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MASSDROP Sennheiser HD58X JUBILEE Review (Headphone)

ishouldbeking said:
Something else to consider for the 58x: they're excellent for gaming. Something about the 58x frequency response works better than any of the other cans in this line for video games, and these are well known in the gaming community for their excellent imaging and spatial positioning. I'm a casual gamer but I understand some competitive FPS folks use these because they're easy enough to drive (even from a crappy PS4 controller's headphone jack) and the spatial positioning for things like footsteps and gunshots is top notch. The only caveat is that the soundstage isn't wide at all (the whole HD600 line is known for its "intimate" or narrow soundstage), but the imaging makes them extremely immersive anyway.
Click to expand...
HD600 are my worst headphone for gaming, and I've got 4 different "good" headphones in total that I've experimented with for those purposes (all EQ'd to Harman Curve). I've found good soundstage for music listening directly correlates with gaming performance. I kind of doubt the 58x would be a good gaming headphone as it surely suffers from the same soundstage issues as the HD600 as the physical design is virtually identical, and it wasn't just the narrow soundstage of the HD600, I remember I was constantly struggling to auditorily track targets through a wall, I'd have to keep turning my head left & right / left & right to keep a central track on the enemy whilst wondering which side of the wall they were gonna appear from, whereas with my K702 & HD560s I just know the position of enemies without any of this constant fine left & right swinging to centrally identify the sound. I mean I won't go so far as to say it's not a good gaming headphone for you, but I'm pretty darn certain you can easily find a better gaming headphone given my negative gaming experiences with my HD600.
 
Robbo99999 said:
HD600 are my worst headphone for gaming, and I've got 4 different "good" headphones in total that I've experimented with for those purposes (all EQ'd to Harman Curve). I've found good soundstage for music listening directly correlates with gaming performance. I kind of doubt the 58x would be a good gaming headphone as it surely suffers from the same soundstage issues as the HD600 as the physical design is virtually identical, and it wasn't just the narrow soundstage of the HD600, I remember I was constantly struggling to auditorily track targets through a wall, I'd have to keep turning my head left & right / left & right to keep a central track on the enemy whilst wondering which side of the wall they were gonna appear from, whereas with my K702 & HD560s I just know the position of enemies without any of this constant fine left & right swinging to centrally identify the sound. I mean I won't go so far as to say it's not a good gaming headphone for you, but I'm pretty darn certain you can easily find a better gaming headphone given my negative gaming experiences with my HD600.
Click to expand...

Like I said, if wide soundstage is important, these aren't the right cans. It's subjective like anything else.

I enjoy a wide soundstage as an aesthetic preference (especially for movies), but I don't find any actual benefit for gaming in terms of imaging or positioning that correlates to width of soundstage. If you check reddit, head-fi, or hifiguides, a lot of people think the 58x is not only good, but the actual best headphone for imaging and footstep positioning, even compared against things like HD800S, DT1990's, and other pricier cans. I don't really play online and FPS games aren't my focus, so i don't have any real stake here, but I do think they're fantastic for my purposes (mostly single player adventure games like Bloodborne, Hollow Knight, or Control).

Something else to keep in mind, and again this is just preference: Harman is way too bass-heavy for my tastes when gaming. It's a decent starting point for music (though the curve most folks use just reflects the fact that your average consumer likes boosted bass), but I find the booming low end mixes in a lot of modern games means you miss out on midrange and high end detail when you're EQing in a bunch of sub-bass to match Harman. All this to say, I prefer the 58x with EQ for music and without EQ for gaming.

Glad the AKG's work for you. They definitely excel at soundstage, and I know they're also quite popular for gaming. Different strokes!
 
I wish you could have tested them with a decent balanced cable. I prefer the sound of mine balanced, however I can't bob or move my head too much or I get unwanted microphonics. Haven't gotten around to the EQ treatment yet.
 
ishouldbeking said:
Like I said, if wide soundstage is important, these aren't the right cans. It's subjective like anything else.
If you check reddit, head-fi, or hifiguides, a lot of people think the 58x is not only good, but the actual best headphone for imaging and footstep positioning, even compared against things like HD800S, DT1990's, and other pricier cans. I don't really play online and FPS games aren't my focus, so i don't have any real stake here, but I do think they're fantastic for my purposes (mostly single player adventure games like Bloodborne, Hollow Knight, or Control).!
Click to expand...

Gamers on Reddit is the last group of persons I would trust about gear in gaming. They buy $130 mice and $20 headphones. Also for competive FPS (CSGO, Quake, Valorant, etc), they all have very serious spatialization issues. Quite often you can't even tell if someone if behind or underneath you, and sadly I'm not exaggerating. The wide soundstage helps for the immersion but also and especially for hearing fatigue.
I've tried the 58X in a lot of online FPS games but always come back using the HD 598.
 
DACslut said:
I wish you could have tested them with a decent balanced cable. I prefer the sound of mine balanced, however I can't bob or move my head too much or I get unwanted microphonics. Haven't gotten around to the EQ treatment yet.
Click to expand...

Balanced doesn't have a different sound. You basically only get a doubling of power most of the time, and somewhat immune from ground loops.

Also microphonics? Lol you got played by buying one of the countless ridiculous paracorded aftermarket cables eh?

Do yourself a favor (other folks as well) just get the stock cable terminated to XLR balanced, and be free from the idoicy ridden paracorded microphonic/stiff cables.
 
ishouldbeking said:
Like I said, if wide soundstage is important, these aren't the right cans. It's subjective like anything else.

I enjoy a wide soundstage as an aesthetic preference (especially for movies), but I don't find any actual benefit for gaming in terms of imaging or positioning that correlates to width of soundstage. If you check reddit, head-fi, or hifiguides, a lot of people think the 58x is not only good, but the actual best headphone for imaging and footstep positioning, even compared against things like HD800S, DT1990's, and other pricier cans. I don't really play online and FPS games aren't my focus, so i don't have any real stake here, but I do think they're fantastic for my purposes (mostly single player adventure games like Bloodborne, Hollow Knight, or Control).

Something else to keep in mind, and again this is just preference: Harman is way too bass-heavy for my tastes when gaming. It's a decent starting point for music (though the curve most folks use just reflects the fact that your average consumer likes boosted bass), but I find the booming low end mixes in a lot of modern games means you miss out on midrange and high end detail when you're EQing in a bunch of sub-bass to match Harman. All this to say, I prefer the 58x with EQ for music and without EQ for gaming.

Glad the AKG's work for you. They definitely excel at soundstage, and I know they're also quite popular for gaming. Different strokes!
Click to expand...
I'd rather trust my own experiments rather than opinions on reddit, I mean I doubt very many of those people own 3 or 4 different headphones, and I also doubt they EQ'd them to the same curve (thereby taking measured frequency response as much out of the equation as possible & instead focussing on the inherent soundstage abilities of the headphone in their comparisons). It's true frequency response affects this massively and I developed a "Spatial Frequency Response Target" for use in gaming that works better than the Harman Curve, and still the HD600 did not respond well to it and was still my worst headphone for gaming (I don't use that Spatial Frequency Response Target anymore as I don't like the sound). But yeah, I don't think there are many people that are "good gamers" that actually have several headphones that they've EQ'd to the same curve and then done testing in games.....so I think I've been able to get to the bottom of which headphones I have that have the best inherent soundstage for gaming: K702 & HD560s (with HD600 being the worst and HE4XX and NAD HP50 sitting inbetween). Given the design similarities between HD58x and HD600 I really don't believe it can be a good gaming headphone.
 
Tks said:
Balanced doesn't have a different sound. You basically only get a doubling of power most of the time, and somewhat immune from ground loops.

Also microphonics? Lol you got played by buying one of the countless ridiculous paracorded aftermarket cables eh?

Do yourself a favor (other folks as well) just get the stock cable terminated to XLR balanced, and be free from the idoicy ridden paracorded microphonic/stiff cables.
Click to expand...

At the time I purchased the Jubi's there was a $40 off coupon available plus their base price was $20 cheaper than it is now. I used some of that savings to buy a reasonably priced balanced cable for connecting to my Sabaj D5. The cable you linked was about $35 more and I didn't feel like spending the extra $$ at the time. I don't bob or move my head much anymore when listening anyway, so the microphonics aren't really that much of an issue for me. My ears, whether real or imagined, prefer balanced over the stock cable. I pasted a very thorough and informative article on the subject of balanced vs unbalanced. You should read it when you have the time, whether it changes your opinion or not you might learn something.

https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/05/balanced-vs-unbalanced-audio-connections/
 
DACslut said:
At the time I purchased the Jubi's there was a $40 off coupon available plus their base price was $20 cheaper than it is now. I used some of that savings to buy a reasonably priced balanced cable for connecting to my Sabaj D5. The cable you linked was about $35 more and I didn't feel like spending the extra $$ at the time. I don't bob or move my head much anymore when listening anyway, so the microphonics aren't really that much of an issue for me. My ears, whether real or imagined, prefer balanced over the stock cable. I pasted a very thorough and informative article on the subject of balanced vs unbalanced. You should read it when you have the time, whether it changes your opinion or not you might learn something.

https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/05/balanced-vs-unbalanced-audio-connections/
Click to expand...

The one I posted was with the unbalanced adapter, you could get one for less without the adapter of course, or just have it terminated yourself with a basic Neutrik connector ordered yourself for super cheap.

As for the "better sounding balanced" ordeal. Sure if you suffer from anemic power delivery, or aforementioned groundloops. Barring that, in a level matched test, I've yet to see anyone deliver on the claim that balanced makes for better sound. Given of course we're not messing around with something like some piss poor 20dB SINAD DAC or some lunacy of that sort.

Don't worry though, I'm on your side with the whole "it sounds better to me". Likewise because I feel like that's one more OCD hole plugged I don't have to consider anytime my mind wants to play tricks on me.
 
I have over the years tried headphones several times but just couldn’t get on with them, I recently picked a pair of these up along with a Geshelli Archel Pro 2.5 headphone amp used and found the pairing Very nice, easy to listen to for extended periods and actually enjoyed the experience for the first time.
My wife loves them, she’s never tried them but loves the peace and quiet they bring to the house.
Thank you for the review.
 
DACslut said:
At the time I purchased the Jubi's there was a $40 off coupon available plus their base price was $20 cheaper than it is now. I used some of that savings to buy a reasonably priced balanced cable for connecting to my Sabaj D5. The cable you linked was about $35 more and I didn't feel like spending the extra $$ at the time. I don't bob or move my head much anymore when listening anyway, so the microphonics aren't really that much of an issue for me. My ears, whether real or imagined, prefer balanced over the stock cable. I pasted a very thorough and informative article on the subject of balanced vs unbalanced. You should read it when you have the time, whether it changes your opinion or not you might learn something.

https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/05/balanced-vs-unbalanced-audio-connections/
Click to expand...
Have you done a blind test between balanced and unbalanced (with volume matching)?
 
DACslut said:
Negative. That would be something fun I might consider down the road, thanks.
Click to expand...
I would recommend that. I've done blind tests between different amps, assuming that I would notice the difference. I did not. I've also done a blind test between the 58x and 660s a while ago. I basically used EQ in the 58x so it would sound as close as possible to the 660s. Then I've waited a full day (to reset my brain) and asked my son to help me in this blind test. I could not tell apart the 660s from the 58x, so I obviously decided to sell the 660s which is a lot more expensive. I also had to do something about the clamping force of the cans since you could tell the difference between these two by the comfort alone. Anyway, it's a fun exercise and it saves you money.
 
Robbo99999 said:
I'd rather trust my own experiments rather than opinions on reddit, I mean I doubt very many of those people own 3 or 4 different headphones, and I also doubt they EQ'd them to the same curve (thereby taking measured frequency response as much out of the equation as possible & instead focussing on the inherent soundstage abilities of the headphone in their comparisons). It's true frequency response affects this massively and I developed a "Spatial Frequency Response Target" for use in gaming that works better than the Harman Curve, and still the HD600 did not respond well to it and was still my worst headphone for gaming (I don't use that Spatial Frequency Response Target anymore as I don't like the sound). But yeah, I don't think there are many people that are "good gamers" that actually have several headphones that they've EQ'd to the same curve and then done testing in games.....so I think I've been able to get to the bottom of which headphones I have that have the best inherent soundstage for gaming: K702 & HD560s (with HD600 being the worst and HE4XX and NAD HP50 sitting inbetween). Given the design similarities between HD58x and HD600 I really don't believe it can be a good gaming headphone.
Click to expand...

Draw whatever conclusions you want; this is subjective after all. But you're making some strange assumptions about others.

I cited my own opinion and pointed to multiple forums where others have expressed similar sentiments (and presumably many others would disagree as well). These aren't posts from gaming forums; they're from headphone enthusiasts. Head-fi is infested with brain worms, but it's weird to dismiss the entirety of r/headphones, which has a stronger focus on headphones specifically than ASR does. With no disrespect to ASR: the two forums serve different purposes, even if there's some overlap. In many cases, the folks posting over there are deeply knowledgeable and own dozens of headphones at all price ranges. It's weird to assume they (or I) only own 1 headphone and don't know how to EQ.

It's clear you know what you like in a gaming headphone; I also know what I like. I'm not trying to convince you the 58x is a good gaming headphone for you, so I'm not sure why you keep insisting it can't possibly be good for someone else.

Last point in response before I step away from this one: you're positing all of this based on your experience with the HD600, which shares the same chassis but has a different driver, different power/voltage requirements, and doesn't sound the same as a 58x. It's not drastically different, but I have a 6xx and 58x and have a/b'd them plenty of times. I much prefer the 58x for gaming (whereas I prefer the 6xx for music). As best we can tell, the 58x appears to use a modified HD595 driver with a larger voice coil, and it has a layer of foam just inside the outer grill, both of which change the overall presentation and character of the headphone compared to the rest of the HD6 series. The faint harshness of the un-eq'd 58x treble that bothers me when listening to music is less of an issue in gaming, where it's more likely to be masked by the source content. In practice, I find they sound more detailed and more precise for gaming. Simple as that. I like them better in this context. YMMV.

To the other poster's comment about the 598; for sure, it's a great headphone for gaming and it does have a slightly wider soundstage. (Also extremely comfortable headphones.) I don't like the frequency response very much for music and don't find them to be as detailed overall, so I'm happy to stick with my 58x. But I'm glad they're working for you.
 
ishouldbeking said:
Draw whatever conclusions you want; this is subjective after all. But you're making some strange assumptions about others.

I cited my own opinion and pointed to multiple forums where others have expressed similar sentiments (and presumably many others would disagree as well). These aren't posts from gaming forums; they're from headphone enthusiasts. Head-fi is infested with brain worms, but it's weird to dismiss the entirety of r/headphones, which has a stronger focus on headphones specifically than ASR does. With no disrespect to ASR: the two forums serve different purposes, even if there's some overlap. In many cases, the folks posting over there are deeply knowledgeable and own dozens of headphones at all price ranges. It's weird to assume they (or I) only own 1 headphone and don't know how to EQ.

It's clear you know what you like in a gaming headphone; I also know what I like. I'm not trying to convince you the 58x is a good gaming headphone for you, so I'm not sure why you keep insisting it can't possibly be good for someone else.

Last point in response before I step away from this one: you're positing all of this based on your experience with the HD600, which shares the same chassis but has a different driver, different power/voltage requirements, and doesn't sound the same as a 58x. It's not drastically different, but I have a 6xx and 58x and have a/b'd them plenty of times. I much prefer the 58x for gaming (whereas I prefer the 6xx for music). As best we can tell, the 58x appears to use a modified HD595 driver with a larger voice coil, and it has a layer of foam just inside the outer grill, both of which change the overall presentation and character of the headphone compared to the rest of the HD6 series. The faint harshness of the un-eq'd 58x treble that bothers me when listening to music is less of an issue in gaming, where it's more likely to be masked by the source content. In practice, I find they sound more detailed and more precise for gaming. Simple as that. I like them better in this context. YMMV.

To the other poster's comment about the 598; for sure, it's a great headphone for gaming and it does have a slightly wider soundstage. (Also extremely comfortable headphones.) I don't like the frequency response very much for music and don't find them to be as detailed overall, so I'm happy to stick with my 58x. But I'm glad they're working for you.
Click to expand...
I'd be interested in seeing some links to some what you deem to be quality posts on reddit that show HD58X to be a good gaming headphone where people have done some testing, I'd be willing to take a look and see what I think. Just I'm pretty darn sure H58X and HD600 are gonna have the same gaming prowess (or lack of it more to the point), because even if they are different drivers that's not gonna effect it much because the overall design of the earcups & pads are the same, and to be clear I'm not talking about the effect of stock frequency response on enhancing spatial gaming abilities (as this will effect things), I'm talking about when all headphones have been EQ'd to the same curve, to remove measured frequency response as much as possible from the equation......and when I did exactly that then HD600 was clearly the worst gaming headphone out of all my headphones.
 
TNT said:
OK - thanks!

I think its wrong to associate the product name like its done here with a group buy platform. It belittles the product. Sure, state that it was aquired via Massdrop but the product name surley cant be "Massdrop X Sennheiser...."

//
Click to expand...

Given that these are a Drop - Sennheiser collaboration and exist in this form because of Drop I think the joint name is reasonable and does not belittle the product.
 
JJB70 said:
Given that these are a Drop - Sennheiser collaboration and exist in this form because of Drop I think the joint name is reasonable and does not belittle the product.
Click to expand...

Aha - so Sennheiser made a specific product for that "retail operation" and put thier name into the product name? OK - then I get it - no problem and no belittleing ;)

//
 
Patrick1958 said:
The HD 58X (serial number 000262) is one of the rare headphones i enjoy listening to without EQ (DAP) or minimal EQ. (inline passive eq filter solderdude)
To my ears the HD 58X is the better one in the 6XX series.
For top listening experience i use oratory's EQ settings.
Click to expand...
Can I ask you show your settings? Because I expected to see some V-shape graph, but I can see smt weird
3JfUwN2.png
 
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