Sennheiser HDB 630

[Steakhouse]

Have you checked the submenu where you can enable transparency for calls at different levels? This feature is enabled by default. In addition to that there's another setting named "comfort calls" or something.

Apart from that, the headphones have to make your own voice audible somehow. I find it extremely annoying when you're talking to someone and can't hear your own voice. It's like talking to someone while your ears are underwater.

Yep. Already tried it. Point is ANC on with calls is the default with my airpods. When I want it of I switch it off. Whats even worse than not hearing your voice is to speak through ambient noise. What is also weird is that while I am calling I can switch ANC on or of but nothing changes. Only transparency is doing its thing.

 

[Mike_Trueman]

So the HDB 630 sounds better then the HD 660S2? (Both wired)

 

[Steakhouse]

The most striking difference is that the HDB 630 will actually have good bass performance out of the box.

 

[Mike_Trueman]

I just ordered the HDB 630 but they are sold out. so i need to wait 2 weeks ...

 

[Curupira]

I would’ve already bought it if that were the case. It’s truly odd that no headphone does both: you can either have gaming headphones with a 2.4ghz dongle but they’ll sound bad, or other headphones but they’ll he bluetooth and so unusable for gaming because of the lag.

My AKG N9 Hybrids come with a 2.4ghz dongle and support LDAC. The dongle isn't lossless nor competitive with more game centered headphones, from a measurement standpoint (see Aregina's YouTube review with subtitles) , but its latency is low enough not to matter unless you're a competitive pro or aficcionado.

 

[Curupira]

The most striking difference is that the HDB 630 will actually have good bass performance out of the box.

Do we have wired mode measurements, though? Most of these ANCs use heavy DSP.

 

[16BitAudiophile]

Do we have wired mode measurements, though? Most of these ANCs use heavy DSP.

The wired mode uses an ADC. There‘s no way to bypass the DSP.

 

[Curupira]

The wired mode uses an ADC. There‘s no way to bypass the DSP.

Well, that's one way to maintain consistency...

 

[Sebby]

This headphone is literally the only closedback I think makes sense to own. Otherwise, you'd better go straight to IEMs or openbacks

 

[staticV3]

This headphone is literally the only closedback I think makes sense to own. Otherwise, you'd better go straight to IEMs or openbacks

What's wrong with all other closed backs?

 

[Sebby]

What's wrong with all other closed backs?

Based on measurements and my personal experience, I think the ClosedBacks are borderline junk, except for maybe three models, two of which are very expensive.

This Sennheiser is an improvement on the ClosedBacks' strengths: external isolation + ANC, a proper sound signature without EQ, parametric EQ for some personal taste adjustments, lightweight, low clamping force, very good build quality, the ability to use them with both Bluetooth and wired audio, so both indoors and outdoors, an affordable price, etc. A ClosedBack without these features, which don't emphasize its strengths and don't correct its flaws, is like a GT car without the interior. Can I have a good ClosedBack? Sure, but at a high price and with poor external isolation (DanClark), without any features that make it flexible.

 

[smiba]

I want to like the HDB630 so badly, but I just can't shake the weird soundstage it seems to have that I've not experienced with any headphone I've had before

Until the HDB630 I was using the Sony WH1000-XM4, which usually is regarded as pretty bad audio quality wise (which I won't deny as it's not extremely detailed). But at least it felt like it had a normal headphone soundstage.

On the HDB630 it feels like center audio is very far away, like, I want to get closer to the music but I'm just a bit too far away. I'm at a concert but I'm in the back row.
It feels really artificial, as if I enabled some vague "3D Sound" option that used to be popular years ago.

I can only really explain it like this:

Normally I would applaud a wider soundstage, but it's not even wider it's just further away?

I already messed around with the crossfade options, and the one that sounded the least annoying was just "off"

Wondering what others think

 

[Steakhouse]

Is crossfeed active? Otherwise the sense of wideness is partly determined by the frequency response of the headphone. May you could try some EQ in the region of the pinna resonance about 1-4 KHz if that changes something

 

[AetherDrive]

I want to like the HDB630 so badly, but I just can't shake the weird soundstage it seems to have that I've not experienced with any headphone I've had before

Until the HDB630 I was using the Sony WH1000-XM4, which usually is regarded as pretty bad audio quality wise (which I won't deny as it's not extremely detailed). But at least it felt like it had a normal headphone soundstage.

On the HDB630 it feels like center audio is very far away, like, I want to get closer to the music but I'm just a bit too far away. I'm at a concert but I'm in the back row.
It feels really artificial, as if I enabled some vague "3D Sound" option that used to be popular years ago.

I can only really explain it like this:
View attachment 487502
Normally I would applaud a wider soundstage, but it's not even wider it's just further away?

I already messed around with the crossfade options, and the one that sounded the least annoying was just "off"

Wondering what others think

I’d recommend giving the crossfeed setting on low, it opens up the soundstage and makes it more natural. I’ve tried it without it a couple of times just to verify that it doesn’t effect tonality and I always turn it back on.

 

[smiba]

Is crossfeed active? Otherwise the sense of wideness is partly determined by the frequency response of the headphone. May you could try some EQ in the region of the pinna resonance about 1-4 KHz if that changes something

Amazing suggestion! I'll toy around with it some more but quickly adding some EQ parameters around that region really bring the sound closer to what I'm used to

It's a whole new experience like this! But setting an EQ always kinda makes me worried I'm not listening to the music how I'm "supposed to", but I was honestly going to return the headphones if I couldn't get the soundstage to look more like I'm used to so whatever

I’d recommend giving the crossfeed setting on low, it opens up the soundstage and makes it more natural. I’ve tried it without it a couple of times just to verify that it doesn’t effect tonality and I always turn it back on.

Crossfeed removes the more extreme stereo separation effect you get with headphones compared to speakers, which I quite like. I've tried enabling it a few times but I always end up turning it off again.

 

[Jiraya369]

Neutral headphones first always sound blah because they don't make a certain band of frequency sound hyped or exciting. So if you're not looking for that, then yes return. But I have listened to them and they sounded pretty terrific. They're not gonna win any contrast of tone awards and they don't want to but they allowed music to shine on them. Got it for my uncle who needed an ANC headphone but didn't want to let go of tonal coherency and he couldn't be happier

where can i find nephews like you

 

[Steakhouse]

I’d recommend giving the crossfeed setting on low, it opens up the soundstage and makes it more natural. I’ve tried it without it a couple of times just to verify that it doesn’t effect tonality and I always turn it back on.

It is not surprising that some EQ may be needed for you in this region. The shape of our ears is not similar and so we might perceive the sound a bit different.

 

[BrooklynNick]

But setting an EQ always kinda makes me worried I'm not listening to the music how I'm "supposed to"

I understand that feeling, but remember that:
- No headphone is able to reproduce the original sound wave exactly as it is on the recording. If it could, the frequency response graph would be perfectly flat in tests.
- A headphone with a perfectly flat frequency response would not be desirable anyway -- hence the Harman target and the like.
- Due to the shape of our ears, our hearing ability, and the specifics of each headphone/driver, the exact same headphone will sound different to different people.

So please do EQ without fear that you are editorializing on what was intended by the artist.

 

[kharan]

It's a whole new experience like this! But setting an EQ always kinda makes me worried I'm not listening to the music how I'm "supposed to", but I was honestly going to return the headphones if I couldn't get the soundstage to look more like I'm used to so whatever

For a designer, a headphones' "natural" frequency response is consists in adjusting the positioning and the angle of the driver relative to your ear and the earcup, and placing reflecting, absorbing and transparent materials at the correct position in the earcup. You have to do all of this so that the driver and your ear interact correctly, and so that no unpleasant standing wave forms.

A headphone driver is general fairly flat to start with, the frequency response you see is mostly the result from that ear/head/earcup coupling. To make an analogy, it's like positioning a speaker and placing various types of acoustic panels inside a room where the manufacturer assumes the default properties of said room. And the extra difficulty level for a headphones system is that basically all the wavelengths of the audio band are smaller than the room in question.

So, in the same way that the most efficient way to achieve a neutral bass response for a speaker system at a single location is to EQ the bass response, you can EQ most of the frequency range for a headphone + ears system.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

If I still did extensive air travel, these would be something I'd probably bite on. But, being retired, my travel is around one or two vacation trips a year, and I just make do with a good pair of IEMs like my Dusks. At home, I already have HD 800's, so I feel no need for a 650 with better bass, particularly a closed back one.

These do, however, seem like a terrific option for someone just starting out and looking for an all in one option. The fact it is noise cancelling with built in PEQ, and has its own amplification, and is so true to the Harman curve, makes it an extremely viable out of the box solution for just about every use case for most people. And $548 is not too much to pay, IMHO, if it's a true all in one, edge of the art, over the ear headphone system.