šŸ”¶ Sennheiser HD560s

Yea Iā€™m looking forward to reviews telling us how well it does for gaming.

@Falenkor The earpads are the same as some other models but I donā€™t remember which ones. Sennheiser responded to the official thread on HF with the specifics.

I will check that later on then just to be sure.

The 660s had the s due to there being a balanced cable etc, if they dont include it I dont know why they are using their s naming scheme.

From the early reviews and impressions this is starting to look like a nice addition to our headphones good for gaming collection. Sennheiser has been pretty decent with imaging they have just been lacking in soundstage with basically all their lower priced models

I have a rather big head and matching larger ears and the HD560s fits me quite well (except for the clamp force I might have to adjust a bit later on). The pads are slightly larger than the ones of my HD 6xx in outer dimensions and significantly deeper and much wider inside. There is much more room for your ears. However, there is a small elevated ā€œboxā€ inside in the rear of the cups which houses the connecting mechanics to the headband; if I firmly press the headphones against my head, my ears may touch that.

The height of the inner pad-hole is also significantly larger than any of the beyers I own (DT880/Tygr/DT1990/T1.1/T5pā€¦) and only a bit less wide. Unless you have giant ears, they should fit comfortably.

W.r.t. gaming; I am not a gamer but treble clarity (they have good treble but are not harsh/bright), imaging and soundstage are surprisingly good plus it has very good bass for effects/immersion - so they might work well for gaming.

Edit:
P.S.: I also wear glasses and that also works quit well without discomfort and of course no loss of seal since they a very open anyway.

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Yes: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-new-hd-560s-linear-acoustics-at-a-breakthrough-value.943107/#post-15882077.

No need to revert to other forums, just scroll up a bit and have a look - I actually run them balancedā€¦ In the meantime I also modded one of my old HD598SR cables which also fit in HD560s cup (and have also 4 wires inside) and soldered a mini-XLR on it replacing the 6.3mm to use my Hart Audio cable adapters with it. But of course you can also buy aftermarket ones as discussed above.

But do you need to mod them to balanced?

No need for modding of the headphones; the HD 560s are balanced internally and have a 2.5mm TRRS 4-pol connector in the left cup (L+,R+,L-,R-). You just need to buy a balanced cable with their proprietary twist-lock 2.5mm connector (they exist - see above) or mod their stock cable or one of the newer HD5** cables with those 4-pol connectors (they have 4 wires internally and are balanced up to the 6.3mm-plug where the two grounds are connected to eachother).

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I own the 58x jubilee and it really doesnā€™t fit well. my ears teach on the sides of the inside pad so itā€™s a bit iffy for me personally.

Thatā€™s concerning considering the beyer fit me perfectly and any smaller width can easily be a deal breaker for me due to my ear sizeā€¦ I guess I will have to look more into it just to be sure. I hate oval pads due to the reason of my ear size.

Yeah, but I doubt itā€™s going to best the tygrs over there for a gamer less one prefers that more balanced sound.

Iā€™ve just got an rme adi-2 dac using with x2hr, ath m50x and superlux 681 evos. Enjoying the EQ etc but looking for a neutral open back headphone for relaxed listening sessions. The HD560s sounds pretty good - any advice or other suggestions appreciated. I could go up in price for hopefully a one off purchase but wonder if this is maybe 90 percent of what I might get at any other price?

Thanks

David

The headline feature of the 560S is that it does neutral without EQ. Since you have an ADI-2 you can get neutral from a large number of headphones, including the ones you already have. The other aspects of headphone sound are detail retrieval, dynamics, and spatial re-creation. A neutral frequency response together with these other variables work together to create a you-are-there experience. There are many headphones that once EQā€™d will excel over the 560S in an over-all better you-are-there.

The improvement versus cost curve is much lower than a straight line ā€“ each step up comes at an increasingly steeper price. But the right headphone, combined with EQ, might reach maybe twice the goodness of the 560S ā€¦ and cost north of $3000. (Of course, such a value judgment is highly subjective.)

However, you talk about relaxed listening. A really punchy and vivid sound may not jibe with the goal of relaxed listening. If you want to sacrifice a bit of ultimate vividness for a more relaxed experience, you might find your happy medium in the $500 range, for example. The ADI-2 DAC with its built-in amp will serve just fine in that price range and probably a bit more.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I like the x2hr tbh and am enjoying tweaking the EQ to hear different sounds. Guess Iā€™m after a similar but more ā€˜wowā€™ feels like Iā€™m there sound, and feel itā€™s worth spending say up to Ā£1k max to achieve this. I was looking at the new t1 gen3 but couldnā€™t really work out if its that much better than my x2hrā€™s which generally get good reviews and I do like them. Iā€™m sensitive to 4-8k treble and seem to enjoy reducing this a bit. Music choices are pop and classical and more instrumental than vocal. Any other suggestions?

Cheers

This is probably not going to be the reply you will want to hear. But jumping right up to the Ā£1K price point is strongly not recommended by the wiser heads on this forum. This is because there are so many variables that go into a personā€™s ultimate most desirable sound signature that itā€™s pretty much a crap shoot to go just off recommendations and reviews. For example: Would you be happy sacrificing some dynamics (rapid and full-range response to changes in loudness) to get better sound stage and imaging? Or sacrificing some detail to get better dynamics? Hard to think of a headphone that does everything equally well.

Your current M50x, X2HR and Superlux combo was just the right way to get started (and you having the ADI-2 is a big help, as well). How do your headphones compare in dynamics, detail and re-creating the arrangement of instruments within the physical space the music was performed in? (People here will be happy to help you sort that out, as in recommending test tracks.) Once you have a read on how they differ and which aspects of each you prefer, you can shop more intelligently for your next purchase.

The 560S isnā€™t situated to be enough of a step up to take you to the next clear-cut level. The beyerdynamic T1 gen 3 is receiving terrible reviews out of the gate. The classic approach is to buy one or more headphones in, say, the Ā£3-500 bracket as your next step, buying used when possible and re-selling as needed. The Hifiman Sundara would be an obvious option, itā€™s highly touted as performing well above itā€™s price point in all areas. Problem is there are still some reports of quality control issues despite its seemingly much-improved construction. My own beyerdynamic DT 1990s might be a good choice, so long as youā€™re happy EQā€™ing out the big spike from 7 to 8 kHz. The Drop+Focal Elex would be an obvious recommendation, except for the problems people in Europe have obtaining them.

There are lots of other options, like the BLON B20, that Iā€™m simply not that familiar with. Problem is forum members may have a problem making recommendations due to your ability to EQ away frequency response problems.

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Great advice, Iā€™m in no rush and happy to incrementally learn more step by step. I havenā€™t listened to a planar so the sundara does make sense as a potential next step.

I highly recommend the Sundara, itā€™s a truly excellent headphone and even better with EQ. I often prefer it to the much more expensive Focal Clear with some genres. I especially love the Sundara with instrumental stuff and classical, so seeing you listen to those genres makes it an easy recommendation.

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Now I badly want this after this vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SPYFdj2tWc

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Crap, I was going to buy it right away but canā€™t be shipped to my region for some reason. Why sennheiser :frowning:

where are you? Iā€™m sure you could buddy up with someone off here that would box n ship it to you. :slight_smile:

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