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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: 170 40.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 226 53.2%

  • Total voters
    425

Yearofthegoat

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I've arranged to return my HD 560S, and have asked for a replacement set, rather than a refund.

Hopefully I'll get a good set this time, without the imbalance. Fingers crossed.
 

krumpol

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I think I do enjoy my headphones more now that they can be set up with perfect channel balance, some of that is placebo but some of it is real [..]
I think I notice it most in panning effects, they're a lot more smoother and predictable (as they move about on the soundstage)
Uh huh.
Thank you for your subjective opinion anyway.
 

Robbo99999

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Uh huh.
Thank you for your subjective opinion anyway.
lol, I don't think what I said was that unlikely, there's a rational to it that relates to my experience, but it wasn't a controlled experiment so that's why I said some of it could be placebo, but if you think that channel imbalance doesn't affect imaging then you're mistaken. None of my 3 units of HD560s really require channel balance EQ though, as they're almost perfectly balanced between channels on all 3 of my units according to my miniDSP EARS measurements - instead I'm more relaying my experience with other headphones I have that have poor channel balance.
 
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krumpol

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lol, I don't think what I said was that unlikely, there's a rational to it that relates to my experience, but it wasn't a controlled experiment so that's why I said some of it could be placebo
Uh huh.
Unless you successfuly ran a blind tests, all the differences you think you allegedly hear in "soundstage" or "imaging" is your subjective opinion.
 

Robbo99999

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Uh huh.
Unless you successfuly ran a blind tests, all the differences you think you allegedly hear in "soundstage" or "imaging" is your subjective opinion.
It's not really subjective opinion, it's obvious that channel balance will affect imaging within the soundstage, but where the limits of recognition are in terms of being able to distinguish between channels that are balanced within +/- whatever dB of each other (and within which frequency bands) then that is more open to debate. There's not much to get your knickers in a twist over this. I choose to measure all the different models of headphone I have & then to match the channels perfectly throughout the frequency range (pretty much) using per channel EQ, and I'm happy I can do so. I will add again though, that the 3 units of HD560s I own match each other and also each others channels almost perfectly and don't really require per channel EQ, and that is in quite stark contrast to the other headphone brands & models I own.
 
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xavx

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@solderdude Thanks for testing the Potayu pads. Got them today and they don't match your description of being softer than the originals. Mine have denser foam (not softer) than the Sennheiser pads, providing more distance between the drivers and ears. I find them more comfortable and of better quality than the originals (might change with time). Definitely worth it for people with ears touching the swivel notches. Package also includes extra dampening foam which I didn't use.
 

krumpol

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It's not really subjective opinion
Uh huh.
When you "think you notice something" or when you "think you enjoy it more", which is your wording, it's pretty much clear you can't be sure whether you hear any difference or not. Either you can successfuly pass blind tests and confirm what you think you hear, or you cannot. That's all what separates objectivity from your subjective opinion.

it's obvious that channel balance will affect imaging within the soundstage
It is, also it's obvious you cannot be sure to correctly pinpoint the difference with each of your equalised/unequalised cans by ear, unless you can successfuly pass blind tests afterward. Until then - subjective opinion.

but where the limits of recognition are in terms of being able to distinguish between channels that are balanced within +/- whatever dB of each other (and within which frequency bands) then that is more open to debate.
Exactly, so do the blind tests on your equalised/unequalised cans and let me know how it went, please. Could you distinguish the difference successfuly in each case or not?

I choose to measure all the different models of headphone [..] and I'm happy I can do so.
I really do believe you are happy, otherwise your miniDSP EARS would be just overpriced headphone stand, right? Can you really pinpoint the difference by ear and prove it in blind tests though? Your happiness is just as subjective in this case as what you "think you notice".
 

_thelaughingman

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Uh huh.
When you "think you notice something" or when you "think you enjoy it more", which is your wording, it's pretty much clear you can't be sure whether you hear any difference or not. Either you can successfuly pass blind tests and confirm what you think you hear, or you cannot. That's all what separates objectivity from your subjective opinion.


It is, also it's obvious you cannot be sure to correctly pinpoint the difference with each of your equalised/unequalised cans by ear, unless you can successfuly pass blind tests afterward. Until then - subjective opinion.


Exactly, so do the blind tests on your equalised/unequalised cans and let me know how it went, please. Could you distinguish the difference successfuly in each case or not?


I really do believe you are happy, otherwise your miniDSP EARS would be just overpriced headphone stand, right? Can you really pinpoint the difference by ear and prove it in blind tests though? Your happiness is just as subjective in this case as what you "think you notice".
I’ve been noticing your back and forth and still can’t point out if you’re just here to “deny” and discredit his opinion or want more objective evidence?
 
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krumpol

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I’ve been noticing your back and forth and still can’t point out if you’re just here to “deny” and discredit his opinion or want more subjective evidence?
Fair enough. I'm here for objective evidence that @Robbo99999 can hear the difference between equalised and unequalised channels on his cans, since he has advised folks to buy measuring equipment in order to improve their listening experience based on nothing else than his subjective opinion.
 

Robbo99999

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Uh huh.
When you "think you notice something" or when you "think you enjoy it more", which is your wording, it's pretty much clear you can't be sure whether you hear any difference or not. Either you can successfuly pass blind tests and confirm what you think you hear, or you cannot. That's all what separates objectivity from your subjective opinion.


It is, also it's obvious you cannot be sure to correctly pinpoint the difference with each of your equalised/unequalised cans by ear, unless you can successfuly pass blind tests afterward. Until then - subjective opinion.


Exactly, so do the blind tests on your equalised/unequalised cans and let me know how it went, please. Could you distinguish the difference successfuly in each case or not?


I really do believe you are happy, otherwise your miniDSP EARS would be just overpriced headphone stand, right? Can you really pinpoint the difference by ear and prove it in blind tests though? Your happiness is just as subjective in this case as what you "think you notice".
Sorry, I'm not going to jump through hoops for you, I've given my opinion & experience re channel balance merit, but I'm not going to jump through hoops for you. But I will add that in the past I have put channel balance EQ on an on/off button in EqualiserAPO, and blind clicked on it many times so I didn't know whether it was on matched or unmatched (whilst listening to music) - and each time I guessed correctly when it was matched - I think I did this around 6+ times in a row....can't remember which headphone, think it was K702 though......but no I'm not gonna be jumping through any hoops for you.
 

Yearofthegoat

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This is all moot, if course. Robbo could video himself passing a blind test and people who don't think it possible to hear channel imbalance (frequencies, not gross imbalance) would claim it was faked.

Same as any anecdotal reports on the internet.

Robbo clearly gets a benefit from his balancing method. If I want to try it, I will, but that decision would be on me, not him.

Anyway, I still haven't received a replacement set of HD560S's yet, so I'm using my ATH-M20X and getting sweaty ears :(
 

Robbo99999

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This is all moot, if course. Robbo could video himself passing a blind test and people who don't think it possible to hear channel imbalance (frequencies, not gross imbalance) would claim it was faked.

Same as any anecdotal reports on the internet.

Robbo clearly gets a benefit from his balancing method. If I want to try it, I will, but that decision would be on me, not him.

Anyway, I still haven't received a replacement set of HD560S's yet, so I'm using my ATH-M20X and getting sweaty ears :(
Well, that's right, it's not important enough for me to to go to all the trouble of doing some kind of video. But yeah, it makes sense that good channel balance is a thing, it would be akin to sitting in the sweet spot of two speakers, equidistant.....and it's obvious that if you're off to the left or right if affects the imaging. Or you can try it yourself by turning one of the channels in your headphone down. I'm not here to try to prove it's important to match the channels of your headphone within +/- whatever dB of each other.....just I decided a while back that I was gonna perfectly balance all my headphones throughout the frequency range to be sure it was as good as you can get it.....that's when I bought the miniDSP EARS, I'm just pleased I did buy it, there were some interesting little projects measuring each of my headphones and understanding that some headphones are easy to measure and are reliable between reseats and others were not so reliable....and indeed it was interesting to see the channel balance too of course (which then you can correct for with per channel EQ).....and additionally interesting to work out what kind of dB levels I listen at (out of interest but also to be sure to protect your hearing long term). It sure was some interesting little projects associated with owning that miniDSP EARS, it's still on my desk, not used it for a while as I did pretty much all I could with it re my various headphones.....there may be a project or two I could do in the future with it, and still it will be useful whenever I change the earpads, as I'll remeasure the headphones to rebalance them and maybe even to change the EQ so it sounded like it did before changing the pads.....hell I've even measured one of my K702 again after I resoldered one of the loose wires back on to make sure it measures the same - it didn't exactly measure the same but that could have been due to pad aging and maybe some small positional change of the foam disc that sits under the earpad....either way it enabled me to redo the EQ to reflect the most current measurement of the headphone.
 

Yearofthegoat

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Yeah, it's clearly something that has its use cases, and it seems logical to me to want to have balanced audio, right across the frequency range, in your phones.

I'd love to try one out and measure my headphones, new and old, to see what's going on, but I can't bring myself to justify the outlay when it's more than the price of a new pair of phones. Then again, I paid a lot for an RME audio interface which is arguably overkill for a home hobbyist, And I bought an X-rite display colorimeter to calibrate our (10) displays around the house, so I completely get the desire to tweak and optimise - and, hey. it's your hobby, your choices, more power to you.

(Hmmm, I'm in danger of convincing myself here....)
 
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Joe852

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It's funny how this is an objective site until we talk about headphone frequency response. Then it's about matching the most popular amount of frequency response distortion. That's what compliance means - matching the popular amount of distortion. Is this not obvious? There's no reason every product should shoot for that. It's not like Sennheiser couldn't add some low frequency distortion. They choose not to. Some people prefer that, just not the average person. When you have billions of people and thousands of products it doesn't make sense for every product to suit the average preference. Aside from that I really like this site.
 

Doodski

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Aside from that I really like this site.
This site rocks! It affects all aspects of my life. Especially in the terms of keeping stuff real and not going off of dreamy tangents based on fantasy. :D
 

Joe852

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This site rocks! It affects all aspects of my life. Especially in the terms of keeping stuff real and not going off of dreamy tangents based on fantasy. :D
Are you disagreeing with me about something?
 

GaryH

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It's funny how this is an objective site until we talk about headphone frequency response. Then it's about matching the most popular amount of frequency response distortion. That's what compliance means - matching the popular amount of distortion. Is this not obvious? There's no reason every product should shoot for that. It's not like Sennheiser couldn't add some low frequency distortion. They choose not to. Some people prefer that, just not the average person. When you have billions of people and thousands of products it doesn't make sense for every product to suit the average preference. Aside from that I really like this site.
I have no idea what you're talking about (and I don't think you do either).
 

Joe852

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I have no idea what you're talking about (and I don't think you do either).
How much are we allowed to insult each other on here? I can chuck turds like a mofo but I'm guessing I'll get banned if I return fire. You didn't say anything because you don't actually want to learn. You're not addicted to learning. You're an npc who dismisses anyone who says something you don't like. It's not subtle. Make an argument, make a joke. Anything to let the world know you're a real boy.
 
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