Hello everyone. Yesterday I entered the "midrange" with my "new" HD580, but I have some questions.

[NKkrisz]

I finally entered the "midrange" with my "new" HD580 for 170$ which is from a guy who apparently used it for 15 years.​

He almost sold it for 17$ as a mistake (I had to pay for it when it got delivered) but I corrected him later and he got the full asking price after I noticed him about the error.
The head and earpads were a bit crusty looking and dirty so I cleaned them up with some soap and water carefully after getting them off.
That's when I saw something which immediately caught my attention:

The drivers aren't the same?​

Before joining Head-Fi/gaining permission to post I made a Reddit post on r/headphones about this to ask if my headphones are fake or not, because I wasn't sure (I'm pretty new to this hobby and higher-end gear, previously I used the Superlux HD681B which are excellent for the price and I recommend them).

First one has a silk/textile material with text on the driver.
The text is the following:
22.04.10
600129
Minisys

Second one is paper-like and doesn't have text, it also started yellowing, but it's not that obvious in this picture because I used my phone's flash for more light.

The most likely theory is that one of them is an original and one is swapped. Anyone here know more information about these? I would really appreciate it.

A final question from a beginner: should I get a seperate AMP/DAC if my HD580 is already seems loud enough?​

I saw some people say they are better sounding with an AMP but I also saw that an AMP is only really for making harder to drive headphones be able to be heard/be properly powered and shouldn't change how they sound. I don't want to purchase something that is unnecessary/wouldn't really benefit me (or is only placebo?).

So what's the truth? Should I buy one or not? My current setup is that the HD580 is plugged into the front audio jack into my PC (B450 Tomahawk Max motherboard) without anything else (No EQ either).

I was looking at the Moondrop Dawn Pro or the Fosi Audio P2 (I would max have a budget of around 60 euros) but as I said, don't want to purchase something that wouldn't really change how I would experience sound.

Final final notes:​

I will probably replace the earpads and head padding soon with Nullmini pads from Aliexpress which would be around 20$ total, but I am open to any suggestions that aren't too expensive (I don't have that much left after buying these cans ).

Original Reddit post of getting the headphones before joining Head-Fi
"Is my HD580 fake?" Reddit post

 

[NKkrisz]

According to some redditors the newer driver is from an HD600 and the older original one is a rare white silk version.

 

[funkymartyn]

Hi. This may not be helpful but shame you had to pay that amount for not the best condition, plus poss mixed drivers . Reckon if you Google search hd580 mods. Etc. You should find more help. I still have my mint hd580 which I bought new for £100. And have replaced ear pads & headband pad with original, they were not expensive. Now these are 600 ohms and yes it's better to use a amp. But you don't need to spend loads. Iv used a fiio A3 around £40 , portable. And a usb 5v powered Douk class A at £30 . All good.

 

[funkymartyn]

This. One too....cheap.

 

[HipHopScribe]

The mixed drivers isn't ideal obviously, but unless you're hearing anything weird, you're probably okay on that front since the 580 and 600 drivers are probably essentially the same and they're likely both genuine. I would suggest replacing the earpads with Sennheiser OEM pads for optimal sound quality. Third party pads may look exactly the same, but somehow they always sound worse than OEM pads for this line of headphones to me.

Hi. This may not be helpful but shame you had to pay that amount for not the best condition, plus poss mixed drivers . Reckon if you Google search hd580 mods. Etc. You should find more help. I still have my mint hd580 which I bought new for £100. And have replaced ear pads & headband pad with original, they were not expensive. Now these are 600 ohms and yes it's better to use a amp. But you don't need to spend loads. Iv used a fiio A3 around £40 , portable. And a usb 5v powered Douk class A at £30 . All good.

300 ohms, not 600, but yes, they'll benefit from an amp.

 

[GREQ]

The drivers aren't the same?​

Before joining Head-Fi/gaining permission to post I made a Reddit post on r/headphones about this to ask if my headphones are fake or not, because I wasn't sure (I'm pretty new to this hobby and higher-end gear, previously I used the Superlux HD681B which are excellent for the price and I recommend them).

First one has a silk/textile material with text on the driver.
The text is the following:
22.04.10
600129
Minisys

Second one is paper-like and doesn't have text, it also started yellowing, but it's not that obvious in this picture because I used my phone's flash for more light.

The entire left driver capsule + baffle is from a later production HD600 or an early production HD650.
Sennheiser sold these replacement drivers interchangeably and were used by BOTH models.

The driver on the right is an original HD580 driver.
It's not especially rare in of itself. You could say it's as rare as the HD580, which isn't a whole lot, as there are many units still in circulation.

 

[tomb]

Just an FIY, but you'll enjoy the eventual upgrade to the HD600 and then HD650. There is a decreasing amount of high-midrange distortion as you go up in the headphone model# from 580 to 600 to 650. The big break was between the 580 and the 600, as the first prototype was the 580 Jubilee and was switched to metal, perforated grilles. That became the HD600. The plastic grilles impart some distortion that can be heard in certain high-midrange peak notes. They made further refinements with the 650 to remove a slight peaking (and with distortion artifacts) in the highs of the HD600. Some people still prefer that headphone over the HD650 even today. (I don't, though.)

P.S. As HipHopScribe posted, they're all 300 ohms, not 600.