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Sennheiser HD 598 SE* Review (headphone)

matt3421

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i bought the HD598 in 2012, (at that time my wife thought I went nuts spending $250 in a pair of headphones, wait until she finds out I have pre-ordered the H8xx coming in November, will let you know... if i am still alive, haha) i was aware of the shortcomings of the HD598 lack of sub-bass and poor soundstage, but boy, they are comfortable, for a guy like me, with very sensitive earlobes it is a blessing. i still used them for podcasts or casual music listening, I was not aware about the upper bass issue tough, they sounded balance to me, but i do not have the experience or clinical ears of Amir or many of the guys here, i am just an aficionado, or maybe the non-stock pads are the issue, i don't know. But Thanks Amir for the review.

What make me sad and mad is reading some of the comments here complaining about how Amir does his stuff, please stop, don't tell a guy how to spend his leisure time, and most specially if giving a valuable FREE service to this community, words like "misleading" "what is the point" "don't waste your time..check instead" are rude and coming from otherwise self-entitled people, i don't mind suggestions or polite petitions ; be better human beings people
legitimate criticism of a review that does not at all represent the performance of an unmodified hd598 is not entitlement. get over yourself. i guarantee there isnt a single person here who doesnt appreciate what amir is doing.
 

fun

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Just checked my Amazon order history. I bought the cream color HD598 in 2013. It sounds a lot better than the Grado SR80 I had for a long time, which was quite bright. Subjectively, I thought the 598 has nice soundstage, rather balance sound (besides a bit of boomy bass), but sound texture is not as natural. And yes, the velvet pad is very comfortable. After joining ASR last year, I learned about EQ and applied the Oratory setting, which greatly improve the sound. The bass becomes deeper and tighter, and the treble is more open. That say, I don't listen to it much nowadays after I acquired the Ananda. Overall, not a bad phone IMO especially if you get it on sale for $100.
 

Haint

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I would suspect QC issues and unit to unit variation first, then pads second (stock velvet/velour to aftermarket leather/pleather could presumably show some pretty significant changes, but that's admittedly pure conjecture on my part).
 

Robbo99999

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Here you have it right from the horse's mouth: View attachment 138148
Oratory allowed quoting this, and wanted to specify that this is absolutely not an attack on Amir. Me posting this is not an attempt to attack Amir either, FWIW, just a wish to get the facts straight so everyone can be happy.
That's a good attitude to take, and some solid consensus being formed in this thread.
Original pads for HD598 (or HD598SE, different color) are relatively cheap ($ 24 for a pair).
Just buy a set, slap 'm on there and re-measure would be my idea.
Good idea!

We shouldn't be taking pad issues lightly, testing stock items is the logical mainstay due to their increased relevance to the audience & buyers....specific articles comparing different pads or popular pads is welcome as an occasional aside, but reviews with stock pads is the logical backbone.
 

PeteL

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Sennheiser can't make a single driver that doesn't distort to oblivion on the low end.

It's honestly perplexing how stagnant their designs are. If it weren't for comfort idk how'd they have made it this long in the consumer sphere..
True, but out of curiosity, do we know of an open back with dynamic driver, let's say under 700$, that can reproduce lower and sub bass without being severely rolled off or having very significant distortion?
 

DeepFried

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I have a pair of HD598's, not the SE mind but heresay is they're the same bar colour. I've actually always really liked the 598's, the critisisms of them are valid, the detail is blurred and the mid bass / low mids are very forward, but I'll tell you this, if i'm listening to classic guitar I reach for the 598's every time.

I don't think you can buy actual 598 pads any more, but the HD599 pads are pretty much identical, so I wouldn't mind seeing some measurements with new 599 pads on them. I actually have some 599 pads myself I just haven't swapped them out yet.
 

Nathan Raymond

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True, but out of curiosity, do we know of an open back with dynamic driver, let's say under 700$, that can reproduce lower and sub bass without being severely rolled off or having very significant distortion?

I recently bought the HiFiMan HE-560V4 and they have the best sub-bass I've heard in that category. If my memory serves, it's even better than the Onkyo A800.

Edit: I just realized you said dynamic, which would exclude the planar magnetic HiFiMan, so only the Onkyo A800 fits your requirements in my experience, and unfortunately I think the A800 was a casualty of WOOX Innovations/Gibson bankruptcy and is no longer available. I would love to see it return but with a leas funky cable and earpads that aren't permanently attached to a proprietary bayonet mount.
 
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Tks

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True, but out of curiosity, do we know of an open back with dynamic driver, let's say under 700$, that can reproduce lower and sub bass without being severely rolled off or having very significant distortion?

Don't think so, but if this company can randomly put out something with a driver this good, Sennheiser doesn't actually have any excuses. Certainly not with what is about to be a decade since the release of that PSB headphone.
 

Madlop26

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Listening to my HD598 right now with the recommended EQ settings....... wow what a transformation, the sub-bass is there in its whole glory, spatial qualities much improved, so appreciated Amir
 

Robbo99999

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True, but out of curiosity, do we know of an open back with dynamic driver, let's say under 700$, that can reproduce lower and sub bass without being severely rolled off or having very significant distortion?
There's the AKG K7XX which is only 2dB down on the Harman Target bass at 20Hz, but I don't know what distortion is like in that headphone in the bass, but given that it's at stock and without any internal DSP, then you'd think it would just be the same as standard stock dynamic driver bass distortion in that area - ie ok.
AKG K7XX frequency response.jpg


I don't know of any other open back dynamics though.
 

solderdude

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K7XX @ 90dB SPL
dist-r-percent.png


K702 at 90dB SPL
distortion.gif
 

PeteL

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Don't think so, but if this company can randomly put out something with a driver this good, Sennheiser doesn't actually have any excuses. Certainly not with what is about to be a decade since the release of that PSB headphone.
Sure it was not to excuse Sennheiser, they are big enough to put the money in developing something proper. I was trying to point out it may in the end be that we reached the limit of the technology. Personally Over the years I had a few planars that I ended up selling because they where not sensitive enough for my use cases. The example you point is a proof they can be sensitive enough tough, although in the end it came out as a unrecommended headphone with lukewarm subjective evaluation. So headphone manufacturing is a game of compromise, I have no irrational praise for Senns, I don't currently own any, but I've come to generally accept that if I buy an open back, You somehow win in spatial quality, but it will not be a bass monster. I may be wrong in thinking that, broad generalities more often than not can be proven wrong because that's just what it is, a generality. I have my Fostex TH-X00 for deep bass, that is also dynamic. It is still to this day difficult to find something that ticks all the boxes, Sennheiser over the years released a few models that are loved so they are doing something right, but you just have to know their open backs will no do very well with subs, you only buy em if you're ok with that and the fact that they released a few sets that became classics and universally praised means that some people are OK with that.
 
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Blumlein 88

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Just checked my Amazon order history. I bought the cream color HD598 in 2013. It sounds a lot better than the Grado SR80 I had for a long time, which was quite bright. Subjectively, I thought the 598 has nice soundstage, rather balance sound (besides a bit of boomy bass), but sound texture is not as natural. And yes, the velvet pad is very comfortable. After joining ASR last year, I learned about EQ and applied the Oratory setting, which greatly improve the sound. The bass becomes deeper and tighter, and the treble is more open. That say, I don't listen to it much nowadays after I acquired the Ananda. Overall, not a bad phone IMO especially if you get it on sale for $100.
I say this almost makes me believe in the testing against the Harman headphone profile. I've not so far been convinced the Harman method is nearly as well developed or useful as the speaker side of things. Then again it is better than nothing.

I knew someone with these phones. Upon hearing them I said there are three things I like, and this is a terrible headphone. One they are light. Two I liked the comfort of the original pads. Three, they aren't tear your head off bright like the Grado SR80 (and SR60). I then suggested they get rid of them and buy some Sony phones I recommended.
 

Transmaniacon

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I recently tried the newer version of these, the HD 569, and I was not a huge fan of them. The bass is very boomy and pronounced and the sound stage feels very cramped. I did try the Oratory EQ and it made a huge difference, but overall I felt that they were not worth keeping. My AKG K371 sound better and that is what I am keeping for the time being.
 

o7_brother

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I recently tried the newer version of these, the HD 569, and I was not a huge fan of them.

The HD569 is not a newer version of these headphones. The 598/SE are open, 569 is a closed-back and has somewhat wonky tuning. See oratory1990's database for a FR graph of the 569, it's not great.
 
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