Well sh!t! What a difference a new pair of pads can make. I'm not going to go into detail about the sound of these cans, as most everybody on this thread has heard them. What I will say in comparison to the 58X is that these may not be quite as energetic, but there not harsh or grainy. At least not to my ears anyway. They sound fantastic, and honestly, I don't think I'd change a thing. After hours of listening time, I always want to go to the EQ and make some adjustments - not here. They just sound right. That being said, if I did want to give them a slight bump or dip, what areas would you suggest that may improve these? I'm pretty certain these will be my end game for home use. Not to hyper or mellow, very clean and sounds excellent with everything. They don't try to push anything exaggerated or artificial into your ears. Are they worth the additional expense over the 58X - really depends on what you're after. In my case, absolutely. If I could design my own sound sig into a can, these would be really dang close to what I would come up with.