Sennheiser HD 490 Pro Headphone Review

[Somafunk]

The cable of those looks quite solid. Are the non-balanced cables pin-compatible with Beyers or AKGs or are issues like swapped channels to be expected?

(Of course the balanced cable won't work since the 4th pin is missing on the AKG and Beyer headphones)

Check out hart audio for balanced cables, they also have single ended and are the same as certain Beyerdynamic headphones

Sennheiser

These cables are compatible with Sennheiser headphones. As always, all of our cables are assembled by hand in the US with oxygen free Mogami Copper.

hartaudiocables.com

 

[zonk]

Check out hart audio for balanced cables, they also have single ended and are the same as certain Beyerdynamic headphones

Sennheiser

These cables are compatible with Sennheiser headphones. As always, all of our cables are assembled by hand in the US with oxygen free Mogami Copper.

hartaudiocables.com

The mini XLR exist in a 3-pin and 4-pin version:

4-pin mini XLR (balanced):
The cable for HD490 is for Beyerdynamic DT177X too (4-pin mini XLR).
https://hartaudiocables.com/collect...-pin-mini-xlr-female-balanced-headphone-cable

3-pin mini-XLR (single ended):
- AKG K182, K240, K271 MKII, K371, K550 MKIII, K553 MKII, K702, K712, K721, K7XX, & Q701
- Beyerdynamic DT1770 Pro, DT1990 Pro, DT700 Pro X & DT900 Pro X
- Pioneer HDJ2000, Reloop RHP-20

Balanced cables have no sonically advantage and are not really balanced. Benchmark wrote an article about the myth of balanced headphone outputs:
https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

 

[Limopard]

No need to go balanced. I'm just looking for the cable that generates/transmitts the least mechanical noises.

 

[solderdude]

The cable of those looks quite solid. Are the non-balanced cables pin-compatible with Beyers or AKGs or are issues like swapped channels to be expected?

(Of course the balanced cable won't work since the 4th pin is missing on the AKG and Beyer headphones)

The 3 pin won't fit in a 4-pin as the orientation of the pins differs.

You can only use 4-pin mini XLR with this headphone.

You can have a look in the arsenal of 'openheart cables'.

4-pin (mini)XLR and Pentaconn balanced has advantages when you want to play a bit louder using battery fed devices that need to feed insensitive (high impedance) headphones. You can go about 6dB louder with balanced.

4-wire cables (which all balanced cables are) can have advantages in stereo imaging for low impedance headphones (< 32ohm) when using longer or very thin cables.
Some TRS jack cables are 4-wire, most are 3 wire and there 4-wire can thus have an advantage.

 

[AyeYoYoYO]

You have got to be JOKING, right? Have we gone insane calling a 399 dollar headphone "kind of the low end"? That's more than the 600/650's! There is zero excuse for a headphone not to be target compliant no matter the price, unless the manufacturer deliberately chooses not to follow the Harman curve.
What we're seeing in the graphs is simply a rather broken headphone in the lower regions that will be very bass shy and may produce very bass heavy mixes...

I’m going to respond to this, as if it were a completely earnest, serious post, and not one where you accuse a poster of joking in one regard, then make a joke regarding a related topic.

Are you suggesting that ALL headphone manufacturers, making cans for professional use, audiophile use, or consumer use, should aim for one of the bass-shelf Harman curves ? Or the linear one without the bass shelf, that more closely resembles IEF NEUTRAL ?

Regardless of which choice between those two, any Harman curve still shows a laughably simplified treble/air, when compared to some of the Diffuse field treble/air curves, and thus, should not be showcased as any “standard” to be “compliant” with lol.

I, for one, agree with the harman curves from 300hz-3khz, but that’s where the agreement ends. Their bass shelf curves are not close to ideal at all imho (almost entirely flat from 20hz-300hz would be ideal for me), and their overly simplified and veiled treble/air above 5k is almost equally undesirable for most professional use cases, or for discerning, detail-craving audiophiles, who opt for modern remasters of timeless 20th century classics, whose original recordings, while conceptually gorgeous and genius, sadly contained lots of bad-noise that was completely unavoidable and even undetectable during production, on even the best equipment of their times.

I am a big time supporter of each house proudly maintaining its own products within a range of its own “signature sound”, not some “compliance” to some imagined crowned standard, made in part with frankenstein’d bad data.

Enthusiastic support and belief in questionable data, and board insistence on adhering to what they think is “can’t miss data on consumer preference” or “unavoidable trend lines”, has already yielded quite a few notable crashes/gigantic-losses in many industries already.

While I really strongly tend towards IEF NEUTRAL sub-5k, and KEMAR-KB50XX Diffuse Field above 5k as the ideal combination for studio/reference headphones, and base my demo (and subsequent purchase) decisions, primarily off those targets and several other tertiary metrics, I don’t assume that would be every human’s preferences, due to anatomical differences, especially Pinnae/ear ones, as well as psychological differences, etc

Some imagined world where compliance to a single questionable/arbitrary standard, by many product manufacturers, is akin to thinking a unitary global centralized govt, is a good idea for planetary governance, over vastly different, unique cultures and societies, or lack thereof.

Thank God for mount Beyer surviving these trying times lol.

 

[solderdude]

You were responding to a 1.5 year old post.

For rants against Harman target there are better threads than the HD490 pro thread for instance the thread below.

M

'Harman Curve Compliance'

May 30, 2025

I'm not technically inclined as most of this forum, and I mainly lurk to retain some information and glean some wisdom from time to time. So forgive me if this has been covered already, if this is a stupid question, and/or any negative perceived tone (I am just curious).

One thing that I can't seem to understand here on ASR is this "Harman Curve" for headphones, and the requirement for "compliance" to it as some benchmark. I totally understand a need to have a benchmark to rate things, but I am curious on the why. A quick search tells me that a Harman Curve is

"a target frequency...

• mk05
• Replies: 106
• Forum: Headphones and Headphone Amplifier Reviews

• 

 

[wilhelm2015]

the hd 490 has the best guitar harmonics i ever heard
the bass is unimpressive tho

 

[Robbo99999]

the hd 490 has the best guitar harmonics i ever heard
the bass is unimpressive tho

It's a headphone, not a guitar! Nope, but I know what you meant, you really enjoy how guitars come across on them.

 

[testp]

what impressed me was the difference of sound that comes out between the 2 pads.
best would be a mixture of the two, by eq. - for me.
but if no eq, then velour was my choice (the pads gave more difference in my opinion than just some frequencies, producer pads made sound coming from farther away somehow, yet diffused in some aspects which sounded poorer compared to producer mixer pads) - all subjective of course.

 

[solderdude]

best would be a mixture of the two, by eq. - for me.

That's the HD560S/HD550 but they are missing the HD490 pro comfort.

 

[AyeYoYoYO]

Any HD490 owners here, exclusively using their producer pads only ?

Just tried these yesterday for the first time with the mixer pads. Extremely light/comfy/ergonomic like everyone said. Better imaging/speed/clarity/sub than my beloved HD600, and almost as good of an upper midrange FR as them.

Really good offering from Sennheiser. Was worried they would go downhill after Sonova. Didnt realize Sennheiser only sold their consumer division to Sonova, and the pro division is still kicking, as evidenced by this pleasant surprise.

 

[solderdude]

The time I had them (returned them) I preferred the mixer pads (for sound).
Producer pads were too 'woolly/mushy/fat' for my taste.
Mixer pads too bass-light (a bit HD600-ish) and too 'forward'.
I can see that being helpful for mixing though.

HD550/HD560S is the better choice for producers instead of the HD490pro/producer pads IMO but less comfort.
Comfort: HD490Pro>HD550>HD560S/HD400pro

 

[T1T4N]

im sorry guys but anyone knows why amir in his suggested eq says the change in 7300hz counters brightness and brings the lower treble peak down but he boosts it in eq picture by +4.0 db instead of bringing it down by -4.0 db. is that a mistake and should it be -4.0 instead of +4.0?

 

[staticV3]

Hi @T1T4N! Welcome to ASR.

im sorry guys but anyone knows why amir in his suggested eq says the change in 7300hz counters brightness and brings the lower treble peak down but he boosts it in eq picture by +4.0 db instead of bringing it down by -4.0 db. is that a mistake and should it be -4.0 instead of +4.0?

Have a look at this graph:

Blue: ideal EQ response
Black: Amir's EQ settings

So the boost at 7.4kHz is correct, albeit not placed super precisely.

Most likely, Amir was referring to the 6kHz filter when he said it counteracts brightness, but wrote 7.4kHz by mistake.

 

[Spiral_Architect]

These headphones caught my eye because they seem to have several features that I have come to prefer over the years.

One-sided cable (with balanced option)
Low clamping force by design/out of the box
Relatively light
They even have a small recess in the pad to aid with glasses, apparently
Pads and headband replaceable

I use headphones intensively, 3 days out of 5 working from home 8 hours, and the other two days someone else works from home for 8 hours. So my phones are under pretty heavy usage. Therefore comfort and replaceable parts are key.

But....from seeing the pictures and some comments here and there it appears that the cups are physically smaller than the hd6xx line (I have hd650) and heard some complaints that ears can touch the inner structure. But it seems a bit strange. Are the cups significantly less roomier than hd650 ?

I have and regularly use, at the office, a pair of Bose qc35ii which are pretty compact but have no problem with ears touching drivers so I'm a bit surprised to hear such claim with full-size circumaurals.

 

[solderdude]

Are the cups significantly less roomier than hd650 ?

HD6**
Inner Pad dimensions: oval shaped height: 62mm, Width: 40mm, depth: 20mm

HD490 PRO:
Inner pad dimensions: oval shaped height: 65mm , width: 46mm, depth: 26mm rear, 19mm front

HD490 PRO has more room for the ears than HD6** series.

Not all ears are created equal and not all people are bothered with ears touching the drivers.
I mean .... lots of MDR7506 owners are not really bothered by the small room for the ears:
MDR-7506:
Inner Pad dimensions: Height: 50mm, width: 38mm, depth: 14mm, oval shaped

I have and regularly use, at the office, a pair of Bose qc35ii which are pretty compact but have no problem with ears touching drivers so I'm a bit surprised to hear such claim with full-size circumaurals.

Bose QC35-II:
Inner Pad dimensions: height: 60mm, width: 40mm, depth: 28mm rear, 16mm front

 

[Spiral_Architect]

HD6**
Inner Pad dimensions: oval shaped height: 62mm, Width: 40mm, depth: 20mm

HD490 PRO:
Inner pad dimensions: oval shaped height: 65mm , width: 46mm, depth: 26mm rear, 19mm front

HD490 PRO has more room for the ears than HD6** series.

Not all ears are created equal and not all people are bothered with ears touching the drivers.
I mean .... lots of MDR7506 owners are not really bothered by the small room for the ears:
MDR-7506:
Inner Pad dimensions: Height: 50mm, width: 38mm, depth: 14mm, oval shaped



Bose QC35-II:
Inner Pad dimensions: height: 60mm, width: 40mm, depth: 28mm rear, 16mm front

Many thanks for the measurements. So I can assume that they will be comfortable enough. My hd650 are almost 15 years old, they still work but I might want to try something different. Hd660s2 could also be an option to remain in the same line. Comfort wise the issue is clamping force, I applied the gentle bending of the metal supports method to the hd650 and it became very comfortable ever since.

I like the sound of hd650 with oratory1990 EQ profile, but I'm open to try something different. From various measurements including the ones reported here the hd490 looks like a good starting point that responds well to EQ and different pad options.

 

[dfuller]

I own both HD6xx and HD490 pro. The 490s to me sound more "correct" sans EQ, at least with the mixing pads. I didn't like the producing pads as much.

 

[Pekka Perämoottori]

My hd650 are almost 15 years old, they still work but I might want to try something different.

Neutral, top-of-the-line audio equipment should not be replaced for fun and variety. It's like replacing your faithful dog or old lady with another brand for fun.

Instead, it's worth replacing the ear cushions and headband cushion of your HD 650!

Replacing the cushions on the HD 6xx is like changing the oil and oil filter on a Volkswagen. A basic maintenance task that MUST be done at regular intervals so that the old champion remains the champion.

Their replacement interval is 2-3 years in typical use, so now is really HIGH time! 15 years with the same (?) cushions already meets the criteria for GROSS neglect of maintenance and care...

With cushions that are so squished, the HD 6xx loses its neutral magic. If it gets this bad, the audiophilist user will start to have their ears twitching, mouse hand shaking and have these restless delusions about changing the headphones and other messes.

An estimated 95% of the HD 6xx-bashing posts in the internet (that aren't plain trolling), are made with cushions that were worn to complete final years ago.

So, REMEMBER. HD 6xx. 2-3 years of active listening. And new cushions.
Other headphones you can actively forget today, tomorrow and even ten years from now because the roundness of the audio version of the round wheel doesn't change over time. New headphones come, and especially go, but the Sennheiser HD 6xx will remain.

 

[Spiral_Architect]

Neutral, top-of-the-line audio equipment should not be replaced for fun and variety. It's like replacing your faithful dog or old lady with another brand for fun.

Instead, it's worth replacing the ear cushions and headband cushion of your HD 650!

Replacing the cushions on the HD 6xx is like changing the oil and oil filter on a Volkswagen. A basic maintenance task that MUST be done at regular intervals so that the old champion remains the champion.

Their replacement interval is 2-3 years in typical use, so now is really HIGH time! 15 years with the same (?) cushions already meets the criteria for GROSS neglect of maintenance and care...

With cushions that are so squished, the HD 6xx loses its neutral magic. If it gets this bad, the audiophilist user will start to have their ears twitching, mouse hand shaking and have these restless delusions about changing the headphones and other messes.

An estimated 95% of the HD 6xx-bashing posts in the internet (that aren't plain trolling), are made with cushions that were worn to complete final years ago.

So, REMEMBER. HD 6xx. 2-3 years of active listening. And new cushions.
Other headphones you can actively forget today, tomorrow and even ten years from now because the roundness of the audio version of the round wheel doesn't change over time. New headphones come, and especially go, but the Sennheiser HD 6xx will remain.

Never did I state that the pads or headband are 15 years old...
They have been replaced, at least 2-3 times. The last time I don't remember exactly. The hd650 did not see such heavy usage as others. I have 2-3 headphones that I rotate and use in different places. For work and daily usage I mostly used a dt990 pro, still 15 years old, which pads were replaced even more times.

That is the set that I might be replacing with something else, to be used alongside the hd650. The dt990 pro is durable and built like a tank but now that I use EQ consistently across all sources I am starting to have a different standard/preference and I have grown a bit tired of their overly sparkly treble that can't be satisfactorily fixed with EQ.

So I might find another "main" headphone, with replaceable pads/band to last another 15 years and rotate 50/50 with the hd650. That could be the hd490.

As another option, I wouldn't mind using the hd650 90% of the time, as I did with the dt990, and buying something cheaper but with different features. For example a closed set for when I want a bit more isolation (I was eyeing the Fiio ft1). Probably this last idea makes more sense as I can put the heavy use on the hd650 that has fully replaceable wearable parts and I agree with you is a top of the line headphone and might probably last another 15 years.

I'll decide with no rush...