Sennheiser HD 598 Cs Closed Back Headphone

This is a review from the mindset of a gamer who went from a $40 headset. I will split my review into several sections down below and a summary at the end with my thoughts.Comfort: These things are undeniably comfortable. I am a glasses wearer and found no problem what so ever with the ear pads. The top headband padding could still use a little bit more work as they only seem slightly better than standard 40-80 gaming headset. The Ear pads and clamping pressure are perfect. I didn't feel them squeezing on my head in the least but I also did not feel that they were going to fly/slip off of my head.I could and did wear these for hours without feeling like my head was worse for wear, so they are still completely acceptable.Quality: Overall the quality looks pretty solid. Nice thick plastic that does not seem flimsy in the least. The ear pads again feel and look great. The Cord does however feel a bit thin. I don't know enough about how that will affect it but it is noticeably thin compared to other cords.Clarity: This is the type of headphone you will find yourself falling in love with. The clarity and response time of these headphones are on point. I used some Dubstep songs with complicated, changing range and jagged bass and treble rifts. These headphones kept up with the songs in spades and i could clearly pick out quieter tracks in the background that were hard to distinguish even on the $100 HyperX Cloud II headset I was using as direct comparison. Nothing annoys me more than not being able to hear ever bit of a song through distortion caused by speakers and these headphones were an absolute pleasure to listen to.Bass: *edited* OK out of box this is the only thing I can complain about. At first the bass was slightly lacking the punch I would have liked. This lacking was just a hair short of what I would have called satisfying which made it all the more frustrating. But with the purchase of the Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 software I was able to tweak the sound quality using sound blaster's Crystalizer (sound clarity) and bass boost. I was able to crank the Crystalizer up to 100% and I felt like I only gained sound quality. Also I cranked the Bass boost up to 100% and was able to get that edge out of the bass that I was looking for with possibly only a very small sliver of clarity sacrificed, i really couldn't tell if much was lost. I had to come back and edit my review in an almost thank God mind set because I really love these headphones.Game Usability: Well let me tell you that these beat out a very popular gaming headset the HyperX Cloud II. Again the sound quality was on point. However with the chaos of the whole battlefield the one distinguishing feature of the HD 598 CS is that they had incredible precision when locating the feint sounds of enemies approaching from any direction. It was somewhat startling how accurately I would hear someone behind me and be able to swing to almost a pinpoint location of where they were. This is also in part due to the HD 598 CS headphones have a very true and accurate representation of echos and fading sounds versus the at times tunnel like sounds from the HyperX Cloud II that left me slightly guessing when sounds were obscured by buildings.Extra Features: The detachable cable I feel is a godsend. The reason i bought a new headset is because the cable on my old turtle beach headset became brittle and cracked causing the wires to become exposed, twisted, and lose integrity making them drop sound or cause the left speaker to not function. No longer do you have to worry about the cable being the weakest point of your expensive headset.Conclusion: *edit* I give these a rating for 4.5 put of box and a 5 when combined with sound enhancing software. These Headphones are a fantastic pair to own especially at the price point i picked them up for (Black Friday $100). But I would be much more hard pressed to fork over $250 considering the competition and the price point of the other HD 598s with open back that are supposed to have a better sound stage but less bass. If I were to give a price to them for out of box use it would be $150 - 200 at most. With $30 sound enhancing software I got the bass and bass pressure to slightly increase and not distort the sound and I would gladly pay $200 and even possibly $250 for what is an absolutely amazing all around set of headphones. But $250 would be pushing it considering the other HD 598s.

I ended up with these headphones quite by accident when I had to return a set of Brainwavz HM9's because of a comfort issue. If you go back and read my review of the HM9's you'll find that comfort was the only issue I had with them. They are an incredibly well made set of cans whose sound is absolutely breath-taking. If it had not been for the comfort issue, I would still have them but, God does work in mysterious ways.I'm no stranger to the myriad ways of reproducing sound and all of the challenges faced in each of them, as I have been singing for 55+ years, worked as a DJ in a former life, and have one of the most diverse and eclectic music collections known to man. So, when I set out to purchase a new set of head phones, it involved a great amount of research. I like my phones to have a very clear presence of bass that can be felt as well as heard, but not to the point of being bombastic. Accurate representation of sound across the bandwidth is the desired end result, but it is very difficult to achieve. My benchmark for excellent sound reproduction is my pair of Altec-Lansing (before James B. Lansing split off to become JBL) 846B Voice of the Theater speakers. They are a large set of ported speakers with a bi-fold horn for the mid's and highs, coupled with a 15" woofer. Awesome!I knew this was going to be impossible to replicate in a set of cans, so I fell back on the industry standard monitor choices. These included the Sony MDR7506 (somewhat unexciting for my taste), ATH-M40x (great set of cans, but need to be amped for best results), and the Brainwavz HM9 (very efficient, great sound, uncomfortable to wear). Enter the Sennheiser HD 598 Cs Closed Back Headphone!I tripped over these on Amazon's Black Friday Deal of the Day for the amazing low price of $99.95 (reg. $250.00), which instantly appealed to my thrifty nature.Since these phones are a Special Edition, available only through Amazon or Sennheiser Direct, reviews were hard to come by. I immediately went to the Technical data: frequency response 10-28,000Hz (impressive), impedance 23 ohms (efficient), SPL 115db (lots of output with little input).Very good numbers, indeed!Packaging consists of a nice hard cardboard box with a thick foam cut-out inside which cradles the headphones and the two supplementary cords. These phones come with a two year warranty and, judging by the build quality, should easily be able to hold up under daily use. They are extremely comfortable, to the point where I sleep with them on and, thanks to the closed back design, it doesn't keep my wife awake due to zero sound leakage. The sound on these phones is outstanding! They will produce the lowest of bass notes with no muddiness, no mid-bass leakage, and no distortion when you feed them more power. Mids are perfect, in the sense that you can understand every word the singer is singing, and you can even hear the occasional breath. Guitars can be heard string by string and every note on the piano can be heard as soon as it is struck. Flutes, timpani's, high-hats, and cymbals can be heard whisper quiet. Their E.A.R. (Ergonomic Acoustic Refinement) Technology channels audio directly into your ear, which results in what is known as "sound stage", and gives the feeling of a more "in room" experience.I find myself listening to these phones 5-6 hours at a stretch with no physical or aural discomfort, running the gamut from classical, house beats, rock, etc. I have even spent hours on YouTube listening to audiophile sound tests of epic music, jazz, blues, vocals, and everything in between. I would recommend loading some of these on a flash drive and take it with you when you audition phones in the store. It gives them a great work-out and the Sennheiser's passed with flying colors. I couldn't be happier with my purchase!