I mean, careful, if neutral and analytical meant “bad”, this would mean music sucks unless “modified” by Beats or whatever. 
You could take these for what they are worth. I tried to find 2 songs that were similar from Z’s sound demos. This case, Yoko Kanno - Spy for Fidelio X2/58X. If you pay attention to the bass, you can tell that the X2 has a tad more punch in that repeating baseline. The 58X is a little more subtle, but you get better detail everywhere else.
58X sound demo by Z at 12:51 YK - Spy
Fidelio X2 sound demo by Z at 1:18 YK - Spy
I started writing about my preference, but it doesn’t matter what I think, but I’m glad I have both of them.
If you live near a Guitar Center, there may be some 990s in stock for you to try. You can check local inventory on their website. They are in sale for $149 which beats Amazon.
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Id say the SHP9500s are more fun, out the 2. I actually use them with PS4, bass is ok and enough for me. Can be used hours with ez and does not get annoying like X2 did.
Have to agree 100% with @RiceGuru on the 400i’s build quality. The hinge where 400i is typed, will probably break / give out sometime in coming years… or months. Own a pair of these also.
Had a pair of Edition S also aaaand the headband snapped… while being on my head…
Wont buy Hifimans again.
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well that’s good to know
I found the HE4XX on eBay for new, but if the build quality sucks then honestly it’s a turn off
same goes for the Monolith 1060s, I’ve heard that they’re some really good planars, but the build quality is cheap, and why would I pay 200 for something that’s gonna break and cost me more (but they sound good supposedly)
my only concern about the SHPs is that they are cheaper than everything else, and for me when I see that they’re like 70 bucks I think that they don’t sound all that good
but that’s leads to my other thing,
idk what this means, but can’t I EQ them to suit them to how I feel is best anyways? so like if the 58X don’t have that much bass as I would like, I could just slightly tweak the EQ to fit my needs? along with anything else mentioned?
Every audio forum/site I go to, there’s always some variant of “be careful about Hifiman QA”. I remember that Massdrop themselves admitted that the HE-4XX was several times more problematic than the HD6XX.
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That sounds like the Massdrop Meze 99 Noir. I picked up a pair of these a few weeks ago and they’re a pleasure. Super comfortable with rich bass. Sounds incredible with well recorded stuff while the poorly recorded stuff is still enjoyable. The only thing they don’t do well with is recordings with too much muddy bass.
My only annoyance with the headphones is that they are very prone to microphonics from the cable and the headband.
I’m just going to narrow this down for you, since that seems to be what you are after. You have two options, the Phillips X2 or the Sennheiser 58x.
X2
Pros:
- Bassy
- “Fun” v-shape sound
- Huge soundstage
- Great for modern music
- Comfortable
- Solid build
Cons:
- Not neutral or analytical
- Recessed mids (v-shape)
58x
Pros:
- Jack-of-all-trades - does everything well
- Comfortable
- Quality company with years of experience
Cons:
- Narrow soundstage
- Sennheiser veil
If you truly like a V-shape, get the Phillips X2s and don’t look back.
If you want something that’s more of an all-arounder, get the 58x.
If you don’t like what you buy, sell on r/avexchange and look for something else.
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This is a good point. You are at a very common price point for most people, this will make finding and selling headphones easy if you want to try something else. Don’t be afraid to get something used, try them for a few days and sell them again. This is the only real way to find what is best for you
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For any purchase from handled by Amazon (not directly from a marketplace seller), you get 30 days. Answer the right questions and you get full refund, including return shipping. I’ve done it for many items beyond Headphones.
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These are exactly the time to abuse that return policy
so I went to my local Guitar Center and they had a few headphones that I tried. they had the beyerdynamic 770s and the 990s, some Audio Technicas and some V Modas, out of everything I really liked the 990s 250 ohms, probably because they were the only open backs there. and the honorable mention closed back was the V Moda M-100. Both of these headphones were nice and clear and yet still had some decent low-end, but honestly I’ve heard my first open back today, and I don’t know if I can go back to closed
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lol yeah. how much did you like the low end? cause the 58x are definitely more flat than those cans.I use my 990’s when I want low end personally.
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I think the low end was perfect tbh
they were just enough so that I could hear them and they were clean
personally I think I might get those just because I actually know what they sound like and I liked it
if the 58x are more flat then id be better off getting the 990s because I thought they were clear all around. only thing I didn’t like was how far away the vocals sounded but I can get used to it
You do get more bass with DT990 and some treable peaks + not detachable cable.
DT990
Of course if you liked them, it might be the headphone for you.
The earlier mentioned X2 have similar bass but little less treble and detachable cable.
Fidelio X2
But to me the bass started to get too bassy… at the long run and annoying. Since my main speakers are neutral as fuuk. at least think i know how the bass should sound on the music.
Just for comparison the not so V-shaped Sennheiser 650/HD6XX (orange) and HD58X (green),
Sennheiser HD650/HD6XX
Choices, options and more options and compromises. That’s the thing we all have in this game.
I’ve listened to the HD660s but not any HifiMan. Would had been nice if one could had listened to stuff like the HE4XX and HD58X before buying…
I listened to the 660s yesterday and wow
it was like listening to god himself cum into my ears on the interstellar soundtrack, and the fact that it only gets better with an amp is just amazing
the 660s are a little too expensive for me, but I think I’m making my decision on the HD6XX
Yeah I didn’t listened to them with the intend of buying them I listened to them to hear how the HD58X sounded in case I would get those.
And yeah they sound very nice.
To me I’d imagine 580, 600, 650, 660S, 6XX, 58X would be close enough.
you think the 58x are better than the 6xx?