. Mine were HD580, sorry! I STILL think you'll be happy with them. The "house" sound is uncoloured and musical.

[jc_the_trucker]

I shall be hoping for the best; I expect them to be very good according to what I've read about them. I've had Sennheisers before. I can't remember the model number but it was probably seven or eight years ago. The sound quality was quite good as I remember, but the durability was lacking. The fact is, however, I'm much better about taking care of my stuff than I used to be, so I don't expect this to be as much of a problem!

I will certainly give my opinion on them tomorrow. That is assuming amazon can accurately predict it's delivery dates...

[jc_the_trucker]

They arrived!

The first thing I did was plug them into my HTC cell phone and push the play button on my music widget. The phone selected "Nobody Home" from Pink Floyd's The Wall, and I must say, even an mp3 sounds good through these cans. The imaging is absolutely fantastic! Although this isn't a particularly complex piece of music, it does have a very distinct stereo effect to it. These headphones were able to make the most out of it. In my ears it sounded like the singer was standing next to the piano, an someone behind the curtain of the stage was plucking a string bass. Very entertaining.

Then I went and plugged them into the headphone jack on my Sony CDP-C525 CD changer, and selected the Rush: 2112 remaster that I had already in, and again greatness (aside from the fact that whoever remastered it squished the dynamics). Again the most stunning thing is the soundstage. Every instrument sounds like its sitting right there and is distinct and clear. However, and this may be an effect of my ancient CD player, these headphones were very revealing of the CD's weakness as a format. Geddy Lee's high register vocals, and Neil Peart's extensive use of cymbals really don't do any good for CD compression.

That brings me to the most important test. Vinyl.

I decided to grab my RCA Victor Red Seal copy of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 as performed by the Chicago Symphony in 1962. Cued it up, and surprise surprise, more goodness. I find the first movement of this piece to be some of the greatest piano music ever written, and now I know why. The emotion in the music was very well communicated by these headphones. Strings, winds, piano, all distinct and in their own corner of an invisible stage.

The only problem I have with them is that they are so good, they really make the cheapness of the rest of my system stand out. Not to say that I'm dissatisfied with my setup; it is very good for how little I spent. Now I just feel like its time to get a better amp and turntable (I still like my speakers though).

All in all, I listened for about an hour. I really didn't want to take them off and stop listening to give my preliminary opinion. They are very comfortable, and they don't wear your ears out. They are smooth, sweet, natural sounding headphones that don't overpower at any point in their range. I think that anyone but the most discerning listener would be very happy with them, but I also think the rate of diminishing returns for headphones becomes quite severe after the $250 price point. I would absolutely recommend these to anyone in the market for new headphones.

[bauzace50]

Hi,

I am a frequent user of headphones, having the Sennheiser HD-600, and HD-515 (cheapie).

The HD-515 are very good with DVD movies, because they have a boom-and-sizzle equalization (lots of bass and lots of treble, depressed midrange). Just perfect for movies, because the soundtrack highlighted midrange is put into a more neutral perspective. But horrible for general music program.

The HD-600 are totally neutral and wide range, except for a diminishing low bass.

Your further comments regarding the HD-598 are most welcome, as they are great to consider when the HD-600 deteriorate with +10-year use. Avidly anticipated!

bauzace50

[jc_the_trucker]

OK, now that I've had a full day to make a more complete evaluation I'll give some more opinions.

Firstly, these headphones have really put the pressure on for me to order a record cleaning machine! The detail is so good that every tiny grain of dust is audible. I mean, on the speakers I can tell that a record is dirty because of some surface noise and visible dust, but its actually somewhat overpowering on the 598s. I guess I should also try to keep my 2 golden retrievers out of my room, the amount of shed dog hair in my house is absolutely nuts (and yes I go through a lot of vacuum cleaner bags).

I have really put the phones through their paces though; classical, rock, blues, techno, bluegrass, country... And everything is, as I said in my previous post, a different experience altogether than I've had previously. The imaging and separation is just on a different level from any other headphones I have ever used. I began to notice things in the background noise of some live recordings that I hadn't noticed in the past; like in B.B. King Live in Cook County Jail, in the third track during one of the quieter sections. If you listen closely you can hear a bus or a truck blowing its horn on a nearby road. There are also some interesting things you can here from the inmates.

I did have one problem though, but it turns out it isn't a real problem. When I first put on anything other than a classical record, I kept finding myself having to adjust the tone knobs on every record I put on. Mostly it was because the bass became unbelievably loud when using my Hitachi receiver. I didn't have these problems with my CD player (which has its own headphone out) or my phone, so I assumed it was a hardware issue between my turntable and my receiver. Then I remembered a little button labeled "Loudness." It seems that 1980s Japanese for "loudness" seems to translate to modern English for "bass-boost." Switching it off for the cans fixed my tone balance instantly, but my speakers still sound better with it turned on. I am still playing with the idea of a headphone amp though.

Needless to say, I am quite pleased with them. I can't say what their performance will be like when I get back on the road and use them for movies and Xbox, but I expect it should be at least tolerable. And I will certainly comment on that later, as well as any durability issues. I don't think that will be an issue because they seem fairly robust.

PS: bauzace50, I haven't personally used the 600s, so I can't give much of a comparison. I did however read the spec sheets on both of these and they appear remarkably similar. So close in fact that I couldn't justify an extra $150 for what seems to come down to 1/4 oz of weight, somewhat lower impedance, and 500hz more range at the top end (outside of what is normally considered audible anyway but that's a different debate all together ). I' think you would probably be perfectly happy with the 598s when your 600s finally pack up and to have an extra $150 to spend on some other toy, but only you can decide that. Good news is amazon has a return policy!

[bauzace50]

Thanks jc_the_trucker,

very useful comments! Thanks!

And yes, the "Loudness" switch refers to Bass Boost, but is more properly called "Loudness Compensation". The logic is that hearing acuity is different at lower volume levels, and amp manufacturers placed a compensating equalization for low-volume listening. This consisted mostly in bass boost, and a rare treble boost, to compensate for the "Fletcher-Munson" findings on hearing acuity versus volume levels.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher%E ... son_curves

Of course, the amount and placement of the "compensation" is arguably a judgement call, and each example is a reflection of the designer's wisdom. The entire concept of domestic tonal "compensation" seems to be a thing of the past in "audiophile" sensibilities. Most card-carrying members would not be caught dead with a finger on the "loudness" button.

Regards,
bauzace50

[jc_the_trucker]

Thanks for the information!

Now that I think about it, I haven't seen a loudness switch since the 90s. I guess its a feature that fell by the wayside when the average person migrated to their ipods with 15 different "equalizer" settings and Dr. Dre headphones which already have way to much bass built in.

As for me, I tend to play with the settings on whatever sound device I'm using in order to get what sounds best to me. If that happens to be a non-audiophile loudness button, so be it. After all, I don't really consider myself to be an audiophile per se. I think I'm more of an enthusiast with good taste .

[jc_the_trucker]

Update:

Good for everything but tv. Actually, regular programming is fine. The commercials though are absolutely obnoxious. I want to beat the tar out of whoever thinks super-high-pitched sound effects are a great idea.

So outside of tv commercials, they are an excellent product and easy to live with in most applications.

[EdAInWestOC]

I read somewhere that the 598 was much more "up front' than the decidely more center hall sounding HD 580, 600 or 650. Maybe that even includes the HD 800.

I own an underused pair of HD 580s (as well as 5 other pairs of headphones) and bought them to take advantage of the close out of that model. I think I paid something like $100 for my HD 580 and for the money they are very good.

Ed

[JoeE SP9]

The idea of a loudness control is IMO a good idea. It's the implementation that's usually wrong. A simple loudness switch doesn't take into account the speakers, amplifier or overall loudness. Audio Research (on the SP3 only), some Yamaha and some Nakamichi preamps had the right idea. The loudness contour was actually a potentiometer. The way you set it was to use the volume control to set the loudest volume you normally listen. When you wished to listen at a lower than maximum volume you used the loudness control to turn it down from maximum to the level desired. This assured that the amount of compensation was at the very least close to what it should be. IIRC there was at one time a stand alone device that did just this. I for one would like to see a manufacturer make this device again.

[jc_the_trucker]

I read somewhere that the 598 was much more "up front' than the decidely more center hall sounding HD 580, 600 or 650. Maybe that even includes the HD 800.

I own an underused pair of HD 580s (as well as 5 other pairs of headphones) and bought them to take advantage of the close out of that model. I think I paid something like $100 for my HD 580 and for the money they are very good.

Ed

I didn't even think about it, but now that you mention it, they do sound like you're standing right on the front edge of the stage rather than 15 rows back. Not really a problem for me, I like the way it sounds. Probably something to consider if you're used to a pair that isn't this way.

And on that note I was listening to some Helmut Walcha playing some Bach organ fugues earlier on my iPod, what an experience! Every note in every chord is audible on its own, and the "upfront-ness" makes it sound like you're sitting on the bench next to the organist. And maybe that isn't some people's style, but I gotta get this stuff on vinyl is all I have to say.