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Sennheiser HD560S Review (Headphone)

Rate this headphone:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 4 0.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 25 5.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 169 39.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 226 53.3%

  • Total voters
    424

solderdude

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You can use those or cut the plug from the original cable and put a new balanced plug on it.
The original cable is a real biatch to solder as the wires are enameled.
 

Robbo99999

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Has anyone compared the soundstage of the 560s to the Sundara? I'm curious to see which one has the wider stage and better imaging.
Size of soundstage seems to be related to angled drivers or angled pads, large inner cup area that doesn't touch the ears, whereas imaging (the accuracy of placement within that soundstage) is related to accuracy of driver matching in my experience. The Sundara I have not tried but seems to have a similar cup design to the HE4XX I have in terms of space for the ear and the fact they are round, and HD560s has a better soundstage than the HE4XX. The Sundara does have slightly angled drivers apparently and the HD560s drivers are also angled, there's more room for my ears in the HD560s than the HE4XX so that again helps soundstage. In terms of channel matching, my 3 units of HD560s are almost perfectly matched in both channel matching and also in unit to unit variation, so that is a plus point for their imaging ability. I would say the HD560s are going to be better on the soundstage and imaging front than the Sundara given some of the comparisons I've made, but I haven't listened to the Sundara.
 

Sukie

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I've had the HD-560S for a few days now and I'm very pleased. Thanks for all the info and recommendations on this thread. For my usage (rock, indie and other types of music that benefit from a good quantity of bass) they're certainly outperforming my HD-600 phones. IMO the 560S equalise to the Harman Curve (using Oratory1990) better than the 600. The bass is more defined and less "leaky". The soundstage improvement is fairly subtle, but noticeable. Again, all subjective.

The build quality of the 600 is obviously superior to the 560S. The 600 are also marginally more comfortable than the the 560S, but I would still describe the 560S as a comfortable fit.

All in all, £150 well spent.
 

Robbo99999

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I've had the HD-560S for a few days now and I'm very pleased. Thanks for all the info and recommendations on this thread. For my usage (rock, indie and other types of music that benefit from a good quantity of bass) they're certainly outperforming my HD-600 phones. IMO the 560S equalise to the Harman Curve (using Oratory1990) better than the 600. The bass is more defined and less "leaky". The soundstage improvement is fairly subtle, but noticeable. Again, all subjective.

The build quality of the 600 is obviously superior to the 560S. The 600 are also marginally more comfortable than the the 560S, but I would still describe the 560S as a comfortable fit.

All in all, £150 well spent.
Nice! I'm pleased some of the positive things I've been saying in this thread re HD560s vs HD600 have materialised into your experience too. They're probably the best £150 headphone around nowadays.....I think some of the Hifiman cheaper alternatives challenge in some respects, but in my experience the jagged nature of the frequency response of planar headphones above 1kHz combined with the better soundstage of the HD560s means that the HD560s wins out for fidelity & soundstage. I have HE4XX to compare against re the planar comparison. HD560s is certainly a solid recommend at £150 - in fact I can't believe they're still at £150, I thought they would quickly shoot up to the £169 where they've spent most of their life! Either way they're good for both prices in my experience.
 

SlimCharles

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They are probably the best under 200, ticking too many boxes. Soundwise it's up there, very comfortable, super stable fit, easy to drive, light... Maybe bellow average in terms of materials, but you wouldn't make it that light otherwise (under 250 grams, nuts).

I use it with the btunes bluetooth adapter and it's very recommendable.
 

solderdude

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More neutral, much less warmth but deep lows are more audible. It also is a bit brighter but there are solutions for that.
 

dante21

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More neutral, much less warmth and a bit less treble but all of it in bit higher quality.
Stereo depth is slightly better on the 599.
Also comfort is different.
how about clarity? the hability to hear everything more clearly and cleanly
 

solderdude

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Initally thought you meant the HD660S but changed my response to HD560S ;)
 

solderdude

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I have never experienced 'the Sennheiser veil'.
I suppose people that find Sennheiser headphones 'veiled' are misinterpreting correct treble levels and perhaps think elevated treble levels are correct because they 'sparkle' more which people like.
Sennheiser HD650/HD6XX/660S/58X sounds 'veiled' in comparison with the AKG K701/702 and Beyerdynamic DT880/990 headphones.

To me the HD560S is a tad too 'bright' but otherwise correct (as in not warm sounding) and address that.
 

SlimCharles

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It could also refer to the lowest consumer Sennheiser models. The 400 and the bt versions are definetly veiled or muddy.

The K701 sounds bright, but it has terrible image clarity.
 

Proffessa

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do anyone in this thread own hd560s and hd600/580/650?
I would love to see if anyone prefer 560s over the legendary 600 and in what fashion.
Yes dude, I have the hd600, hd580 precision (brother's), hd650 (brother's), hd598cs (hated creation) and the hd560s. I love my hd600's. They are lovely phat and soft. They never hurt me. They have excellent imaging but the stage appears inside my head... some describe it as, "between the ear cups". I get the 3 blob effect with the correct track.. ie when something at a set volume level pans from left to right, the amplitude drops off slightly at 11 and 1 o'clock respectively (12 being dead ahead). All the 600 series chassis'd cans I have access to do this. Something to do with the driver axis position with regard to the ear. If you investigate the 600 series driver assembly, you will note that it is a backward aperiodic membrane setup.. much like many OB's.. ie your head forms part of the enclosure wall. Aside from the main aperiodic vent to outside world around the driver, a large percentage of the actual driver cone is loaded by the aperiodic membrane round the edge.. while the "dust cap" is directly open through a 5-6mm deep tube section in the middle. I often try to imagine how this geometry affects the emitted wave front in the high end (there will be higher order modes present) I believe it is this geometry that is responsible for the narrow stage. I belive Hf info is ducted straight down the bore of the ear canal, rather than arriving at the earlobe evenly (depending on head seating position obviously). Earlobe is responsible for directivity perception. The 560s's don't do this.. the phase plug is different and less enclosed and the drivers are aimed back at an angle, firing equally into the lobe and canal. I find the 560s stage to be across in front of my face and some sounds come from out the side, wider than my ears. The stage is definitely wider and further ahead of me than the 600 series. The 560s stage is even in amplitude, across its width too (no three blob). I have had the experience of objects trailing off to the side, behind my ear too from the 560s. The 600 series seems to produce an uneven spherical picture behind my eyes within my skull while the 560s projects the picture on the inside of a fish bowl that I have my head in. The image in both 600 and 560s appear equally focused (even though the stage is wider on the 560s).
As for tonal balance, the 600 are thick in the upper bass/low mid which detracts from the sub bass. They have a lovely mid and top end with gentle skarkle right at the top. The 580 have less sub bass and upper bass/low mid bloom than the 600 but a similar mid/top. The 650 have more sub bass than the 600 which kinda eases the upper bass/lower mid bloom but they have a softer top and less sparkle (folk moaning about the dreaded veil lol). I love them all in their own way. The 560s IS more forward in the top end. It is night and day........ but I don't dislike it. Sparkle is right there up in front of you. The upper bass/lower mids are not bloomed and this allows the sub bass through brilliantly in comparison to the 600 series. I love them. They have sinister weight and grunt at the bottom. Some folk dislike the brighter top and feel it dominates the passband but the 560s top end has never hurt me. They threaten to.. but never actually do. The mids are totally flat to my ear as the fr graphs show. It is funny when I swap fom my 560s to my hd600. It is like someone has wrapped me and the music up in a comfy damped duvet little ball with a cup of coco. Going back to 560s opens out the music up in front of me, bright and clear.
As I say, I love my 560s's as much as I love all of them. The 560s is the slight underdog when it comes to build but I don't mind. They do have an almighty clamp on the succaz.. so i left them stretched over a length of pine bar betwewn the cup hangers every night for a month to solve that. People say the 600 series are ahead in resolution but i don't find this the case. My 560s's sound as accurate as all of them tbh. Then again I've heard beyer fandems say the 600 series sound grainy... I don't hear that either. Maybe I have pants ears lol. For amplification I have access to the ifi zen.. the sabaj pha3 stacked with the sabaj d3 dac (gaming rig)... xduoo mt-602. I have valves from all round the world for both tube amps. Fryazino to svetlana, mullard to valvo, western electric to tung-sol and many more.. reflector, October, ge, zaerix, voskhod, tesla, tantalum, etc. I run tidal hifi+ Btw I don't use eq on any of the cans... I just roll to the most appropriate tube lol. Want to get an Aries2 soon for some r2r love.
Just my 2 cents, hope that helps, peace, Henry xx
ps: I didn't mention the 598cs as they gave me shell shock and ptsd. I will burn them with fire one day xx
Pps: I listen to my 560s's more than any of the others so maybe that means I do like them more.. who knows. Lol xx
 
Last edited:

Brianzurf

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Yes dude, I have the hd600, hd580 precision (brother's), hd650 (brother's), hd598cs (hated creation) and the hd560s. I love my hd600's. They are lovely phat and soft. They never hurt me. They have excellent imaging but the stage appears inside my head... some describe it as, "between the ear cups". I get the 3 blob effect with the correct track.. ie when something at a set volume level pans from left to right, the amplitude drops off slightly at 11 and 1 o'clock respectively (12 being dead ahead). All the 600 series chassis'd cans I have access to do this. Something to do with the driver axis position with regard to the ear. If you investigate the 600 series driver assembly, you will note that it is a backward aperiodic membrane setup.. much like many OB's.. ie your head forms part of the enclosure wall. Aside from the main aperiodic vent to outside world around the driver, a large percentage of the actual driver cone is loaded by the aperiodic membrane round the edge.. while the "dust cap" is directly open through a 5-6mm deep tube section in the middle. I often try to imagine how this geometry affects the emitted wave front in the high end (there will be higher order modes present) I believe it is this geometry that is responsible for the narrow stage. I belive Hf info is ducted straight down the bore of the ear canal, rather than arriving at the earlobe evenly (depending on head seating position obviously). Earlobe is responsible for directivity perception. The 560s's don't do this.. the phase plug is different and less enclosed and the drivers are aimed back at an angle, firing equally into the lobe and canal. I find the 560s stage to be across in front of my face and some sounds come from out the side, wider than my ears. The stage is definitely wider and further ahead of me than the 600 series. The 560s stage is even in amplitude, across its width too (no three blob). I have had the experience of objects trailing off to the side, behind my ear too from the 560s. The 600 series seems to produce an uneven spherical picture behind my eyes within my skull while the 560s projects the picture on the inside of a fish bowl that I have my head in. The image in both 600 and 560s appear equally focused (even though the stage is wider on the 560s).
As for tonal balance, the 600 are thick in the upper bass/low mid which detracts from the sub bass. They have a lovely mid and top end with gentle skarkle right at the top. The 580 have less sub bass and upper bass/low mid bloom than the 600 but a similar mid/top. The 650 have more sub bass than the 600 which kinda eases the upper bass/lower mid bloom but they have a softer top and less sparkle (folk moaning about the dreaded veil lol). I love them all in their own way. The 560s IS more forward in the top end. It is night and day........ but I don't dislike it. Sparkle is right there up in front of you. The upper bass/lower mids are not bloomed and this allows the sub bass through brilliantly in comparison to the 600 series. I love them. They have sinister weight and grunt at the bottom. Some folk dislike the brighter top and feel it dominates the passband but the 560s top end has never hurt me. They threaten to.. but never actually do. The mids are totally flat to my ear as the fr graphs show. It is funny when I swap fom my 560s to my hd600. It is like someone has wrapped me and the music up in a comfy damped duvet little ball with a cup of coco. Going back to 560s opens out the music up in front of me, bright and clear.
As I say, I love my 560s's as much as I love all of them. The 560s is the slight underdog when it comes to build but I don't mind. They do have an almighty clamp on the succaz.. so i left them stretched over a length of pine bar betwewn the cup hangers every night for a month to solve that. People say the 600 series are ahead in resolution but i don't find this the case. My 560s's sound as accurate as all of them tbh. Then again I've heard beyer fandems say the 600 series sound grainy... I don't hear that either. Maybe I have pants ears lol. For amplification I have access to the ifi zen.. the sabaj pha3 stacked with the sabaj d3 dac (gaming rig)... xduoo mt-602. I have valves from all round the world for both tube amps. Fryazino to svetlana, mullard to valvo, western electric to tung-sol and many more.. reflector, October, ge, zaerix, voskhod, tesla, tantalum, etc. I run tidal hifi+ Btw I don't use eq on any of the cans... I just roll to the most appropriate tube lol. Want to get an Aries2 soon for some r2r love.
Just my 2 cents, hope that helps, peace, Henry xx
ps: I didn't mention the 598cs as they gave me shell shock and ptsd. I will burn them with fire one day xx
Pps: I listen to my 560s's more than any of the others so maybe that means I do like them more.. who knows. Lol xx
Copy this review for all the hater’s
 

Proffessa

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Copy this review for all the hater’s
Lol there was this strange guy on YouTube a while back who was cussing the everliving shizzle out of anything that wasn't beyer. He was especially nasty about the sennheiser gear. Said the 560s's were for children lol. I think a pair of sennheisers must have bullied him in school or something. Can't remember his name. Don't think the channel is there anymore xx
 

Robbo99999

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Jimbob54

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here you are...
A review of that review :)

Sometimes he came on ASR too, various aliases at that.
He had some personal issues though.
It got better because he has/ had a nemesis that also used to sock puppet on here unless I am mistaken.
 
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