[Xbmyc]

I don't think that adding 60 cm of the same cable can make such a difference. Changing the materials to lower down impedance, and some other characteristic, yes, for sure

They do make a big difference. The cables, the tips, the foams and pads. They all change what I hear. My hearing is not very sensitive but they affect what I hear and I stand by what I say. I don't give a crap about whether others can hear the same difference. Its their loss if they don't and they can choose to believe what they want to believe in.

 

[koover]

In my own, admittedly limited, experience (I mean, I'm 24, there's people here who have been into this stuff for longer than I've been alive), cables can make a difference. But there's a caveat. Usually, if a cable makes an audible difference, it means one of them is bad in some way. That can mean high impedance (per unit of length or even just because of pure length, I had daisy-chained 2 3m cables together to reach from my TV to my MSR7 at some point and the sound was definitely affected, being thinner and less detailed), poor shielding (so there's EMI noise), poor soldering, poor connectors and any number of things. With my father, who's been flirting with audiophilia since the early 80s, we've stumbled across many of these cables. When he got his current Vienna speakers, he forgot to get RCA cables to connect to his receiver and stuff. So he had me run to a local store to get a few cables while he was setting up. So I went to the store, got 3 identical cables and went home. Nice Vienna Baby Grand Beethoven speakers and PrimaLuna Dialogue II tube amp and it all sounded like noisy crap. It's been almost a decade and I can still remember the disappointment in his face. Turns out, the shielding on these cables was so poor that even a smartphone at close range would mess them up, never mind them being on a cabinet full of electronics. So we ordered a nicer 10-15€ cable and got it the next day. To this day, this setup he still owns is among the best I've heard. But then, he got curious and thought that cables can indeed make a huge difference. He and I learned what I described above the hard way. We visited an audio show in Athens where he got a 3 digit cost cable. It was a silver cable with huge shielded connectors and had this beautiful thick outer sheath that was supposed to protect the signal and sound delicious. We went home. He hooked it up. He got the same disappointed face he had the first day. There was NO difference in sound. We connected the 2 cables to different AUX ports of the amp and 2 different ports on his receiver, so we could A/B. There was no difference, period. He even had me connect them and not tell him which is which and still, nothing. Oh the disappointment...

So, to this day I refuse to believe that a magical cable can provide a quality boost over a good quality "cheap" cable. If it can't do it on a ~5.000€ or whatever it cost speaker setup, I highly doubt a headphone can benefit. WIth that said, there's a point where a better material can improve things, but that's far lower than many sellers will have you believe. So, again, for me, the only valid reason to get an expensive, nice cable is because "screw you I like it and I can buy it". I'm not going to argue with people claiming otherwise, I'm not omniscient. Others may be able to prove me wrong. Until then, I'll just continue buying and advising the same way I have until now.

PS : I'm really tempted to mod the 58x, but I adore their sound as it is right now. I'm just getting an itch and I'm trying to resist scratching it.

That’s a very written post and I agree whole heartedly, or should I say......
“This message is approved by the non believing cable sounding audibly better group from Headfi.com”

 

[tolis626]

That’s a very written post and I agree whole heartedly, or should I say......
“This message is approved by the non believing cable sounding audibly better group from Headfi.com”

Hahahaha thank you sir, glad I got your approval.

With all that said, the placebo effect is a very powerful thing, it shouldn't be taken lightly. Even in medicine, its power is used all the time. There's been a lot of cases where I talked to patients awaiting their medicine, overselling what they were getting. So there was this old lady that had terrible back pain. I gave her paracetamol (acetaminophen) to help ease the pain pending her CT results, but never told her it's actually the same things she's taken kilos of. Instead I told her it's a very good painkiller we use in hospitals and she didn't ask for more, so I wasn't lying. Lo and behold, she got instantly better because she thought she received some miracle drug. Needless to say, she's on heavy NSAID treatment for her arthritis, but it was an interesting case nonetheless.

I'm gonna close this little off topid anecdote with my favorite quote from the last Harry Potter movie. "Of course it's in your head! Why should that mean that it's not real?".

 

[Mr Trev]

I don't know if it's all of the recent discussion about mods or not but last night I decided to look up the Solderdude mod to see what all the fuss is about. Since I do have 2 pair of HD58X and a headphone amp with 2 SE outputs (for easy comparison) I figured I might as well mod 1 of my 58X's. So I popped off the grills and removed the exterior foam pieces but I don't have the required 2 sided tape or the felt to complete the mod. I replaced the grills and had a very brief listen to the nude HD58X as well as a comparison to my un-modded pair.

Initial impression of the foam removed pair is that the soundscape is definitely wider and less "muffled" sounding as compared to the un-modded pair. The treble is kind of tizzy sounding which gives the impression of more detail. It's interesting sounding and unquestionably different sounding from the stock HD58X. I did another listen this morning and found that the foam removed pair comes across as a bit too intense sounding which gets tiring fairly quickly.

Anyway, I will see if I can track down the specific felt that Solderdude used (at my local Michael's store). If I am unable to find the felt I might just try using the foam from my old worn out HD650 ear pads to see if that yields any meaningful improvement.

You probably shouldn't get too hung up on getting the exact felt. From chats with Solderdude, it seems he acquired that felt a while ago and the same type may not be available anymore. Like he states in his mod, standard 1mm felt will achieve the same results. Also look into the mod @Luigi Milazzo did. Decreasing the size of the vent does accomplish the same thing - basically we're just looking to reduce the amount of airflow

 

[Techy1210]

After receiving my 58X's recently, and being really impressed with them, I've just went and ordered a pair of 6xx's too, but now I'm starting to worry a little that I've just spent more money on something that I may not find much different to what I already have in the 58x's.

I've asked previously about this, and the response seemed to indicate there was enough difference between the two to justify owning both.
Just thought I'd throw this question in again to anyone reading this now to maybe ease or confirm my concerns?

I still have time to cancel my order, and I am considering it.

 

[peter123]

LOL wut? Do you even read my post? Do you even know what the word repetitive is?
He wanted science. I led him to the proper place. LOL
Never posted any "snake oil". Just a simple subjective opinion.

Yeah, you seem to be a really nice guy so I'm sure you know best

 

[peter123]

Cable can make a huge difference on the sound. At least to my ear, on multiple earphone/headphones. I wasn't floored by the difference. I was floored by how good this 150 dollar headphone sounds compared to my HD600. You need to chill.

I'd guess the "huge" can be extremely wide in definition lol.

Edit: I'm heading over to the sound science forum to knock myself out now, have a great one

 

[elira]

I've asked previously about this, and the response seemed to indicate there was enough difference between the two to justify owning both.
Just thought I'd throw this question in again to anyone reading this now to maybe ease or confirm my concerns?

There's enough difference that it's evident. As for one being better than the other I thing it depends of what you like. I don't like the HD6XX unless paired with the Aune X7s (for some reason they sound amazing with that amp), on any other amp (that I've tried) I prefer the sound of the HD58X. I sold the HD6XX, the HD58X is good enough most of the time. The HD6XX is certainly more refined, and technically may be superior, but I cannot stand that "veil" that some people say doesn't exist.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Sometimes I have to remind myself that this place isn't 4chan. Lol

 

[Techy1210]

There's enough difference that it's evident. As for one being better than the other I thing it depends of what you like. I don't like the HD6XX unless paired with the Aune X7s (for some reason they sound amazing with that amp), on any other amp (that I've tried) I prefer the sound of the HD58X. I sold the HD6XX, the HD58X is good enough most of the time. The HD6XX is certainly more refined, and technically may be superior, but I cannot stand that "veil" that some people say doesn't exist.

Thanks for the feedback.
Well it seems like I'll just have to listen to them myself, as it's something that's always going to annoy me if I don't...

I listen to a lot of bass intensive dance music, which is why I opted for the 58X's to begin with. But I listen to all sorts of music, and thought having both headphones may compliment different genres of music, depending on what I fancy listening to.

 

[koover]

I also believe they sound different enough where if you feel comfortable with the spend, you’ll easily be able to tell the audible difference between the two.

 

[Techy1210]

I also believe they sound different enough where if you feel comfortable with the spend, you’ll easily be able to tell the audible difference between the two.

Thanks.

Yes, well although it's not exactly a cheap pair of headphones, it does seem like it's a bit of a steal when you consider the price of the originals!
Having had my eye on the Senn HD6.. series for so long, this is just too good to pass up on.

 

[Jaywalk3r]

The HD58x was among my most disappointing Massdrop purchases. It also might be the best headphone value available.

While the HD58x is a fantastic value proposition, I already have the HD6xx/HD650. To read reviews, I expected an obvious difference in sound (i.e., the proverbial night & day difference) with the HD58x compared to the HD650/6xx, but it's essentially the same headphone with the same sound, just with half the impedance. While I could justify the HD6xx when I already owned the HD650 (transporting between home and office was a pain), the cost of the HD58x isn't justified by the minimal difference from the HD650/6xx.

Most people, including audiophiles, would be similarly satisfied (or dissatisfied) with either headphone. The one that best matches the source/DAC/amp/DAP already used is the best choice. Or just get the HD58x if you're on a budget. But there's very little reason to purchase both.

 

[Techy1210]

The HD58x was among my most disappointing Massdrop purchases. It also might be the best headphone value available.

While the HD58x is a fantastic value proposition, I already have the HD6xx/HD650. To read reviews, I expected an obvious difference in sound (i.e., the proverbial night & day difference) with the HD58x compared to the HD650/6xx, but it's essentially the same headphone with the same sound, just with half the impedance. While I could justify the HD6xx when I already owned the HD650 (transporting between home and office was a pain), the cost of the HD58x isn't justified by the minimal difference from the HD650/6xx.

Most people, including audiophiles, would be similarly satisfied (or dissatisfied) with either headphone. The one that best matches the source/DAC/amp/DAP already used is the best choice. Or just get the HD58x if you're on a budget. But there's very little reason to purchase both.

Hmm... Well that is disappointing to hear, considering I've just made my purchase.

However, a few other members have a different opinion on the matter.
I guess I can always sell one pair if I find them too similar.

 

[Jaywalk3r]

Hmm... Well that is disappointing to hear, considering I've just made my purchase.

However, a few other members have a different opinion on the matter.
I guess I can always sell one pair if I find them too similar.

Or, just convince yourself that the difference really is there. It's a strategy that leverages cognitive biases that is often employed by audiophiles, as well as enthusiasts of all manner of disciplines.