Sennheiser HD 490 Pro Headphone Review

[Carlo2AC]

Put Amir's distortion measurements into context using:

1. Distortion audibility thresholds:
View attachment 365173

2. Music spectra:
View attachment 365174

3. Actual listening volumes:

How loud do you like your music?

I'm interested in how loud you enjoy your music. For this purpose I propose A weighted, slow SPL measuring. I'm also proposing a clean, well produced song that is not bass heavy to avoid subjective impressions of low frequencies (Hey Nineteen - Steely Dan). Since music material varies in dB, I...

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..and all of a sudden the distortion alarmism becomes a bit silly.

How should I apply this in regard to the HD800s https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd800s-review-headphone.18424/

Help a layman out, Harman bass shelf on it is still in the inaudible area in regard to distortion?

 

[solderdude]

Which are more comfortable - 490 pro or HD800S?

They are both comfortable but feel completely different on the head.
When you live in a warmer climate the HD800(S) would probably be the best choice.
Not all people are equally charmed by the large pads and loose fit of the HD800, others love it.

Returned my HD490Pro, still own the HD800 if that's an indication.

 

[solderdude]

How should I apply this in regard to the HD800s https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd800s-review-headphone.18424/

Help a layman out, Harman bass shelf on it is still in the inaudible area in regard to distortion?

Depends on how loud one usually plays their music and how much low bass you want.
I can play my HD800 pretty loud without any signs of 'rougher' sound but admit I am not a Harman bass level fan and prefer a few dB less bass boost and on top of that usually only listen at low levels or moderately loud levels if needed.

Stereo imaging and 'spaciousness' goes to the HD800.
The HD490Pro is closer to the HD560S in many ways but with more comfort and the choice of 2 somewhat different tonal characters without any EQ.
A HD560 with some tone control can sound exactly alike but will just have different comfort.

 

[GaryH]

Quite similar distortion with 560S:

I suspect that 560S was a one-off defective unit. Oratory measured the 560S with significantly lower distortion than that, around the same as the 490 Pro (which makes sense considering they use the same driver):

So there isn't even distortion performance to favor the 490 Pro over the much cheaper 560S in terms of sound quality.

 

[johny_2000]

I can play my HD800 pretty loud without any signs of 'rougher' sound but admit I am not a Harman bass level fan

I respect your personal preference regarding bass level.

On the contrary, I am a bass fan and look for any open-back headphones in the world that can reproduce deep sub-bass without much distortion.
Do you think the HD 800 S with very powerful amplifier and parametric equalizers should be given a chance?

P.S Currently, I have an HD 650 and an HD 490 Pro. I'll be keeping a close eye on Fostex TH-808 availability and reviews in the coming weeks.

 

[solderdude]

Do you think the HD 800 S with very powerful amplifier and parametric equalizers should be given a chance?

You need a semi-open headphone for that (one with closed front volume)
I'd look into the Audeze LCD range for that.

For the HD800S to reach 120 Phon at 20Hz you will need 12V = 0.4W

 

[Rhamnetin]

I could be wrong, but this seems like Sennheiser's best performing over-ear headphone based on FR compliance with a popular target, THD, and phase distortion.

 

[Robbo99999]

I could be wrong, but this seems like Sennheiser's best performing over-ear headphone based on FR compliance with a popular target, THD, and phase distortion.

Well, it's not that close to the Harman Target and distortion performance is OK. It's not outstanding or special on those two items. It looks like quite a nice smooth frequency response though to be sucessfully EQ'd.

 

[AryaStealth]

johny_2000, even though Sennheiser HD 800/800S has large drivers unfortunately its thin earpads are designed to give you less than perfect/loose seal which significantly reduces the quality of subbass (with 10db bass boost to EQ it to Harman target curve you will hear subbass presence but you will not really feel it, your head will not be vibrating). I think you'd better try some planar headphones that offer very good seal and are known for detailed sound/high resolution and bass slam when EQed to Harman/similar curve. Audeze LCD-X, if I'm not mistaken, is often recommended for bass, and LCD-5 for smooth and perfect treble and high resolution with carefully done EQ. I would recomend you to find a store that has in stock as much as possible Audeze and Hifiman headphones to listen to, and go there and listen to them using Oratory's PEQ settings, and you will probably find the headphone that sounds great to you. Price of the headphones doesn't really matter when you use EQ to boost low frequencies on planar headphones, what matters is unit to unit variation and perfect seal, so your goal is to find a comfortable planar headphone that matches its average/smoothed measurments to get the best sound/subbass with ready-made PEQ settings from Oratory's page on reddit (try more than one unit of the same headphones, they all sound a bit different). I also suggest you to download Sonarworks 4 which has many Audeze profiles, you may prefer their 5 or 6db bass boosted curve over Harman because it has more warmth and slight subbass rolloff, and later on order an individual headphone calibration to benefit from the perfect channel balance and more accurate measurments on your planar headphones. As a free alternative to Sonarworks you may try ToneBoosters Morphit vst which has its own headphone calibration target curve as well as Harman curve, and it supports many other headphones, which Sonarworks didn't measure, like Hifiman edition XS and Arya Stealth (but as always it's a bit hit and miss with averaged measurments, but still a free decent alternative to Oratory's PEQ settings).