Sennheiser HD 419 replacement

[Rhyn]

My HD 419s died after 8 years of use and I'm #heartbroken.  I'm not particularly interested in buying a used set so I'm in the market for a new set and looking for recommendations.  I loved the sound of the 419s and they were really comfortable for long use sessions.  I'm looking up to $200 for wired or around $300 for wireless but I don't particularly care to get wireless ones.  I primarily use them at my desk for gaming and very occasional video editing, with a rare coffee shop work session.  Any suggestions for a pair with a similar sound or that performed as good as the 419s?

[OfficialTechSpace]

If you've gotten used to the Sennheiser sound, and build, etc. it'd probably be wise to stick with them. It can be difficult to readjust after years of hearing the same sound signature over-and-over (not that there's anything wrong with the mostly neutral Sennheiser sound).

 

Something like the HD58X Jubilee's would be a massive step up from your HD 419's, and would fit in just under your $200 mark for wired headphones at $170 USD.

 

*This recommendation is of course assuming that you'd be willing to use an open-back pair, coming from closed.

 

 

 

[rice guru]

419 from reading a few reviews cause ive never heard it is a headphone with a nice amount of bass , good mids, dark treble. Which kind of reminds me of the 58x , or 6xx from massdrop. Which are both good options if you want open back but open back bass is different from closed back bass as they tend to not have the extension and impact. Another headphone that might be similar is the hd 4.30 ok mids good amount of bass and treble isn't dark but isn't sharp either. Another option is the akg k371 pretty different for theost part but is just a good closed back in general for the price range to try out if all else fails.

[Rhyn]

22 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

If you've gotten used to the Sennheiser sound, and build, etc. it'd probably be wise to stick with them. It can be difficult to readjust after years of hearing the same sound signature over-and-over (not that there's anything wrong with the mostly neutral Sennheiser sound).

 

Something like the HD58X Jubilee's would be a massive step up from your HD 419's, and would fit in just under your $200 mark for wired headphones at $170 USD.

 

*This recommendation is of course assuming that you'd be willing to use an open-back pair, coming from closed.

 

 

 

Yea that's what I was worried about on potentially switching to a different brand.  I've heard a lot of buzz about the HD58X on Drop along with the 6XX and if the 6 is a substantial upgrade I wouldn't mind the extra money but everything I've read makes it seem like it's a slight upgrade.  

I've never really used open backed headphones before.  All my headphones, personal and ones through work, have all been closed back.  I'm open to switching if the sound experience is that good for the upgrade over my current set.  Would you say it's a massive difference between the two standards?

[Rhyn]

5 hours ago, rice guru said:

419 from reading a few reviews cause ive never heard it is a headphone with a nice amount of bass , good mids, dark treble. Which kind of reminds me of the 58x , or 6xx from massdrop. Which are both good options if you want open back but open back bass is different from closed back bass as they tend to not have the extension and impact. Another headphone that might be similar is the hd 4.30 ok mids good amount of bass and treble isn't dark but isn't sharp either. Another option is the akg k371 pretty different for theost part but is just a good closed back in general for the price range to try out if all else fails.

Would you say that the extra money for the 6xx is worthwhile compared to the 58x? I am a fan that the cable on all these is removable as that is what the issue with the 419s is.  I am a fan that the 4.30s are much cheaper haha and if they sound similar to the 419 that's a plus.  Thank you very much for your recommendations. 

[rice guru]

4 minutes ago, Rhyn said:

Would you say that the extra money for the 6xx is worthwhile compared to the 58x? I am a fan that the cable on all these is removable as that is what the issue with the 419s is.  I am a fan that the 4.30s are much cheaper haha and if they sound similar to the 419 that's a plus.  Thank you very much for your recommendations. 

Depends on your taste . If you get the 6xx there is more hidden costs to running the 6xx than the 58x as it is generally reccomended you get at least an amp with them or a decent amp/dac combo minimum a ifi hip dac plus another purchase of a balanced cable which in total is like another $150 on top of the headphone. While the 58x will run great with your motherboard. The 6xx is an overall better headphone though and is a cheaper version of the 650. The hd 4.30 is relatively easy to get and is a lower risk purchase. If you want to try it out best way imo is buying from Amazon if you can and returning it if you don't feel satisfied with it.

 

[Entropy.]

On 6/14/2021 at 2:05 PM, Rhyn said:

My HD 419s died after 8 years of use and I'm #heartbroken.  I'm not particularly interested in buying a used set so I'm in the market for a new set and looking for recommendations.  I loved the sound of the 419s and they were really comfortable for long use sessions.  I'm looking up to $200 for wired or around $300 for wireless but I don't particularly care to get wireless ones.  I primarily use them at my desk for gaming and very occasional video editing, with a rare coffee shop work session.  Any suggestions for a pair with a similar sound or that performed as good as the 419s?

(skip to the bottom for the summary if you'd like)

This is a bit difficult if you want to go out to the coffee shop. Bringing headphones such as the HD6xx to a shop likely isn’t going to be pleasant. Headphones such as the 58x, more pleasant but it still might not be viable due to noise leakage both in and out of your headphones, and due to the… rather uncomfortable size of the headphones. Imo, headphones such as the hd58x or the hd560s (an alternative option which I consider to be better than the 58x), especially paired with a say, apple or meizu dongle (to feed more power to the headphones and to clean up the signal, essentially) will be great for home use, however not so much anywhere public. If you want something somewhat similar to your previous headphones- from what I can tell at least- a similar option is going to be the beyerdynamics hd770 pro (250ohm). This is a closed-back headphone with a bump in the bass, Fun to listen to and it’ll work in public. Add something like the meizu dongle (meizu hifi usb-c dongle) to [do what was listed above] and you have a pretty solid system that shouldn’t be too different from your previous headphones, but will absolutely sound better all-around. I’d also *highly* recommend auditioning (buying to try out) multiple headphones, just to figure out what you like and to try to get the best headphones… for you, as at the end just, how different individuals experience sound depends on the individual. Most companies such as drop, beyerdynamic, sennhesier, hifiman, ect. Have return policies that’ll allow for you to audition these headphones and return them for dirt cheap if not $0. Just don’t go overboard with this, if you do decide to go this way.

 

3 hours ago, rice guru said:

Depends on your taste . If you get the 6xx there is more hidden costs to running the 6xx than the 58x as it is generally reccomended you get at least an amp with them or a decent amp/dac combo minimum a ifi hip dac plus another purchase of a balanced cable which in total is like another $150 on top of the headphone. While the 58x will run great with your motherboard. The 6xx is an overall better headphone though and is a cheaper version of the 650. The hd 4.30 is relatively easy to get and is a lower risk purchase. If you want to try it out best way imo is buying from Amazon if you can and returning it if you don't feel satisfied with it.

 

Just stating this for OP's sake. The 6xx is a very... controversial headphone in some senses, it requires decent power to run (I.e an amp), and it's fairly open, which makes it fairly unsuitable for working in the coffee shop unless you are fine with noise leakage (in and out of your headphones, could annoy some of the people around you), and you're fine with at the very minimum carrying around both a fairly bulky set of headphones, as well as at the bare minimum a dongle, and perhaps up to an amplifier the size of a small tissue box, which might even need to be individually plugged into the wall.
Elaborating more on the sound OP, I uh, I don't prefer it, not do a good amount of people, but a large number of people like them as well. Some people have complaints about the headphone, which include with the timbre (in this scenario, how "real" the sound feels- whether it feels like it's being reproduced by a metal and plastic machine, or a band sitting right next to your head, for example); some beileve it has terrible timbre, Grainy mids (hard to describe, think rough and textured, which in headphones is uh, undesirable), and the low-end is distorted. This encompasses the complaints from some people about the headphones rather than the general consensus of the headphones.

 

Quick reminders/summary:

- Reviews are decent starting places but if you want to truly understand how a headphone sounds and if you like you, you'll have to listen to it

-How we experience sound is subjective, sometimes there's just no one size fits all

-6xx might not be great for your use case, possibly even fully-open back headphones. 

-You might want to consider dt770 pro's (250ohms)

[rice guru]

1 hour ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

(skip to the bottom for the summary if you'd like)

This is a bit difficult if you want to go out to the coffee shop. Bringing headphones such as the HD6xx to a shop likely isn’t going to be pleasant. Headphones such as the 58x, more pleasant but it still might not be viable due to noise leakage both in and out of your headphones, and due to the… rather uncomfortable size of the headphones. Imo, headphones such as the hd58x or the hd560s (an alternative option which I consider to be better than the 58x), especially paired with a say, apple or meizu dongle (to feed more power to the headphones and to clean up the signal, essentially) will be great for home use, however not so much anywhere public. If you want something somewhat similar to your previous headphones- from what I can tell at least- a similar option is going to be the beyerdynamics hd770 pro (250ohm). This is a closed-back headphone with a bump in the bass, Fun to listen to and it’ll work in public. Add something like the meizu dongle (meizu hifi usb-c dongle) to [do what was listed above] and you have a pretty solid system that shouldn’t be too different from your previous headphones, but will absolutely sound better all-around. I’d also *highly* recommend auditioning (buying to try out) multiple headphones, just to figure out what you like and to try to get the best headphones… for you, as at the end just, how different individuals experience sound depends on the individual. Most companies such as drop, beyerdynamic, sennhesier, hifiman, ect. Have return policies that’ll allow for you to audition these headphones and return them for dirt cheap if not $0. Just don’t go overboard with this, if you do decide to go this way.

 

Just stating this for OP's sake. The 6xx is a very... controversial headphone in some senses, it requires decent power to run (I.e an amp), and it's fairly open, which makes it fairly unsuitable for working in the coffee shop unless you are fine with noise leakage (in and out of your headphones, could annoy some of the people around you), and you're fine with at the very minimum carrying around both a fairly bulky set of headphones, as well as at the bare minimum a dongle, and perhaps up to an amplifier the size of a small tissue box, which might even need to be individually plugged into the wall.
Elaborating more on the sound OP, I uh, I don't prefer it, not do a good amount of people, but a large number of people like them as well. Some people have complaints about the headphone, which include with the timbre (in this scenario, how "real" the sound feels- whether it feels like it's being reproduced by a metal and plastic machine, or a band sitting right next to your head, for example); some beileve it has terrible timbre, Grainy mids (hard to describe, think rough and textured, which in headphones is uh, undesirable), and the low-end is distorted. This encompasses the complaints from some people about the headphones rather than the general consensus of the headphones.

 

Quick reminders/summary:

- Reviews are decent starting places but if you want to truly understand how a headphone sounds and if you like you, you'll have to listen to it

-How we experience sound is subjective, sometimes there's just no one size fits all

-6xx might not be great for your use case, possibly even fully-open back headphones. 

-You might want to consider dt770 pro's (250ohms)

Considering what I've read about the headphone he wants to replace the 770 is not the greatest headphone to replace it. The 250 ohm also requires a bit of power and off a phone. It can be pretty quite. Imo a better headphone more suitable to his needs is the akg k371 or the hd 4.30 both are not as sharp as the 770 and are much easier to drive. 

[OfficialTechSpace]

6 hours ago, Rhyn said:

All my headphones, personal and ones through work, have all been closed back. I'm open to switching if the sound experience is that good for the upgrade over my current set.  Would you say it's a massive difference between the two standards?

Not really, unless you start getting into open backs ultra-thin planar magnetic drivers and such. Especially in the instance of the HD58X, with a solid dynamic driver and paper/foam tuning behind it by Drop, they'll actually sound pretty closed by comparison. Only difference is they'll leak a lot more sound to those around you.

 

So going open back wont really be a substantial leap in sound from these headphones, it'll just be different.

[Entropy.]

1 hour ago, rice guru said:

Considering what I've read about the headphone he wants to replace the 770 is not the greatest headphone to replace it. The 250 ohm also requires a bit of power and off a phone. It can be pretty quite. Imo a better headphone more suitable to his needs is the akg k371 or the hd 4.30 both are not as sharp as the 770 and are much easier to drive. 

They need decent power honestly, something a Meizu dongle should be able to drive them. K36/71's are also other considerations, perhaps more convenient but more consumerist.