Why is the Harman target involved?
Did you try measuring with some in-ear microphones how different headphones seal on a real head? I’m starting to think the sub-bass roll-off doesn’t exist in real life use.
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Sennheiser HD560S Review (Headphone)
- Thread starter amirm
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Did you try measuring with some in-ear microphones how different headphones seal on a real head? I’m starting to think the sub-bass roll-off doesn’t exist in real life use.
solderdude
Grand Contributor
It exists. My measurements are made with perfect seal. There is an Harman-ish roll-off in my measurements as well.
30 Hz is really, really low b.t.w.
It depends on whether or not you relate roll-off to the target and what -dB level you consider.
To me -3dB opposite the average between 400Hz and 1kHz.
HE6 (measured by Amir) flat to 20Hz'.
HE6 measured by me.
no roll-off, not even at 10Hz
30 Hz is really, really low b.t.w.
It depends on whether or not you relate roll-off to the target and what -dB level you consider.
To me -3dB opposite the average between 400Hz and 1kHz.
HE6 (measured by Amir) flat to 20Hz'.
HE6 measured by me.
no roll-off, not even at 10Hz
In the case of full open dynamic headphones, it exists, and if there is one thing that's quite largely documented in terms of on-head behaviour and ear simulator to real humans translation, it's exactly that :
Frequency Response Consistency
Frequency Response Consistency describes the variations in a headphones' frequency response due to their fit on your head.
www.rtings.com
ninetylol
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Okay to add my impressions with 560s vs He400se (and Deva Pro as a bonus):
I had the 560s for a few months but actually sold them because they just werent as excited to listen to than for example a Sundara. They sounded very good but just not really emotional if that makes sense.
Now the He400se just arrived and its a bit early to make a full impression but they are the total opposite of that 'boring' 560s sound. Tuning is very good (and similar) too although i would even say they are a bit brighter than a 560s - to my ears at least. But that could also just appear because I havent listened to very bright cans in the past few months (Deva Pro, XM3s). (Sub)-Bass extension is great with the He400se - love the planar bass somehow. Comfort is actually the best of all Hifiman I had so far.
In comparison to the Deva Pro the He400se also are a bit brighter and more detailled. Also more engaging not as laid back sound as the Deva Pro - in a good way. But they are not worlds apart. As I said its too early to say (new toy effect) but I think i prefer the He400se to the Deva Pro although the Bluemini is really cool imho.
PS: thats crazy good sound for 150$/€.
I had the 560s for a few months but actually sold them because they just werent as excited to listen to than for example a Sundara. They sounded very good but just not really emotional if that makes sense.
Now the He400se just arrived and its a bit early to make a full impression but they are the total opposite of that 'boring' 560s sound. Tuning is very good (and similar) too although i would even say they are a bit brighter than a 560s - to my ears at least. But that could also just appear because I havent listened to very bright cans in the past few months (Deva Pro, XM3s). (Sub)-Bass extension is great with the He400se - love the planar bass somehow. Comfort is actually the best of all Hifiman I had so far.
In comparison to the Deva Pro the He400se also are a bit brighter and more detailled. Also more engaging not as laid back sound as the Deva Pro - in a good way. But they are not worlds apart. As I said its too early to say (new toy effect) but I think i prefer the He400se to the Deva Pro although the Bluemini is really cool imho.
PS: thats crazy good sound for 150$/€.
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If you're looking for symmetry with other owners for their listening experience based on EQ, then I would suggest using the Oratory EQ. There is an EQ presented in the review by Amir which also can be used.
staticV3
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The HD400 Pro is identical in performance to the 560S. Sennheiser changed the styling slightly, added an additional coiled cable to the accessories, and increased the price by $100.
Any difference in sound quality you may read about on the internet is due to either unit-to-unit variation or placebo.
Here's Sennheiser's statement on that matter:
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I bought these in November 2020, just a few weeks after they came out in Europe. I agree, that they sound great but the clamping force was simply too much for me and I got headaches after 20-25 minutes, so I had to sell them. I found the plasticky build quality quite disappointing (compared to the similarly priced HD6XX or the HD58X).
ok sample of 4 does not have a strong statistic resolution, but 4 in a row is a quite worrisome trend, and can not be discarded either.
Replying to my own post with a small update, in that post I said that my HD560s didn't sound right when I got it back from Oratory, well I managed to fix that, it was the cable. Now I'm not a cable mystic, and my understanding is that they either work or they don't, but I bought a replacement short cable just because I wanted a shorter cable, and it now unexpectedly sounds awesome now & I realise now why the HD560s had been my favourite headphone (and is again now). I don't know what the hell happened with that cable on it's journey overseas, but replacing it transformed the headphone back to how I remember it. Now there is still the small damage to the earpad that I had mentioned, but I don't believe that's affecting the sound....how the hell it was the cable I don't know! I would replace the old cable & do comparisons in the same listening session, but the aftermarket cable is an extremely tight fit on the twisting locking mechanism of the headphone attachment, so much so that I had to try many times to get it seated properly and thought I was gonna have to send it back....so I'm not gonna be removing this cable anymore. To be clear, I'm not a cable mystic, something up with the original cable though that happened during it's time away from me, or perhaps reseating the cable in the headphone is what fixed it rather than the cable itself. Happy to be enjoying the HD560s again anyway, regardless of what the hell is going on!
Same here. Love my HD560s, but since I bought the ER4-XR I find myself wearing the Etymotic more.
It is really easy to change the clamping force, you just have to put the headphone on a few book or a box and leave it for a day or two.
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SpaceMonkey
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Btw, this approach does not work on hd600. Havent tried this on hd560s though. I thought plastic would not bend
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Cahudson42
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Given the low bass distortion alternates available, including the $129 HE400se, why tolerate this? A definite pass, IMO
OP
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I do stand-alone reviews so my comments are in that regard.
phoenixsong
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True- even for a failure rate as high as 10%, it would only be a 0.01% chance to get 4 failures in a row, if I am not mistaken
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