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Before we get into the Sennheiser HD 598 Review, grab a snack, sit back and relax because…
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What I will bring you in this review
Table of Contents
Introduction
Specifications
Build Quality
Comfort
Sound
My Video Review
Photo Gallery
Imaging
Amplification
Genre Pairing
Gaming
Final Grade
Now without further ado, let’s get rolling!
Introduction
I’ve been a fan of Sennheiser for a while now.
Before purchasing their venerable HD600, I did an exhaustive, obsessive, and over-the-top amount of research.
I have this weird desire to scour the internet for every piece of information I can find before I pass out of exhaustion.
You may be the same way, but you’re probably not as extreme as I am, and that’s most certainly a good thing.
I had owned the 598’s little brother (the 558) for a while but had never actually listened to the 598.
Back when I first started frequenting my local Audio Advice, I met a guy named Luke and we eventually became friends after chatting about headphones and attending the Music Matters shows.
He was nice enough to lend me his 598s for demo and comparison to my 558s.
Many people claim that if you take the foam/rubber strips out of the 558, it sounds identical to a 598.
Does it though?
Sennheiser HD 598
Specifications
- Price: Check Amazon! | Check eBay!
- Type: Open Back. Open Back vs. Closed Back Headphones.
- Fit: Circumaural (Over-Ear)
- Impedance: 50 ohms. What is Headphone Impedance?
- Sensitivity: 112dB. What is Sensitivity in Headphones?
- Frequency response: 12 – 38500 Hz
- Material: high-gloss burl wood detail complementing premium metal mesh, velour earpads, leatherette headband.
- Color: Ivory and Maroon or Special edition black!
- Weight: 247 grams (without cable).
With that, how’s the build on these?
Build Quality
The build quality of the 598 is a bit better than that of the 558.
I weighed both on my scale without any cables attached, and the 558 comes in at 227 grams vs. 247 grams for the 598.
In your hand, you can feel the difference even without weighing them.
The 598 just feels more rugged, solid, and a little less flimsy. It seems like it could withstand more abuse than the 558.
That said, it’s still a light headphone; you’re not going to pick it up and go “Wow this thing feels durable!”
Despite its somewhat wimpy weight, it’s a pretty well-built headphone all things considered.
While something like an AKG K240 does indeed feel like a toy you’d find in your local Walmart, the 598 is a step above that.
It’s got breathable headband padding, velour ear cups, and similar metal mesh to the HD600 and 650.
Some people didn’t like it, but I dig the maroon and ivory combination. It makes the headphones stand out quite considerably but doesn’t feel overly flamboyant or anything.
The cable is detachable, and not proprietary meaning you can purchase after-market cables for these and the 558s. I did just that with my 558, as the eBay seller did not ship any. Here’s the cable I bought for my 558.
I just did a test to make sure that it worked with the 598 and it does.
With the 558, you insert the cable, it clicks, and then you turn it a half step and it faintly clicks again.
With the 598, this isn’t the case at least with the particular model I’m demoing.
You just slide it in and it clicks, but you don’t turn it.
Termination
Another thing to note is that the 598 terminates in a 1/4″ jack and requires a 3.5mm adapter, while the 558 terminates in a 3.5mm jack and requires a 1/4″ adapter.
The 558’s 3.5mm termination is fairly standard, while the 598’s is a bit less common, especially regarding headphones in its price range.
Most headphones need a 1/4″ adapter to plug into higher-end Amps and DACs.
Something else to keep in mind is that you can purchase the HD598 Special Edition Black, which does come with an option of 2 cables: One terminating in a 3.5mm jack, and the other is a 1/4″ jack.
Seems as though Sennheiser realized their sort of semi-mistake (if you can call it that) and fixed it.
Ear Cups & Portability
The cups do not rotate much – only to get a good fit on your melon. They swivel in and out slightly.
While I would say these are pretty portable given that they can be powered by most devices, you’re probably not going to want to listen with them around people; they leak a lot of sound.
BUILD SCORE: A
All in all, the build is above average to almost perfect.
I would dock a point or two off because of their somewhat light feel, but I think Sennheiser did it for a reason: Comfort!
Let’s talk about that, shall we?
Comfort
Comfort is phenomenal with these, which, if you’re familiar with Sennheiser products, isn’t exactly news.
The velour padding and headband padding are perfect, the clamping force is just right, and you likely won’t have to adjust them much at all.
Given that I owned the 558 for quite a while, I kind of got a sense of how the 598 might fit so it wasn’t a huge surprise.
With the HD600, clamp force is fairly tight at first.
I’m not sure how the clamp is on the 598 fresh out of the box, but I would say these are less clampy overall than the 600.
The ear-cups are a great size and nicely contour to the natural shape of the ear. They are very vertical and have just the right amount of width to where your ear rests inside quite nicely.
Unless you have Ross Perot-sized ears you should be good.
COMFORT SCORE: A+
Sound
The 598s are definitely laid-back and mellow-sounding.
First, we’ll discuss the bass.
Bass
You may be surprised to hear this, but the problem I have with the 598’s bass isn’t in the sub-frequencies. While it could use a little bit more extension there, we must remember that anything below 40Hz is largely inaudible.
That said, my main beef with the 598 is the mid-bass. While this particular tuning works decently well for Jazz (given jazz drums are fairly delicate and light-ish), for everything else it can sound anywhere from slightly wonky to really wonky.
The reason is that, if you know anything about producing music (specifically hip-hop), you’ll know that around 200-300Hz is the area that should actually be cut most of the time.
This is where the mud/bloat resides, and 95% of headphones in the budget category fall victim to this bad tuning. That’s not to say the 598 is tuned badly, but it could’ve used some work.
In addition to that, transient response is a bit slow and the headphones sometimes have trouble keeping up with the fast-paced nature of Metal, Prog Rock Jazz Fusion stuff, and generally anything swift.
So if you’re looking for a headphone that fits that criteria, look elsewhere.
You’ll also notice that when pushed to higher volumes, the 598 can sometimes sound slightly fuzzy, distorted, clammy, etc. Insert word salad here ____________.
If I may, it can sound cheap. And I know that may be hard to come to terms with considering how much people have drooled over these headphones over the years.
More on that later.
Mid-Range
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. We’ve knocked out most of what I don’t like about the 598.
Let’s get into some things I do like starting with the mids.
While they do roll off a bit after 1kHz, the presence regions are mostly accounted for and you’ll feel like vocals and instruments are present and lively.
This is most certainly their bread and butter.
On John Coltrane’s “The Blessing”, the saxophone sounds intimate and close-up, but natural.
I don’t get a sense that the music is trying to force itself onto me.
The piano on Sweet Sapphire Blues feels natural and relaxed but also has a nice presence to it while the timbre of the drums rolls along towards the right.
Given what we just discussed about Jazz and the 598, the bass also sounds very articulate and does not get in the way of the mid-range doing its thing. However, again, this isn’t because the 598’s bass is necessarily tuned correctly. It just means that this genre doesn’t expose the pitfalls of the headphones.
Treble
Moving into the treble there’s a nice sense of crispness and shimmer, but no sibilance.
- Read: What does Sibilant mean?
This is a tough thing to get right in headphones as most companies tend to peak out some part of the treble (usually 8-10k or thereabouts).
The 598 is a bit accentuated in the treble but by no means as bright as your average too-peaky treble response.
To me, it strikes a pretty nice balance.
There is a rise around that area, but it’s done tastefully. These headphones will seldom sound overly bright to you, but they’re certainly not “dark” by any stretch of the imagination. Cymbals crash about like you’d expect, and I never remember there being an overly essy character about the 598’s treble.
Foam Strip Mod
As mentioned in the open, people used to say this mod actually makes the headphones sound identical and I would say for the most part, yes.
After taking apart my HD558 and removing the strips, they sounded punchier and brighter than the 558 which I happened to prefer over the laid-back mellow vibe of the 558.
Both sound good, but I definitely preferred the 598’s sound.
Overall?
SOUND SCORE: B+
Not a huge fan of the bass overall, but the treble and mid-range are both done quite well in my estimation.
Do be aware of that bass fuzz/distortion at higher volumes and the propensity for it to simply not keep up at times.
Video Review
Photo Gallery
Click to see the HD 598!
Let’s talk a bit about Imaging..
Imaging & Soundstage
Imaging and Soundstage, along with the mid-range are some of the 598’s best qualities.
You may be familiar with the HD600; it has a somewhat narrow image and is much smaller than the more open 598.
The 598 does much better with Jazz because instruments are spaced out better and you really get a feel for the dynamic of the band/quartet.
Jazz tends to pan instruments hard left and right, and with the HD600, it can sound a bit unnatural and weird.
The 598s handle Jazz almost perfectly, as the Soundstage has a very nice width and spacing to it.
There’s also pretty nice depth to the image, as you can hear cymbals and high hats towards the back and down.
It adds a nice sense of lushness to the sound.
The Soundstage isn’t as wide as a K702, and opinions vary on which type is better. Personally, I prefer a wider image, but your mileage may vary. Just know that for gaming, both the K702 and HD 598 are excellent.
IMAGING SCORE: A+
Amplification
Yes, but I wouldn’t go too overboard with it.
The 598 is very efficient at around 112dB/mW, so it doesn’t require much power from an amp to get going.
It will resist power more than your average headphone at 50 Ohms Impedance, but all in all, these are pretty easy to drive.
In the past, I recommended the E10K, K3, DragonFly Red, ATOM, etc. I still like the ATOM, but the others are a bit outdated nowadays though I still own the K3 and DF Red.
The K11 is a much better value than both the E10K/K3 for only a little more money. That said, I wouldn’t go farther than that as, again, the 598 hardly needs anything.
The reason the K11 is a good investment is because you’ll keep it around for a while, similar to a K5 Pro/K7.
JUST DON’T OVERTHINK IT!!
Seriously, don’t. I‘ve demoed 75+ of these things, I would know.
So what genres are these good for?
Genre Pairing
Of course, Jazz as we discussed.
- Learn more: The Best Headphones for Jazz!
They will also work well for Classical, Rock, Metal Indie, Pop, EDM, Hip-Hop, etc. Just don’t expect them to be the best pairing with the heavier bass type of stuff.
That said,
it’s still an extremely lush and detailed listen, and I find them to handle Indie Pop pretty well all things considered.
For instance, Danelle Sandoval’s “Capacity” sounds fantastic with the 598, it’s just not as energetic as some may prefer.
It’s more of a laid-back precision type of experience.
“I Want Your Attention” by Moon Boots & Fiora is more of the same, but in this instance, the bass digs deep when called for, and was one of the few times I enjoyed the 598 with the harder stuff.
Gaming
We alluded to it a bit earlier in the Imaging section, but I also got a chance to try these with Gaming, and the results were exactly as I expected.
Lush soundscape, great resolution, and a great Soundstage that reveals a lot of little things going on in the environment.
It was a laid-back but immensely enjoyable experience.
I played strictly Fallout 4, which has a lot of stuff going on at all times, a variety of music to analyze, as well as some pretty intense gunfights.
The 598 handled everything with ease, and overall the sound just feels closer to you and more intimate.
This is especially true with Fallout’s great selection of ambient music.
I would imagine this is a perfect FPS shooter headphone, though I’ve never gotten to try it out given I didn’t have the headphones for that long.
All in all?
GAMING SCORE: A+
With that…
Let’s give them a final grade.
Final Grade
Scores:
- Build: A (95)
- Comfort: A+ (99)
- Overall Sound: B/B- (80)
- Imaging/Soundstage: A+ (99)
- Gaming: A+ (99)
Final Grade: A (94)
The bass is by far my biggest gripe about these, in addition to the slight fuzz/distortion/bloat, and lack of transient response in faster genres. Other than that, the headphone is tuned pretty well and ticks a lot of boxes.
The mid-range and treble provide a near-perfect timbre with regard to instruments, vocals, and hats respectively, and the Soundstage is some of the best you’ll hear at this price point.
All in all, the 598 is a comfortable, well-built headphone with some flaws that can’t be ignored, and may not be worth it anymore.
Update
A lot of time has passed since I first listened to these, and fortunately for us, Sennheiser improved upon the issues present in the 598.
This time around, the bass is tuned much better overall. It’s still elevated by about 5dB across 20-100Hz, with a subtle dip going into 200-300Hz just as we discussed earlier is ideal. It’s not a “mud cut” per se, but it does avoid looking like an ant hill which is always a positive.
It also doesn’t sound fuzzy, distorted, or bloated at all; this time coming across as more refined with a better overall sense of resolution. In addition, transient response is much better and the headphones feel like a small step up from the 500 series in general; an assortment of headphones that admittedly I’m not that particularly fond of.
One listen to the 560S and you can tell; it snaps harder, sounds a bit smoother, and overall is tuned a lot better.
Learn More:
Well that’s about it for today my friend! I hope you’ve enjoyed this Sennheiser HD 598 Review.
Questions? Comments? Requests? Did I miss the mark on something? Please let me know down below or Contact me!!
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Do you have any experience with the HD 598? What do you think about the 560S? I would love to hear from you. Until next time..
All the best and God bless,
-Stu
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Sennheiser HD 598
Pros
- Good Soundstage
- Great clarity and detail
- Comfortable
- Durable and reliable overall
- Balanced sound overall
Cons
- Bass isn't that well extended and rolls off
- Fuzz/Distortion/somewhat unrefined sound
8 comments
I agree with everything except the soundstage. The soundstage is even more flawed than the bass. I can’t tell where the steps are coming from in csgo or any other fps unless I EQ with the specific tuning for csgo. But with my AKG k361 I can’t perfectly tell where the sound come from with such perfect accuracy and detail of the sound that it makes the HD598 sound like some cheap chinese shit. Funnily enough, the build quality of the HD598 is so superior that it makes the AKG feel like some cheap chinese piece of plastic.
In conclusion, the HD598 is still good for movies and non electronic or bass heavy music but for gaming don’t even consider them, they’re mediocre.
AKG is superior in overall sound but Sennheiser has impecable build quality and with the new 560S it seems that the 5xx series is as good as it gets, which means that you no longer need to buy 2 headphones, 1 for gaming ( AKG) and another one for pleasure ( Sennheiser, still kings of jazz ). The new 560S is an insane value because you no longer need to compromise when buying a 5xx series from Sennheiser.
Yeah, you’re probably right, but I’d have to go back and get a pair and probably won’t since my friend who lent them to me eventually sold them.
So you’re saying the 361 is good for Soundstage accuracy? Just a bit confused because you said “AKG K361 I can’t perfectly tell where the sound comes from” but I think it was a typo.
Yeah, my biggest issues with the 598 were 1) it sounded distorted/bad at higher volumes, 2) Speed was pretty poor and it had trouble keeping up with many genres I like.
Other than that I liked them.
I think the 560S was a definite improvement in those areas and they even added a tastefully done bass shelf. It still has that “500 series sound” which can be kind of dull and boring at times (almost neutral to a fault in other words), but I do think it’s worth a look for many people who listen to lighter genres like Jazz, Classical, etc. and the Soundstage is very good on it. It works very well for gaming in my experience plus it’s really comfortable as always.
I also agree about AKG and it’s why I recommend the K702 so much. I generally believe AKG and Sennheiser are the best at tuning headphones with HIFIMAN close behind although their gradual decline after 1kHz tends to bother me.
If I already have the HD598SE, getting a HD560S will gives me better sounds?
I actually don’t listen to deafening volume. Usually listen to lighter genre too
Hey Tendou!
I do think the 560S is an upgrade from the 598. It seems they fixed the speed/transients while also adding a really nice bass shelf and rectifying the other issues in the 598 – mainly that sense of fuzziness/distortion at higher volumes. The 598 struggled to keep up at times but the 560S is basically a perfectly tuned headphone that to me sounds more refined. So yeah, I’d take a chance on it although from what you said, you may not even care that much since you do listen to lighter genres at lower volumes.
Your overall score (A-/B+) makes no sense given the lowest score you gave was A-, and all the others were , A/A+.
I actually came back and edited the final score recently and forgot to change the other grades. Thanks for pointing it out.
which is better only for movies hd 598 . 560s or any other under like 500 dollar range and I use it only with phone connected with portable dac I like the spatial like theatre sound if you could tell any .. only for movies
Elias,
Thank you for stopping by! Yeah those 2 are great but you may consider the K702 for an even more immersive experience. Please keep me posted on your thoughts after you’ve read the article.
-Stu