[twelvebears]

I have just picked up a clean looking pair of HD580s for £74 on eBay from a guy in Germany.  They never seemed to come up in the UK and when they do they go for silly money because folks know they are so like the HD600 and HD650 which go for even crazier money used
 
Figured I'd fine more used HD580s in Europe with Sennheiser being German, and sure enough I did.
 
HD600 grills are on order for £20 and I noticed that a pair of HD650 drivers are only £80, which is actually cheaper that the HD600 ones.
 
Can't wait to get hold of them!

 

[200poundsofamp]

Nice score! Do you know if you got the silver driver version?

 

[twelvebears]

Not sure what you mean. The screen covering the outer portion of the driver (under the foam) is black, so I think they are an early pair.
 
In great condition and with the HD580 mod and a set of HD600 grills, the look and sound the business.
 
I'm actually preferring them to my AKG K701s as they have a slightly more relaxed balance.

 

[edikat]

 

I have just picked up a clean looking pair of HD580s for £74 on eBay from a guy in Germany.  They never seemed to come up in the UK and when they do they go for silly money because folks know they are so like the HD600 and HD650 which go for even crazier money used

 
Was lucky to see a pair for sale in as new condition for £70 on eBay UK... the guy even had make me an offer (and folk were already making offers).
 
This... after being posted only one hour!
 
So I did a Buy it Now at £70... and counted myself VERY lucky I saw them so quickly!
 
Yes, 580's in the UK rarely come up.
 

 

[PatrickT]

Well, I just got mine and I'm loving them! Previously I had used the AKG k501s...I immediately like the Senns more, but I suppose I should hold off before making the judgement and let the honeymoon period end.
 
I'd also ordered the 600 grills and 650 cable. The headband pads on mine are well worn...any idea where to get these? (nevermind, found them on the Senn website for ~$8!)
 
An additional question...is there any way to find out what year my headphones are from based on a serial number or something?

 

[lejaz]

Enjoy the honeymoon, PatrickT. Mine is still going strong....after like 6 mos.
I imagine for many folks it lasts a lot longer then that!  

 

[hodgjy]

I would like to hear the HD580s sometime.  Just like the HD600 crowd thinks they are better than the HD650s, many of the HD580 crowd feel the same way about them compared to the HD600s.  I wanna hear for myself.

 

[PatrickT]

I sure hope so
 
And looky what just arrived in the mail...my HD600 grills! I don't know about sound, but they sure make the 580s LOOK better!

 

[funkymartyn]

Hi all on the forum, wish id have found this site years ago......Anyway just like to add my bit.....iv had the senn hd 580, for a few years now..Ilove these phones, well comfy and top sounding....got them new about 8 years ago in a sale from a uk outlet called superfi £80 if i remember right.....think they were about half price at the time.....But im glad i took the plunge....as at the time i thought they were a bit to expensive......

     you have to start somewhere........Also got the grado 325i at a good price too.......i like both phones still, and use them for different types of music, just to get a different sound.....as you do.....i have read that the hd 580 , is much like the senn hd 600  ?
But not heard to compare.....Got a lot of catching up to do on this forum to be honest.......Just thought id say hi to you all.....cheers martyn

 

[tdockweiler]

I got a pair of these in today. I've purchased the HD-600 way too many times and always preferred the HD-598, so I felt this would be a cheap alternative to get a sound similar to the HD-600. Paid around $160 for these shipped. Most of that coming from a SR-325is I sold.
 
Does anyone know the part # of the HD-600 grill and is it even worth upgrading it? If it's over $40..forget it. It's not listed on the Sennheiser website.
 
This pair sounds a little different than the HD-600 I had before. Both are silver screened versions. I know it uses the same driver.
 
This pair seems to have an impression of slightly more bass then the HD-600. Like maybe 2-3%? No idea if some of all of this is from my amp..if that's even possible.
This one must have lots of use because it sounds much clearer than my old HD-600's. It's much more detailed than my last pairs, but it could be due to having a new DAC. I never previously used my old HD-600 with a very good DAC. Mostly from a full sized CD player (a good one).
 
I was really some reviews online saying the HD-580 has recessed mids for some. Possibly earlier pairs? This pair has very aggressive upper mids. Strange because I don't remember the HD-600 being like this.
 
Treble seems ok and these don't seem as forgiving of source file as I remember. Could be the new DAC helping somewhat.
 
What's interesting is that on my amp they need to be cranked just as high as my Q701.
 
They're 100% more warm than my HD-598 and HD-600 and just what I was looking for. I'll still prefer the HD-598, but I'll try these with gaming.
 
Most likely there differences from the HD-600 I had are just due to the new DAC and different grill. The more aggressive mids could be due to my DAC too. I'll have to try these with an E9 just for fun. The HD-580 is pretty much my limit for how warm a headphone can be.
 
Seems fairly neutral so far, except for maybe a slight mid-bass boost (to my ears).
 
Soundstage also feels slightly smaller and the sound less airy. Not sure why, but could be due to the grill and my amp/dac.
 
Oh yeah..this definitely has more bass than my HD-598.
 
 
 
 

 

[lejaz]

Yeah, it's likely the DAC that's responsible for some of the differences you're hearing.....a decent DAC can make a major difference. AFAIK, the grills are purely cosmetic. I have an older 580 with the black screen and it sounds as you describe yours with the white screen....mids definitely not recessed! On one of the frequency graphs I've seen there's a little bump around 3k, which is what I'm hearing on mine. Treble is polite compared to the 702, but just about how I like it. 
Quote:

I got a pair of these in today. I've purchased the HD-600 way too many times and always preferred the HD-598, so I felt this would be a cheap alternative to get a sound similar to the HD-600. Paid around $160 for these shipped. Most of that coming from a SR-325is I sold.
 
Does anyone know the part # of the HD-600 grill and is it even worth upgrading it? If it's over $40..forget it. It's not listed on the Sennheiser website.
 
This pair sounds a little different than the HD-600 I had before. Both are silver screened versions. I know it uses the same driver.
 
This pair seems to have an impression of slightly more bass then the HD-600. Like maybe 2-3%? No idea if some of all of this is from my amp..if that's even possible.
This one must have lots of use because it sounds much clearer than my old HD-600's. It's much more detailed than my last pairs, but it could be due to having a new DAC. I never previously used my old HD-600 with a very good DAC. Mostly from a full sized CD player (a good one).
 
I was really some reviews online saying the HD-580 has recessed mids for some. Possibly earlier pairs? This pair has very aggressive upper mids. Strange because I don't remember the HD-600 being like this.
 
Treble seems ok and these don't seem as forgiving of source file as I remember. Could be the new DAC helping somewhat.
 
What's interesting is that on my amp they need to be cranked just as high as my Q701.
 
They're 100% more warm than my HD-598 and HD-600 and just what I was looking for. I'll still prefer the HD-598, but I'll try these with gaming.
 
Most likely there differences from the HD-600 I had are just due to the new DAC and different grill. The more aggressive mids could be due to my DAC too. I'll have to try these with an E9 just for fun. The HD-580 is pretty much my limit for how warm a headphone can be.
 
Seems fairly neutral so far, except for maybe a slight mid-bass boost (to my ears).
 
Soundstage also feels slightly smaller and the sound less airy. Not sure why, but could be due to the grill and my amp/dac.
 
Oh yeah..this definitely has more bass than my HD-598.
 
 
 
 

 

 

[tdockweiler]

Yeah mine definitely doesn't have any mids recession. The upper mids DO seem quite forward on this pair, but I'll try it with another amp tonight. So far it hasn't tamed any of my music like my HD-598 does (slightly) with bad recordings. I was really surprised that my badly recording songs..still sounded bad

I could have sworn my old HD-600 made almost anything sound a little better.
 
Not sure about the treble yet or if there's enough or too little. The signature sure doesn't do much (for me) to try and make any of my songs more engaging or more fun to listen to. Even despite the upper mids. I guess I'm one where a little extra bass over the HD-598 doesn't do much extra for me to make it any more fun to listen to. Maybe that extra bass will be nice for gaming. These should be a good match with my E9 since it seems that MIGHT be a little more neutral and less warm than my Micro Amp.
 
From what I remember, when people replace the grills of the HD-580, they can't tell the difference between the HD-580 and HD-600. Not sure how true this is though. Hopefully Sennheiser didn't stop selling the HD-600 grills.
 
 

 
Quote:

Yeah, it's likely the DAC that's responsible for some of the differences you're hearing.....a decent DAC can make a major difference. AFAIK, the grills are purely cosmetic. I have an older 580 with the black screen and it sounds as you describe yours with the white screen....mids definitely not recessed! On one of the frequency graphs I've seen there's a little bump around 3k, which is what I'm hearing on mine. Treble is polite compared to the 702, but just about how I like it. 


 

 

 

[calipilot227]

Pulled the trigger on a Little Dot MKIII today. I'll post my impressions with the HD580 when it arrives. Anyone else using this combo?

 

[brokensound]

My pair should be arriving in the mail soon. I wonder how they will sound balanced out of my sonnet amp. I tried to live with the hd650 for a couple months a few years ago and felt something was missing. Hopefully a balanced hd580 may bring what's missing.

 

[calipilot227]

REALLY liking this combo so far, and I only have about 5 hours of burn-in on the amp
 

 
Sony CDP-211 -> Little Dot MKIII -> HD580. I'm at the point where it would cost me way too much to get a system that sounds better, so for the near future my desktop rig is complete 

. That should free up some more money for CD's.
 
On a side note: if you have a pair of HD580's and you have the opportunity to grab a CDP-211, GRAB IT. While not as good as the Little Dot, the onboard headphone jack actually does an admirable job of driving the HD580s. It can crank them to earsplitting levels, although the sound is thin in comparison to a good amp. But I actually preferred it to my Hifiman EF2A, which didn't improve the sound much and was too loud from line-level sources.