CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

  • December 31, 2015, 09:09:44 AM
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5

Author Topic: HD580  (Read 7538 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

ultrabike

  • Burritous Supremus (and Mexican Ewok)
  • Master
  • Pirate
  • *****
  • Brownie Points: +4226/-2
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2384
  • I consider myself "normal"
HD580
« on: January 15, 2014, 07:24:00 AM »

A coworker lent me his good 'ol HD580s. He bought them new, but after quite a few years, these have gone through all sorts of pad replacements. The cans are a bit loose in terms of grip, probably due to years of use. That said, they are almost mint and very well taken care off.

Sound

These sound quite nice. IMO pretty balanced and with reasonable bass impact when required. Pretty clean. No obvious FR deal breakers. Decent soundstage when playing binaurals and other stuff. Quite enjoyable.

Comfort

These are quite loose due to use. Still, as expected, quite light and comfy.

Presentation

Prefer the looks of the HD558 and HD650 to their siblings. Don't dig the lattice brick wall HD580 cups that much. That said, I do like the classic overall form and head-band. Not sure what the deal is with the current TOTL Frankenband fashion.

Price

These appear to be as close to an HD600 as can be. Moreover, the used goods market seems to price a "pristine" pair too close to a good deal for a brand new HD600... So I would get an HD600. I guess not to bad if ever a crazy deal comes up, or if into collecting stuff.

Overall

Not a brain fart and pirate's booty material living on through the venerable HD600...



Measurements

Frequency Response



Distortion Right



Distortion Left



CSD Right



CSD Left



Impedance

« Last Edit: February 08, 2014, 04:23:08 AM by ultrabike »
Logged

ultrabike

  • Burritous Supremus (and Mexican Ewok)
  • Master
  • Pirate
  • *****
  • Brownie Points: +4226/-2
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2384
  • I consider myself "normal"
Re: HD580
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2014, 07:31:21 AM »

Overlay with HD600s...

Logged

mkubota1

  • BIG IN JAPAN
  • Mate
  • Pirate
  • ****
  • Brownie Points: +74/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 160
Re: HD580
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2014, 08:16:29 AM »

Holy cow... I've (we've) seen left/right drivers from the same cans that have more deviation than that!
Logged

ultrabike

  • Burritous Supremus (and Mexican Ewok)
  • Master
  • Pirate
  • *****
  • Brownie Points: +4226/-2
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2384
  • I consider myself "normal"
Re: HD580
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2014, 08:20:17 AM »

Yup. So far the HD600 and old HD580 line seem reasonably consistent.
Logged

mkubota1

  • BIG IN JAPAN
  • Mate
  • Pirate
  • ****
  • Brownie Points: +74/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 160
Re: HD580
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2014, 08:24:09 AM »

Do you know if the 580s have had the foam behind the driver removed?  http://apuresound.com/hdsennmod.html  After about 10-12 years, they started to disintegrate on mine so I just removed them- not so much for the modding effects.  And no, I didn't hear much difference from removing the back pad- removing the front one, big difference.
Logged

ultrabike

  • Burritous Supremus (and Mexican Ewok)
  • Master
  • Pirate
  • *****
  • Brownie Points: +4226/-2
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2384
  • I consider myself "normal"
Re: HD580
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2014, 08:29:35 AM »

Nope, still there. There are obvious signs of wear, but the mini-pads behind the drivers look reasonable to me.
Logged

Sforza

  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +12/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 225
Re: HD580
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2014, 02:30:18 PM »

I was able to buy one of these (with HD600 grills and foam removed) about two years ago for $135. The owner sold them because he didn't want to bother with changing the pads and headband padding anymore. First thing I did was to buy a new set of pads for them. Probably the best second hand purchase I've made.

Anyway, I was able to compare them to one of the more recent HD650. They sounded very similar as well, but it wasn't under ideal conditions.
Logged

AstralStorm

  • Speculation and Speculums
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +250/-164
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 559
  • Warning: causes nearby electronics to go haywire
Re: HD580
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2014, 04:01:08 PM »

New HD 650 are quite comparable, as in very hard to tell apart - they have slightly more warmth and less bass distortion. Slightly less neutral due to that minor bass tilt, but it's still there.

HD 580 and 600 are the weakest in subbass, audible distortion but not too bad. They do like some additional power, something less wimpy than ye olde iPhone out.

Definitely a benchmark in their price range, then and now still.
Logged
For sale: Hifiman HE-500; Paradox; Brainwavz B2. PM me if you would like to buy them.

SanjiWatsuki

  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Powder Monkey
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +5/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 50
Re: HD580
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2014, 04:45:12 PM »

Sometimes HD580s in good condition drop in the $180-200 range used. It's definitely one of the best deals on the market when it does.
Logged

Thujone

  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +10/-1
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 261
Re: HD580
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2014, 06:52:56 PM »

UB, you rock. I have had my HD580's since the beginning of this journey and I immediately painted them in order to force myself not to sell them. It seems that my ears aren't lying to me when they say I made a good choice. I've done some short A/B with my friend's HD600 and couldn't find any differences aside from clamp (my 580's have also become quite weak in this department).

A question for you Sennheiser owners: is it possible to remove only the yolk/gimbal from the headband? I want to order a new headband (probably the grey 650) but it comes with the entire headband down to the yolk. I want to keep my black yolk with the 580 badges... If I could simply buy the plastic headband piece, I'd be all set, since it seems the lack of clamp pressure is simply due to the deformation on the plastic over time. Unfortunately Sennheiser doesn't sell this piece alone.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5