Hello everyone, this is Jonathan from GadgetRaja and today I am going to review Sennheiser HD 598 Special Edition over-ear headphone.
I think I am a “hardcore” gamer based on the fact I spend close to 5-6 hours playing MMORPG apart from my daily work routine. In the past few years, I have considered various reviews on CNET and TrustedReviews and have bought a few so-called “best under $100” and something headphones. Trust me; I have got really tired of buying all these crappy “under budget” headphones.
So, for the sake of my eardrums, I finally decided to trust my guts and to spend a bit more money to purchase something more durable and popular. After spending a few days researching, I finally found Sennheiser HD 598 headphone and thought to buy it.
Sennheiser needs no introduction. Established back in 1945, they continue to be a world-renowned brand when it comes to premium quality in-ear or over-ear headsets. In the past, I had always refused to look at their products and offerings considering the costly price tags. But now, after already wasting close to $1000 on more than 12 headsets, I thought let’s give it a try.
Sennheiser HD 598 Special Edition Review
Here in this article, I will share my personal thoughts on this over-ear headphone and five reasons why I love it. I have tried to explain all of its essential features in detail, but if you still feel that I have left something, you can ask it in the comment section below.
So without any further ado, let’s get started.
1. Design and Build Quality
Sennheiser doesn’t only make great sounding headsets, but their products usually carry a unique aesthetic design. The same goes for HD 598 SE, and complete care has been taken to give this model a unique and robust look.
As soon as you look at it, your eyes will notice smooth matte black with a subtle amount of gloss black finish. Moving sideways your eyes will get stuck on the top of the earcups.
Both earcups come with a messy metallic grille encircled within a light grey/silver colored metallic ring. Below the black colored grille, you will find the silver colored “Sennheiser” logo which looks minimalistic and appealing.
As for the build quality, some parts of the body like the headband adjuster, earcup holder are made up of high-quality plastic and gives this headset a feel of sturdiness. The front side of both earcups comes with metallic grille along with silver colored logo behind them. Their backside is wrapped with high-quality velour padding.
2. Comfortability
Built and designed considering the need of audiophile users no compromise has been made regarding comfortability. The leatherette-covered headband comes with extra soft padding which makes HD 598 SE extremely comfortable even after prolonged usage.
The earcups come with luxurious velour padding. Padding is extraordinarily soft and smooth and surrounds your ears like someone is desperately hugging you. If you have big ears, no issue, space in-between the memory foam filling is big enough to engulf your ears and gives them a comfortable space.
Surprisingly, even after 4 hours of gameplay, my ears didn’t sweat or discomfort. The only thing I noticed was that my ears were a bit warm which I think is perfectly ok.
3. Adjustability
Sennheiser HD 598 SE comes with an adjustable headband and earcups ( can be rotated maximum of 8 to 10 degrees ).
You should note that this headphone is not portable. You cannot fold the earcups, nor you can wrap the headband. If you want to carry it, then you will have to carry it in its full size.
Comming back to the point, the headband arm which is made up of plastic is easy to transition in and out and seems stiff while holding its position. The earcups also rotate a bit, somewhere between 8 to 10 degree but do not affect comfort or usability.
4. Connectivity
On the left earcup, you will find a 3.5 mm audio jack with which you can connect your smartphone, laptop or your audio system.
To facilitate better connectivity, this headset comes along with two 3.5mm cables. First one is a short cable, and its length is 1.2 meters or 4 feet. Its length is perfectly suitable for mainstream users. The second cable has a length of 3 meters or 10 feet and is provided mainly to connect this headphone to your home theater system.
The long room cable comes with a 6.3 mm plug on one end which is standard size when connecting to receivers or amplifiers. In case your amp doesn’t support 6.3 mm plug, for your benefit, Sennheiser offers a 3.5 mm adapter along with the package.
5. Audio Quality
I just have one single word to describe the audio quality, mesmerizing. The rendered audio is just simply fantastic. It’s not high, low, mid, it’s just perfect and sounds so smooth.
To all those peoples who love listening to country rock and classical music, I think you guys will be absolutely pleased with the details. You can listen to your favorite music tracks with almost every minor details. In my test with lossless uncompressed audio files, I have heard from singers vocals to guitar flicks almost effortlessly. If you are pop and hip-hop listeners, you won’t feel disappointed as well.
Now you might have a question for me, what about spatial sound?
Well, according to my test this headphone offers an unmistakable directional sound. This is true not only from front or back but also from left to right.
One important point to note over here is that this headphone is built based on open back design approach. It means there is absolutely no noise isolation, unlike the closed back counterparts. Open back also means that there will be 100% sound leaking. The person sitting next to you will be able to listen to everything you are listening.
What about loudness?
Personally, I feel it is loud enough to satisfy your needs. Even when you set the volume at 70% or 80%, you will never notice any sort of distortion on the high notes. There is absolutely no ear irritation or anything that could cause any kind of listening fatigue.
I must say that I did notice a bit of distortion on high notes when the volume was above 80%.
Conclusion
If you have been wasting your time and money on all sorts of “low quality” budget headphones, then 1st take a deep breath, and 2nd get your hands on HD 598. Trust me; you will never regret this decision and my suggestion.
If you have any problem, suggestion or any question related to this review of Sennheiser HD 598 Special Edition, please share it in the comment section below. I will do my best to help you out.
- Weighs just 244 grams or 7.9 oz.
- Perfect build quality thanks to the usage of high-quality plastic.
- Looks beautiful and the earcup design is state of the art.
- The paddings are soft and comfortable.
- Comes with two cables for better connectivity option.
- Open back design gives an open concert sound effect.
- Audio doesn’t distort even at high volume.
- It’s not portable.
- The earcups don’t rotate or fold.