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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

hellshinoda

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Can I have a question for EQ (Harman) use with headphones? How should we adjust the EQ when the Pads broke in (or even broke down)? What is the frequency range impacted which we should adjust accordingly?
 

Jimbob54

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Can I have a question for EQ (Harman) use with headphones? How should we adjust the EQ when the Pads broke in (or even broke down)? What is the frequency range impacted which we should adjust accordingly?
Your ears will do that for you. Oratory sometimes measures worn pads so for a general idea you could look at some of those measurements but if you wear them regularly from new to old you arent likely to put them on one day and they sound "different" . And if they do, probably noticeable in the bass which is relatively easy to adjust.

Which is a different problem to buying second hand with worn pads - I would suggest in that situation , best to get replacement new pads and use the "new" EQ.
 

MayaTlab

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Can I have a question for EQ (Harman) use with headphones? How should we adjust the EQ when the Pads broke in (or even broke down)? What is the frequency range impacted which we should adjust accordingly?

I don't have a lot of experience with the HD5... series, but my HD560S' pads seem to hold up over time better than the pre-2021 pads for the HD6... series (no experience with the newer post-2021 HD6... pads).

Difficult to exactly predict what the results of pads breaking in over time will be for you, but for the HD6... series the various measurements we have on ear simulators comparing fresh and worn out pads suggest that it might be decently well correlated to how they behave under pad compression, so the latter might be a useful test to guesstimate what the effect of pads ageing might be for the HD560S.

This is from Solderdude's article on earpads :
Screenshot 2022-06-23 at 16.45.06.png


I also tend to get very similar results under pad compression when measuring the HD560S with in-ear mics.
 

Robbo99999

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Can I have a question for EQ (Harman) use with headphones? How should we adjust the EQ when the Pads broke in (or even broke down)? What is the frequency range impacted which we should adjust accordingly?
Yes, good points Jimbob. @hellshinoda , I'd recommend you put on new earpads whenever you think they've worn down too much, that way you can be sure the EQ is at it's most valid. Pads are not too expensive on the HD560s, which is good! (Buy the genuine pads from Sennheiser, to be sure that the frequency response stays the same, which means the EQ stays valid.)
Your ears will do that for you. Oratory sometimes measures worn pads so for a general idea you could look at some of those measurements but if you wear them regularly from new to old you arent likely to put them on one day and they sound "different" . And if they do, probably noticeable in the bass which is relatively easy to adjust.

Which is a different problem to buying second hand with worn pads - I would suggest in that situation , best to get replacement new pads and use the "new" EQ.
 

Jimbob54

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solderdude

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Neftun

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Please do advise if I am on thin ice here.

Would an negative eq curve benefit the bass on these?

As in taking the treble down some, and lowering the global volume. Will the bass distort the same way?
 

solderdude

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I really have no idea what exactly you are asking and what bass distortion you are talking about.
Lowering the treble will not affect bass anyway.
 

Robbo99999

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Please do advise if I am on thin ice here.

Would an negative eq curve benefit the bass on these?

As in taking the treble down some, and lowering the global volume. Will the bass distort the same way?
It doesn't matter which way round you do it, EQ is EQ, regardless of whether you instead put a bass boost in and then apply a negative preamp to cover it vs the other method of applying negative EQ to the rest of the curve and not boosting the bass. As long as the EQ results in the same target curve, then they will sound the same. I'm thinking that's what you're asking. So there's no benefit.
 

Neftun

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It doesn't matter which way round you do it, EQ is EQ, regardless of whether you instead put a bass boost in and then apply a negative preamp to cover it vs the other method of applying negative EQ to the rest of the curve and not boosting the bass. As long as the EQ results in the same target curve, then they will sound the same. I'm thinking that's what you're asking. So there's no benefit.
It was exactly what I was asking, thanks.

I've seen zeos on yt on his review of eq's from jds and schiit, and he made such a claim, negative eq is better.

I've tried eq`ing on various devices, and feel I don't quite get the results i want, so was hoping the negative approach would fix things, but it is complicated.

So I'll try just the normal approach instead.

Thanks again for replying.
 

Robbo99999

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It was exactly what I was asking, thanks.

I've seen zeos on yt on his review of eq's from jds and schiit, and he made such a claim, negative eq is better.

I've tried eq`ing on various devices, and feel I don't quite get the results i want, so was hoping the negative approach would fix things, but it is complicated.

So I'll try just the normal approach instead.

Thanks again for replying.
Yeah, it won't make a difference, as long as Total EQ Curve is the same - ie the sum of all the filters (and also in other words hitting the same target curve) - which is possible to achieve by using the two different "methods".
 

Neftun

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I really have no idea what exactly you are asking and what bass distortion you are talking about.
Lowering the treble will not affect bass anyway.
The idea, if valid, is that lowering treble and global volume in eq, and then turing up volume on amp, will in fact boost bass.
 

solderdude

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Yes, you can either boost that what needs boosting and then need to apply a negative pre-amp effectively lowering that what is not boosted.
This is the same as lowering that what is not boosted and not applying negative feedback.

So it does not matter much, only the slopes and used bandfilters will be somewhat different in shape.

Of course when you do not apply the needed negative pre-amp in both cases, the case where a boost is used might distort when where only lowing is used there cannot ever be distortion.
 

Robbo99999

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The idea, if valid, is that lowering treble and global volume in eq, and then turing up volume on amp, will in fact boost bass.
Yep, exactly, that's all that EQ is regardless of which method you use. And that's exactly the same as using positive EQ filters say on the bass and then applying a negative preamp - you'd still need to turn up the volume on the amp to reach the same loudness......and yes that's how the bass is boosted as all other areas of the frequency response are lowered in relation - so it doesn't matter how you do it as long as the Total EQ Curve is the same.
 

Neftun

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Yep, exactly, that's all that EQ is regardless of which method you use. And that's exactly the same as using positive EQ filters say on the bass and then applying a negative preamp - you'd still need to turn up the volume on the amp to reach the same loudness......and yes that's how the bass is boosted as all other areas of the frequency response are lowered in relation - so it doesn't matter how you do it as long as the Total EQ Curve is the same.
I have the luxury of working part time in a store with the HD560 on demo, so I've been trying it out connected to a Fiio K5 pro, using just a lighting adapter from my phone, and I am impressed.

Maybe, on some tracks, like Bullets On Parade or BFG Division, the bass was a bit lacking, but I didn't miss bass on other more sombre tracks. Daft Punk and Pink Floyd sounded absolutely beautiful.

I might just get me a pair:)
 

Robbo99999

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I have the luxury of working part time in a store with the HD560 on demo, so I've been trying it out connected to a Fiio K5 pro, using just a lighting adapter from my phone, and I am impressed.

Maybe, on some tracks, like Bullets On Parade or BFG Division, the bass was a bit lacking, but I didn't miss bass on other more sombre tracks. Daft Punk and Pink Floyd sounded absolutely beautiful.

I might just get me a pair:)
Yeah, it's a good headphone, and has some well above average bass extension in comparison to other open backed headphones.....and then with EQ obviously you can sort that out to improve the bass & everything else further. Try the Oratory EQ's if you've not tried them yet.
 

sharock

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Finally bagged a discounted factory refurb pair for £105.

 

Robbo99999

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Finally bagged a discounted factory refurb pair for £105.

A new pair is only £139 on Amazon for a while now, but still you saved £34 beyond that, which is good especially if the refurb process is robust (not sure how Sennheiser do on their refurbs). Have you tried them out yet? Stock or EQ'd, how do you find them?
 

sharock

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A new pair is only £139 on Amazon for a while now, but still you saved £34 beyond that, which is good especially if the refurb process is robust (not sure how Sennheiser do on their refurbs). Have you tried them out yet? Stock or EQ'd, how do you find them?

I've read good things about their factory refurbs. I was keeping an eye out for used pairs and missed a couple on eBay that went for £99 and £109.99.

They have only just shipped so hopefully they will land in the next couple of days from Germany.

Plan is to try out some AutoEQ configs and compare them to my HD650, D7000 and K371. I'm fairly certain stock will be lacking in bass for my taste.
 
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