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

HD660S2 driver is certified NOT to sustain any damage after 100mW white noise and 500Hz sine for 24 hours.
It can stand at least 500mW peaks with music power.

HD650 is specified at max. 500mW (EN 60268-7)

HD800(S) is also specified at max. 500mW (EN 60268-7) despite its much larger diameter voice coil.

In all cases the drivers will already be distorting a lot and 120dB peaks are exceeded.
 
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HD660S2 driver is certified NOT to sustain any damage after 100mW white noise and 500Hz sine for 24 hours.
It can stand at least 500mW peaks with music power.

HD650 is specified at max. 500mW (EN 60268-7)

HD800(S) is also specified at max. 500mW (EN 60268-7) despite its much larger diameter voice coil.

In all cases the drivers will already be distorting a lot and 120dB peaks are exceeded.
Do you know if the bass breaks up on the HD660S2 and HD800S at a similar point at very high volume as the HD650? I just want to know if the drivers are similar to the HD650 in that regard and can produce the same amount of bass with EQ at high volume.
 
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Check out the 94, 104, 114dB plots from HD650 and HD800S from Amir which shows distortion profiles are similar.

Distortion profile of HD650 and HD660S2 (HD600S2 does not exist) is not very different, at least not at 90dB on my fixture.

When you want low distortion in bass at high SPL look into planar mgenetics and closed headphones. The open Sennheisers do not excel there.
 
Check out the 94, 104, 114dB plots from HD650 and HD800S from Amir which shows distortion profiles are similar.

Distortion profile of HD650 and HD660S2 (HD600S2 does not exist) is not very different, at least not at 90dB on my fixture.

When you want low distortion in bass at high SPL look into planar mgenetics and closed headphones. The open Sennheisers do not excel there.
I have a few planars, but i really enjoy the bass on the dynamic drivers. My guess is its due to higher excursion of the driver, longer stroke and being able to move more air at high volume. Planar bass is more clean, but dynamic bass is stronger and more fun!
 
I have a few planars, but i really enjoy the bass on the dynamic drivers. My guess is its due to higher excursion of the driver, longer stroke and being able to move more air at high volume. Planar bass is more clean, but dynamic bass is stronger and more fun!

When assuming SPL is determined by the displacement of air from the driver then arguably planars are much more linear where dynamic drivers compress.
But... due to the surface area that has to displace the air being smaller in dynamic drivers it stands to reason that the excursion would be a bit higher in dynamics.
That said, planar drivers (with the exception of the newer DCA drivers) are fixed near its edges and only the middle area moves the most so the effective moving area of planars is actually smaller than what one might think.

My assumption is that you prefer the harmonics generated by dynamic headphones over the cleaner response of planars.
So it is not the excursion itself (which compresses in dynamic drivers) but rather the added harmonics and often the midbass enphasis (oomph area) which is what you prefer.

As (magnetic)planars can reach much higher linear excursions it is the planars that can have the highest undistorted displacements.
 
When i boost the bass with EQ I can feel the bass at high volume, HD650s can shake my head with vibrations. With planars the bass is more accurate sounding but not as tactile as the HD650s.
 
You will also increase the harmonics when you do that with dynamics and mostly 3rd harmonic so a 40Hz bass note will have increased output at 120Hz (aside from the harmonics of the bass itself) and that is right in the area where 'punch' resides while lower bass fundamentals aren't heard as loud (relatively).
Planars usually go down flat to 10Hz and below and dynamics roll-off in that area.
 
Also I am kind of hesitant to go off the distortion numbers. The HD58X and HD650 have similar numbers, but the HD58X bass falls apart much sooner at high volume.
 
I just bought another hd 58x open box. To compare with my hd6xx. The design of hd 58x is different from 6xx. The earpad of 58x is funnel shaped. So the contact point with the skin is smaller, more comfortable. But because the contact point is small. The tension of the foam is small and weak. And the foam collapses a lot. The driver will be closer to the ear. The sound field will therefore be closer.
6xx has round earpads, the part that contacts the skin is thicker, so the driver is further away from the ear, the sound seems to echo from afar. This is completely unsuitable for games. Because when playing games, it will be harder to hear your opponents. And I think recording is also not suitable.
It's about the earpad design that creates a different sound field.Speaking of sound. People often say that hd6xx has smoother sound. I feel the same way. But to be more precise, .6xx is like a wav format music file.
58x is like an mp3. you will feel the cut off in the bass range. it doesn't go as deep as the 6xx. the sound is shorter, faster ending. for example the sound of the treble. in 6xx you can feel the vibration and decay of the metal plate on the drum set. 58x can't make you feel that. 58x only lets you hear the metal plate hit once. no vibration increase and decay. both are easy to drive with my audio engine d1. at 60% volume for 6xx and under 50% for 58x. both are in the state of eq reduction 9.30 to 10db in pre. without eq it is easier to drive. but 6xx without eq is very hard to listen to. lack of bass. 58x is ok but the sound is broken like you are trying to max out your speakers
both need eq, and for gaming you should choose 58x. for listening to high quality music files then 6xx. i also play apex game. but i choose 6xx because i prioritize listening to wav files
 
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