Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee  Headphones Review

The Sennheiser HD 58X come in a plastic glossy and matte black scheme with dark silver metal grille open-backs. The gloss finish on the headband looks a little cheap and can catch fingerprints. Besides the 'Massdrop' moniker on either end of the headband, they strongly resemble the Sennheiser HD 650 and other models in the Sennheiser HD 600-line. Atop the headband's left side is the Sennheiser name and logo in silver. Their ear pads are black velour, although you can purchase aftermarket ear pads made of different materials through Drop.com, which can alter their sound. For open-back headphones, they're fairly sleek and not too bulky. A detachable black Y-cable connects to the L/R ear cups.

These headphones feel decently comfortable with generously sized ear cups that can fit most people's ears and head shapes. Their headband has enough padding to distribute their weight comfortably, like the Sennheiser HD 650, but overall, they feel a bit stiffer. You can't adjust them much at all, and their clamping force is pretty high, so if you wear glasses, you may feel extra pressure around the glasses' arms, especially compared to other open-backs like the Sennheiser HD 599. That said, the velour that covers the ear pads feels soft, but the foam is stiff and not quite as luxurious as the velour ear pads you get on the Beyerdynamic DT 900 PRO X.

Due to their open-back housings, these headphones allow for a decent amount of airflow and don't get too hot. Their velour ear pads don't get slick with sweat like leather or leatherette pads. Still, they're over-ear headphones, so they'll heat up quicker than in-ear headphones.

These headphones have poor portability, which is expected for open-back over-ear headphones. Typically, you'd keep these headphones in the same location. They don't fold down smaller or swivel to lay flat. You can remove their cable so they don't snag on anything in your bag, but they're pretty bulky and take up real estate.

These headphones are well-built. Like the Sennheiser HD 6XX, these were released as part of the collaboration with Drop (formerly Massdrop); there are no obvious compromises to the build quality compared to the brand's standard line-up, like the Sennheiser HD 600. They're made of a mix of plastic and metal. The headband is plastic, while a thin metal frame adjusts the size. Each grille is metal, while the frame and yokes are plastic and feel secure.

You can extend the headphones' lifespan by replacing the ear pads and the Y-cable if they wear out. The cable uses a slightly delicate 2-pin connection point instead of a more durable connector like a mini-XLR you'd find on the Sennheiser HD 490 PRO, but this is basically a nitpick. Otherwise, you can feel a bit of give where the metal headband joins the yokes, which is the only other point of potential weakness.

They're very stable. They stay put thanks to a combination of a narrow profile, even weight distribution, and a high clamping force. You can easily nod along to your music without the headphones coming loose, though their cable can still catch on desk corners. The connection points are pretty tight and require force to pull them out, so if they hook on something, the headphones will yank off your head before the detachable cables will disconnect from the ear cups.

• Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee headphones
• Y-cable 1/8" TRS 5.80 ft / 1.77 m
• 1/8" to 1/4" adapter
• Manuals

The Sennheiser HD 58X have a warm and fairly neutral sound profile that nods to their lineage, the Sennheiser HD 600. Like most open-back headphones, these aren't very thumpy or rumbly in the low bass. They highlight a bit of extra boom to kick drums and bass guitar lines, so they don't completely lack low-end. The midrange is quite even, and vocals, alongside lead instruments, sound forward, present, and full. Meanwhile, the top-end somewhat veils the details of vocals (which contributes to their warm sound), but overall, they sound clear and not ear-piercing or shrill.

Their frequency response consistency is very good. Bass and mids are delivered with precise and predictable results. The treble varies, particularly in the highest frequencies, which can depend on factors like fit and if you have thick hair or glasses. If you want open-back headphones with a more consistent audio delivery, see the Sennheiser HD 6XX.

The bass accuracy is very good. These headphones supply a bit of extra boom to kick drums and bass guitars, so you can track the rhythm section well. Like many open-back headphones, the lower bass frequencies taper off and deliver less punch and rumble, so they don't exactly suit EDM and hip-hop genres for casual listening. That said, for mixing and monitoring, this is expected for the style of headphones.

Their mid accuracy is fantastic. They reproduce guitars, keyboards, and vocals with a balanced and natural sound. A very slight overemphasis in the low mids adds a bit of emphasis to heavy rhythm guitars, while the minor bump in the high mids pushes vocals a little forward in the mix.

Their treble accuracy is great. Besides a dip between the low- and mid-treble, which dulls vocal details, the headphones output a fairly even and somewhat neutral treble response that's clear and warm. As a result, singers sound true to life but a bit veiled rather than crisp in their articulation. Sibilant sounds like S and T in vocals, and cymbal hits don't sound shrill or piercing, but they're not exceptionally bright either.

The Sennheiser HD 58X have excellent peaks and dips performance, indicating that they control their sound profile well. Their bass is fairly even, except for a bump in the high bass to add some boom to kick drums. The mids are mostly even to convey balanced lead instruments, except for a peak that extends into the low treble, which can make vocals sound harsh. A dip in the low-treble and into the mid-treble veils details in vocals and cymbal hits but warms up the sound. A strong peak follows, which can sound overly bright.

Their imaging performance is superb, aligning with other headphones we've tested from the manufacturer and indicating reliable quality control and ergonomics. The headphones' group delay is below the audibility threshold for tight bass and transparent treble. Their phase response mismatch results generally land within good values except for a minor bump, which isn't audible with real-life content. Lastly, the amplitude and frequency response are well-matched, resulting in a stable and accurate stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit because imaging can vary between units, so yours may perform differently.

The headphones have a decent passive soundstage. They sound very open and interact with your environment. However, they don't produce a large soundstage. Sound also doesn't significantly interact with your outer ear, resulting in a soundstage that's perceived as moderately sized and closer to your head.

Their weighted harmonic distortion performance is great. The distortion is quite low in the bass through the mids. It's slightly more elevated in the treble range but is too low to be noticeable with real-world audio. As a result, your audio sounds pure and clean.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

Due to their open-back design, these headphones have bad noise isolation. As expected of open-back headphones, they don't meaningfully block out much environmental noise, so you'll want to wear them in a quiet room. Low-pitched noises, like rumbling construction outside your window, and midrange sounds, like conversation, will reach your ears unimpeded. The headphones slightly muffle trebly noises like silverware clinking together, but not significantly.

Their leakage performance is bad, and that's expected with open-back headphones. They need to leak audio that interacts with your environment to sound open. However, the downside of this design is that it's not commute or office-friendly, as your coworkers will hear a pretty comprehensive and bright version of your audio.

These headphones include a detachable Y-cable with a standard 1/8" TRS connector to deliver zero-latency audio. They also come with a 1/4" adapter. Unlike the Sennheiser HD 6XX, they don't necessarily require a headphone amp (at 150Ω and 104dB/Vrms) with most audio sources like laptops, except for particularly low-output mobile devices.

The Sennheiser HD 58X can connect to your PC via the analog cable for full audio support. However, you'll need a separate mic because the headphones don't have a microphone.

You can connect these headphones to your PlayStation 4 or 5 controller for full audio support. However, you'll need a separate mic if you need to chat with teammates.

The headphones' analog cable allows you to connect them to your Xbox controller for full audio support. However, they don't have a microphone, so you'll need an outboard microphone if you want to chat.