Regarding Sennheiser, is HD58x a good everyday hi fi headphone or is the 6xx worth waiting for? I finally sold my NAD VISO headphones and looking for a good open back pair under $300.
I’ve never heard the HD6XX. I used to own the HD600 and didn’t particularly care for it. I now own the HD58X and love it. Since buying it, I hardly use my other headphones.
I prefer the 58X to the 6xx, for me it just sounded better and had a little more warmth.
It depends on what you’re looking for. The HD58X is a more consumer friendly-sound signature with better bass extension in exchange for worse detail retrieval and midrange tonality. The HD58X is a solid option if you want one open headphone and would take bass over midrange but the HD650 is super special to me because its midrange is fantastic in a way not even most flagships can match.
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The HD58X can be made to sound more detailed by bringing the bass down a bit, which can be done using the felt mod. I find that this does bump up clarity and detail by reducing masking from low frequencies, but I tend to prefer the stock tuning.
@pwjazz, you like jazz, right? Mids and highs are important in classic bop because there is so much horn work, but the saxophone and bass are important layers, too. I’m interested in the comments about timbre. That would seem to an important element for critical jazz listening.
Ah, I should try that later. Does that help the midrange at all? I just got a black silk HD600 to compare to the HD58X and I’m shocked at the midrange difference; the 600 pulls away pretty handily.
The felt mod reduces bass bleeding into the lower mids. Other than that though, I think the mids are pretty great.
@jflores476 I do love Jazz and the HD58X had very natural timbre. I’m picky not just about horns but also percussion, and the HD58X does very well with both. Freddie Hubbard’s Red Clay sounds excellent with these.
[EDIT] I should add that when properly amped (or at low volumes), I don’t hear any problem with bass bleeding into mids.
@Ishcabible, the 600 pulls away, meaning superior to the 58x?
I have a DFB as my every day DAC/Amp and just got a Bravo Audio Ocean to try some tube rolling.
The Dragonfly helps most of my headphones but I’m still experimenting with the Bravo. So far, I find it adds warmth but maybe too much on some cans.
Yes, in terms of midrange at least.
I pulled the trigger on the HD58x! Wish me luck. I will write up impressions and maybe unboxing.
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I currently own HD6XX, HD650, HD58X, used to own HD600 and have heard the HD660S quite a few times.
If you are like many of my friends who don’t want to deal with amps/DACs then the HD58X or HD660S would be my recommendation but if you are willing to find a decent/good OTL amp then the HD650/6XX would be my recommendation since to me and a few of my friends who have heard/compared them with the HD58X there is a bit of grain in the treble of the HD58X while the HD650/6XX and HD660S don’t have this grain or its much harder to notice.
Another thing I noticed is that the HD58X/HD660S sounds better IMO on SS or hybrid gear while the HD650/6XX sound better with a OTL amp like BH Crack, Elise, WA6 or EC ZDS.
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Enjoy!
It’s not the midrange, but I did notice some irregularities in the HD58X’s mid treble response. I’m playing around with EQ to smooth that out.
https://forum.headphone.com/t/massdrop-sennheiser-hd58x/1888/177?u=pwjazz
I don’t remember if you EQ, but if you do you might want to try this and see if it helps.
After a little trial use, I’m going to try the felt mod. I don’t have the tools to do precise measurements but I know what I like. My 58x shipped today so hopefully I’ll have some first impressions this weekend!
I had to give this a bump, I was searching for HE 4xx reviews, I just got a pair because Drop has them in the warehouse for $130 right now and I couldn’t resist.
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