[J The Killer]

I use my Thinkpad W530 laptop and it drives both 599 and 58X at almost exactly same loudness at the same volume level. The nuances may be more evident with an even nicer DAC/Amp but for now the resolution and detail are good enough.

The most important question for me right now is: Do the 6' series (600/650/6XX) pads fit perfectly into 58X?

 

[AutumnCrown]

I just took a hearing test and apparently I cannot tell difference between 128, 320 and lossless audio. Kudos to guys who can do so. I should better stick with my more comfortable and slightly cheaper 599 rather than 58X because I cannot tell the difference..

The differences between headphones are much more obvious than the differences between 128 and and 320, IMHO.

 

[Tuneslover]

The most important question for me right now is: Do the 6' series (600/650/6XX) pads fit perfectly into 58X?

Good question.

 

[SolaVirtus]

Yes, the pads all fit the same. I've swapped pads from my 6XX to 58X, and put the same set of Dekoni pads on both with no issue at all. Others have reported the same.

 

[J The Killer]

Yes, the pads all fit the same. I've swapped pads from my 6XX to 58X, and put the same set of Dekoni pads on both with no issue at all. Others have reported the same.

Thanks. Are the ear holes/openings also the same for 58X, 6XX and Dekoni?

 

[J The Killer]

Thanks. Are the ear holes/openings also the same for 58X, 6XX and Dekoni?

I am also considering these protein leather pads for the 58X, if they are as squishy as the Bose QC35's then they will be perfect. https://www.amazon.com/Geekria-Prot...=1533338473&sr=8-3&keywords=hd600+protein+pad

 

[Marco99]

I can't help but wonder what Sennheiser was thinking when they cooked up these headphones with Massdrop. Surely, at some point, they must have realized they created something that sounds incredibly good for this price point. As people who enjoy good quality Sennheiser headphones discover that these exist, it has to begin to eat into the sales of the other models that Sennheiser offers. Massdrop says they plan to sell 7,285 units. I don't know, but let's say Sennheiser gets $110 a unit. That's around $800k revenue, not profit. Their profit has to be well under $500K. Does Sennheiser really need this kind of money to keep their production lines running or what? Anyone know how many people work in the Ireland facility and if it runs year round?

 

[SolaVirtus]

Thanks. Are the ear holes/openings also the same for 58X, 6XX and Dekoni?

The pads are shaped differently, which does affect the sound signature. The stock HD 6-series pads are donut-shaped, with curved interior surface, while the Dekonis (at least the ones I have) have a more or less flat interior surface.

I haven't done extensive comparison, but it might actually make the 6XX sound a little more like the 58X (less laid back, a little more bass and treble). It definitely changes it though, and whether you like it... well, YMMV.

 

[cujobob]

I can't help but wonder what Sennheiser was thinking when they cooked up these headphones with Massdrop. Surely, at some point, they must have realized they created something that sounds incredibly good for this price point. As people who enjoy good quality Sennheiser headphones discover that these exist, it has to begin to eat into the sales of the other models that Sennheiser offers. Massdrop says they plan to sell 7,285 units. I don't know, but let's say Sennheiser gets $110 a unit. That's around $800k revenue, not profit. Their profit has to be well under $500K. Does Sennheiser really need this kind of money to keep their production lines running or what? Anyone know how many people work in the Ireland facility and if it runs year round?

Audiophile grade headphones don’t jump off the shelves. Being able to sell the 6XX (an end of life product at this point) in massive quantities made them big money and they didn’t have to ship to different distributors or do anything complicated in the transaction. One buyer, one place to ship. The HD58X is a new design based on previous R&D that I’m sure they fit in when they have the free time in their production schedule. I would also estimate that a headphone is very inexpensive to build (once you have right machinery).

 

[volly]

@J The Killer

- -

This will be a good test for you. See which headphone gets you closest to the cellos. The 58x or the 599, will be interesting to see what you come back with.

Also, give your ears and brains a break and just listen to the musica!

 

[J The Killer]

@J The Killer

- -

This will be a good test for you. See which headphone gets you closest to the cellos. The 58x or the 599, will be interesting to see what you come back with.

Also, give your ears and brains a break and just listen to the musica!

Thanks but honestly I cannot tell which headphone plays the cello better. Ive tried to focus on them too but cant..The way I am doing it is I am playing and stopping music, taking off first pair, putting on second and playing music again and this creates a time gap of atleast 6-7 second where my ears somehow have hard time remembering the sound signature. I think the difference between 58X and 599 for me is so small if any because I have Koss Porta Pro and I can tell the difference between Portapros and either of these even when they are played after 6-7 seconds later.

I wish there was a sound demo such as https://soundcloud.com/sonic-sense-pro-audio where we can switch between headphones within 1 second and could spot the difference. They currently have HD598 and HD650 which I am using as closest references for HD599 and HD58X respectively.

EDIT: Loved the Virtual Audio:

 

[Anarion]

I'm pretty sure that HD 599 sounds quite similar to HD 598 and in that case the difference should be instantly noticeable because they sound quite different.

By the way, I think HD 595 and HD 58X Jubilee are closer in sound signature than HD 595 and HD 598. When I first heard the HD 598 I was quite surprised how they sounded.

 

[MrGoat]

Thanks but honestly I cannot tell which headphone plays the cello better. Ive tried to focus on them too but cant..The way I am doing it is I am playing and stopping music, taking off first pair, putting on second and playing music again and this creates a time gap of atleast 6-7 second where my ears somehow have hard time remembering the sound signature. I think the difference between 58X and 599 for me is so small if any because I have Koss Porta Pro and I can tell the difference between Portapros and either of these even when they are played after 6-7 seconds later.

I wish there was a sound demo such as https://soundcloud.com/sonic-sense-pro-audio where we can switch between headphones within 1 second and could spot the difference. They currently have HD598 and HD650 which I am using as closest references for HD599 and HD58X respectively.

EDIT: Loved the Virtual Audio:

Instead of 5-6 seconds. Try listening to them for several hours, or even a few days. Let your ears and brain get use to the differences. Then switch, and listen to the next pair of headphones for a few hours or even days. The differences should be more obvious then. They are all nice headphones. But the HD6** series and Hd58x should be different and higher quality than the Hd598 or 599.

I have also owned two pairs of HD598 and a pair of 558 headphones years ago. I eventually sold them because they weren't as clean sounding and I was missing some small minute details of the 650, also just a thinner over all sound. The deal breaker with 598 however was that both pairs had distortion at around 100hz tone. Not sure if it was the driver or housing of the hd598, but it was annoying enough to get rid of them. (I will agree the 598 are crazy comfortable though, which is a nice plus)

The 58x and 650 do nothing wrong however. They just present music differently and with more clarity and power.

Of course running these headphones off a powerful and clean OTL amp really helps get 100% of what the headphones are capable of. If you are simply using your computer you are missing out. The HD6** and these HD58x really love tubes and respond well to my Valhalla 2 in comparison to a class A solid state amp (which, I'll probably sell my solid state amp at this point, it just collects dust lately)

Although, if your hearing is shot. Don't worry too much about these small differences and enjoy your music.

Also, upon further listening. I will say the HD58x plays vinyl very well. Most of the music I listen to is pure analog so I am glad these play together well with tapes and records. The HD58x has to be the best value in the headphone market right now. Pretty awesome.


*edit* The new headband for the HD650 showed up to replace the old cracked one. Now I can confidently say the clamp is the same on both. I forgot how much the 650s clamped when new.

 

[Marco99]

I don't want to start a big argument here, but I believe that J The Killer has stated he has difficulty hearing any difference. Might I posit that if he is only playing the file from a Thinkpad W530 with an inexpensive Realtek audio chip with no other DAC or amplification involved that we need to look no further for an explanation?!?!

 

[Anarion]

I don't want to start a big argument here, but I believe that J The Killer has stated he has difficulty hearing any difference. Might I posit that if he is only playing the file from a Thinkpad W530 with an inexpensive Realtek audio chip with no other DAC or amplification involved that we need to look no further for an explanation?!?!

The difference should be really obvious even straight out of the phone - the overall sound signature is noticeably different. That being said I've only tested HD 595 and HD 598. I don't know how HD 599 sounds but judging by what I've read, the difference is not big. Who knows, maybe it sound more like HD 595. Still, the difference in sound signature at least should be obvious no matter how crappy source.

That being said, if one would only play a single instrument and that frequency range would sound about the same, then yeah, that particular instrument could "sound the same" (crappy source could mask the detail etc. improvements). Add something more in the mix, vocals... and suddenly it the differences should be more obvious.