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Sennheiser HD 58X vs HD 6XX: which of the two "tells the truth"?

Robin L

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FWIW, ordered my pair of 6XX yesterday.
 
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pwjazz

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differences between no front foam and with front foam (note the 1dB scale)

View attachment 61787The measured differences could well fall under slightly different positioning of the headphone. At 4kHz there is about 1dB more output.
Of course the measurements above are without a Pinna which could make a difference.
It is also possible that the curtain fabric is less permeable for lower frequencies and thereby tilting the freq. response slightly more to the clearer side as well. I have seen a slight effect when removing the fine mesh in front of the K361 driver.

Per my measurements, the foam on my unit is definitely not acoustically transparent. It's possible there's some product variation

https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/upgrade-from-a-58x.9307/page-3
 

KeithPhantom

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I have loved it thoroughly for the past several months. The only time I don't like it is when I am keeping it back in its case.
I loved them and still appreciate them for what they do at their price range, but dynamic driver technology has improved. If it wasn't because they roll-off in the bass regions, the midbass, and close to 10% THD when playing at high levels in the bass regions I would have kept them.

I recently acquired a pair of Focal Clear Professional after doing my homework by looking at headphones that retained what makes the HD 6X0 range so great while improving everything they don't do right, and those Focals were the answer to a few weeks of researching. They get extremely good distortion numbers, they have pretty much a flat bass response, and keep the same tonality and musicality the HD 6X0 range is known for. But the Clears have impacted me with their treble. To the uninitiated on these headphones, they could sound weird in that region, but when I tested with my best recorded and mixed songs, I found the treble to be present at the correct level with enough sparkle and detail, but not bright or close to it (and even with my brightest headphones these songs never were bright to begin with). When switching to my not-so-well mixed songs, the treble sounded off. This is when I started to understand why people try to get the best master of an album.

I have found as much detail as my HD 800 without the need of being bright and piercing. In combination with the mids and the bass, they are incredible. If you really have the money and the desire of experiencing something that is an improved HD6X0, the Clear receives my highest recommendation of all the headphones I've ever heard.

About the myths of this headphone having a metallic timbre, I don't know what they mean by that. For me, the HD 800 sounded metallic because the treble made everything sound thin and the high mids to sound as treble. So I would say the HD 800 are the ones that to my ears sound metallic.
 
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nhatlam96

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I loved them and still appreciate them for what they do at their price range, but dynamic driver technology has improved. If it wasn't because they roll-off in the bass regions, the midbass, and close to 10% THD when playing at high levels in the bass regions I would have kept them.

I recently acquired a pair of Focal Clear Professional after doing my homework by looking at headphones that retained what makes the HD 6X0 range so great while improving everything they don't do right, and those Focals were the answer to a few weeks of researching. They get extremely good distortion numbers, they have pretty much a flat bass response, and keep the same tonality and musicality the HD 6X0 range is known for. But the Clears have impacted me with their treble. To the uninitiated on these headphones, they could sound weird in that region, but when I tested with my best recorded and mixed songs, I found the treble to be present at the correct level with enough sparkle and detail, but not bright or close to it (and even with my brightest headphones these songs never were bright to begin with). When switching to my not-so-well mixed songs, the treble sounded off. This is when I started to understand why people try to get the best master of an album.

I have found as much detail as my HD 800 without the need of being bright and piercing. In combination with the mids and the bass, they are incredible. If you really have the money and the desire of experiencing something that is an improved HD6X0, the Clear receives my highest recommendation of all the headphones I've ever heard.

About the myths of this headphone having a metallic timbre, I don't know what they mean by that. For me, the HD 800 sounded metallic because the treble made everything sound thin and the high mids to sound as treble. So I would say the HD 800 are the ones that to my ears sound metallic.
Hi, im in a kinda reversed position. I got the Focal Clear and im searching for a 2nd headphone to compliment it. My problem with the Clear is, that I can not sleep with it, because there is too much detail, so there is too much going on in the sound and it keeps me awake! I would like to get a headphone with great vocal isolation and warm tonality, so I can go sleep easier. Which of the Sennheiser HD58X - 6XX - 600 would be the best for that? Also another interesting question, if you could just equalize all the sennheiser headphones to the same target, which of these would present the highest sound quality?
 

Robin L

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Hi, im in a kinda reversed position. I got the Focal Clear and im searching for a 2nd headphone to compliment it. My problem with the Clear is, that I can not sleep with it, because there is too much detail, so there is too much going on in the sound and it keeps me awake! I would like to get a headphone with great vocal isolation and warm tonality, so I can go sleep easier. Which of the Sennheiser HD58X - 6XX - 600 would be the best for that? Also another interesting question, if you could just equalize all the sennheiser headphones to the same target, which of these would present the highest sound quality?
The treble of the 6XX is lower in level than the two other headphones, but from what I've read, it's the lowest in distortion [What I've read is mostly Solderdude's DIY Audio Heaven]. I eq my 6XXs, treble is just lovely. I've got three other Sennheiser headphones, none of them eq as well.
 
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nhatlam96

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The treble of the 6XX is lower in level than the two other headphones, but from what I've read, it's the lowest in distortion [What I've read is mostly Solderdude's DIY Audio Heaven]. I eq my 6XXs, treble is just lovely. I've got three other Sennheiser headphones, none of them eq as well.
What are your other three Sennheiser Headphones? If the Sennheiser HD6xx is the most eq friendly, that would also mean that it has the best resolution.
 

Robin L

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What are your other three Sennheiser Headphones? If the Sennheiser HD6xx are the most eq friendly, that would also mean that it has the best resolution.
HD579, HD599 and the Urbanite XL. Of those 4, the only one with clean sounding treble is the 6XX. However, that's a bit of apples and oranges. The Urbanite 'phones were Sennheiser's response to Beats. The other two were decidedly budget compared to the original Sennheisers 650. The only other headphone I've got that gets close to the 6XX is the Philips Fidelio X2HR 'phones, but they are not as good in the treble as the 6XX. Used to have the Stax Signature Pros and a tube amp/energizer. This the best I've had since that very expensive pair of headphones. The 6XX needs power, sounds best with [for me] the Topping L30. The X2s are notable for requiring very little power to produce good bass. The 6XX requires more power than usual at 300 ohms and a substantial boost of the bottom octaves in addition to a slight cut around 170hz across an octave up and down.
 
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nhatlam96

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HD579, HD599 and the Urbanite XL. Of those 4, the only one with clean sounding treble is the 6XX. However, that's a bit of apples and oranges. The Urbanite 'phones were Sennheiser's response to Beats. The other two were decidedly budget compared to the original Sennheisers 650. The only other headphone I've got that gets close to the 6XX is the Philips Fidelio X2HR 'phones, but they are not as good in the treble as the 6XX. Used to have the Stax Signature Pros and a tube amp/energizer. This the best I've had since that very expensive pair of headphones. The 6XX needs power, sounds best with [for me] the Topping L30. The X2s are notable for requiring very little power to produce good bass. The 6XX requires more power than usual at 300 ohms and a substantial boost of the bottom octaves in addition to a slight cut around 170hz across an octave up and down.
Yeah I have the SP200, so I got the amplification part covered. Im especially interested on how the HD6XX compares to HD58X and 600, when it comes to EQ and resolution.
 

KeithPhantom

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Yeah I have the SP200, so I got the amplification part covered. Im especially interested on how the HD6XX compares to HD58X and 600, when it comes to EQ and resolution.
In raw 'resolution', the HD 600 is more detailed, to my ears, even more than the Clear, so I would not recommend it as a headphone to chill. The 58X is a fun headphone, very similar to the 660S if you ask me. I would recommend the 6XX, I liked them a lot until I heard the 600. The 6XX have lower treble energy and for sure will make you go to sleep. For me, both the Clear and the HD 600 also were able to do this, but YMMV.
 

mkawa

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the other reason the hd580 and hd600 were originally differentiated was that the hd600 were 1db hand matched, whereas the hd580 were not.

i remember when the hd6xx was first released by massdrop (i hung out with the buyers a lot back then), and i don't think. this was a concern with them. it was about hitting the price point. i suspect you don't get to hand matching until the 660s and the hd800s nowadays. the volume of hd600 series headphones produced these days is way more than you could hand match.

both of the headphones "tell the truth" if you eq them. if not, you get a response curve that is great for classical and acoustic instruments, not so great for pop music or electronic. that said, as an introductory high end headphone they are just all around fantastic. over the years the law of large numbers pretty much guarantees that you'll be happy with them (maybe with a slight "but") and will keep them around for decades; my hd600 are 20 years old next year, and i still love them as a swiss army knife and as a standard for feeling out new equipment. they were given to me by my late grandfather and i can't even count the number of hours i've logged on them. i think i've been through 3 complete pad replacements now...
 
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Jimbob54

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What are your other three Sennheiser Headphones? If the Sennheiser HD6xx is the most eq friendly, that would also mean that it has the best resolution.

Why does the most EQ friendly mean best resolution? What does that actually mean? Real question btw, not challenging.
 

Robin L

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Why does the most EQ friendly mean best resolution? What does that actually mean? Real question btw, not challenging.
To these particular ears: treble seems reduced in level, distant, a little "soft". Crank up the eq, boost the presence range a tad, things come into focus, with plenty of treble but very little attendant 'edge', said edge usually experienced as harmonic distortion. EQ-ed properly, they are a more open window to the music, more inner voices, alternate musical lines are more audible. Which is what one should expect from accurate, low-distortion audio reproduction. I guess one could call it better resolution. The EQ I'm using is centered around 160 hz, down by -2db with a Q of 0.7. Treble has a slow ramp up to +3db at 20khz, bass has a much steeper one to +10 db @ 20hz, but it's a steady ramp that flattens out at 30hz.
 

maverickronin

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Why does the most EQ friendly mean best resolution? What does that actually mean? Real question btw, not challenging.

As far as I can tell "EQ friendly" would be:

No non-minimum phase behavior since that can't be fixed with a minimum phase EQ,

No narrow/high Q peaks which are likely to shift with placement of the headphone

Low distortion combined with good power handling so that stay loud and clean after all the headroom EQ may eat up.
 

Dooberknob

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For someone who is very sensitive to treble ("bright/v-shaped" headphones like AKG/Beyer cause me physical pain and even many headphones described as "neutral" can make my ears ring, even at modest volumes), which of the two (HD 58X/6XX) would preferable solely on the basis of less ear-fatigue from listening? A lot of the the impressions I read go back and forth as far as which one is brighter/darker/smoother.
 

Svperstar

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For someone who is very sensitive to treble ("bright/v-shaped" headphones like AKG/Beyer cause me physical pain and even many headphones described as "neutral" can make my ears ring, even at modest volumes), which of the two (HD 58X/6XX) would preferable solely on the basis of less ear-fatigue from listening? A lot of the the impressions I read go back and forth as far as which one is brighter/darker/smoother.

I own both, the 6XX, tho I wouldn't call the 58X bright.
 

Jimbob54

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For someone who is very sensitive to treble ("bright/v-shaped" headphones like AKG/Beyer cause me physical pain and even many headphones described as "neutral" can make my ears ring, even at modest volumes), which of the two (HD 58X/6XX) would preferable solely on the basis of less ear-fatigue from listening? A lot of the the impressions I read go back and forth as far as which one is brighter/darker/smoother.

From post #6 from Solderdude

Green is 58X so all other things being equal, marginally less energy in the treble, bit more in the bass.

1616884394869.png
 

dawit123

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Guys, would you consider 6XX a step-up over 58X? I own the latter but find them a bit muddy'ish. Don't know if I should pull the trigger on the 6XX and sell the 58X, but don't want it to be a redundant purchase. The only thing keeping me from doing so is that I can run the Jubilees without an amp if I need to.
 

Ufasas

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which one best for soundstage?
 

solderdude

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soundstage is the same (not great). Same size drivers, same enclosure, same pads, same angle.
 
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