Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Review & Measurements

The HD660S can handle 5dB sub bass boost just fine if desired. I use Auto EQ.

 

Nice review on headfonia, and i must say although 58x is given a respectable score of 8.5, its still grilled by reviewer by saying it boaring, dry and non engaging etc. My pair is on the way, and I'm wondering how it will compare to my Msr7.

 

Do you mean Headfonics?
Well take everything with a grain of salt.
This is just one persons view but at the end he is proclaiming HD58x as the best open back headphone
for it's price and the best entry into serious headphone listening!

 

Just know that they do benefit from amping. They are brilliant on my Ifi Nano/JDS El Amp combo. Straight out my zx300 balanced they are good but not great.

 

Great sounding from my Dragonfly V1.2 but much, much better running balanced from my Pono Player with hi-res files. Can't beat them for the price.

 

I stopped reading these pompous blowhard reviews.

 

I've done a lot of reading but I just wanted to confirm something. With regards to adding a mic for gaming, on the 5 series the connector could be modified to I believe a VModa?

Is there is a similar mod for the 58x? Only asking because I'd like to try and only have one proper cable for mic & headphones if possible, without using tie wraps etc.

 

Just finished setting up a desktop system at work. This is my fourth desktop system since I got the 58x about a couple of months ago.

1) AudioEngine D3 to HP: Sharp and flat sounding. Didn't like it at all.
2) Greatec/Ciunas DAC: Improvement over the above. But, a bit strident and lacked slam (I am not a bass head).
3) Metrum Amethyst: Probably the best set up. Very smooth but strong from top to bottom. Black as night. But, I need this for my two channel at home.
1a) After I brought the Metrum home, I used the D3 in the interim until I got the cables needed to hook up a speaker amp to headphone. Perhaps it's because the headphone has fully burned in by now, but the 58x sounded very good with D3 now. Clarity and smoothness increased and made it very enjoyable to listen to especially for a portable solution.
4) APPJ PA0901A/AudioSector USB: The gruntiest combo thus far. I think the 58x can handle grunt better than most headphones I've used in the past. It presents the bass drive and faux distortion very well. Wider soundstage than the other setups. Voice has more grit.

 

I have had the 600 for the last 8 years. I just received the 58x 2 weeks ago. I can say that I really like the 58x compared to the 600. The 58x has more upper midrange and a lot more bass. However, the bass seems disconnected from the frequencies and I feel it is overdone. The soundstage is wider than on the 600 and there is also less sibilance. The timbre of the 58x is not as good as the 600 and voices and instruments sound slightly more artificial through the 58x. Voices are also more present in the 58x. There is also what sounds like more distortion in the 58x. Keep in mind, these differences are small. A novice listener would probably only notice the bass boost and little else. That being said, for $150 they are absolute steal.

 

Annoying question incoming:

I've had the 58X since it first came out. Been using it with a DragonFly Red and was very satisfied. Then I tried them with a Brooklyn Bridge, which was much much much better than DFR. So these headphones really benefit from a better DAC/amp. Now I'm looking at a Mojo or an XDSD. Or maybe something similar and in that budget. Any advice on a great battery powered dac/amp with great synergy with the 58X is much appreciated.

Thanks

Mads

 

Hi guys are there any budget replacement cord($15) braided cable or straight cable made of cloth type material?

 

Link

 

Huh. Interesting. I have both headphones. I suppose your MSR7 is stock, right? If so, it's held back and really doesn't stand a chance compared to the 58x in many areas. For all their great features, even at stock, the MSR7 kind of kill the enjoyment because of their harsh treble and upper midrange where there's some sibilance, while their bass quantity leaves a bit to be desired. Don't get me wrong, I loved them before I modded them and now they're probably my favorite headphone, but the 58x has nothing to be ashamed about compared to anything. It's not a great headphone for the price. It's a great headphone, period. Are there better ones out there? Sure. But there's always something better out there, no matter what you have.

I'll try to make a comparison from memory against the stock MSR7. The 58x straight up has more bass. The MSR7 sound anaemic by comparison, 58x wins hands down. The 58x also win comfort, but the MSR7 is built with nicer materials, though none of them is either uncomfortable nor gives the impression it can't take a beating. Mids... It's a wash. The MSR7 has REALLY nice mids, but the 58x is at least as good. Female vocals go to the MSR7, male vocals go to the 58x. Instruments sound equally great on both, depends on the song though, they're quite different. The 58x is more mellow, relaxed, while the MRS7 is JUST PUSHING SOUND AT YOU AND YOU CAN'T IGNORE IT. Which brings me nicely to where the biggest difference is. The treble. I find the treble on the 58x to be just shy of juuuuust right. I'd need a little more extension, details and smoothness in the treble and it'd be basically perfect. The MSR7 on the other hand... It's treble, treble, treble. You want detail? GET ALL THE GOD DAMN DETAIL IN THE WORLD. But if you want to put them on and relax? Too bad mate, YOU'RE GONNA LISTEN TO THIS NOW. The detail retrieval is absolutely insane with the right setup on these things (they're quite amp picky for how efficient they are). But there's a problem with harshness and sibilance on the stock MSR7 and anything longer than an hour of listening actually hurt, especially before break in. Lastly, soundstage and imaging... It's honestly a tie. Imaging is damn near perfect on both and soundstage is a bit wider on the MSR7, a bit more natural on the 58x, but it's really minute differences here.

The story changes a lot if you decide to mess with the MSR7, but that's a whole other story that I'm not going to get into here.

With all that said, the 58x complements the MSR7 perfectly. You get a more comfortable, relaxed, open, warmer headphone. If you want more detail or more sparkle in the highs, or care to take them portable, you have the MSR7. You're probably gonna love the 58x, I know I do.

 

Thanks for the reply. I want a mellow and engaging sound, which can be listen for longer sessions. I was saving for lcd-2c, but couldn't resist having a sennheiser can(6xx or 58x ) and endup with 58x bcz don't have an amp for now.

 

That is a wise choice. The Massdrop Senns are targeting consumers exactly like you: golden ears that would dream to own high end cans but on a budget, but still want a satisfying listening experience. I own both headphones and they are truly great headphones regardless of price. They are made even more attractive with such crazy prices. Even though I own a few amps, I don’t even bother using one most of the time with the HD58x. It’s truly a great headphone, possibly the best there is in the « high fidelity balanced headphone that is well under 200$ and that may be used without an amp » category. I still prefer the Hd6xx for living room listening with my vintage Philips CD960 (TDA1541A DAC) compact disc player, my Technics SL1200mk2/Ortofon Red combo or even my Spotify Premium sources, using my Onkyo Network Stereo Receiver with AKM 32 bit Delta Sigma DAC and O2 or SDAC/O2 amps. But for portable gear such as iPhone/iPad without an amp (other than the Lightning dongle mini-plug adapter), the HD58x is king. I even use it at the office, with a mic/remote aftermarket cable found on Amazon from Newfantasia. I even use the headphone that way plugged into my HP computer for my conference calls on MS Teams or Skype...And for music I use the headphones strait from the iPhone (with the 9$ dongle) or strait from the iPad’s mini-plug out, not even bothering to bring along my DFR portable dac/amp... You’ve made the best choice for now...