Massdrop x Sennheiser HD58X Jubilee

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Skyline, Dec 20, 2017.

  1. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    The 58x unexpectedly pairs well with the LCX. Even though I know it's less resolving than my 6xx/MJ2 combo, I find myself not missing the loss of resolution and the bass out of the LCX is wonderful combined with the warmth of the LCX helps with some of the etchiness I'd been hearing up top. Arguably a better headphone for rock and pop music than the 6xx (especially of the average recording variety).
     
  2. Sonorus

    Sonorus Facebook Friend

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    I have been listening for a week now , mjolnir 2 balanced in - single out.
    Must be crazy - i think ilike them better than my HD800 sdr....
    God knows!
     
  3. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    I'm not surprised by that comment. When the 58x has been out for a while I feel thst it will hold a special place for many hobbyists. I mean, it will never have sound stage and top end extension of the hd800 but man, this headphone does so many things well.

    I didn't truly have enough appreciation for it until I'd owned it a few weeks and heard under many different circumstances. It's just a wonderful headphone for listening to music, never sounds harsh or analytical and is infinitely reasonable on price
     
  4. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    Were the 660S pads ever tried? (just for laughs) ;)
     
  5. RiddleyWalker

    RiddleyWalker Friend

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    I am fairly certain the 58X pads are different than the 6** pads, which I think was mentioned by others. I transplanted my old compressed HD580 pads onto my HD58X and was surprised how much of a difference it made. You lose a tiny bit of bass extension and gain a more coherent FR with slightly smoother treble. It ends up sounding somewhere between my modded HD650 and the stock HD58X, which is pretty much perfect for my taste.

    I also swapped in the headband assembly from my old HD580 that was nice and stretched out. Mainly for comfort reasons but also slightly increases soundstage. I also removed the foam around the grills, though I’m not sure how much of a difference that made.

    I recommend those that have both a 58X and 6** series to experiment with swapping components, some of these subtle changes really help IMO.
     
  6. spronkey

    spronkey New

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    I dno eh, the 58X pads feel very very very similar to my HD650 pads, and very similar to how I remember my now-very-worn-in 600 pads feeling. If they are different, I'd be surprised.

    FWIW, comparing between 650 and 58X, I think very old pads vs very new pads on either makes as much of a difference than comparing both vs eachother with equal pads.
     
  7. sealand1

    sealand1 Almost "Made"

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    Hi Purr1n,
    Did you measure impedance curve of 58x? It will reveal some interesting things...
     
  8. slankoe

    slankoe Tongue tastes of LH butthole

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    Should be 150ohm AFAIK...
     
  9. Kris

    Kris New

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    Anybody wants to sell me their "really old" pads? :)
     
  10. riker1384

    riker1384 Acquaintance

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  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Will do when I get back from vacation.
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I had HD558 and HD598 in my possession for a while and I don't recall angled drivers or soundstage approaching anything near HD800. In fact, soundstage to me was on par with HD600. Also distortion characteristics were much worse on HD558 compared to HD600.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2018
  13. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    I still have my HD558 and my HD600 are an upgrade in pretty much every department, except price.

    Also, HD5xx series are nowhere close to the HD800, nor closer to it than the HD600. Which IMO is a good thing.
     
  14. vampula

    vampula New

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    558 are not 555/595, they sound different due to different damping on the back of the drivers. My 555 was modded to 595 by removing rubbery line on the back of the cups. I also added some bass by other mods.

    I didnt say that 555 any near 800, i said that they have objectively more soundstage couse of angled drivers then hd600, which sound thinner to my ear.

    About distortion: you will never hear that 1% more distortion:)
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2018
  15. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Marv did not say the 558 are 555/595 so I don't know why you are bringing this up.

    Really? I think you did:

    That is all HD5xx inclusive.

    I believe you are wrong about what I can hear. I get less mushiness with my HD600s than with my HD558s. They do sound similar to me though.

    Also, I measured the HD558s (angles drivers) and the HD600s (non-angled drivers). Have spend time with them quite a bit. Love them both for what they are. But there is nothing "objectively" or "subjectively" that indicates an increase of relative "soundstage" with the HD558s, other than Sennheiser's marketing briefs.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2018
  16. Kris

    Kris New

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    Man i swear i really did try to make this a concise post,

    TL;DR: The 58X are awesome cheap-ish cans but new and will removing the foam from mine cause problems down the road, you reckon?

    I'm seriously considering removing the outer foam from mine, but will wait until my pads/band have thoroughly broken in. Probably won't be able to wait until warranty expires, :(

    I want to take this opportunity to applaud and give thanks to all for all the detailed impressions comparing the 58X with various other phones, but i'd like to posit that not only are things like extension very subjective in each listener, it is also highly dependent on source material and chain.

    Even just altering one component can lead to changed synergies and can make setups go from bearable to ecstatic. After a while it does tend to reach snake-oil territories, even for me. But trust your ears...in the medium-long term. Try to avoid knee-jerk reactions prematurely. Highly recommend everyone that hasn't already go read the System Synergy thread here!

    The 58X does feel to me as quite new still, i was away from mine for a week while abroad and when i put them back on again i wasn't immediately as impressed as usual. Took a couple of songs at a comfortable but loud-ish setting and the goose bumps and general warm fuzzy feeling came inching back. Not sure if it was in the band, pads or phones, or in fact my ears/brain combination. Working with (audio) engineering/sound design/mixing and mastering has taught me to never blindly trust my ears, or at the very least be hesitant to jump to conclusions based on what my brain thinks my ears hear that first instant. Analyze it then try to pin-point what it is you think you are 'hearing'. Then again, if after extended aural examination you still think you hear something, good or bad, investigate, analyze and experiment further. Set and setting also play a huge part. Get yourself as quiet a listening space for these open phones as possible. Most AC units, or non-silent fans or computers will produce a noise floor that will easily dwarf fine detail and hide differences in source quality or the chain in general.

    After returning I had the pleasure of having family over at my house and i gave them each a try on the 58X phones and they all had these big grins on their faces, a good sign of general goodness i think, and one that it seems to share with all/most of these Sennies over the decades. The audience for this particular occasion went from cheap smartphone bundled in-ears, youtube material driven directly from their iPhone, so easy crowd(i guess the 150Z design helps too).

    Part of me wants to run out and listen to all the ones you mention and more, that came before(as this is my headphone re-entry since my beloved RH-5MA), but part of me feel that they're all more or less variations on a theme(do want to give the 800 a listen to, as i believe that one is an exception). I'll of course listen to anything but won't actively search anything but the 800 out, i'm that happy with my 58X. I do feel some of the older phones looked much, much better, with leather around the plastic parts, astute-looking in general. But hey, give us the innards and we'll gladly premium-ize it for ourselves. :)

    I can't help but feel the specialness of the 58X comes 50% from the expertise at Sennie, this being their shot at what they think the market wants right now, and 50% from iteration(s) done with the community. What if all our products had one/two iteration(s) like that before coming to market? Imagine all the little pet peeves we'd be rid of by now! My place-fitted microwave makes the most annoying beeping noise and you can only set it to 15 seconds minimum. (Other settings are 30 and 60 seconds). Probably decided by some intern-with-an-MBA schmuck, just because enough idiots in the world forgot something about to catch fire in a microwave, they feel no one deserves the luxury of a quiet food prep moment. Heck, let's make it turn on the sprinklers automatically, why not! I say let the idiots Darwin-ize out and let the rest of us build or buy our gear in peace.

    Enough digression, do you folks reckon that removing the outer foam from behind the grille could lead to dust ingress into the driver assembly/driver, and if so, could this become a problem? I do lug around my 58X, and am still looking for a better dust bag/case. Am currently using the black one my mcth came in, not sure if that reduces or increases dust however. I want to baby my 58X, these are heirloom pieces in my collection, i'm merely the benefactor of them during my lifetime, just as a fine Patek would be.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2018
  17. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    See the posts by @MLegend and others towards the bottom of p. 36 of the HD650 thread:

    https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd650.43/page-36

    So dust etc. getting in could be a problem (more so if you removed the front foam rather than the back, I'd imagine), but it doesn't seem to hard to clean out of these models. Nonetheless, a good dustproof/lint-free bag or case would be good if you're travelling.
     
  18. sealand1

    sealand1 Almost "Made"

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    Bought a pair of NewFantasia sheepskin pads from Amazon to my ears the treble is slightly brighter than stock pads and softer. I think this change caused by the thinner pads and filter.
     
  19. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

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    The measurements with overlaid 650, 600, and 660, seem to indicate that these are "650 lows with 660 highs). Yet everyone seems to say they are brighter than the 650, with more sub bass and less mid bass, kinda like a halfway between the 600 and 650. And when people say they aren't as resolving as the 650, what on earth does that even mean? Is that just because of the different frequency reaponse not emphasizing "detail" as much?
     
  20. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    The 600/650/6xx are magical when it comes to revealing extremely low level sounds (plankton, usually in the upper mids/low treble) simultaneously with other layers. The 58x doesn't quite have the resolution and layering so it ends up glossing over these small sounds.
     

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