Does the HD58X have less detail, though? Or is the difference between the NDH20 and the HD58X negligible, like, audiophile-placebo-levels in terms of difference in detail retrieval?
(Sorry, kinda out of context.)
Oh no, there is definitely a difference. I could tell the Neumannâs were a lot clearer, and vocals were on point, but, they are un-comfy, and me personally, I donât like these being closed back, it is âToo closed backâ for me, like, you put these on, and that fan you just heard is now dead. Didnât really like that, I like Airy Headphones.
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Comparing to my hd58x, These definitely have more detail retrieval and things are much more clearer and they do indeed sound neutral to me. An improvement? Yes. However, they are not perfect.
I do have some issues with them, but they are more design oriented. I too, like Photo above me, prefer the feel of open back headphones, I would much rather be able to hear whatâs going on around me with these on. As far as comfort, I would like different earpads, more oval shaped, but my ears are small enough where this doesnât get too uncomfortable for me. What does bother me is the weight of them. They canât disappear on your head like my hd58x or my pc37x headset can. My biggest problem would be this fucking awful bullshit stiff cord coming out of the right can. It never really lays or feels right on me, itâs like Iâm always aware of the fucking thing. Iâm using the straight cord by the way. I can say though, Iâve not heard any sort of interference in this cord rubbing up against anything else, so I donât know what to say about that since some people have had issue with that.
I think if I could hear what I hear from these in an open back, thatâd be perfect. But theyâd probably be more than $500 and thatâs about as much as I want to ever be throwing at headphones. I havenât made a final decision yet, but Iâm definitely leaning towards keeping them.
To LeDechaine, There is an obvious non-audiophile level of difference between the two, but the greater gulf between them comes from the price. For the price of the hd58x you get some amazing fucking headphones.
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Does anyone know how they compare to the Fostex TH-X00 Purplehearts?
ROFL! Most of you are comparing âopen backsâ to the âclosed backâ Neumann. No shit open backs sound more open and comfortable than the Neumann.
This is a âclosed backâ headphone and should be compared to other âclosed backâ headphones. WOW!!!
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The Neumanns was definitely better at detail retrieval. As far as âclearerâ? No, but it depends how you define âclearâ. You can pick up every minute detail on the neumanns but it has a veil to them like your listen in on someones conversation behind a curtain rather than having a conversation right in front of them.
Neummans are closed back but more so because they push against your ears so much the pinna (outer) of your ear isnât involved in reflecting the sound into your ear canal. This is why i compared them to the Cascade (for a more natural fitting closed back), and IEMs (Solaris, FIIO FH5 with screen removed). Again, compared to these the Neummans sounded veiled. I am just talking about the comparison of its clarity, not about detail and neutrality.
By no means was I saying the 58x is a better headhphone. They had better clarity but lack the detail and neutrality of the neumanns. The 58x is a versatile headphone, jack of most traits, master of none.
Thanks Pizza_OMC and Photo for the heads up on the 660s. One of the problems with the 58x is the thinned out mid and sub bass.
One last thing, my permanent solution to the wire was to hack it up and make it into balance set. But for some of you how donât wanna ruin or devalue your headphones I was looking at this:
https://www.amazon.com/gotor-Replacement-Upgrade-Sennheiser-Headphone/dp/B01M3SHC6K/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=sennheiser+hd8+dj+cable&qid=1559921471&s=gateway&sr=8-3
Because the 2.5mm tip area is plastic, you can just sand it down till it fits.
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If youâre trying to do a comparison of closed back to closed back, sure. But why canât we compare two headphones of different constructions? Weâre describing our impressions, not doing a placebo controlled scientific study. As long as we are accounting for the closed vs open back in our description I donât see the problem.
In a soda metaphor, the closest would be to compare Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi. But I can compare Diet Coke to regular Pepsi too, right? As long as we include the baseline difference in our comparison, then why not?
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Living dangerously! Iâm a wild man!!!
I ordered these with denon adh 7200 and senn 600 (wanted to test on a tube amp i didnt have at the time). I currently own takstar pro 82 (work/portable), senn 6xx, and zmf auteur (blackwood).
The only issue i have with these is there seems for me to be a veil over the mids/vocals. im happy with the whole frequency range but the vocals just arent as clear as most the previously mentioned ones, even the 6xx has less veiled vocals. messing with eq, upping 1.6k about 4db seems to help immensely but i wouldnt go further than that but i can still feel a veil there. otherwise they do seem to be amazingly neutral to me (i dont work with mixing or mastering music. just a hobbyist)
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Question: you said you do audio engineering and prefer open backs, curious what you would use as your daily driver or maybe a couple of suggestions for open backs that you would use for your work.
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I donât have this veil you speak of im sorry you hear this but you appear to be the only one, after looking at multiple threads on these headphones.
What ? Ive never heard clearer vocals I own or have owned the auteurs blackwood eikons cherry hd800 lcd2c he500 anandas hd650 dt880 aeon open flows none compare to the ndh20s
Congrats, and enjoy.
Thank you, like wise
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I know I shouldnât be comparing closed back to open open back headphones, but since I have limited money Iâm still going to.
@To those of you who have (had?) these and the HD 660s. If you could only keep one and had to choose between these and the NDH20, which would you pick? Itâs been a few days since some of you got yours.
I owned the Hd 660, 58X, and the NDH20 all at the same time. I personally returned my NDH20, sold my 660, and kept my 58X. If you like closed back headphones, the NDH20 are amazing, they really are, clarity is crazy good, but, I personally prefer Open Back headphones for that more airy fit and sound, closed backs especially the NDH20 make me feel claustrophobic, I mean, I hear a fan, put these on, and now the fan is dead, and they are kinda uncomfy for me.
Yes, this is me comparing Open-Backs to Closed Backs, but that is because everyone has a preference on what they like, and some people prefer one over the other for certain reasons, so I feel as though it should be brought into the conversation, that way people can see different points of view.
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Iâve decided to return these. After spending quite some time with them, Iâve come to the conclusion that Iâd enjoy a warmer sound than these. They are just too neutral for me. For what they are and what they do, they are great and I can see why people like them and why they were hyped. These have also been pivotal in helping me nail down a bit more of what I would like in a headphone.
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For me and the vocals its like if i cup my ears, kind of like a seashell effect. i can tell they are detailed but not clear. had to listen to them for a few hours straight to get used to them and i was ok but then doing a b comparrissons with zmf auteur and denon 7200, its immediately clear to me within like 2 songs that both of those have much clearer mids (although i will say 7200s rolll off a bit in the upper mids with female vocals so ill limit this to mainly male vocal comparrisions). Im willing to chalk it up to maybe im just not used to the kind of sounding mids which is why my hearing is preferring others.
I ordered a 1.2 meter Sennheiser HD6/7/8 replacement cable on eBay so I can tell you in a couple of weeks if it works. The original 3 meter cables look exactly the same except for the metal ring with the Sennheiser/Neumann logo.
Sennheiser HD6 Mix, HD7 DJ, HD8 DJ:
Neumann NDH 20:
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