A few weeks ago, I got my ears around the Massdrop HD58x Jubilee and have been in a conundrum of my own ever since. I have owned every Sennheiser model in the HD over ears series and enjoyed pretty much all of them, save for a few.

In the high frequencies the HD6XX is a bit more reserved than it should be. It sounds absolutely realistic and provides a lot of information, but in the top end it might be a few dB more without making the sound too bright or artificial in my opinion. This could also give the HD6XX more transparency. Here I would like a more direct response, but as in the bass and mids this is criticism on a high level, because basically the HD6XX does everything right when it comes to natural sound reproduction. Only a little bit the effervescence is missing, but life is not a rainbow-colored unicorn and therefore you can't really blame the HD6XX when it tries to stay authentic. Sibilants or peaks I can't make out, which makes for an absolutely safe and fatigue-free sound experience. Tonal correctness is clearly more important for the HD6XX than the big show.Crinacle also likes the Dusk which is one of the worst IEM that was ever made. I have not met a single person that likes the Dusk in real life. Everyone just says the treble is so painful, they rather not listen to music.

For our testing, we tried two amps: a traditional desktop DAC/amp from Creative and a portable DAC/amp from THX called the THX Onyx. Both have the signal output to drive these headphones given their high sensitivity, but it should be feasible to drive them from some phones and portable audio players without an additional piece of hardware.Sennheiser doesn’t quite claim that, but hype has been slowly building where the HD560S may be a viable replacement for the legendary HD6X0 headphones. My interest was piqued but now they have my attention. Is the HD560S all that’s cropped up to be? To me, the bass sounded like wet cardboard, flabby, dense and wet. I enjoyed this sound personally though I wouldn't call it the most correct to me. There is not enough sub bass.

The potential dealbreaker here is in the treble response. With its neutral lower midrange and relatively light note weight, its 5k-ishHz boost gets a little intense and harsh at times. Now you’ve probably already read some impressions on the HD560S and this peak; some say it’s completely benign and not worth the worry. Others claim it’s the worst thing in the world and will pierce your ears with the might of Zeus. The bass is quite linear, with a slight drop in the subrange. Therefore, it is more emphasized in the mid-bass without being exaggerated, but still close to the neutral ideal. I would like to see a bit more punch and firmness, but when it comes to fun in the low end, the HD6XX likes to give the sceptre away and prefers to limit itself to a natural response and realism. For me it would be close to the ideal if it would give off 2-3 dB in the upper bass and add this to the sub bass. If you prefer a well-dosed, natural bass, which is a bit softer but not muddy, the HD6XX is the right choice. If you use the HD6XX with mobiles, you may not get the sound you want. So, it’s a better idea if you keep using it with your desktops and laptops only, which can bring in the great audio output. Sound System and Quality Detail and resolution: decent. A hefty improvement from the HD599 but not quite to the level of the HD6X0. Most people would be satisfied with this level of resolving ability. At its very worst, the HD560S is an evolution of the HD500 series that doesn’t really deserve to be in the same conversation as the HD599. At its very best, the HD560S trade blows with the HD6X0. As always, the truth is usually somewhere in middle; where exactly it is up to you to find out.HD6XX for music production.​HD6XX has very good resolution for its price segment and portrays instruments in the mix with good realism. I’ve used quite a few headphones in my career as a music professional but have always felt confident having a Sennheiser HD600 series headphone around in the past when working on guitar, bass or drum tones because of how naturally and realistically HD600 series headphones are able to recreate the image, tonality and timbre of the instruments with good resolution. HD6XX is no different in this regard and I found myself using the HD6XX more and more for my production work than others. HD6XX isn’t a headphone that boosts treble like crazy for detail retrieval but in fact does it with technical capability and tuning while maintaining a warm and easy sound signature that helps in keeping long production hours and listening sessions fatigue free. In all honesty, I wouldn’t be too mad if Sennheiser named this the HD620 or something. Assuming of course that they beef up the construction materials because while it’s almost HD6X0-tier sound, the build quality still screams “yes, I’m a HD500 headphone”.

Like for tonality, here is my personal hierarchy for the technical performance of Sennheiser’s headphones: Upon first use on my head, the clamping pressure is too much for me to handle. It was the same with the HD650, my HD600, my HD580 and even my older favorite the HD485. Time is your friend, let it breathe and stretch on some books or a headphone stand that is wide.So can anyone else corroborate or have I finally lost it? Surely I'm not the only one. And I imagine this isn't a market-wide issue. even Crin's only mentioned it on that. The treble feels identical when using my Shanling M5s DAP by itself and then using the same DAP as a source through my Heron 5. The same test with the HD6xx yields a superior sound quality everywhere when paired with a great amplifier. So if you don’t have a great amp, the HD58x is probably the better choice for you. Fidelity