Sennheiser HD 598CS

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Decomo, Dec 4, 2016.

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  1. udin

    udin Acquaintance

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    Don't get me wrong, I thought the 598C to be a great value at $100, and even recommended it to a friend looking to spend around that much.

    Yes, the Nighthawk is a warm headphone, but to my ears, it is missing none of the detail. If switching rapidly between it and the 650, there is a sense of space and airiness that can be perceived as lacking with the NH, but I think in reality, it's just a totally different presentation. I think some of it just comes down to refinement, and while the 598C has nice detail and instrument placement, it sounded a little artificial to me in comparison. But given the price difference between these 'phones, I would think this would be expected.
     
  2. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Just tested with Fulla2 with 598CS and it is not a good match. Bass become prominent and lose sparkle on high. it sounded better straight from MacbookPro for me.
     
  3. Zed Bopp

    Zed Bopp Friend

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    Just bought a pair from Amazon.de on friday for 99 euros for care-free use all over. There's some real benefits to having a cheap pair you don't have to worry about. Throw them into a bag? Freezing temperatures? Nah, they're cheap.

    Should be cool to compare them to my V1 over-ear Momentum and HD600. I'm guessing they'll have some similarities.

    Edit: my Momentums are over-ears, not on :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2017
  4. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Yep. I concur. It is great to have good quality cheap headphone that does not need to be worry about protection... I treat mine quite badly and it works just fine. :) Love to hear your impression against HD600/Momentum
     
  5. Zed Bopp

    Zed Bopp Friend

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    Early thoughts...

    Damn, HD598 Cs is way closer to HD600 than Momentum in sound signature & quality. There's a noticeable boost in the lower bass (sub boost on a Senn!) regions and highs too, though. I'd say they are more fun with a slight V-shaped signature - lows rumble and highs sizzle more. But yeah, these don't go into Fostex, V-Moda etc. territory with the bass amount or V, they're still Sennheisers by nature. They are by no means bass-head headphones... Mid-bass or low mids just might have dip somewhere, on occasion it feels like there is a hole in the lower notes of snare drums and vocals. I haven't heard the open 598's for a while, but that lively treble is a pleasant surprise for me.

    HD600 seems to have much less peaks and dips from mids up especially. A well recorded bass guitar sounds more like the real thing - it's not just fat, it's also got snap up top. Hi-hats are smooth and seem much more life-like - HD598 wins if you want more of them, they are fun. Mid-bass just might on the same level pretty much, but there's that sub bass boost on the closed model. Overall, bass is cleaner on the 600.

    But yeah, for 99$ these are a very nice pair for on-the-go/general purpose use fans of Sennheiser's usual tonality.

    I need to listen more of them, though. I'll report back.

    Edit: I've used them mostly outdoors with my iPhone 6s. There's lots of volume on hand, way more than with the Momentums. Damn, Sennheiser - why is the Momentum cable's plug that short? I didn't manage to make it work with the 598s. Enough with the proprietary s**t.
     
  6. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Can anyone who owns these comment on their sound isolation vs. Fostex's TH-X00 series? Still flip-flopping if I want that ebony on Massdrop or not...
     
  7. ktmracer12345

    ktmracer12345 New

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    Honestly, they isolate extremely well. Reasonably better than the fostex. They sound like crap, but the isolation is awesome. If you're picturing 598SE with isolation, you're going to be disappointed. The sound is very different from 598SE. The TH-X00 isn't perfect but to me it is worth the extra money. Of course for similar money I'd probably get a PM-3 before the Fostex.
     
  8. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    I own the 598cs now and use it for the office but going towards the Fostex I feel like the semi-enclosed design will not be as good as the cs. Sounds like that's the case. Oh well!
     
  9. Zed Bopp

    Zed Bopp Friend

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    Updated thoughts
    These are one lively pair soundwise - especially for a Sennheiser, there's extra treble energy for sure AND upper-mids emphasis (like a 600). Bass is after some more listening quite tight and it digs deep, a whole lot better than the open HD5xx-models I've heard. I've tried to look for treble anomalies especially, but there aren't any big ones to my ears, like there are on the Momentum (like a one huge dip). These have a slight V-shape, with a bright tilt - I'd say this is a breath of fresh air in a sea of 650-clones trying to out-smooth each other.

    So, the presence-region is very, um, upfront. The character of a distorted guitar is presented clearly and vocals are upfront. The mild bass-boost goes on & off depending on how low bass frequencies there are - on one song the 'phones seem flat or even trebly, the next one (with low bass notes) they sound quite fat. On a second comparison against my HD600, HD598 Cs win lots in bass punch and treble energy, if not accuracy. Mids are way better on the 600, as one would expect. But yeah, these two aren't really miles apart.

    [​IMG]

    This would be a cool one to see measured - maybe even added to the Cheapo-list with that 100 bucks-ish price. Cheers!
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2017
  10. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    They would probably actually benefit from HM5 pads which would bring down the treble.
     
  11. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    Just got my hands on these, I like them more than the CAL!, more than Alpha Dogs (I like my ears closer to the drivers in general), and I think I prefer them to the THX00 from memory (though my experience with the X00 seems to be two standard deviations from the mean; I suspect the cups didn't fit my ears properly). But they have easy-to-hear limitations.

    The sound signature is a little unnatural and tinny in the way IEMs can be, a smidgen of that "listening through a telephone" effect, and for complex passages some detail clearly gets lost in the fray. That said, they do have glimmers of HD6XX magic; I immediately liked them when I plugged them into a Lyr. The bass is fun, makes me think of a more controlled Fidelio X2. They also sound good straight from my phone, and overall the tonality tickles me the right way despite its limitations and my brain knowing I've heard better, so I think they'd be a reasonable choice for the office, gifts for other people, or if you need an inexpensive closed set as long as you are okay with the above tradeoffs.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2017
  12. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    Can you say how good is the seal and sound isolation on those? I am looking for closed back headphones with very good isolation. Considering HD598 Cs, Senn HD 380, or HD 280.
     
  13. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Sound isolation was not stellar. I used this in office one day and my colleague sit next to me could hear what I am listening.. Not leaking badly but still audible to others. Wearing comfort is great though.
     
  14. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    maybe I asked wrong question - I am mostly concerned about how well it isolates my ears from external sounds
     
  15. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    It's probably about average. Not as good as foam inserts for IEMs, better than the THX00 cups were for me, probably not as good as the alpha pads. I don't think these are airplane or very loud noise appropriate. Get IEMs for that.
     
  16. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    +1 :)
     
  17. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Another measurement here.
     
  18. MikeD

    MikeD Acquaintance

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    As these are getting some positive comments I thought I balance that out a bit with some of my reservations. I'm gonna agree with a4410Hz that they sound tinny. They leave male vocals, in particular, sounding weird. A kind of croakyness pervades - it's probably that bump at 1K. They sound pretty low-res to me too. EQing out that 1K bump made them sound particularly undetailed - I find them somewhat flat and undynamic also. Honestly, my expectations for closed cans are pretty low - I'd be happy just to use a Nad HP50 if the stupid things would fit on my ears... but the overall sound signature of these 598CS is a deal breaking flaw to me. Oh, well - I'm hoping that Tyll will cover these in his run on the new Sennheiser phones and compare them to the HD 569. The frequency response for the HD 569 he reviewed looks a lot better than the HD 598CS sounds.
     
  19. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    After I wrote the above I ended up getting a used pair of the 598Cs to use at work out of my phone. I unquestionably prefer listening to music through them than my Noble X (which I also like). Better sense of space, sweeter mids, more bass thump, more timbre in the top... just more fun and lively. My brain seems to have corrected some of the unnatural sound over time as I don't notice it anymore. To provide a different frame of reference, someone I know who exclusively streams music on the EDM side of the scale always prefers the 598Cs to the 600 or 650 when doing trials off my system. I suspect people who don't know what they're looking for but want closed headphones will enjoy them. (Keep in mind a lot of people think moar bass = better music.) I think they will satisfy a lot of people who just want to be told what to buy.
     
  20. MikeD

    MikeD Acquaintance

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    Yeah - they're really not bad at all! With the relative scarcity of headphones, particularly closed backs, that don't have some obvious, glaring flaw -I think the 598CS is a pretty well rounded thing - between perceived durability, comfort and sound these are value. Still... that upper mid bump...
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2017

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