Sennheiser Consumer Audio HD 560 S Over-The-Ear Audiophile Headphones – Neutral Frequency Response, E.A.R. Technology for Wide Sound Field, Open-Back Earcups, Detachable Cable, (Black) (HD 560S)

The one to beat
These are outstanding headphones at any price, and an unbelievable value at their typical ~$150 street price. I’m a recovering headphone addict and these have been good enough to help me stay sober. I think if your budget is up to $300 and you don’t want to fuss around with amps and DACs and other gear considerations, these are probably the best “plug ’em into anything” headphones I’ve ever owned. They’re light, they’re comfortable for average-sized heads (though see more below), and they sound great playing any content from any source.Highlights:- Value: I’ve owned a lot of headphones (including perennial darlings like the HD600+650 and Audio-Technica ATX-M50 and higher-end stuff like the Audeze LCD-X and Focal Clear) and honestly, the headphone world is a perfect case study for the Law of Diminishing Returns. In other words, you can spend $150 on the 560S and get 75% of the sound quality that’s even possible, or spend $1500 to get to like 85%. For most people, this is the sane stopping point.- Weight: the all-plastic build lets these float on your head at 280g (9.9 oz). For comparison, the Hifiman Sundara (another highly regarded pair of <$300 headphones) weighs 379g (13.4 oz). Three ounces may not sound like much, but over the course of hours, you really feel every ounce that's sitting on your head.- Easy to drive: I use these plugged directly into a PS5 controller and they get plenty loud at roughly 50-60% volume. I've tried them with different combinations of amps and DACs as well, but such gadgets are totally unnecessary to get the most out of the 560S.- Perfect audio for gaming: the wide soundstage is great, as is the sharp treble for picking out things like voices, footsteps, and gunfire. These are very popular with FPS players, and I can see why. I don't play PvP games, but they've saved me from many a cheap off-camera attack with their amazing positional audio cues. The nicest surprise on these is the bass, which is meatier than you'd expect for open-backed headphones. Unfortunately, because of the proprietary cable jack, I had to buy a kooky adapter (ASIN: B07Z2MPW61) so I could use the V-Moda BoomPro mic I had lying around for voice chat. The overall setup is a bit klunky but almost certainly outperforms popular gaming headsets.- Surprising noise isolation: these are by no means going to block out the outside world like a pair of closed-back headphones, but there are enough layers of stuff inside them between the grille and your ear that you're not going to hear everything around you with them on.Lowlights:- Oddball connector: I despise proprietary connectors, and Sennheiser's 2.5mm recessed jack with a twist lock is one of the most obnoxious on the market. What they lose in compatibility with other cables is by no means gained in security—who cares if your headphones unplug at the earcup when subjected to intense force?- Not very comfortable for big heads and big ears: although the design of these is generally compared to the HD500 line, having owned the absurdly comfortable HD598SE, I can say these don't come close. They clamp kind of hard and worse, the earpad foam is thin and when it flattens out (immediately), it presses the driver units against the cartilage of my ears. Fortunately, I was able to modify these with some third-party 3d-printed adapter rings so I could use bigger, cushier pads from Brainwavz. Now I can use them for 4+ hours without major discomfort. This may not be an issue if you don't have big ears like I do. Also worth noting is that some styles of glasses will be agony with these.- Not as nice for music: the things that make them perfect for games (accentuated high frequencies) make them a riskier proposition for music. Your mileage may vary, of course, but these can be pretty spicy for certain instruments and effects.All in all, despite the added hassles and costs to make these comfortable for my anatomy, I'm still very happy with them and don't think I could do better for my use case (plugged directly into PS5 controller with an inline mic) at any price. For their usual price of $150-180, I can't see what anyone could complain about. Thanks for reading!

For anyone who is looking for an endgame budget friendly headphone this is the one.It outperforms many audiophile, gaming headphones. The sound signature curve for this headphone is almost identical Sennheiser hd 600 but better sound stage, bass/sub bass, mids, low treble and high treble.Gaming wise the imaging is very very precise and sound stage is wider and taller than hd600. It isn’t as wide as hd800s but it does have same imaging as hd800s but the 560s is more to advantage due to price and you can hear enemy foot step earlier than 800s due to 800s is more wide. So when you are in close room with a bunch of enemy you can literally pin point them so easily. Even so when enemy drop from the sky there is no limit to left right front or back. It actually out perform all Hifiman’s sound stage for gaming purpose from he400se all the way up to susvara unvieled. When it comes to music the mids actually produce the vocal in a way as they are singing infront of you, and while the instrument separation of every corner is performing and telling you where is what instrument and what kind of instrument it is. You won’t have the feeling of missing out any instrument at all. The bass does roll off around low bass 150 hz. But it doesn’t roll of as fast or dips wayyy down like hd800s and hd600. Yet all three headphone are capable of eq. The hd560s there is not honest much eq to be done. Even if you give it a power increase from 60hz to 500hz I can’t notice any distortion. While hd600 are not able to be eq that much. Compare to hd600 a very good legendary headphone and it’s more expensive but not better. The hd600 sometimes for treble part there seems to be soemthing missing or hallow, more around 3-4K region. For the hd800s due to the sacrifice and tuning of 1-2k hz for the purpose of sound stage you can know that the vocals and some instrument such as guitar or bass can sometimes be further in distance. Honestly the comfort wise. I would say it’s better or in par with hd600. It stays in your head nice and firm. Not too tight and not loose. You can sit up and down lean forward and backward without having to adjust headphone later. Where by hd800s is not clamps but loose and you have to deal with the 3m long thick cable that doesn’t behave itself.All 3 headphone require amplifier to perform their best. In the modern era of 2024 there are many budge friendly amp and equalizer to easily power themCompare this to Hifiman sundara and edition xs. This is clearly winner due to price. It out perform them on the high low and mid mids. All 3 headphone does have high sibilant due to the 6 k peak but it quickly comes right back down. One thing it also over power both Hifiman headphone is the comfort and weight. It’s much lighter and doesn’t need to be readjust it at times. The sundara and edition xs both are heavy. Sundara round ear cup and headphone is too short. Where by edition xs isn’t clampy enough for you to sit back and lean back on your chair to watch a movie. The imaging detail snd soundstage to me is better than sundara and slightly better than edition xs. Sometimes edition xs might be too sibilant and cause distortion during shooting sharp sounding rifles. Both sundara and edition xs and also hd800s are fast sounding headphone. And hd560s isn’t as fast as those.Anyways it’s a very OP headphone for many use. And most people miss the chance of knowing this exist. Give it a try. It won’t hurt. It’s really that good of a headphone. It takes to own one to understand. Use it right out of the box. No need to burn it in whatsoever. Sennheiser has done a great job making this headphone. The frequency response is also very consistent. Such a Underated headphone. I own many high premium audiophile headphone and this is or should be a flagship. Sound so much better than a lot of headphone that cost more than 2k or 5k

No me considero un audiófilo, pero puedo apreciar la excelente calidad de sonido de estos audífonos. Por el precio es de lo mejor que puedas conseguir.Obviamente para poder dar un precio bajo tienen que ahorrar en otras cosas, como la calidad de los materiales y la estética. No es que sea mala, se siente una construcción sólida y no son feos, pero tampoco se siente que vayan a durar tantos años ni sobresalen en lo estético.Son relativamente cómodos, aunque a mi en lo personal me cansan después de unas horas. Según algunas reseñas que he visto, esto mejora con el tiempo de uso.Yo en lo personal no considero que sea necesario utilizar un amplificador o un DAC adicional. La mayoría de las computadoras y teléfonos tienen DACs de suficiente calidad y si escuchas la música con un volumen que no dañe tus oídos, el amplificador que tienen estos dispositivos es suficiente para 120 Ohms de impedancia. Si crees que un amplificador externo mejora la “firma” del sonido, entonces tal vez lo que necesitas es usar un ecualizador, que para teléfono y PC puedes descargar algunos de manera gratuita.Lo que si es probable que quieras comprar es un cable distinto. El cable incluido es de poco mas de 3 metros de longitud. Si uno de los usos que le quieres dar es escuchar música de tu celular puede ser poco práctico un cable tan largo, además del adaptador de 6.3 a 3.5 mm. Aquí venden algunos de metro, metro y medio con conector de 3.5mm que ya no requiere adaptador, e incluso algunos que incluyen micrófono. Sólo fíjate que sean compatibles con estos audífonos, ya que el conector del lado de los audífonos es de 2.5mm y tiene una forma especial que no cualquier conector tiene.En general, si te importa más la calidad de sonido y el precio que la estética y ciertas funciones adicionales, estos audífonos son excelentes.

This is the first open backed headphone that I have used. My interest is mainly in classical music. The sound quality is very pleasing to my ears. My portable CD player (iriver) has sufficient output to drive the headphones. Listening to various tracks on my Fiio X3 mk DAP the output is not loud enough and my old Fiio E06 headphone amplifier improves performance considerably. Perhaps my digital files have been ripped at too low a level. A prospective user might check the output levels of their devices.The sound insulation on these headphones is not great but that is the penalty one is paying for the great sound.