Monitoring headphones are interesting because you’re basically optimizing for a different set of factors than pure sound quality, specifically isolation and durability. I paid up for the MrSpeakers because I was trying to get one pair that could cover all of my closed back needs including monitoring instead of buying two different headphones.
It’s from a collectible card game called Illuminati: New World Order which is based on a book called The Illuminatus! Trilogy.
Yeah I’ve been obsessing over it after learning how to Google image on iPhone.
Shit is wild.
I’ve talked myself into and out of those 58X headphones about five times over the last few days. The fact that LMM speaks so highly about them makes me want to try them out, just to hear the quality; however whenever I think about how I might use open-back headphones I come up empty. I also just bought myself some wireless headphones (which I love) to use for gaming (my main use case) and have spent more money on myself recently than I typically do. The life of a true audiophile must be painful, so many possible buying decisions.
I’d buy a good quality-closed back on sale in a second because I could use them for travel, which is the one area that my current set misses.
Which ones did you settle on for gaming?
I ended up trying the two “obvious” wireless choices for the PS5 outside of the Sony Pulse - the Steelseries Arctis 7P, which retail for $150, and the Audeze Penrose, which retail for $300 (I was able to get them open box on Amazon for $225 and as far as I can tell they were brand new). What I liked about both of these was that while they were designed for use with the PS5, they had a wide range of compatibility options outside of that (e.g. wired, bluetooth).
The 7Ps were nice and light, fit especially comfortably thanks to the headband, and produced decent sound, but they were blown out of the water by the Audeze, especially when using devices other than my PS5. I’d recommend both of them depending on someone’s price point but if money isn’t an issue then I’d easily take the Audeze.
Btw in case it’s not clear, you can plug the 58X into your PS5 controller and they should work just fine. I am considering buying them to use when no one is around but it feels a little silly for me to have headphones that I just use for that, which is a pretty fringe situation for me.
Cool I have a ps5 but most gaming on the pc, I wanted to try these really just music but I will use them for gaming and music on weeks when I don’t have my kids
If you don’t listen to much music at home then I think it’s possible that high fidelity open backs wouldn’t deliver much value to you. I should point out that they aren’t that loud from the non-wearer’s perspective at a distance of a few feet at what I would consider to be comfortable volume to the wearer. Maybe comparable to audio playback from a phone.
I find that it’s pretty hard to describe why good headphones are good to someone who’s never tried anything in this class of fidelity. I didn’t fully understand it until I actually heard them and was operating on a hunch when I bought them to begin with. I had owned numerous headphones (Sony, AKG) that I thought were pretty good and couldn’t wrap my head around how anything could be significantly better. Contributing to this effect was the seedy reputation of hi-fi audio being snake oil which, in retrospect, is a silly characterization of the industry.
So that’s basically my pitch on these: for something you need to experience in order to fully grasp, $119 is the lowest buy-in into this tier of quality, and you won’t do significantly better without spending at least another $1,000 and maybe not at all.
Fuck it I’m buying them.
LMM is a bad influence on me, I also bought a refurb coffee grinder on his recommendation.
Another thing I’ll point out is that these debuted at $150, went to $160, and now sell for $170 when they aren’t on sale. I think I got mine for ~$130 several years ago. It’s not certain when or if they’ll keep doing these sales though.
The other pair to consider is the very similar HD 6XX which is basically == HD 650. They are more known for smooth, shimmering top end and darker overall sound signature which some people describe as “veiled.” I tried them and thought that they were slightly too anemic without an amp with my devices, so I hesitate to recommend them to anyone that isn’t also budgeting for an amp. The 6XX has also increased in price to $220, but sometimes they do a similar sale like this one.
I was reading about this and apparently everyone who took audio production had to use this pink noise CD set. You can put those skills to use trying to EQ headphones to the Harman target or whatever.
@wirelessgrinder @prana @mjiggy
I noticed a lot of people complaining about Sennheisers being too clampy as a drawback. They are tight out of the box, but this is completely adjustable and might take a few days to fully break in. Mine have almost no clamping force at all now. This is the main technique you want to use to adjust:
Mine got here this afternoon and I noticed that putting them on for a second but didn’t think it would bother me really and figured loosen up a bit over time.
It definitely took me more than 5-6 times or whatever that guy said. Another trick is to find something to stretch them over and leave overnight:
Here is some random stuff in my current playlist.
This renders a pretty good soundstage for me. Whole album is good and has this effect but not as noticeable when the vocal is centered up.
Dynamic horns with texture:
Lounge/exotica:
(Check out the panning on the first one)
Electronic/noise/etc:
I’m sure they will be fine but I did notice the snug feeling. My bipap mask is currently cinched tighter than that to get a seal so I’m sure I’ll be fine lol.
Got mine and they sound great, they are a little tight but they’re super comfy on the ears. I’m going to need an extension though probably, can I just get a normal extension for a headphone?
How much total footage do you need?
just like another foot longer would be good
An extension should work although the quality might be a crapshoot on random Chinese ones. The other option would be to get the official 10’ HD 650 replacement cable for $10.99 shipped direct from Sennheiser which would give you a backup.
Only thing is that it terminates to 1/4" so you need a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter if you don’t already have one. The Sennheiser piece is $6.48:
Well they did nothing for me so insta-returning them. Love the coffee grinder though.
