[JubilantHD58XOwner]

Is it just me or do oratory1990's presets make it sound overly muffled and kill the feeling of surround? Am I using them wrong?

 

[Guidostrunk]

I'm not a fan of these digital EQ programs/apps. I found them to hurt the SQ. If anyone wants to shape their sound. Buy an EQ , and put it in your chain. Something like the Schiit Loki or any parametric EQ.

 

[TheRH]

I have not been using any EQ, just start music, and they sound better and better.

 

[Sharpty]

Is it just me or do oratory1990's presets make it sound overly muffled and kill the feeling of surround? Am I using them wrong?

You turned down the pre-gain so it's not clipping? The EQ is based around a V shaped response, the Harmon Curve, which is based on what you would hear from monitors in a high end recording studio. The standard for headphone tuning (i.e. any time a graph says "compensated response") for many decades has been the diffuse field curve, Arguably an inferior and unrealistic way to measure response. Whether you like that or not is preference tho.

I would set a second EQ preset in EQ APO/ Peace that is the same overall volume as your tuned EQ, that way you can A/B them without having to adjust the volume.

On a side note, I had to turn pregain down to -7db to avoid clipping on some tracks, even tho the settings from oratory1990 say it should be -5.7db.
I found that setting a high shelf filter somewhere between 1khz and 3khz with a -1db to -2db pad helps with the shrillness and dropping the original low shelf filter from 6db to 4 or 5db is easier to listen to.
It's fun to play around with and see what sounds good. Even without a tuned EQ, I like to use a -3.5db pad on pregain to avoid clipping from loud tracks, and I like to use a highpass and lowpass (.8Q) on either end to remove any ultrasonic or subsonic noise.

 

[LazyListener]

You turned down the pre-gain so it's not clipping? The EQ is based around a V shaped response, the Harmon Curve, which is based on what you would hear from monitors in a high end recording studio. Whether you like that or not is preference.
I would set a second EQ preset in EQ APO/ Peace that is the same overall volume as your tuned EQ, that way you can A/B them without having to adjust the volume.

On a side note, I had to turn pregain down to -7db to avoid clipping on some tracks, even tho the settings from oratory1990 say it should be -5.7db.
I found that setting a high shelf filter somewhere between 1khz and 3khz with a -1db to -2db pad helps with the shrillness and dropping the original low shelf filter from 6db to 4 or 5db is easier to listen to.
It's fun to play around with and see what sounds good. Even without a tuned EQ, I like to use a -3.5db pad on pregain to avoid clipping from loud tracks, and I like to use a highpass and lowpass (.8Q) on either end to remove any ultrasonic or subsonic noise.

Was the Oratory1990 EQ preset specifically created for the 58X to make them sound like "monitors in a high end recording studio?" What FR curve was used as a baseline before the corrections were applied? I don't know much about EQ, but I believe since each headphone already has its own unique frequency response, simply applying the same EQ preset, will make each one sound different and not like "monitors in a high end recording studio." Unless of course, the EQ preset was created with a specific headphone's frequency response in mind, namely the 58X in this case.

 

[Sharpty]

Was the Oratory1990 EQ preset specifically created for the 58X to make them sound like "monitors in a high end recording studio?" What FR curve was used as a baseline before the corrections were applied? I don't know much about EQ, but I believe since each headphone already has its own unique frequency response, simply applying the same EQ preset, will make each one sound different and not like "monitors in a high end recording studio." Unless of course, the EQ preset was created with a specific headphone's frequency response in mind, namely the 58X in this case.

Yes, each EQ setting is tuned by an algorithm for each particular headphone, based on measured response against the Harman Curve. The harman curve was created by measuring the sound heard from an artificial head in Harman's reference studio.
The standard compensated curve until now has been the diffuse field curve, where an artificial head is placed inside a highly reverberatory room with speakers all over the place but none pointing directly at the head. It is supposed to mimic the sound of headphones since the sound enters the ear from all directions, but it has its flaws

All the info is linked in this post, it's a very informative read.
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/9o2f5n/psa_oratory1990s_list_of_eq_presets/

Explanation of compensation curves
What a headphone should sound like

 

[TheRH]

Random question, who bought their headphones within the last month? I just checked, and they are not available right now.

 

[uziyourillusion]

Random question, who bought their headphones within the last month? I just checked, and they are not available right now.

Bought mine last week, they shipped yesterday, should be here Monday

 

[TheRH]

Interesting, I bought mine Monday, and arrived Friday. My best purchase, and my first real headphones. Still breaking in, but the sub-bass is great.

 

[uziyourillusion]

Yeah, even paid for the fastest shipping method(2 days) and it took a week to ship out. Pretty disappointed with Mass Drop so far, they did the same with my 6XX.

 

[WizardClass]

Hey guys I'm kind of new to this headphone world. These headphones really interest me. Would you guys say these are some of the best available at this price?

 

[Sharpty]

Hey guys I'm kind of new to this headphone world. These headphones really interest me. Would you guys say these are some of the best available at this price?

What do you listen to?

They are very warm sounding / low mid-centric, with a good amount of sub bass. They are definitely "veiled" but that makes them easy to listen to and not fatiguing at all IMO.
Build quality is just mehh, I'd say 6.5/10 but it's the same as the whole 600 series which are proven to hold up.
"Best" is subjective but these are nice headphones

EQ will make them sound like a totally different headphone, so there's that

 

[tolis626]

Hey guys I'm kind of new to this headphone world. These headphones really interest me. Would you guys say these are some of the best available at this price?

First off, no headphone is ever the best. Period. One pair may be the best at something or for someone, but never overall. For example, if you want a portable headphone, the 58x suck big time because they have exactly no isolation. Just a friendly reminder.

Now, if you like the sound signature described by Sharpty (although I don't know if I agree about the "veiled" part, but that's just preference, I guess), go for it. They are not only among the best in their class (that's if you want open cans), but they also punch above their price range and are perfect for beginners. They don't need crazy amps to sound good, their sound isn't offensive in any way, they are comfortable, versatile and are built to last. The build lacks that wow factor of some other models, especially those that use metal, but the 6 series is like 25 years old and I have yet to see reports of them falling apart. The only thing you'll have to change for sure are the pads, but that's true for most headphones anyway, so no biggie.

Also, as Sharpty said, these take very well to EQing. It's not really my thing, I don't like software messing with my sound, but you know, you may want something particular at a certain point in time and EQing might help. For example, when using an equalizer, my MSR7 can produce some terrifying amounts of bass with little power and neglectable distortion. I won't listen to my usual metal music like that, but it's fun for some EDM listening or for games and movies that favor bass. Like that, they're fun as hell, especially when explosions can literally make my earlobes vibrate enough for me to feel the tingling.

TL;DR : The 58x are worth every penny if you want a reasonably priced open back headphone (Or even just an open back headphone in general).

 

[WizardClass]

Thanks for your replies. I listen to mostly rock and electronica so and these are in my price range that's why these are on my list.

 

[WizardClass]

I used to have a pair of sennheisers way back in high school which I always liked.