# Sennheiser HD-598 Amp necessary?



## scroller52

Hi,
   
  Total noob here and I just recently got my 598's (about 2 weeks) and love them so far. They are definitely better than the EH-xxx's that I previously used. I've gone through many of the 598 threads to look for this answer, but I don't think there is a definitive answer.
   
  From what I've read the 598's do not necessarily need an amp for them to sound good and that if there is a decent amp, the improvement will be there but it isn't a night and day difference. 
   
  I have a somewhat 'old' creative sound x-fi fatality sound card. It has a front panel for the 6.3mm plug. Is that sufficient for these cans? There is definitely a difference between the sound when I plug it in there vs the sound card from the motherboard. And is there an optimal sound level to play these at for music, games, movies etc.
   
  Any guidance is greatly appreciated!
   
  Steve


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## BID

I have not owned the HD 598, but I have owned the HD 555. An amp would not make a huge difference. Using a headphone out and not a line out will make a difference though, as you pointed out.


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## Koolpep

I have the HD598 and love them to bits!! They are absolutely awesome for the money. These and my Ultrasone Pro750 are my favorites (plus the various Superlux I mostly use at work).
   
  I wouldn't expect wonders with an amp but they do gain soundstage and "body". The Schiit Asgard is a great choice for the HD598, as is the nuforce icon HDP (as a DAC/Amp combo). The Valhalla works also very nice, however the Asagrd seems to be the better choice.


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## fusedpro

The Schiit Asgard, Matrix M-Stage, and FiiO E9 (+ E7 for the DAC if needed) have been shown to work wonderfully with the HD598. These are all fairly cheap, ~$200, with the E9 being only about $120 if you don't need the E7.


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## luczamic

I'm sorry but I just can't agree with that. Just got myself an Fiio E7/E9 combo for Sennheiser HD 598 and....... I'M HUGELY DISAPPOINTED!!!.
   
  It's just rubbish, I was listening to sennheisers for about 6 months just with my laptop ( Dell E4310 ) and I was/still am in love with them, but as I read all the hi-fi forums I was convinced that i should get myself somekinde of amplifter. So I went for that combo and it just .S^&(*# 
   
  Sorry about that but the stage is just unbelievably small compared to headphones and laptop fix. Obviously they play a lot quieter but i just don't care about that
   
  Got no words for it.
   
  But hey, at the end of the day, you just have to listen to it by yourself. It's just my opinion and I will keep on looking for right amplifter for my ears...


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## fabio-fi

Quote: 





luczamic said:


> I'm sorry but I just can't agree with that. Just got myself an Fiio E7/E9 combo for Sennheiser HD 598 and....... I'M HUGELY DISAPPOINTED!!!.


 


  Try using the E7 only. It sounds good for me.


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## Wolvaras

Sorry to bump this up a bit, but I've got the same question as the OP. The only difference here is that I don't have any dedicated sound card. Period. I'm really looking to go sub 100 dollars (unless something that's very good bang for buck comes along) and I'm currently looking at the FiiO E10 for around 95 dollars/75 euro's.
   
  Comments?


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## plorwax

Quote: 





luczamic said:


> I'm sorry but I just can't agree with that. Just got myself an Fiio E7/E9 combo for Sennheiser HD 598 and....... I'M HUGELY DISAPPOINTED!!!.
> 
> It's just rubbish, I was listening to sennheisers for about 6 months just with my laptop ( Dell E4310 ) and I was/still am in love with them, but as I read all the hi-fi forums I was convinced that i should get myself somekinde of amplifter. So I went for that combo and it just .S^&(*#
> 
> ...


 


  I'm sorry to hear about you're experience but I can't agree you with you on that. On a fiio e7 and e10 I will agree that there is not that much difference but Its is still worth getting one imho, but on an e9? I thought e9 really wakes up my 598s the makes it better in every way.


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## BababooeyHTJ

I have a titanium hd, I also have an HD598 on the way. If I do end up looking into an amp would the e9 be a good idea? Are there any other options in that price range?


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## spongeworthy

Quote: 





bababooeyhtj said:


> I have a titanium hd, I also have an HD598 on the way. If I do end up looking into an amp would the e9 be a good idea? Are there any other options in that price range?


 


  I'm in the same position, I also have a titanium HD. Since the headphone out is rated for headphones up to 300 ohms impedance, do I really need an amp? Would it make it sound any better?


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## ArcticZero

Well I have an HD598, and my E09k just arrived today. Here are my thoughts so far:
   
  - It doesn't change the sound signature at all. Not one bit. At first I thought it sounded exactly the same amped and unamped. But that's not a bad thing, since I like how the HD598's sound anyway.
   
  - Originally when connected directly to my Titanium HD, I would have to crank up the volume a bit to truly hear all the details from my music. THIS is where I noticed the difference of having the E09k: I could hear far more detail on lower volumes than I did before I put it on my chain. It used to be such a pain when I had to use such a high volume, that I could no longer hear people speaking to me when I had my music playing. And that's saying a lot for open cans.
   
  That's it so far. Will post more observations as I go on. I had originally planned on getting a Magni instead, but the convenience of the Fiio's pre-amp and line out jacks for my desktop speakers was the deal maker for me.


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## Nirvana Woman

Quote: 





arcticzero said:


> Well I have an HD598, and my E09k just arrived today. Here are my thoughts so far:
> 
> - It doesn't change the sound signature at all. Not one bit. At first I thought it sounded exactly the same amped and unamped. But that's not a bad thing, since I like how the HD598's sound anyway.
> 
> ...


 

 Yes the FiiO equipment seems to generally be excellent period, and even better value to add to that.
   
  I do think that if you lived with the e9 for a while and you then took away the amp, you'd be amazed at the difference.


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## benbenkr

Old thread but here's the thing, the HD598 (or the 595, or the 558 or the 555 for this matter) do not need an amp to sound amazing, period.
  You need a decent sound card of course, but even a cheap X-fi XtremeMusic does wonders for the HD598.
   
  Will an amp make it sound even better? Yes. But is it compulsory? No, definitely not.
  It's something that you should spend on IF you have the money. Otherwise, stick with what you have.


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## KewreL

As long as they're driven by a dedicated soundcard, and not some on-board nonsense, it should be fine.


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## scuttle

Quote: 





fusedpro said:


> The Schiit Asgard, Matrix M-Stage, and FiiO E9 (+ E7 for the DAC if needed) have been shown to work wonderfully with the HD598.


 
   
  If "shown" means "Some easily influenced guy on the Internet says so."
   
  You really don't need $200 of headphone amp to drive 598s; people do it perfectly well with $550 Sansa Clip DAPs.  Selling headphone amps that people don't need is a hugely profitable business, but the reality is that any reasonable amp running in spec will sound like any other:
   
http://tom-morrow-land.com/tests/ampchall/index.htm


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## Frosty3258

Quote: 





luczamic said:


> I'm sorry but I just can't agree with that. Just got myself an Fiio E7/E9 combo for Sennheiser HD 598 and....... I'M HUGELY DISAPPOINTED!!!.
> 
> It's just rubbish, I was listening to sennheisers for about 6 months just with my laptop ( Dell E4310 ) and I was/still am in love with them, but as I read all the hi-fi forums I was convinced that i should get myself somekinde of amplifter. So I went for that combo and it just .S^&(*#
> 
> ...


 

 i really liked the benalli ha540 with them. it is 224 on ebay. it is a tube amp as well, i am personally not a fan of ss amps, at least with these cans.


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## Frosty3258

Quote: 





scroller52 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Total noob here and I just recently got my 598's (about 2 weeks) and love them so far. They are definitely better than the EH-xxx's that I previously used. I've gone through many of the 598 threads to look for this answer, but I don't think there is a definitive answer.
> 
> ...


 
   

 so i have a fiio E11 with them and notice very little difference but with a good desktop tube amp


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## c64

Having tried my girlfriends senn hd598 cant say I was impressed at all not a patch on my goldring dr150 or ns1000 they are overpriced for what they are.


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## Zojokkeli

I've been also wondering if my 598's would benefit from an amp. I have the Nuforce Icon uDAC 2 paired with the Senns and together they sound amazing, but if there is a reasonably priced amp which would improve the audio quality, I'd definitely be interested. By reasonable price I mean something around 100€.


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## RochRx7

I've found that 598's don't necessarily NEED amping (unless your player/dap has weak output) but it's best to pair it with a warm amp since the low end is severely lacking.
  
 DACs and higher res files make the biggest difference in this lineup.
  
...this assuming you're not sticking it straight into a onboard soundcard which is just....... yuck


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## LMNproyect

I think, an amp is really necesary for these cans.
 I already have an HD 600  and with my RME babyface audio interface it sound really good, and with my Mytek 96 converter / amp,  sounds heaven.   Now i received my new HD 598 , open the box, conect it to my Samsung Galaxy A3  and i was very, very dissapointed with the sound. I regretted having bought the HD 598 to the point i wanted to sell it quick and cheap.  They gave me an ear fatigue because of a mid highs shrill freq at 3khz to 6khz.  Sounds lack body, mids were thin , all sounds bad.  Then when i come home i plug it  into a  Nuforce Icon HDP converter / amp,  and what a difference !! , it saved my day.  Full body , resolution, fuller and much more  punch on bass,  rich mids, and the shrill freq in the mid high were gone.  If i made a blind shootout,  with HD 598 strait to my Galaxy A3 and then with my Nuforce Icon HDP,  i would though  that it was testing 2 different Headphones.  I was like the HD with my Galaxy  was at 50%  and with my Icon at 85%  90% 
 Im very surpriced how this kind of headphone can change so much soundwise when is driven appropiately and when is not.


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## mindbomb

They probably will not require any gain. However, I don't want to suggest that you don't need an amp, since you do need low output impedance, and if you were to use them with a motherboard that doesn't come with a headphone amp built in, it would be a disaster.


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## chahooa

I find that amping these does make a big difference, for the better. The are not bass light at all for me, if I amp them.


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