Massdrop HD58X (revised) Review and Measurements

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Jun 25, 2018.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Press embargo until 6/25/2018 sometime today. Someone move this over if I forget or can't.

    HD58X Review and Measurements

    Executive Summary: BUY THIS INSTEAD OF THE HD660S.

    The HD660S, a new headphone that Sennheiser released a while back, wasn't well received on SBAF because it seemed like yet another variant of the already well regarded HD6xx headphones, but with less resolution (less windings on voice coil), greater efficiency, sharper sounding edges, but at much higher cost ($500).

    We now have the HD58X - again? I do not know if the original batch of HD58X headphones were delivered, but I do know that Massdrop spent some time tweaking the original HD58X measured here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...-x-sennheiser-hd58x-jubilee.5564/#post-181759

    UPDATE: The original HD58X never shipped. Massdrop took your money and improved the product while you weren't not looking before delivering.

    This revision 2 corrects minor issues with the original pre-production HD58X such as the lack of bass extension and a small peak at 5.5kHz. The issues were minor, and given Massdrop's price, easily forgiveable. Now that these issues have been corrected, what we have now is a headphone with an amazing performance-to-price ratio.

    The lows now extend as well as the HD6XX headphones, and actually sound clearer. There is actually more clarity in the bass than the HD6XX! Not quite as good as the HD600, but somewhere in between, closer to HD600. The distortion measurements below actually show better performance than the HD660S! The only thing I am not sure of about the HD58X r2 is its efficiency compared to the HD660S. I will investigate later tonight.

    Now the question of course is why should I get the HD58X r2 over the HD6xx, HD650, HD600? The latter headphones with their 300ohm voice coils are more resolving with better gear. Also, I think the channel matching isn't quite as exact with the HD58X. However, he HD58X r2 remains an amazing budget choice - the budget choice with those for more modest gear. And even then, many may prefer the flavor of the frequency response, transients, and decay characteristics of the HD58X r2 over the others.

    HD58X (revision 2) Frequency Response.
    FR is much better than the original.
    HD58X Frequency Response.png

    We have much better bass extension and the 5kHz bump is less.
    Here it is compared to the initial HD58X measurement in YELLOW.
    HD58X r2 compared to original.png

    And here is a comparison to the HD6XX in YELLOW. Just as much bass extension, but more laid back in upper mids.
    HD58X r2 compared to HD6XX.png

    And here it is compared to HD660S in YELLOW. FR is very similar!
    HD58X FR compared to HD66S.png
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2018
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    HD58x (revision 2) CSD
    HD58X-2 L.jpg
    HD58X-2 R.jpg
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    HD58x (revision 2) Distortion
    HD58X rev2 L HD.jpg
    HD58X rev2 R HD.jpg

    A little spike at 200Hz. Not a big deal. I will investigate to see if something is loose.

    Compared to HD660S below. HD58X has much better D3!
    HD660S R HD.jpg

    HD58X Impedance
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2018
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I gotta jam for work the rest of today. But go ahead and Q&A for later today. I have an HD660S on hand for direct comparison and I can run a few more measurements.
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Figured I'd post this. All black. Cups matte, headband and gimbels glossy.
    IMG_20180625_093222.jpg
     
  6. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    This looks great, I look forward to mine landing, they'll make a great Xmas present.

    Any chance of a 58x/6xx/600 overlay? For those who don't remember the 660vs600 graph.
     
  7. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Holy crap you posted a product shot, the sky is falling :p

    So this is basically the old HD58X drop for the same price but with a MUCH nicer FR (5k spike scared me off the initial one)? Awesome, glad to see MD doing something nice, even though it resulted in a rather late delivery. Not worth getting over the HD6XX/650 then, if one has or plans to get better gear? That's rather reassuring, but how high up mount hi-fi must one climb before the 58X's peaks?

    Also, please ignore if too much of a PITA but impulse responses v HD650/6XX might be interesting to see. Grazie!
     
  8. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    The pic posted above shows a different headband pad. Did that change also?
     
  9. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    They went single wire to the cups, or is the other one just disconnected?
     
  10. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    Yes- more modern version, not the gumdrops.
     
  11. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    This is looking (and sounding) ridiculously good. Could be the new standard for price/performance in dynamic driver. And not by a small margin.
     
  12. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    Well, I'll be...

    If these actually end up selling for $150 on massdrop there won't be much out there that can touch them. Anything?
     
  13. RiddleyWalker

    RiddleyWalker Friend

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    i'm a 650 boi but i'm really thinking about picking these up. i'd love to hear more subjective comparisons between these two.
     
  14. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    I was going to buy a backup 650, but I think that the hd58x makes more sense.
     
  15. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Audiophile Hamlet, Act III, Scene I

    To mod, or not to mod. That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous bass extension, or to take arms against a sea of 5k peaks, and by opposing, end them? To listen: to sleep no more, and by listen to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that Beyerdynamic is heir to...

    (I know someone wants to mod these.)
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2018
  16. geniekid

    geniekid Facebook Friend

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    From a post by CEE_TEE in the Massdrop discussion section six months ago:
     
  17. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    I have the under 500 serial on it, should sell for a couple of grand later. Funny just a few days ago they told me there was a delay and if I wanted the low serial one I have to wait a bit more or I can get a normal one now.
    I didn't expect much when I bough it, something like a TV headphone would do, but now I'm curios.
     
  18. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    With our high volumes and less expensive packaging, we’re able to make this headphone available with a special price on the first drop: $149.99. After the first drop, the price will increase in future drops. The magnitude of the increase is unclear pending production of the HD58X.


    Yes, the 1,000 units that we have available Wednesday will be $149.99 as they were part of this first production.
    After this, price may increase $10-$20...
     
  19. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Other one disconnected.
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    GREEN = HD58X
    ORANGE = HD660S
    GREY = HD6XX
    PURP = HD600
    HD58X comp.png
     

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