Grado is like the Buick or Lincoln of the headphone market. Been around for awhile, had their hay day in the early days, stuck to what worked and rode their success as long as they could until they were forced to āinnovateā. Also bought by old people
ā¦please donāt consider them as equal, by the way. Thatās not what I meant at all.
In comparison, HD280 Pros have no highs. No soundstage. And apparently not much detail.
Everything sounds fuller with HD58Xs. Fuller in every way because of the flat frequency response (until 20khz!) and the detail and the soundstage.
Remember HD280 Pros would cost you like 100$ (shipping included) and HD58X maybe 200$ (shipping included) but areā¦ ātoo goodā for their price according to a lot of people.
Having tried the 280ās I would say they are priced Right the $100 mark is where a lot of chifi thrive lots of great iems, and headphones that I would personally say are probably better than the 280
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I would agree with the iem statement, but I still think the 280 pros arenāt a bad headphone choice at that price range
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Anyone tried pad swapping yet? Saw them available on Massdrop.
Most Sennheiserās donāt take kindly to pad swops.
58x can work well with dekoni pads as long as you also do the driver foam mod. Look above for my notes on the mod
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Found a graph comparing HD600 vs HD650 vs HD580, and I added the HD58X red (and dark blue) lines from DIY audio heaven.
What are the red and dark blue plots of with the 58x, one with and without mods?
Would going balanced with these make a big enough difference to justify the cable?
To be honest, not really unless your amp is/sounds much better balanced. The 58x and 660 arenāt as amp picky as the 600/650.
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Lol no, left and right channels. 
Sorry, I should have removed the dark blue one.
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Any recommendations for replacement cables or other connectors that arenāt adapters?
Just search aliexpress or ebay for āhd650ā or āhd600ā and dozens of cables will pop up. I like to go the DIY rout. Witch is actually more expensive than most of the China cables, but it lets me put my personal touch to it, and have it exactly how I want. I usually do 8 strands of 26 AWG high temperature PTFE silver plated wire. Not because it sounds any better than a coat hanger, but because I like the aesthetic. I braid it nice and pretty and terminated it to a 4 pin mini XLR and then I have various little pig tails that are mini XLR to 3.5mm, 6.35mm ect.
Has anyone been using their 58x for Mixing/Recording music? Iāve been thinking about getting a pair for that purpose, but I donāt know if they are neutral/revealing enough
They are fine for most basic production, but they are more colored then something like a dt880 250 ohm or hd6xx or hd600. They are revealing enough, but you may have to compensate for the more excited frequency response of the 58x
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Also, a mix with HD650s, and the same done with HD58X. :
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I personally prefer his mix with the 650, as I think itās more tonally accurate, but thatās just me. You can hear how the treble is inflated in his mix with the 58x, and how the bass isnāt as clean
Yup, thatās why I trust Rtings. Just found out they reviewed/measured the HD58Xs.
Thatās exactly what I hear.
I like rtngs measurementtoo very easy to read really like their lay out and definitely trust it. canāt say the same about their actual reviews. I think they suffer from the same issues as IGN too many people on staff so reviews seem inconsistent.