Just got myself a pair, will share my impressions later
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Been listening for a while now. First impression wasnāt so positive. Immediately the bass struck out to me as being anaemic. For the past few months, Iāve been using the Koss Porta Pro as my daily driver, and it has boosted bass. That is why my perception of bass is skewed.
After a little while, I am noticing a lot of detail compared to the Koss Porta Pro if you listen carefully. Nothing is grabbing my attention, because the frequency is so balanced. For me, this is not as enjoyable to listen to as the Koss. However, this is really neutral and a good reference point for other headphones. I expect to see improvements in the coming days, from both brain burn in and headphone driver burn in
The bass is not as elevated as the Porta pro, but it is much more physical, linear, and detailed. Hearing lots of details Iāve never noticed before. Iām a fan!
Given the genres that you enjoy most, I am surprised you have been so satisfied with Porta Pros.
I can not recall, but have you tried any of Sennheiserās 6__ series models?
It was because the Porta Pro was my daily driver for months. My ears were completely adapted to them. I am enjoying the HD560S a lot more now
Second day now, Iām loving it more and more.
The Sennheiser timbre is no joke, they really nail the timbre for some genres. Piano and guitars for instance sound really right and beautiful. I want a little more body for the vocals, but I appreciate the soundstage too. The soundstage goes quite wide, but it is not very deep.
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Just want to write up my thoughts after nearly 2 months of owning these.
Build: Lightweight plastic build. Not premium, but feels sturdy enough. Comes with a very frustrating 3m cable. Replacement cable advised.
Comfort: No issues for me. Very comfortable and light. Can wear it for hours without any discomfort. Pads get softer over time so it gets more comfortable.
Tuning: Impeccable. Very flat bass and impressive sub bass for a dynamic driver. Follows the Harman Target but with a little more treble energy. Overall I will call it neutral.
Detail retrieval: Acceptable for 200 dollars, but donāt expect any giant killer details. The slightly elevated treble also helps to bring out the treble, and makes the drivers seem more capable than they actually are.
Soundstage: Quite wide, not too deep. Very open sound. Not very natural though, feels like a bubble.
Imaging: Decent, but not amazing. Good enough for most gaming and movie purposes.
Comparisons: Moondrop Blessing 2
Unfortunately I have no comparable open backs to compare it with. I recently purchased the Blessing 2 regular version and decided to compare them.
Iāll skip the build and comfort part because they arenāt really comparable.
Disclaimer: I ran the Blessing 2 balanced and HD560S single ended.
Tuning: Blessing 2 follows Moondropās own virtual diffuse field tuning, which is quite similar to the Harman tuning but with less bass. This is quite evident when you listen to them. It will be very bass light for people whose ears are accustomed to V shaped consumer tuned headphones.
Timbre: The HD560S has average timbre. It has dynamic driver timbre but isnāt as natural as the HD6 series. Might have something to do with the driver.
The Blessing 2ās timbre is far from perfect. It is a hybrid, consisting of 1 dynamic driver for bass, 2 balanced armature units for mids and 2 balanced armatures for treble. It is not a very coherent sound, which I donāt mind too much. But people who care a lot about timbre might want to look somewhere else.
Detail retrieval: Blessing 2 wins comfortably. Quite a lot more detail, especially at the mids and treble. $320 Blessing 2 punches above its weight, and you will not find headphones with equivalent level of details under 800 dollars.
Soundstage: HD560S wins
Imaging: Blessing 2 wins
Source pairing: HD560S is easier to drive than its impedance might suggest. Way easier to drive than the HD6 series. However they donāt scale with the source much.
Conclusion: HD560S are capable, and is a brilliant pair of entry level audiophile headphones. I havenāt tried the He400 series and cannot comment on those. Those seem to be a little more bass heavy and resolving, but you canāt go wrong with these. They give you a taste of the high end headphones but lack the resolving ability to hang with the big boys. If you have a powerful amp however, and donāt really care about soundstage, I can see the HD6 series being a better option.
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Hi peeps, anyone know where to get a replacement cable for the 560s in europe?
Any cable for the HD5-Series (HD599,598, 558, etc.) will fit on the HD560s, there are a lot of them on Amazon.
Just got these in yesterday and have to say they are indeed pretty nice. They wonāt replace my HD600 but they sound amazing on my Echo MK2. On the Asgard 3 they are ok. For casual listening I would recommend running these off of tubesā¦
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I am in a quandaryā¦ I am consolidating my collection and listed my 560s for sale. Someoneās offered me the asking price but this is my tube can, and listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, as I often do, requires tubes.
I was going to let this go and try a 6XX/600, as many say theyāre the tube kings, but I have found myself resisting at the last moment. Does anyone have any insight on how the 6XX and 560s compare on tubes?
After a long long time of searching / waiting to get my hands on the right connectorsā¦ We can finally make balanced cables for the HD560S. I donāt know that it needs to be ran balanced. But a lot of people have asked me about it over the existence of this headphone. Also I have a pair of HD559s that can also be ran balanced using the same cable. Neat! Some pics of my pair:
Yes that amp is not plugged in haha. Itās sad that itās only getting used for website pictures these days : ( One day soon Iāll get a nice set up going for it.
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my disparaging comment is retracted because I can occasionally be a moron and if I left it, would be a shinning example of one. 