Z Review - Sennheiser HD500 Series

559 probably be my choice of those three. The SHP9500's still rank high. A couple other closed cans you can look at.

ZeosPantera

You mentioned in a earlier review that the MDxHiFiMan HE350s outmodded the entire HD500 series but that was prior to this. If I was looking for a headset for about $100, in your opinion, which is better: the 559, 579, HE350 or something else that I don't know about?

I have not.

ZeosPantera

Eh.. unknown until I hear them. They are built like 600's

ZeosPantera

Z, some say HD250 are the best closed headphone Sennheiser ever made , did you listen to them before ?

Would the Massdrop 58X be part of the 500 series or 600 series?

Honestly senneheiser cans don't do swaps well. I can't even guess.

ZeosPantera

Their Pro line is thick. The Port line is thin.

ZeosPantera

Any pad recommendations for the 579? More bass please!

The thick cable is from? Periapt is all thin...

I guess thank you. I GUESS. My sister is terrible and you should all hate her.

ZeosPantera

100%

ZeosPantera

Same, I don't really care about the headphones, I come here for Chewbacca, pinstripe pajama bottoms, and the less entertaining sibling. Sorry Zeos, no slight to you, but your sister is fucking hilarious.

Dan Isaacs

Thanks! I'm an engineer, so I am more annoyed that this data isn't available. :) I'll probably grab the FX DAC-X6, since I'm a married engineer and won't have to explain a double-digit expense. :)

Dan Isaacs

But the bottom line is that if one can afford a 600-series, that's what one should buy, right?

Michael Shurkin

Your laptop has enough power for those headphones and for most people. A dac/amp combo would definitely increase the quality and also make it louder, by a lot, even the usb powered ones.

Desmo

Well I can only give my opinion of what I hear based on my own tastes and ears. Luckily that matches up with a good segment. But treble rape or really closed in sounding headphones do not appeal to me at all. T90's on a tube are possibly tolerable but no way on Solid State. They hurt. And people in the comments verified that. So that means either they are all treble sensitive or the quality control of the headphones varies and there are two or more different sounds you can get, People don't understand this is probably what happens also. Wait for the yardsale and bid on the 569. After my review I don't think they will go for a high price.

ZeosPantera

Not exactly a startling realisation or anything, but I suddenly concluded that all headphone reviews are pointless. Except for entertainment, where of course Zeos is king. I was kinda interested in getting the 569’s as their style appeals to me, and if they sound good then they’d perhaps make for another reliable closed pair come colder times. Tyll’s review almost got me to buy, but I’ve had other fish to fry recently, so ..... Then this review, and you obviously do not approve of them one iota! This is the thing - over the past year or so I’ve started to not really trust Tyll’s ‘judegments’; several things have conspired to make me doubt his motives. But nevertheless these are Senn’s, and in my experience over many years they have been reliably trustworthy. And although I inherently trust Zeos’ thoughts a whole lot more, there are still times when I couldn’t disagree more. Two example: beyer T90 - i love them with my bottlehead crack, but also with portable amps I own. Then there’s the Fostex TH500rp, which I think are anything but bland. Two crosses for Zeos. But like him (you!) I also love my Audeze EL-8c, and they get some flack in quite a few quarters. I could go on, but it seems irrelevant what Zeos, Tyll or anybody else thinks. I know I’m belabouring the obvious here- go listen oneself, but the point is unless one is hugely fortunate, there simply aren’t the places to go to listen. I’d have to travel to London to get to hear more ‘phones. There’s always Amazon, and although they have a fantastic return policy, one has to be careful not to ‘abuse’ it, otherwise .... Now, do I order a 569 to see for myself? No, because I’ve got a 595 arriving any day now! It’s about entertainment, so Zeos is 100% reliable for that at least!

Carl Abudephane

All laptop outputs are pretty much cheap and small. There is no room for big components or capacitors. Same as on phones. Get yourself a $100 external dac/amp like the Origen G2 or Fulla 2 and it will sound MUCH better.

ZeosPantera

Nice

ZeosPantera

Correctomundo

ZeosPantera

See Response below.

ZeosPantera

Oh I read this comment first and was SO CONFUSED.

ZeosPantera

You switch to the velour pads they come with, tape up 4 out of 6 holes around the driver with packing tape (originally have just some thin paper over them) and replace the felt disc in front of the driver with 2-3 plies of paper towel or paper handkerchief. There's a guide with pics in the DIY Audio Heaven forum. Oh and ofc break them in for 20-30 hours before judging them - it's pretty much a rule with Superlux, even if they don't say it themselves.

BeyondWakanda

Hmmm I have never heard those - what kind of mod is it? Anything intensive?

A relatively basic laptop like that would probably see a noticeable bump in quality from a simple DAC/amp combo. I know I had a Thinkpad Yoga (about 4 years old) and used my Schiit Fulla 2 and the difference was night and day. Soooo much more detail and soundstage compared to the onboard of a entry level business laptop.

Never heard those, but going on graphs and discussions the HD662-Evo, modded, might beat them for sound and come out cheaper.

BeyondWakanda

I couldn't find that answer to seemingly basic question about my laptop (Thinkpad x270), "how much power does the headphone port put out?", in 10 minutes of googling, so I'm asking the learned among thee. All I can find is 'Realtek High Definition Audio', which is just the driver, best I can tell. Phones I use at work are 32 OHMs. Trying to figure out how much better a dac/amp would be.

Dan Isaacs

At 11:45 the material you're looking for is neoprene.

Lesson learned - just stick to the M40x w/ HM5 pads for closed back value cans

Wooo!