Anyone know the real differences between the Sennheiser HD 558 & HD 559.

[Tipikal]

Hey everyone, recently been looking at getting either the HD 558 or the HD 559 from Sennheiser, does anyone know the differences between the too? I also considered the 600s or 650s but don't feel like spending that much.

[detrivos07]

I use 598SRs and they are wonderful, only $130 USD too.

[Tipikal]

I'm mainly focused on the 558s/559s. Also not a fan of the flat headband, especially for long periods of time with them on.

[Max_Settings]

As far as I know the 559 is just a slightly updated version of the 558, but they should have the same sound.

[Guest]

Christ on a cracker! HD6xx... HD600... HD650... HD558,... senheiser could suck up all my beer money with their (yearly?) tweaks & new models. Meh, I’m just bitching. Intersting post, @Tipikal . Curious to see what you eventually end picking up.

 

Yep... a whole stable of cans. Ah well. :-)

[spwath]

1 minute ago, PrometheanCat2 said:

Christ on a cracker! HD6xx... HD600... HD650... HD558,... senheiser could suck up all my beer money with their (yearly?) tweaks & new models. Meh, I’m just bitching. Intersting post, @Tipikal . Curious to see what you eventually end picking up.

 

Yep... a whole stable of cans. Ah well. :-)

The only ones you need are the 650 and 600. 6XX are the same as 650. 5 series are not as good (other than the 580, precursor to the 600/650). 660s is overpriced and may be worse than 650/600.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, spwath said:

The only ones you need are the 650 and 600. 6XX are the same as 650. 5 series are not as good (other than the 580, precursor to the 600/650). 660s is overpriced and may be worse than 650/600.

I saw those HD8** series cans... and I get all sweaty & tingly. Hells bells!!!

 

...alright, deep breath. It’s JUST f&cking personal audio. Thanks for the post, @spwath .

[spwath]

2 minutes ago, PrometheanCat2 said:

I saw those HD8** series cans... and I get all sweaty & tingly. Hells bells!!!

 

...alright, deep breath. It’s JUST f&cking personal audio. Thanks for the post, @spwath .

Yeah. I tried hd800, I didn't find them very comfortable. Took them off the list for me. I'm happy with my HD650. 

[Max_Settings]

1 hour ago, spwath said:

660s is overpriced and may be worse than 650/600.

I have heard some people say they are amazing. I haven't tried a pair yet personally. Although I doubt they are worth the extra money over the 650s, but we will see.

[Tipikal]

I bought the 559s however I find them new velour padding Sennheiser uses to be rather uncomfortable plus the left ear cup has been irritating the back of my ear. They sound decent, but sometimes sounds seem to melt together on certain songs which is sort of strange. I believe the 558s use a velour foam padding similiar to the HD600/650 and 598. I'm considering returning these 559s and getting the 598SE, 558 or possibly the 650. I just want something comfortable thats great for music, movies and definitely games plus a wide soundstage. I listen to mainly hip-hop/Rap, Rock, Indie, just a wide variety of things.

[Max_Settings]

27 minutes ago, Tipikal said:

I bought the 559s however I find them new velour padding Sennheiser uses to be rather uncomfortable plus the left ear cup has been irritating the back of my ear. They sound decent, but sometimes sounds seem to melt together on certain songs which is sort of strange. I believe the 558s use a velour foam padding similiar to the HD600/650 and 598. I'm considering returning these 559s and getting the 598SE, 558 or possibly the 650. I just want something comfortable thats great for music, movies and definitely games plus a wide soundstage. I listen to mainly hip-hop/Rap, Rock, Indie, just a wide variety of things.

You will need an Amp if you get 650s

[Tipikal]

3 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

You will need an Amp if you get 650s

Yeah I am aware of that. Kind of wwhy I am leaning more towards the 598SE's.

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Tipikal said:

Yeah I am aware of that. Kind of wwhy I am leaning more towards the 598SE's.

@Tipikal , would you consider pairing a 650/600 up with an external amp. I'm a Schiit fanboy (Magni3 is a tough little silver box).  Just my 2 cents...

[Tipikal]

I'd be willing to consider those yes, but having to buy extra $200+ equipment seems a bit much for me at the moment.

[NinJake]

14 hours ago, Tipikal said:

I'd be willing to consider those yes, but having to buy extra $200+ equipment seems a bit much for me at the moment.

Then the main question is are you willing to hold off your purchase until you can save up the additional 200?

 

Now, or later is what this comes down to.

[Max_Settings]

40 minutes ago, NinJake said:

Then the main question is are you willing to hold off your purchase until you can save up the additional 200?

 

Now, or later is what this comes down to.

Sure because he’s going to be waiting a while till the 6XXs come back.

[Tz000]

On ‎20‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 7:09 PM, Tipikal said:

I bought the 559s however I find them new velour padding Sennheiser uses to be rather uncomfortable plus the left ear cup has been irritating the back of my ear. They sound decent, but sometimes sounds seem to melt together on certain songs which is sort of strange. I believe the 558s use a velour foam padding similiar to the HD600/650 and 598. I'm considering returning these 559s and getting the 598SE, 558 or possibly the 650. I just want something comfortable thats great for music, movies and definitely games plus a wide soundstage. I listen to mainly hip-hop/Rap, Rock, Indie, just a wide variety of things.

I own a pair of Senn HD 558's and they are really comfortable, I usually forget im wearing them and walk away from my desk....LOL

 

Are you running them off your MOBO?

 

I was slightly upset with the initial sound they produced but after letting them break in a bit &  getting a DAC+AMP combo unit (FX-Audio X6) or running them off my Pioneer A-757 Mark 2 stereo amplifier they really warmed up. 

 

On top of that it makes a HUGE difference as to what quality of files your listening to... If your listening to music on youtube or a cheap streaming program good luck... your just going to hear all the imperfections more clearly.  I would suggest playing music straight off an original CD or "Tidal" music streaming that way you know forsure your listening to a 44.1/16bit file or you can take advantage of Tidal's "master" quality which is 96k/24bit.

 

Good luck with whatever you end up with.

 

Cheers!

 

Edit: To also answer your question as to the differences between the 558 and 559.. I think they have the same driver but the build quality is slightly different and the 558's have a piece of foam behind  the driver.   The foam should give the 558 headphone a more bass orientated sound as well as preventing the 558 from sounding more like the 559.  The foam is easily removed and there are lots of tutorials on how to do so... I myself have tried it and it made the headphone a bit more crisp.

 

 

[Guest]

23 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

Sure because he’s going to be waiting a while till the 6XXs come back.

Don’t even get me f$$king started. I feel like a junkie waiting for a new baggie of pleasure or artificial-joy (HD6xx) to drop from the heavens.

:-)

[Tipikal]

On 2/22/2018 at 11:41 PM, Tz000 said:

I own a pair of Senn HD 558's and they are really comfortable, I usually forget im wearing them and walk away from my desk....LOL

 

Are you running them off your MOBO?

 

I was slightly upset with the initial sound they produced but after letting them break in a bit &  getting a DAC+AMP combo unit (FX-Audio X6) or running them off my Pioneer A-757 Mark 2 stereo amplifier they really warmed up. 

 

On top of that it makes a HUGE difference as to what quality of files your listening to... If your listening to music on youtube or a cheap streaming program good luck... your just going to hear all the imperfections more clearly.  I would suggest playing music straight off an original CD or "Tidal" music streaming that way you know forsure your listening to a 44.1/16bit file or you can take advantage of Tidal's "master" quality which is 96k/24bit.

 

Good luck with whatever you end up with.

 

Cheers!

 

Edit: To also answer your question as to the differences between the 558 and 559.. I think they have the same driver but the build quality is slightly different and the 558's have a piece of foam behind  the driver.   The foam should give the 558 headphone a more bass orientated sound as well as preventing the 558 from sounding more like the 559.  The foam is easily removed and there are lots of tutorials on how to do so... I myself have tried it and it made the headphone a bit more crisp.

 

 

Yeah I got them running into my ASUS Mobo that claims to support 50-109 impedance, It has a clean sound and I've been looking into dac/amps to use as a uprade also ordered some HD 58Xs on Massdrop. I will check out the amp+dac combo you use. Thanks again for being so informative and helpful! The headphones have broken in a bit more are are hurting my ear a lot less luckily but occasionally still does.

[Curufinwe_wins]

On 2/25/2018 at 9:39 PM, Tipikal said:

Yeah I got them running into my ASUS Mobo that claims to support 50-109 impedance, It has a clean sound and I've been looking into dac/amps to use as a uprade also ordered some HD 58Xs on Massdrop. I will check out the amp+dac combo you use. Thanks again for being so informative and helpful! The headphones have broken in a bit more are are hurting my ear a lot less luckily but occasionally still does.

One small note. If you have a large head, the 558 is not a comfortable headset. It's really for medium to small heads only because the ear caps don't have much rotation potential, and the headband doesn't offer that much wiggle room either.

 

Now with that said.... I have a ludicrously large head, so take that with a grain of salt, but I really enjoyed the sound regardless.