Absolute Transparency

[Chris Kelly]

My HD 600 arrived. I love the cosmetics, including the softer inner earpieces compared to the harder ones on the HD 559 and HD 599. The back is fully open, covered with that steel screenlike material, as opposed to partially open like on the HD 559 and HD 599, which might help a little bit with width in the soundstage. Volume wise, I know the 300-Ohm impedance was a concern of everyone else if I connect these directly to my laptop. I only need to increase the volume level from 25% to 37.5% to achieve the level I'm used to when using my laptop. Either my laptop's headphone output is louder than everyone else thinks it is, or everyone else likes to have their ears ring after they finish listening. Tone wise, I have mixed feelings. When generating a 20Hz sinewave in Audacity, to my surprise, the HD 600 has more natural resonance than the HD 559. Here's where I can't tell how I feel about the HD 600. So far, speech and singers have a quality in between that of a telephone earpiece and extra bass resonance. Those ambient background noises sound more natural than with the HD 559 and HD 599. Amazon's holiday return policy gives me until late January to decide. Are heavier mids in speech and singers inevitable when low-bass, mid-bass, and upper-bass/low-mids are more neutral?

 

[solderdude]

The back is fully open, covered with that steel screenlike material, as opposed to partially open like on the HD 559 and HD 599, which might help a little bit with width in the soundstage.

Soundstage is not related to the headphone being open. It is related to the angle and frequency response. The HD559 and 599 have angled drivers, the HD600 does not.
That said, the boomy character of the 559/599 reduces the 'open sound' character a bit (the frequency response part).

I suggest to not compare the headphones and listen to the HD600 exclusively for a while and see if you like the sound and decide on that.

 

[thewas]

Soundstage is not related to the headphone being open.

According to some sources there can be a small influence:

Soundstage describes the perceived space and environment of sound, as created by the headphones' acoustics. This makes the audio you hear feel like it's coming from speakers in a room rather than headphones on your head.

Results: Soundstage is the main difference between open and closed headphones. By design, open headphones let in a lot of ambient noise so that the audio you're listening to feels like it's part of your environment, and not coming directly from the headphones on your ears. Leakage gives the listener the subtle ambiance of the room, and the openness of the headphones dictate how spacious the soundstage will feel.

This means, unlike closed headphones that have limited acoustic interaction with the objects and walls in your environment, open headphones encourage these subtle effects, which enhance sound quality and make it a more immersive listening experience. Some closed-back models attempt to provide a more spacious soundstage electronically, via app support and software presets. However, they still don't excite the acoustics of your surroundings like open-back headphones, which is significant when critically listening.

Source: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/learn/open-vs-closed-back

Some also claim there can be some channel crosstalk on very open headphones which can make the soundstage sound more similar to the one of loudspeakers.

In the end of course the influence is probably very small, but its good to be mentioned for the reason of completeness.

 

[Chris Kelly]

Does the HD 560S have the fully open-back design like the HD 600, or the partially open-back design like the HD 559 and HD 599? Are the 560S drivers angled or straight? Are the inner earpieces soft like the 600 or hard like the 559 and 599?

 

[solderdude]

Does the HD 560S have the fully open-back design like the HD 600, or the partially open-back design like the HD 559 and HD 599? Are the 560S drivers angled or straight? Are the inner earpieces soft like the 600 or hard like the 559 and 599?

HD560S is the same construction as HD559/599 with similar pads (firmness) and same angle.
Smaller holes and foam covering the mesh on the inside so maybe damp outside noises a tiny bit more than HD600.

Some also claim there can be some channel crosstalk on very open headphones which can make the soundstage sound more similar to the one of loudspeakers.

Weird claim. Test this yourself. Use an open headphone that is dual entry. Pull the plug on one side. Play music. Can you hear something on the disconnected side ?
Maybe even test in the bathroom... I hear nothing on the not connected side, certainly not some echos that would bring the illusion of a large room.

Cable crosstalk (with 3 wire cables + low impedance headphones) is a much worse offender than any echo from the other side

Rtings had to put a 'number' on soundstage so they came up with this theory.
The open character lets sounds in which lets you hear room sounds which may help with the recreation (including the eyes) of a more spatial feel though. That's probably what they meant. When one is in a quiet room and hears no outside sounds at all the open nature of the headphone will not add to that 'spacious' effects.

 

[Chris Kelly]

HD560S is the same construction as HD559/599 with similar pads (firmness) and same angle.
Smaller holes and foam covering the mesh on the inside so maybe damp outside noises a tiny bit more than HD600.



Weird claim. Test this yourself. Use an open headphone that is dual entry. Pull the plug on one side. Play music. Can you hear something on the disconnected side ?
Maybe even test in the bathroom... I hear nothing on the not connected side, certainly not some echos that would bring the illusion of a large room.

Cable crosstalk (with 3 wire cables + low impedance headphones) is a much worse offender than any echo from the other side

Rtings had to put a 'number' on soundstage so they came up with this theory.
The open character lets sounds in which lets you hear room sounds which may help with the recreation (including the eyes) of a more spatial feel though. That's probably what they meant. When one is in a quiet room and hears no outside sounds at all the open nature of the headphone will not add to that 'spacious' effects.

The 560S has similar construction to the 559/599? Does that include the partial open-back, as opposed to the full open-back of the HD 600?

 

[solderdude]

Yes, same construction as black HD599 but without the chrome accents.

 

[Chris Kelly]

Here's where I stand so far. For movies, TV shows, and Amazon MP3 editions of "Thriller" and "Uptown Funk," I prefer the HD 600. For singers like Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, and Enya, I prefer the HD 559. For Classical music and modern folk choral music like you'd hear in American Catholic churches, I can't tell if/whether I prefer the HD 559 or HD 600. If the mellowness I like when listening to certain genres isn't faithful to how they sound in person, then I'll try to go with the HD 600 all across the board.

 

[Chris Kelly]

I livestreamed some services at my church comparing my HD 559, HD 599, and HD 600. Being that I cantor there and know how everyone and everything sound in person, I thought it would be one of the best references I've got right in front of my face at this point. The HD 559 made everyone sound a little muffled and reminded me of when a tape and the head of a cassette player aren't close enough to each other. The HD 599 added treble, but still have that muffled quality of the HD 559. The HD 600 cleared things up with very little telephone earpiece effect, and maybe none at all. I'd imagine I'd get more of the telephone earpiece effect and too much silibance with the HD 560S based on what solderdude said about its huge bump between 4KHz and 6KHz.

 

[Chris Kelly]

I'm thinking about adding the HD 560S to my collection for its lower frequency response and more neutral bass. I have a feeling I'll be getting rid of my Yamaha YH-E700A Bluetooth headphones and Sennheiser HD 559, and keeping my Sennheiser HD 599 mainly because of its shorter official cable, HD 560S when I get it, and Sennheiser
HD 600. I'll probably wind up alternating between the 560S and 600 according to what I'm listening to. While I don't have meters and test dummy heads, I do have tone generation software to determine performance at the extreme ends of the audio spectrum, and plenty of source material for subjective listening. While it doesn't cut into the mids that much, I'm starting to think that the HD 600 is boosting bass a little bit compared to the HD 560S. But again, at this point, I'm leaning towards alternating between the 600 and 560S.

 

[Chris Kelly]

Does the silibance of the HD 560S only show up in scientific tests, or will everything have harsh overtones within the 4KHz-6KHz register?

 

[Chris Kelly]

Does the silibance of the HD 560S only show up in scientific tests, or will everything have harsh overtones within the 4KHz-6KHz register?

After spending a few hours with the HD 560S, I didn't notice any silibance so far. Everything I've heard from my HD 599, HD 600, and HD 560 S confirms the low-bass through high-treble numbers given in each model's respective rtings.com review. When playing Blu-rays and DVDs of movies and shows, livestreaming my church, and listening to a few genres of music, I do notice speech and singing with the HD 560 S have a realism the HD 600 just didn't have, possibly because of the HD 600's elevation in the high-bass register. Also, I do get more bass with the HD 560 S, possibly because of its closer-to-0dB low-bass and mid-bass than the HD 600. Without EQ, I think this is the best I'll get. And when maxing out the volume and generating sinewaves below 25Hz via Audacity, the HD 560 S does show its low-bass capabilities. While I don't think I could be happier listening without EQ at comfortable listening levels, it would be a nice bonus if I could just increase those low-bass levels. The equalizer in my Realtek/Bang & Olufsen software is the worst equalizer I've ever used. Being that I have until January 31st to decide whether to return the HD 559, HD 560 S, or HD 600, I think I'm going to wait until mid January to give me that extra time I'd need to be absolutely sure which headphones I'm keeping and which headphones I'm returning.

 

[Chris Kelly]

Audio wize, I can't help thinking the HD 560 S is of HD 58X/600/650/660S/6XX calibre. After eight months with the HD 599, I realized that back in February, I bought several headphones to evaluate at once with only thirty days to evaluate them, not enough time to spend with them playing multiple sources to make prudent decisions. So since October, I decided to take advantage of the time allowed to me by Amazon's holiday return policy and reevaluate them.

 

[solderdude]

HD560S does not have sibilance but a bit too much brightness.

 

[Chris Kelly]

HD560S does not have sibilance but a bit too much brightness.

So far, dialog and singers do sound a little clearer than the HD 600, but they still have plenty of overtones. If I notice they sound more like they're being heard through a telephone, I hope I make this discovery before late January.

 

[napfkuchen]

Already got a 560s for my gaming rig, so I'm thinking about adding another one to my music / home office setup. The 560s is said to have a wider stereo panorama than the 600-series which is a pro for me (also the light build and comfortable fit). If EQ is used is there even a perceivable difference between 560s, 660s or 6xx?

 

[Chris Kelly]

Already got a 560s for my gaming rig, so I'm thinking about adding another one to my music / home office setup. The 560s is said to have a wider stereo panorama than the 600-series which is a pro for me (also the light build and comfortable fit). If EQ is used is there even a perceivable difference between 560s, 660s or 6xx?

Without EQ, I think the 560 S sounds better than the HD 600. However, the 560S has hidden capability between 6Hz and 25Hz which will only show either by (1) raising the volume so high that you wind up with ringing in your ears after you listen, or (2) the better way, using EQ to boost the 6Hz-25Hz area. The Realtek software and laptop hardware seem to suck when attempting EQing. Without EQ, I prefer the 560 S. Boosting that 6Hz-25Hz area with EQ would be perfection!