[trellus]

I have not got mine yet but they could have them finger painted by Chimpanzees and still not be as bad as the pretend Granite on the HD-600.
I think Germany did not go through their phsycedelic phase till the 90s because no one could have done that and said aww that looks wunderbar .

LOL... you are not alone in really disliking the paint on the HD 600, but I personally find them, cheesy as it looks, to be far better looking than the HD 58X, myself. For one thing, the grills on the HD 58X make it look a lot cheaper than the HD 600.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

There are a number of reasons for varying opinions: break in vs lack of break in, adjusting the listener to the sound as presented, different equipment (not so much the level of quality, but some equipment colors the sound or doesn’t power it properly and that isn’t the fault of a headphone), and some listeners don’t want accurate sound and have personal preferences for various types of presentation.

Also, you’re not treble sensitive necessarily if you don’t like awkward peaks, those shouldn’t exist.

I have these headphones and can recommend them from what I’ve heard so far. I’ll go into more detailed review when I am satisfied with the amount of time spent with them.

I would add the age of the listener and the type of music you listen to, as another couple of factors. Harsh piercing treble for a 20 year old set of ears is different for a 50 year old set of ears, for example. I have heard certain headphones be described as obnoxiously bright by some people and I found them to be only moderately so.
Additionally if you ONLY listen to music with "analogue" bass (bass created by a stand up bass or bass guitar, or a kick drum for example) you might find the bass too much on a particular set of headphones, whereas another person that only listens to digitally created "808' bass, it might not dig deep enough for them.....
but when people give their opinions they don't also give:age, type of music, sources, listening environment etc.
How things sound to people is WAY more subjective than many people realize...but opinions are freely given.

 

[spronkey]

Man, are all Massdrop cans this polarizing and conflicting, or is the conflict just the norm with headphones in general. This is my 1st rodeo. I know how and what we hear from phones is rather subjective, but this thread is all over the place. Gonna need to start taking Xanax if I keep reading every new post. Seems like the split is more in favor for these thus far, so that's good..... I think

I don't know, it seems like most people are more or less agreeing on:

• These have more bass and less mids than the 650 and 600
• Slightly more highs than the HD650
• Soundstage is approximately the same, maybe a bit worse, maybe a bit better
• Slightly easier to drive than the other two, but not a lot

Some people are disappointed with the finish quality, especially the black paint. Others think it's fine.

Not so sure it's too polarizing or conflicting, the general vibe I get is that these might not kill the 650/6XX, but that they are pretty good for the price.

There were some comments about the ear pads being less plush - I am putting this down to age of the other pads, as they feel exactly the same as my HD650, which has near-new pads, but harder than my HD600 which has older, worn-in pads.

Clamp is just like a new 650.

 

[cujobob]

Regarding build quality, they’re fine. Mine came with a couple of minor scratches on them which I don’t mind because they’re not something you’d notice without being up close. They seem to be built well enough that I won’t have to baby them in any way. The box they came in probably could have held them in place better, but I’m glad I didn’t have to pay significantly more just for a better case.

As for their appearance, I don’t know if I’d prefer a matte finish instead of the glossy one. The glossy finish has a bit of a cheap vibe about it, but they’re not bad looking headphones. The appearance isn’t offensive in any way (I wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear them in front of other people).

 

[cujobob]

I would add the age of the listener and the type of music you listen to, as another couple of factors. Harsh piercing treble for a 20 year old set of ears is different for a 50 year old set of ears, for example. I have heard certain headphones be described as obnoxiously bright by some people and I found them to be only moderately so.
Additionally if you ONLY listen to music with "analogue" bass (bass created by a stand up bass or bass guitar, or a kick drum for example) you might find the bass too much on a particular set of headphones, whereas another person that only listens to digitally created "808' bass, it might not dig deep enough for them.....
but when people give their opinions they don't also give:age, type of music, sources, listening environment etc.
How things sound to people is WAY more subjective than many people realize...but opinions are freely given.

You lose high frequency hearing as you age, but those frequencies are not exactly common in modern music, so I don’t believe age is a major factor in reviews.

Music type is an issue because some music is poorly made as its expected to be on the radio in a car or somewhere a person doesn’t have a full range system.

I’m more into two channel audio and I’ve actually found that the two most important factors there are polar response and dynamic ability. Until getting my high end setup, I wasn’t truly aware how much was missing there. It really brings a performance to life. With headphones, people have different shaped ears and I’m not sure if or how much that could affect what is being heard.

 

[Assimilator702]

My grills are rough to the touch as well. I did notice that, which is different from the smooth finish of my HD600. Strange.

My grills while not as smooth as the HD 6XX....just due to the type of paint used.... are smooth to the touch. I have #944 so maybe there was some QC issues as the manufacturing progressed.

 

[Nutsid]

My grills while not as smooth as the HD 6XX....just due to the type of paint used.... are smooth to the touch. I have #944 so maybe there was some QC issues as the manufacturing progressed.

Mine are well over 4000 and have no issues with the grills being rough at all.

 

[Strung0ut]

Anyone else getting theirs delivered outside of the US and had their package sitting in Germany since the 30th? DHL Global are painful.

 

[nomad1]

Anyone else getting theirs delivered outside of the US and had their package sitting in Germany since the 30th? DHL Global are painful.

Same here . I don't know why they are making these tour the whole Germany . Tracking information shows it's been to four locations in Germany now with "Processed at Transit Facility" as the status update.

 

[fallrsk]

There are a number of reasons for varying opinions: break in vs lack of break in, adjusting the listener to the sound as presented, different equipment (not so much the level of quality, but some equipment colors the sound or doesn’t power it properly and that isn’t the fault of a headphone), and some listeners don’t want accurate sound and have personal preferences for various types of presentation.

Also, you’re not treble sensitive necessarily if you don’t like awkward peaks, those shouldn’t exist.

I have these headphones and can recommend them from what I’ve heard so far. I’ll go into more detailed review when I am satisfied with the amount of time spent with them.

I've refrained from commenting as I can't eloquently explain/talk about why everyone finds these people's experiences so "polarizing" but you seemed to do the job decently.

People are seriously expecting things that were never promised, said, or mentioned by Sennheiser/MD so it's kind of driving me up a wall. The sound signature is right here for everyone to see, confirmed by multiple sources, but people are expecting to hear... Something else? It's very odd and humorous in a way. These have less mid bass bloat than my 598, the 650, etc, but people somehow call these "dark" and many expected (before we were getting pairs in hand) were saying these were going to be dark/bass cannons... Because of bass extension with minima mid bass bloat.

People are odd. And it's confusing how everyone's expecting to base their opinions off of what other people are saying here, and are letting people's words bias their feelings a little too much.. People can hear different things and should talk about it, but for the love of god I'd love if people would just stop saying "this is so polarizing" and taking everyone's opinion as fact LOL.

There's great bass extension, and uncharacteristic (for sennheiser) treble roll-off. People should be able to guess if they like that sounf signature based on other HP they own and stop expecting miracles..

Also, so many people have clearly not read anything about these HP because there are constant questions about the drivers and other parts of these that have been answered and are clearly visible on the drop page. Oi vey.

/end rant

Tldr; just wait to get your pair and stop listening to everyone who is expecting impossibilities from these HP.

 

[Mhog55]

I've refrained from commenting as I can't eloquently explain/talk about why everyone finds these people's experiences so "polarizing" but you seemed to do the job decently.

People are seriously expecting things that were never promised, said, or mentioned by Sennheiser/MD so it's kind of driving me up a wall. The sound signature is right here for everyone to see, confirmed by multiple sources, but people are expecting to hear... Something else? It's very odd and humorous in a way. These have less mid bass bloat than my 598, the 650, etc, but people somehow call these "dark" and many expected (before we were getting pairs in hand) were saying these were going to be dark/bass cannons... Because of bass extension with minima mid bass bloat.

People are odd. And it's confusing how everyone's expecting to base their opinions off of what other people are saying here, and are letting people's words bias their feelings a little too much.. People can hear different things and should talk about it, but for the love of god I'd love if people would just stop saying "this is so polarizing" and taking everyone's opinion as fact LOL.

There's great bass extension, and uncharacteristic (for sennheiser) treble roll-off. People should be able to guess if they like that sounf signature based on other HP they own and stop expecting miracles..

Also, so many people have clearly not read anything about these HP because there are constant questions about the drivers and other parts of these that have been answered and are clearly visible on the drop page. Oi vey.

/end rant

Tldr; just wait to get your pair and stop listening to everyone who is expecting impossibilities from these HP.

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who said polarizing, and I'm thinking you may have taken it a little out of context. I'm not expecting anything, because I was never promised anything. I'm also not expecting to hear something else, or something that doesn't fit the general consensus thus far. What I'm expecting to hear is nothing other than what my ears tell me. I've never heard another Sennheiser open headphone, so everyone's comparisons pretty much mean squat to me. I'm certainly not expecting to base my impressions off what other people are hearing. I'll form my own. Definitely not letting others opinions bias much of anything, and anything subjective certainly can't be fact, so there's that. Miracles? I'm not even sure how to respond to that. You did get one thing right. People can be odd

 

[Anarion]

Anyone else getting theirs delivered outside of the US and had their package sitting in Germany since the 30th? DHL Global are painful.

Mine has been on Germany since Jun 25. Apparently it left Germany on Jul 2 but it still hasn't arrived in Finland. Do they use bicycle couriers? Maybe swimmers?

In any case, I will not receive them this week for sure.

 

[Strung0ut]

Mine has been on Germany since Jun 25. Apparently it left Germany on Jul 2 but it still hasn't arrived in Finland. Do they use bicycle couriers? Maybe swimmers?

In any case, I will not receive them this week for sure.

Yours only have about 1500km to go. Mine have 15000km lol.

Same here . I don't know why they are making these tour the whole Germany . Tracking information shows it's been to four locations in Germany now with "Processed at Transit Facility" as the status update.

I’ve only bought a few things from Massdrop, but the same thing has happened each time - stuck in Germany for days. It’s annoying. Guess I shouldn’t complain too much, at least they actually ship to my country.

 

[Filter500]

No shouty mids on the 58X. Vocals sound smooth and inoffensive.

 

[muffins]

Mine are well over 4000 and have no issues with the grills being rough at all.

Interesting, mine are in the high 3,000's and the grills are noticeably rougher than my HD600 which are very smooth to the touch. Imo the black glossy finish is plenty fine though, certainly not like a bad paint job.