Sennheiser HD 598

Design

On the one hand, you have the very pretty Sennheiser HD 598s, and the ugly duckling Beyerdynamic DT 990 PROs. Both have open-backed ear cup design, and both are very well regarded, but while the Sennheisers look beautiful, the Beyers make up for its deficiency in aesthetics with raw performance power. Keep in mind though, that the Senns are more durable than the DT 990 PROs, as you can replace their cables should something break.

Sennheiser HD 598	Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO

Frequency Response

Here you see pictured two great frequency responses. At this point in the quality spectrum, you start to get to the point where how good something is depends on personal preference. As you can see, both responses are remarkably flat throughout the entire range of measured response, though the Beyers protect much more sound above 10kHz than the Sennheisers, as well as a slightly higher emphasis on bass, but not much.

Sennheiser HD 598	Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO

Distortion

Neither set of cans has much appreciable amount of distortion, but the the DT 990 PROs don’t have the Sennheiser HD 598’s problem of distortion in the low end. Point for Beyerdynamic.

Sennheiser HD 598	Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO

Tracking

Here too, the DT 990 PROs take the cake, as their tracking is almost immaculate, whereas the Sennheiser HD 598s have a few blemishes.

Sennheiser HD 598	Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO

Isolation

Neither set of cans isolate well, nor were they intended to.

Sennheiser HD 598	Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO

Comfort

Both set of headphones are extremely comfortable, and what people consider to be more comfortable seems to vary between people in the office, so we’re going to reiterate what we tell everyone: try them on before you buy. We all have differently-sized heads, so what is comfortable for us may be torturous to you.

Wear
Sennheiser HD 598	Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO

Verdict

We’ll leave this decision up to you, as there are clear upsides to both. Both sets of headphones have great performance, but the Sennheisers look like something taken from Imperial era Russia, and the Beyers do not have any frills to their appearance. Aside from looks, the frequency responses are different, but neither objectively superior to the other. You’ll just have to look over the review and decide which you like better.