If you have 5.1 headphones already you can test them with this wma file.

http://www.lynnepublishing.com/surro...round_test.wma

And of course the statutory YT clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUrk2W_r5fc

Thanks for the video, good to know the 555's can be modified so easily, but it does annoy me when companies do stuff like that to differentiate between their upper and lower end products. The headphones should be the same price if those pieces of foam are the main point of difference between the models. IMO they shouldn't be charging more or less for different sounding headphones when their basic structure is so similar.

Just had a look at the 598's, and yeah, more of the same, hard to justify the expense.

I can't really comment on the sound quality of the Sennheiser HD5** series. I tried a pair of high end Sennheisers when I bought the AKG's more than ten years ago and the Sennheisers just sounded tinny to me. But then the AKG's I was comparing them to are known to be very dark sounding and more suited to studio vocal monitoring, so...

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD280 Pro's that I use for field-recording (listening to some music with them now as I write this) and they sound fine, albeit a bit flat and neutral (as they should be when using them for their intended purpose), but they're not that comfortable and they're a closed back design so I wouldn't use them for general listening.

As you say, I don't find any of these headphones mentioned lacking in bass, but I know there are models that do emphasize the bass above all other considerations.

I have the Logitech PC Headset 120.. the best headset ive ever had... i tried a usb fatality headset lately but gave that away.. crappiest thing ive ever had on my head.

ive tried a few headsets in the 50-100 euro range, but i think they contain too much crap software and too many useless settings wich only makes things too complicated for me to bother with...

the one i use now cost around 15 euro

Thanks for that. Even if you have stereo headphones there's quite a bit of spatial separation to be had there. Someone should do a binaural version of that to push the sounds even further out.

Trust me, many many companies do this kind of stuff. Basically wrap the same product in a fancier design to sell them to 'professionals'. ;) The more high end product you get, there is less and less difference or should I say money value for the higher price included.

But, instead of buying 555's I intend to go with 595's because they include headphone holder and - maybe the same driver, but this driver definitely passed higher tests to qualify for high end 5** series model. Also, when people say 555's are very similar to 595's, I take that with a grain of salt. As it all depends on what equipment you're using them with and what you are listening. Fortunately I have a more or less trained ear and decent audiophile system nearby.

I would like to see someone test the 555's drivers weather they can reach 595's frequencies.

The main point of interest in HD 595's for me is the extreme wearing comfort. I have found people 'complaining' about various stuff (how the sound is neutral etc.) but no one ever said anything against their comfort. Almost everyone says you can forget that you have them on your head. Open design is a must for long periods of listening, but does leak a lot of sound out of the cans. This isn't a problem for me, on the contrary.

The purpose I intend to use them for is also important. And this translates to mostly music playback and gaming - albeit only simulators and maybe occasional FPS like Arma 2 or America's Army 3.0. Thus their 'neutral' sounding is just what I need here.

With the new model around the corner, their price range is just perfect for me for what they offer. If I wanted to spend money on HD 598's price range, I would go with series 6** models.

I just sold my Sharkoon X-Tatic True 5.1, so I can't test this with a 5.1 headset. They were more or less ok for gaming but terrible at music reproduction.

Even still, as you say - there is quite enough spatial separation. I was pleasantly surprised when Oleg said SoW will support binaural audio. :)

Regarding comfort

The Medusa 5.1's I use for gaming have fine mesh ear shells to keep your ears cool and nice velvet ear cushions for a really comfy feel.

Don't get the usb version of these though

These are the ones you want :)
There's a load of rear connections too so you can through put your regular desk top speakers
http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pub...Qldtqlj6AWQgzd

So I have heard - and this is why I did recommend them as the alternative in the first page of this thread. Although I will never recommend them over a decent stereo headphones. ;)

As far as the comfort goes, I have had my share of comfortable headphones and again not so comfortable ones. A few of them were from Sennheiser as well.

One of the earlier models from Sharkoon I owned, Cosmic 5.1 had great wearing comfort. Since I see that Medusa 5.1 is using the more or less the same principle, I can imagine how nice they do sit on ones head.

I have decent stereo head phones and a decent sound card.

The 5.1's are better for gaming that supports surround sound/5.1 they have a good quality mic also, but are not audiophile quality that's why they are so cheap.

:)

I consider myself fairly fluent in English, but I don't think I did. There are headphones and headsets for different kind of people and not everyone appreciate and need to (and can) hear the difference. And there are different purposes for purchasing them.

albx was looking for a headset, I recommended that he studies the article if he is into the best sound quality for the money - which he can't get with a headset. So, if he really must have a headset - I recommended Medusas or the overpriced Senn's PC 360's.

Maybe I should have written 'if you really must have a headset' but I though it was obvious from the context.

I also said, that you may get better positional audio from 5.1 headsets, but that is the only advantage if we are talking about sound quality. On the other hand, if we are talking about overall pros and cons, than having attacked mic on the headset is an advantage. However, those microphones are in many cases can't be compared (quality wise) to the clip-on mics. Thus I will also recommend a clip-on microphone, much like ZM-MIC1 clip-on microphone Les already mentioned.

EDIT: I see that you have edited your post. Let me know if you want me to delete the above.

True, as I said - in FPS games 5.1 headset can be an advantage. But that is about it. Many, or should I say almost every sound card today can produce virtual 3D environment (like CMSS-3D option in CL cards) that very closely resembles what 5.1 gives you. And since 99.999% of the music is recorded in stereo - the benefits of higher audio quality in headphones out-way the pros in 5.1 headsets. For the same price - you will get much higher sound quality from a headphones than you get out of the headset, every time. Headphones have only 2 drivers, one in each ear cup. While on the other hand - 5.1 headset must squeeze in up to 3 or 4 much smaller drivers into each cup.

In the end it comes down to - what you need the headphones or the headset for, and how much you're willing to spend. ;)

I must have a smaller and more sensitive head than 'normal'. I had to put a half to one inch strip of foam on the inside of the Medusa's headband to get them to fit alright. Even then, because of their resultant angle all the ear-cups pressure was placed just below my ears and not flat around them. The velvet cushions were comfortable though.

What I like about the Audo-Technica's is that they do away with the band altogether and just have two pads to come in contact with the top of my head, and even that with not much pressure. They're so comfortable I often find myself leaving them on even when I've finished listening to stuff. If I use headphones that have a solid band across the top though, I have to slide the band towards the rear top of my head as the spot where headphones usually sit starts to hurt fairly quickly otherwise. This makes the headphones sit at a precarious and awkward angle.

The only downside I've found with the Audio-Technica's (and the AKG's, only more so) is their ear-pads are a little too shallow for the shape of my ears, which touch the thin inside padding of the ear-cups. After several hours, not just a couple, this can start to hurt enough to be noticeable. I think my ears protrude in the middle more than most peoples though, so I don't think it would be something a lot of people would experience. And looking at other brands and models including the Sennheiser HD5**'s, which do look comfortable otherwise, I can't see that they'd be any better in that regard.

These are the sort of things that make trying before you buy so important (not that I always do), as everyones head and ears are different and there's just no way of knowing otherwise.