First question - what is your set up? Bluetooth? Wired? Receiver? Phone?

I have the 58Xs at the office and my 6XXs at home. They're very similar overall.

58X has a touch more bass. 6XX has a slightly wider soundstage and clearer/more forward mids and vocals. 58Xs sound their best on basically any source. The 6XXs demand proper amplification, something like an O2 amp or similar is all that's needed.

When I have them home together I always grab the 6XXs. They just sound "right" to me. I recommend them all day long.

My god!!! My WA2 weighs 17 pounds with 3 transformers. You’ve got 6!!! 😦😲😬

I cried the first time I listened to them, I had no idea what I was missing. 🤯

Returned my QC45 because I didn’t like that you couldn’t turn off ANC completely and that the ANC didn’t block out people talking (higher frequency sounds). Only use case I found them to be great was connecting to my tv for movies. Everything else there was a better option.

I ended up upgrading my AirPods gen 2 to APP2, which has 3 options for anc: on/transparent/off and sweat resistance for the gym/running.

lmao

daps now play at a higher file quality and are of higher audio quality at the expense of being more power hungry

battery technological advancement is far slower than most other tech in general

as others have said, screens and android eat up a lot of power

sony devices, like the zx300 and wm1a, have good battery and can be had for your budget second hand, the wm1a has auto turn off and 30h runtime

From what I've heard from people, ZMF pads are better than the dekoni ones.

Yup. This. The screens are killer. I love my FiiO BTR5 because it's screen isn't color or large. Granted it's not a DAP, it needs a phone which there ya go - limited battery life.

The other thing I think that drains the battery here is the amp part of these devices. Some can deliver a decent bit of power and that costs a lot of juice.

Running android isn't a very battery efficient thing to do. Though it lets you install all sorts of apps. So it's convenient. People want Qobuz or Tidal. So that's what companies need to do in order to sell to those customers. That by nature means battery life is going to be tough.

I think if someone was really smart - they'd build a very stripped down operating system of some sort that could run Roon and have that tap into online services or pull from the network. Really optimize on battery. Even still though, it'll be tough to get back to 40+ hours I think. "All day" (which sometimes isn't even all day - certainly not after battery life starts to wear) is the only real target most devices have these days. Phones, laptops, audio players or otherwise.

Try a little EQ before giving up if you feel a bit stuck.

I've thought about these over the years, what music do you normally listen to?

Yeah I don't really have the option of testing them before hand so trying to buy headphones is pretty stressful. Selling or returning these are will plbe pretty hard in country though but I'll see what I can do.

well it sounds worse than most open backs. It’s decent for a closed back but still not a good headphone relative to almost open backs

I didn’t really get where the hate came from. It’s not weird sounding

I think people rave about them for a few reasons. First. They are entry level planar. A lower priced pair of headphones that introduces people to something new and different.

Second. They may have been better before. I have a pair of he400i and sure, prices come down, but maybe they lost something on the newer versions. This wouldn't be the only time. Look up the he-6. They remade that one and it's no where near the original. Doesn't stop them from charging a lot for it...then you see the Adorama sale and start wondering why you can get them for so much less.

Hifiman has some weird pricing strategies that have kinda turned me off the brand. Though I have a few pairs of them, they aren't my favorite headphones.

So...here's the tricky thing about "mid-fi" and Hi-Fi headphones -- at a certain point, it's not about quality, it's about sound signature and your preferences. If a pair doesn't sound good to you, then just find another pair. Even if that pair is cheaper. Price doesn't mean much of anything. So don't feel bad. Return them or sell them and try something else.

Definitely try to go to a meetup or CanJam or store that has some to demo. You'll feel a lot better about your purchase and you may even be willing and confident in spending more.

I've found this hobby to be a slippery slope though.

I'm not too sure about the effects on soundstage as I've never used anything other than stock pads myself. I know that the HD800S has a dead-zone where the soundstage is perceptibly wider, so that may be something to consider with 3rd-party pads as they might alter that angle. Don't take my word for it though.

As for tightness, is your headband adjustment all the way in (the tightest setting)?

I wouldn’t get your hopes up but I’m really excited to try it when canjam comes around. A lot of people really hated the sundara closed and while I wouldn’t recommend it the headphones werent too bad

It depends what you value.

The HD58X I felt was more well-rounded. It has wider soundstage and deeper bass than the HD6XX/650. Felt like I didn't need to EQ it and was happy out of the box.

The HD6XX is narrower and more "intimate" (as described by many). The detail in midrange is great and an easy listen. It was OK out of the box, though I used Oratory's EQ and they became one of my headphones for metal.

If I wanted just one headphone and nothing else between the two, I'd probably pick the HD58X because I'm a soundstage whore. However, since I've made an embarrassing number of sidegrades which specialize in certain things, my HD650 is in regular rotation. My nephew inherited the HD58X and he loves them. Both are good headphones.

You find the headset comfy ? Damm!! Wish I Did!! The velour pads are okay in the Samson's but for me it starts becoming uncomfortable every 15mins or so... I had o order a pair of perforated memory foam pads to account for that :(

Sorry, must have been a typo. It is not tight enough

And I’m not concerned too much with sound quality, so long as the soundstage stays the same. I know the pads will have some impact on the sound but I’m not concerned.

The clamp force is too tight but you want ear pads that make it even tighter? The consensus from previous reddit threads is that 3rd party HD800s pads will alter the sound negatively. If you're open to EQ, then the Dekoni fenestrated pads might be a good choice (see here). My HD800S never gets sweaty with stock pads since they're so roomy, but I imagine the fenestrated might after a couple of hours.

That's awesome man!

Honestly, doesn't make sense to get both because of how similar they are. It's better to try another headphone imo.

Yes!! Welcome. I have had mine for almost 6 months now and love them to bits. I just upgraded to a Hifiman Sundara recently and have come to the realization that this is it for me. I've reached my end game setup. Just enjoying the music now.... Switching back and forth whenever the mood hits. So good. So blessed.

I’m interested in seeing what Resolve thinks about these. I have been considering adding some closed backs to my collection in the next year or so. Was thinking of going the ZMF route, but if Hifiman can actually pull off an Arya-like sound in a close back, these will be a strong consideration.

Personally, I never had them at the same time. But I thought the 6xx and the 66s were similar but 660s was slightly better. Now 660s vs 58x was an insane performance difference. So personally, I feel the extra $ on 6xx is worth it over the 58x. But still nothing wrong with the 58x, still great