I posted this on reddit, but was curious about other peoples opinions and experiences here as well…
I want to preface this and make it clear that I am not a professional audiophile nor do I have a trained ear. These are my opinions and your experiences may vary. Also, I just got the HD 560s today and I have had the Sundara’s for about 2 weeks. I will update this if my thoughts change as I get more time with the 560s.
Background: I am (was) looking for a good headphone to use in my home office for a variety of tasks from video conference calls, gaming, and music. My goal was to find what I considered to be the best “value”, as in my dollar going as far as it can for what I’m paying for, not just the cheapest. So, I have no issue paying just about double the price for the Sundara’s over the HD 560s if I feel there is a clear and obvious benefit. As far as other headphones I have owned, I previously had the HD 58x as well. With the exception of vocals, I don’t think the 58x outperforms either of these in any area and my ears touched the drivers on the 58x which gave me a sore spot after a few hours.
Ok, for the review/comparison.
Fit/Comfort: Both headphones are surprisingly comfortable. I have an average/smaller size head and I find both to fit quite well. For me, my ears fit in the Sundara’s large earcups without touching the sides or the drivers. The Sundaras are heavier, but the top leather piece does a nice job distributing the weight. I also find that more air gets through the earcups on the Sundaras so they tend to run a bit cooler than the 560s. The 560s has fairly small ear cups and a strange bump at the back, but for me, it’s no issue as my ears don’t touch the bump at the back nor any part of the driver. Either one can be worn all day without any issue for me. If you have larger ears, I can see how both may have problems as the circular pads on the Sundara’s are not very tall and the 560s’s are surprisingly small, especially compared with the Sennheiser 6X0 line.
Cables: They both leave quite a bit to desire. The Sundara’s cable is impressively bad considering the price of the headphones. The 560s cable is decent but extremely long and terminates in a 6.35mm jack, which is annoying as the adapter is a pigtail. Both can be easily replaced though, so no huge issue.
Drivability: I am currently using a Schiit Fulla 3 to drive both. The Fulla 3 has enough power to drive both without issue, however, the Sundaras are more difficult to drive. The HD 560s requires about 1/8th-1/4 of a turn less on the amp’s knob to have a similar volume level as the Sundaras. When testing with an Apple USB-C DAC/AMP Dongle, the Sundaras really struggle but the HD 560s can be driven to reasonably loud levels by the dongle. If you don’t have an Amp, I wouldn’t recommend the Sundaras.
Sound: I’ll update this if my opinions change, but here we go.
TLDR: The Sundara’s, with a bit of EQ, are simply superior in my opinion in almost every aspect. For the Sub $250 price point, I think the HD 560s could be the best option on the market, they are impressively good for the $180 I paid for them, but the Sundara’s are without question a step up. The caveat here, for me, is EQ. Without EQ, the 560s’s tonality is better in my opinion. With the Sundara’s, without EQ, I found them a bit harsh and sibilant which would make listening very fatiguing, the HD 560s is not at all.
OK, Details:
Bass: The HD 560s bass is surprisingly good. Listening to EDM, Rap, and Metal the bass is nice. I pushed them with some bass heavy songs like “Panda” by Desiigner and was very impressed for an open back headphone. They can bump. The bass is clear and crisp but the sub-bass is present as well. It’s not going to make any bass heads get excited and your hair won’t stand up, but you won’t feel like you’re missing out, especially if you EQ in a bit of bass boost.
Compared with the Sundaras, The bass is not nearly as crisp and impactful. The Sundaras have much more slam, and when EQ’d up a bit, a nice amount of volume. The Bass on the Sundaras is truly impressive. If I was to point out what the biggest difference between the HD 560s and the Sundaras is, it would be the bass. The bass on the Sundaras gets your excited. It’s not overwhelming, it’s extremely accurate, and when the sub bass and lower bass is EQ’d up a bit, it has an incredible balance that makes you want to get up and dance or move to whatever song you’re listening to.
Mids: Both are excellent in the Mids. Vocals are clear in both male and female vocalists and it sounds accurate. As I’ll get to later on, the clear distinction between the two is the resolution and clarity the Sundaras have over the HD 560s. The HD 560s is not the HD 58x. the Vocals are not as pronounced and warm as on the 58x. If you strictly want to listen to vocal heavy music, the 58x or the 6xx is probably a better choice over either the Sundara or the 560s. Vocals on both in terms of tonality seems well balanced and accurate. Listening to things like Pentatonix, Rihanna, acoustic covers, Ed Sheeran, etc, all sound great. With heavily distorted guitars, both sound good as well (I have a very wide range of music preference). Lamb of God sounds great on both, but the added clarity and resolution of the sundaras really shines through in the heavily distorted and fast paced parts of heavy metal. In smoother guitar songs like Santana’s “Europa”, both sound excellent. The extreme detail of the Sundara almost makes me prefer the 560s for this song, as it feels a bit smoother. For Marc Anthony’s “Vivir Mi Vida”, I actually prefer the 560s as well, can’t exactly explain why, it just sounds more enjoyable on the 560s.
Highs: For me, the sundaras without EQ, are too harsh. It’s piercing and painful. I dropped the 8khz region down by 3 db and it’s perfect for me. When I turn the EQ off, it instantly turns back to beyond my personal threshold, but that small 3 db drop makes them perfect. The 560s’s highs are very well done. I didn’t find them to be overly boosted like many headphones, but they are more present than on the HD 58x was. The 560s feels like it has more clarity and detail, more “air” than the 58x. But, resolution and clarity are not as good as the Sundaras. I don’t think anyone will complain about the highs unless you love boosted highs.
Resolution and clarity: To me this is where the Sundaras really stand out. You can hear quite a bit more detail, even through my low end dac/amp (Schiit Fulla 3). The HD 560s is no slouch though. I don’t want anyone to think the HD 560s lacks resolution and clarity, I don’t think any headphone under $250 would offer more resolution and clarity than the 560s, but the Sundara’s have noticeably more resolution.
Soundstage: I’m not expert in this so I’ll sum it up with my wife’s impressions. I had her listen to both back to back and her impression was that the Sundaras felt like she was live at a concert and the HD 560s felt like she was wearing headphones. I’ll let more audiophile experts better describe the soundstage of the 560s.
Imaging/Gaming: Both work excellent for gaming. Imaging is accurate and for gaming, easy to tell directional cues from foot steps. The Sundaras do perform better, especially in complex music with instrument separation, but the 560s are impressive for the price.
Overall: I need more time with the 560s to make a final decision as to which I will keep, but as of right now, I do think the Sundaras are worth the extra money if you’re ok with EQ. If you don’t want to use any EQ and are a purist, or don’t want to NEED a headphone amp, the 560s is probably the winner. I played around with EQ on the 560s, but found them to be best with no EQ adjustments for most music.
I’ll update this as my opinion changes and feel free to ask any questions, just remember, I’m no expert and these are just my personal opinions.
Updates/Clarifications:
I should be clear, Both are excellent and most likely the best in their price categories. The 560s absolutely deserves the hype it’s received, for $200 or less (Easily had for $180) it’s incredible. Put in context, the Sundara launched at $500 and even at $350 is about double the price.
After gaming a bit more with the 560s and Sundara’s, I think I actually prefer the 560s for COD: Modern Warfare.
