Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones Discussions | Drop

Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones

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Mar 26, 2019

are these headphones still worth the price if I don’t have a amp? Plan to use these as a set of gaming headphones plugged straight into my pc

Mar 26, 2019

JustinsaiyanDepends a bit on what you are coming from. Based on the general experiences of me and most others in the comments with similar use cases, I'd say yes.

Mar 26, 2019

NeoTheLizardDo you know how well these perform for gaming? Currently playing The Division 2 and mainly other FPS. Have to think these guys would really add to the overall experience of a game like Resident Evil 2

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Mar 26, 2019

JustinsaiyanI do. They are my main headphones, and I use them for gaming almost every day. They are really nice, performing particularly well with games that already feature good sound design. I find them especially enjoyable in any genres taking place in first person because you really get a sense of their imaging capabilities, which are amazing. The excellent soundscape of The Long Dark is very immersive. Environmental cues like the creaking of trees and derelict cottages, the crackling of fire, and the wind howling, along with the sounds of wildlife can be easily separated from each other and pinpointed, and it all just sounds great. I find myself using the howls of wolves to identify dangers more frequently than with my previous headphones. The roar of firearms in The Hunter: Call of the Wild is loud and vivid, as they should be. I haven't tried the Division 2 yet, but the Jubilees definitely convey the feeling of the open, airy cityscape of the first one well. I like to set off car alarms in the distance and just listen for the heck of it. There's something satisfactory to how well the sense of direction is conveyed in that one. I also have yet to try the Resident Evil 2 remake/reboot, but omg yes, I think you're really right that they will add a lot to the experience. Gotta keep an eye out for the eventual sales on that title. Of course, they are relatively light on bass (though they still pack a nice punch) and have no sound isolation to speak of, as is usual with open-back headphones, the tradeoff being that the sound comes across as more natural. There's also a minor issue with the clamping force being a bit high initially, as I'm sure you've seen in the other comments and reviews of them. It loosens over time, or you can gently bent the metal part of the headband as others have described. I have a pretty slim head, so I had no problems with this. Probably the main thing to keep in mind with these headphones is that they don't have a particularly wide soundstage, especially not without the benefit of amplification or some other tampering going on during the journey from your PC to your ears. It's also pretty dependent on your source -the Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI sound card I had them plugged into before I got my amp made them sound even narrower than anything else I've used them with- so your experience with soundstage width may vary depending on your motherboard/sound card, in the same way that clarity and sound signature may vary slightly. That said, to me, the difference my amp has made is the difference between the Jubilees merely playing good, or great, and playing absolutely lovely. The amp just brought them up the final notch I felt they needed, but they are already great even without it. If you can live with the soundstage not being the widest, and the comfort potentially needing a bit of time to mature, they basically do everything else well.

Mar 26, 2019

NeoTheLizardAwesome man! Thanks for going into detail. Is the sound stage being limited usually a problem with most open ear headphones without an amp? I wanna pre order these guys but I’m worried I might miss out on something better at this price range. I have no immediate plans to buy a amp.

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Mar 26, 2019

NeoTheLizardI’m also coming from gaming with my Astro a10s and the only experience I have with “good sounding headphones” are my AirPods (at least to me)ha. Which I’m willing to bet these guys will blow my mind compared to those other things I’m use to

(Edited)

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Mar 27, 2019

JustinsaiyanSoundstage width and imaging are usually dependent on engineering and design, so they usually vary on a headphone to headphone basis, not really by open or closed back design. Usually, there's a certain tradeoff present between the two, with most headphones usually doing one or the other well, and not so often both, though such examples I think are still present, just the ones I know of are expensive as fukkk (the still in experimental phase Vokyl Erupts, the Hd800s's, some others I don't recall). Headphones still roughly in this price range that trade off imaging for a wide soundstage could be the Philips Fidelio X2, or the AKG 7xx. Probably also some others that I don't remember. I think the X2's run fine without an amp, but I don't know about the 7xx. The Hifiman 4xx's are supposedly also a bit wider, again sacrificing imaging capability, but I've heard that planar drivers have some pretty specific voltage requirements and require an amp to perform properly, so those are probably a bad choice. I have read some other comments on the Hd58x's by people who, like you, were coming from the Astro a10's, and they were very impressed by the former. I think no matter which of the very popular choices you go with in the 150-200$ price range, it would be a nice experience, as long as they aren't known for sounding downright bad without an amp. That said, it's not like you'll be missing out on anything in overall fidelity with the Jubilees, as I've already mentioned, they sound really good in general, and they are well known for punching above their price point in general sound quality. The choice between the popular (popular on the "audiophile" forums, that is) headphones in this price range is mostly the choice between different flavors. With the Jubilees at least, don't worry about the whole amp thing, and missing out on anything in that regard. Basically all headphones gain a slight boost to their performance when run through one, and asides from headphones that specifically need one it's widely considered to be a secondary concern compared to how well the headphones play on their own. Think of it as merely having the ability to make a slight upgrade somewhen in the future, should the opportunity ever arise. There's no pressure.

(Edited)

Mar 27, 2019

JustinsaiyanOh, and most importantly, don't fall into the audiophile trap of worrying so much about what is "optimal" that you forget to enjoy yourself. That's why one would lay down money on a nice sound upgrade in the first place, no~? ;) And no problem at all, btw, it's fun to provide a bit of guidance on what I feel I can competently share advice on!

Mar 27, 2019

NeoTheLizardThanks again for all this great advice! I joined the drop for the hd58x :). I’m sure itll take my gaming to the next level in terms of immersion. You rock!

(Edited)

Mar 27, 2019

NeoTheLizardOne more question my man. When it comes to gaming what do you feel in your opinion is more important for a more immersive experience? Great sound stage or great imagining? It sounds like those hd58x from what I’ve heard have amazing imaging with a more narrow sound stage as you’ve mentioned. Like I said my main game at the moment is The Division 2. Thanks again for all the help!

Mar 27, 2019

JustinsaiyanPersonally I'm totally okay with the soundstage not being so wide. I don't have that much experience with wiiiiide soundstage, though I do have a pair of m40x's with angled sheepskin pads which to my knowledge are supposed to sound somewhat spacious. I don't really like them, though. They had pretty good imaging in their stock form (although horrible comfort), but replacing the pads resulted in an awkward sensation of the soundstage being overly stretched to each side while taking away from feeling of being able to pinpoint the direction of sounds. The sound signature is nice, but that sensation makes them kind of weird to me, mainly when gaming. I think I read a comment somewhere describing the X2's in a similar fashion, but I imagine something like the 7xx's or the 'spensive headphones I mentioned to give off a slightly more natural feeling of width. I can't really speak for those yet. Maybe someday I'll save up for the Erupts, as the things I've heard and read about them sounds amazing, but so far my budget just doesn't justify any more expensive headphone purchases, especially not a model that's still undergoing calibration. I like the sensation of sounds coming mostly from believable directions, though, especially when the soundscape is rich, and you can hear lots of stuff going on at once. Payday 2 is a prime example, although in that game there's almost so much going on that it's difficult to really make strategic use of the ability to hear directions anyways. The Long Dark, The Hunter: COTW, Alien: Isolation, Prey, Black Mesa, The Witcher 3, SOMA, and, surprisingly, Planet Coaster have quite a bit going for them in terms of environmental sound, I think those games are particularly immersive with the Jubilees. Killing Floor 2 is meh, but tbh I don't find the atmosphere in that game particularly enchanting anyways. If you like horror, particularly in first person, I think the Jubilees will excel at that. The sound design in SOMA is completely nuts, you can hear a pencil rolling across a table and tell pretty much exactly where it is. Michael Bay'esque all-out action games and RTS's would probably be the ones benefitting the most from a wide soundstage, I think. RPGs, atmospheric outdoors experiences, 2d games, you should probably be good with either. The imaging actually also works surprisingly well in old games that have nothing in the way of virtual surround simulation apart from sound playing in a radius around their source, like Morrowind and Oblivion, although the sound in those games could probably also do well with a bit more sense of width. How well both soundstage and imaging works in general works, however, seems to depend quite a bit on the mixing of whatever you're listening to, games included, and the quality of any systems simulating how the sound works in the game, so in some games directional ques sound more natural than others, and the soundstage may appear more spacious in some titles than others. There's no problems with the soundstage coming across as narrow to me in The Division, for example. In 2d games there seems to be almost no benefit of good imaging apart from that to the soundtrack playing. The imaging and separation of the Jubilees also works really well in music that has a very "surround'esque" feel to it. DVA's soundtracks to Botanicula and Chuchel are really fun and trippy to listen to. The separation is fun too in itself, although probably not quite unique to the Jubilees in their price range. I have no problem talking to people over Discord, while having a game paused in the background that I can hear the sounds from, while listening to music at the same time without basically any of those things drowning out each other in the least. That's what's happening while I'm typing this. To be honest, tho, I think it's difficult to fully answer your query without having tried more headphones than I have. It's very much a personal preference thing, I guess. Again, just different flavours of headphones. Those are my 2 cents at least, though.

HIFI778

652

Mar 27, 2019

NeoTheLizard😲 u wrote a book?

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