Sennheiser HD 560S: Specifications
colour: black
Headphone type: Open back, wired over ear
Driver type: Dynamic (size not specified)
wireless: No
Cable length: 10 feet
adapter: 2.5 inches to 0.14 inches
size: 7.8 x 4.4 x 12 inches
weight: 0.62 lbs
For both consumers and commercial customers, Sennheiser has something for everyone. Not surprisingly, the catalog, called the HD 560S, has space for affordable open-back hard-wired headphones and monitors.
They are very talented as tools for analyzing recordings, for identifying variations of different mixes of the same recording, and for finding the finest and / or most temporary details of a recording. Still, they can combine the power of these horrific tests with a fairly easy-going, reasonably compelling overall presentation. Many headphones of the same rigorous nature are quite dry and may not be appealing to listen passively, but this is not the case here.
Read on to find out more and whether they make grades that add to the ranks of our best audiophile headphones.
Sennheiser HD 560S Review: Price and Stock Status
The Sennheiser HD560S is priced in black and currently sells for $ 199/149/319, but can be purchased from the Sennheiser website for an eye-catching $ 180. (Opens in a new tab) Not just the best buys of online retailers (Opens in a new tab)..Meanwhile, Amazon is currently offering the HD560S for $ 150. (Opens in a new tab)..
The list of over-ear headphones sold for this kind of money is as long as your arm, but when you’re talking about wired open-back headphones, the list will soon be much shorter. However, I don’t think the HD 560S is as “limited” as the “specialist”.
Sennheiser HD560S Review: Design
There is no flash about the look, feel, or specification of the HD 560S. They are headphones that are as functional as you can imagine. It’s comfortable, sturdy, comes with extravagant length cables, and is open back for the most spacious sound (inside).
The open-back design means that you should expect significant sound leakage (outside) with a spacious audio presentation. In addition, the HD 560S package demonstrates its suitability for “analytical listening sessions” in case of poor configuration. This is a euphemism for “use alone”. Sometimes listening to music should be fun, it’s true — but sometimes it’s a really very serious business. We are confident that the HD560S is designed for the latter situation.
The removable cable (which snaps into the left earcup) is 10 feet long and has a very business-like 1/4 inch (6.3 mm) jack plug for further confirmation. It ends with. If you use a headphone amplifier / DAC or hi-fi component that does not support large jacks, there are 1/4 “to 0.14” (6.3mm to 3.5mm) adapters.
Sennheiser HD 560S Review: Comfort and Fit
Just because it’s relatively affordable and aimed at listening alone, the Sennheiser HD 560S isn’t perfectly suited for where material and build comfort are a concern.
Yes, they are almost entirely plastic — plus a fairly shiny and hard type of plastic. However, the fit and finish of each component is certainly reassuring and has long been set by itself up to the standard Sennheiser. A cableless weight of only 0.53 pounds may seem to suggest a slight lack of material, but in reality, even if the “analytical listening session” continues. , HD560S means there is no burden to wear. A few hours.
The earpads are covered with velor for comfort. Unlike many other designs, it resists the absorption and return of body temperature for a considerable amount of time. Sennheiser actually feels pretty sweet with the use of Procyclic plastic for most of the structure here, as a little more padded velor is placed throughout the contact area of the headband.
Sennheiser HD 560S Review: Sound Quality
So are you ready for an analytical listening session? Sounds like a pretty serious company.
Fortunately, the balance between Sennheiser and the HD560S is very satisfying. Of course, they are primarily aimed at listeners who wear them for purposes beyond simple “fun” and instead use them for monitoring, mastering, mixing, or whatever you have. I want it. Yes, they have a relatively flat response that makes it very easy to compare sounds “A” and sound “B”, with enough detail and insight to make even the slightest changes in the mix of the same recorded sound quite obvious. There is power.
But don’t think they are somehow craftsmanship or boring. No, they never leave their job — and even the best-known recordings provide details that were previously unnoticed. But at the same time, they are a comfortable and fairly natural way of listening. Sennheiser claims a frequency response of 12Hz to 38kHz, both of which seem ambitious, but the HD560S’s wide frequency response cannot be ruled out. No part of the frequency range they produce is underestimated or exaggerated, and the region is not rolled off or overhanging. Instead, music of all genres is presented with confidence and positivity.
“Details” is a term that can be repeated over and over again during the course of this review. When Sennheiser deals with music, music is absolutely informative. The details aren’t too fleeting, too minor, or buried deep in the mix to distract you. The lowest frequencies are deep, clean, straight edges, with no overhangs and, as a result, do not affect the midrange above. The midrange itself is absolutely crazy when you consider the right content (such as Jennifer Warnes’s “Runaway Horse Ballad”). All inhalations, all palate noise, and all quirks of the singer’s technique are taken into account. And at the top of the frequency range, the HD 560S stops shortly before its fragility, and instead descends with “bright,” “sharp,” and of course “detailed,” as its most important characteristics.
This borderline-fanatic level analysis is not a completely positive feature. If you insist on listening to low bitrate, high compression digital audio files, the HD 560S can obviously sound dissatisfied. Defects, whether due to the recording itself, the recording itself, or during the compression it receives, are fairly cruelly attacked and spotlighted. For example, if you decide to connect directly to your laptop instead of a headphone amplifier or digital audio player, Sennheiser will make their complaints quite obvious.
However, this is virtually the same course as near-field monitoring headphones. Most alternatives don’t have the fun potential of the HD560S, regardless of the asking price. As a balance between being a tool and being a source of joy to hear, these Sennnhiesers are certainly very well judged.
Sennheiser HD560S Review: Verdict
As mentioned at the beginning, the Sennheiser HD560S is a professional attraction, and its expertise, for better or for worse, is forensic-level insight into recording. But unlike many headphones with this talent / psychic power, the HD560S doesn’t try to put you to sleep with the sounds they make. Of course, this kind of money makes other headphones even more interesting — but none of them can look into the mix as deeply as Sennheiser.
Sennheiser HD560S headphones make up a very commonly used money to properly inspect without absorbing all the joy of recording. This is a great option for the kind of listeners we are thinking of.