My 490 Pros arrived today and I am very surprised. For years I have been using the HD 650 and loved them. But sometimes they did lack a bit in the treble frequencies and stage. With the producing pads the 490 Pro sounds like an improved 650. Same warm signature but better treble area and wider stage and more clarity. With the mixing pads the sounds gets a bit colder, more open, wider and defined. With both pads especially voices sound incredibly clear, focused and detailed. The mid range was very nice on the 650s but sounds even better with the 490 Pros. They are lightweight and comfortable to wear. The clamping is just perfect, not too tight, not too loose. I think that Sennheiser did a fantastic job on these. Kudos!
@@PTFWWDB They're very comfortable and light, but well-built. It hardly feels like there's anything on your head. But, there will be plenty of bleed, they are open-back. If you wanted comfortable with minimal bleed, could try the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro. They're pretty good, with EQ correction, and also quite comfortable. But, they won't sound as good as these. Or, there's the newer Sennheiser HD620S, comfortable and closed, and they're pretty good for closed back. But still, not up there with the HD600 or HD 490 Pro
Received my HD 490 and was hooked instantly. Most of my previous mixes sound OK. Some did not. That is the product doing what it is intended to do. I can say with certainty I can confidently mix on these!
Very good review. I'm glad to see a longer cable, and that it can be switched from L to R attachment (shows that Senn listens to their customers). I only use two brands of cans - Senns in the project studio & when I DJ, and Beyers in the recording studio. I will definitely A/B the 490s against some of the ones I have around, I am looking forward to hearing :) Thanks for posting.
Awesome video. I remember getting my hd25's back in the day. Learnt how to mix and master on them. im all bout monitors nowadays but couldn't recommend Sennheiser enough!
The HD25s are timeless masterpieces of a headphone. I’m always happy to use them. There are 26s and 27s as well but I believe their major difference is the microphone type in headset style.
There's also the affordable end of the Audeze line around this price. I'm kind of interested in the newish Audeze MM-100. Then again, I'm fine with my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, with Sonarworks. Especially after putting a Cranborne Camden EC1 in front of my audio interface for preamp and headphone amp.
Most important factor in headphones imho is how comfortable they feel on your own head. The sound could be the best you’ve ever heard, doesn’t matter if you feel the need to rip them off your head after ten minutes because of some pressure point on the ears or head.
@@boimesa8190 Sadly I don't own any HD650 headphones, just HD600s, so I'm unable to offer an informed opinion there - but I'm guessing the slightly 'warmer' 490 pads might be at least in part a nod to the 650 character? I'd also hazard a guess the differences between HD600 and HD650 would be much less than HD 600/650 vs the new HD490. We were both impressed by the HD490, and it's a headphone I think you could work on for extended periods.
This is a really informative video. Other than a model by model comparison with key alternatives, you couldn't really have done more. And I'm not asking for that! There's nothing like the right pair of headphones to improve results in a home studio. Unless it's a really, really good home studio with all the bells and whistles!
about the senn interview - how is the person creating/mixing a track supposed to know what sounds he is putting in there if this headphone is "flat" and cannot represent bass and sub bass? Does he reach for other headphone when mixing low end? edit: amazing video with the interview, thanks
This was a great review and interview. Nick's bit was like watching someone wine testing and I got a real sense of the differences he was experiencing from each headset. Nice work!
I tried these in the shop, compared them to the Sennheiser HD600 and the Hifiman Sundara. I like the HD 490 quite a lot. For enjoyable listening, I like them with the producer pads, the bass is very full. But for mixing, I'd use the other non-velour pads. It reigns in the bass toward neutrality. And then they are like a more refined, more comfortable HD600 with better soundstage, clearer less congested midrange and fuller bass (though not as overly full as with the velour pads). Interested to compare them to the Focal Hadenys. Which, might be their competition, though they do cost 200 more.
I am just listening to music and playing games... but these look very inviting comfort wise and I've been looking around for open back comfy headphone for long gaming sessions comfort. That said, I don't want something super boring and analytical... I do value good audio quality though. Are these hard to drive? Would you use these outside of production environment ? And you can wash the pads!
It's a good video & and there were some great questions 👍 I've never thought a great deal about ear pads other than for comfort. I used to use a pair of senheisers (the Dj styled ones..cant remember the model.number), when doing mixes and production , way back. They're long gone & I've used a pair of Sony MVR's since for reference. These look like a premium audiophile product, so it'd be interesting to put these to multiple tests.
The breatheability of the ear pads is definitely important, i switched to IEM's in a large part because i used to get ear infections regularly in the warmer months as my ears were just too warm.
A lot of folks tweak the sound of their headphones by swapping to differently shaped/made earpads. Not the best alternative to EQ, but it depends on the headphone in question. The AKG K553 benefits from earpads with bigger ear openings, in my experience. This increases the volume of air between the driver elements and your ears and contributes to greater clarity. But if you do this to a Sony 7506, it becomes more shrill and the 2kHz peak increases, making it even more nasal-sounding. It varies wildly.
For a truly mission-critical headphone I as a consumer would like to see not just response curve but also distortion (THD and absolute) and group delay measured. I wish Sennheiser would publish those and not just invite people to listen to which is very subjective.
What a great video and review. Thanks a lot guys, you nailed it, that was really interesting and informative. True professionals. Big salut 🫡 from France and again, MERCI !! ViNZ.
I had the chance to compare them to the hifiman edition XS, and with the cloth earpads, the sennheiser had a really good stand against the Hifiman. I would prefer the Hifiman, but there comes the price difference into play, and then i would go for the Sennheisers for the amount of time i use a headphone during mixing work😊
@@gianlucamarchese mmh well, i think that‘s a personal opinion. Between LCD-X, MM500, Sundara and Edition Xs there is only a fraction of difference.. and that difference can vary depending on the work you do on those headphones.. all of these 4 provide outstanding quality, it‘s just that everyone has a slight different color..if i had to choose from those 4, it would be the MM500 or Sundara, then the LCD-X and then the Edition XS. But ask someone else and you get a different rating..i think you‘ll get my point, there is no „overall“ best headphone, just some outstandingly good purchase options
@@gianlucamarcheseGotta also realize all those Hifimans are planars vs the Sennheiser's dynamic driver. Neither are gonna be "better" even if they were tuned almost identically. Planars have a very different feeling sound (which is why I own multiple headphones 😊)
Can we get commentary from @Sennheiser if the measurements shown in this are a) taken on the Bruel & Kjaer 5128 and b) are calibrated using the DF HRTF of the 5128 as measured by B&K?
Good timing. I’m about to invest in a new set of headphones. Would love to see a little bluetooth plug in accessory for those times when bluetooth is desired. Like movies late at night on the sofa.
FiiO supposedly makes a killer Bluetooth transmitter for headphones. They also make neat, compact USB souncards (playback only) like their Q1 Mk2 and Q3 units. Cool stuff. They are big on portable hi-fi music players.
You mentioned increased stereo separation, is this a good thing? Headphones already have enhanced separation over speakers. I use speakers to judge my actual stereo field, the headphones are too isolated for a good judgement, checking the field in headphones for me is just to make sure it is not to dead in the center or too enhanced sounding like hard panning. Don't want my mix to sound like early 70s stereo recording technique with hard panning like the Beatles or Pink Floyde.
Good for being more precise with your panning, yes. It can also contribute to listening better into a busy mix, provided that the headphone also has high clarity, no serious treble roll-off, and other factors. Hi-fi stuff tends to give you huge soundstage, a very wide stereo field. K701's soundstage out of a high-end playback rig is so crazy "holographic" that you may feel that you can almost "hear" what the vocalists were wearing during the recording session(s), lol
yes, of course it's a good thing - judging stereo positioning is pretty tricky without good stereo separation! If you want to mimic using monitors, there are plenty of options, from software to hardware
You need a US affiliate link for those of us across the pond. 😊 looking at the curve the Producer earpads look like it follows the Harmon curve and the Mixing earpads seems like it has a bit less bass and a bit more shouty, which makes sense as it may create a more v curve when mixing which a lot of listeners like.
EQ is the right way to tweak headphone tonal balance, earpads are an unreliable (and semi-unpredictable) hit or miss, very much dumb and ass-backwards. Still, some people insist on doing it, lol
@@Jason75913 I think most people don't use EQ, they simply plug and play. EQ also is not very portable. I use a convolution filter for EQ for speakers and PEQ for headphones, but when plugging into my friends system, the EQ doesn't follow me. I think earpads makes a lot of sense for most people who choose one and leave it like that all the time and don't bother with EQ.
Why is the biggest thing in this review the fact that there are two sets of earpads? There are whole businesses offering alternative pads for headphones, it's been done for years and quite a few headphones already come with two sets of pads... 🤔
Yeah idk, no offense to that guy, be he comes off really out of his element when reviewing these. Didn't describe things well at all besides using marketing terms and basic unboxing stuff, comparisons werent useful, and then just defaulted to the frequency response and interview for the meat of the video
This seems to be a pro audio channel, not an audiophile one... musicians aren't as far into the weeds with this stuff. They're busy working instead of wanking over FR graphs
I have HD 380 pros and i used them for mixing for years. They are closed back and my ears do fatigue after a few hours. Will the sound quaility be similar with the hd 600 or hd490. I know open back will be better for longer listening times.
5:20 sounds like the 490 Pro is very similar to the also very recent Sony MDR-MV1? It is similarly designed as open modern reference studio headphones. I own these and they sound exactly like you described the 490 Pro
Wird der HD600 noch von der Familie Sennheiser hergestellt oder gehört dieser Kopfhörer auch schon zur verkauften Consumer-Sparte? Und wie sieht das mit dem neuen 490 aus?
HD25 is still king for passive isolation and good sound while being super small. Don't let it go. It is still a favorite among DJs and the broadcast version of HD25 is common in a variety of industries.
Interresting, I'm currently using a pair of 598's in the studio, wonder how they compare. Also mine are closed back, still not sure which is better for studio.
The closed-back HD598CS? Bit of an odd choice? Not as faithful to source material as a number of the popular studio monitors used by all manner of folks like KNS8400, SRH840, ATH-M50, DT770, and more. I suppose the 598CS could be okay with EQ correction (all headphones need some anyway), but 598CS suffers too much internal resonation to be as effective as common studio monitors, in my opinion and limited experience with that old headphone. HD25, HD280pro, HD300pro, or HD380 are the closed monitors to get from ol' Sennheiser, HD600 or HD650 if you want something open. I've no experience with HD490, could be great. I'm a Sennheiser fan, I'll give that 490 a go at some point just for fun, though probably not this year.
@@Jason75913 yes, the cs. Not a choice as so much as they fell into my hands, and give a pretty good response to my mostly synth setup. At some point I will have to upgrade which is why I was watching this vid :)
what's he talking bout?!? i've hand washed / scrubbed ALL my sennheiser pads (hd 559, 560s, 650 & 58x) and they are fine!! just used a tiny drop of fairy liqud soap per pair, and make sure to dry them thoroughly before using again.
@@audie-cashstack-uk4881 no probs. it's all about common sense, which i guess most people don't have. my advice is don't be too aggressive with them, brush the velour softly with soap submerged in luke-warm water. after the water turns brown, hold them flat in your hand to press the water out, then leave on a towel or even press them again in a towel and leave them to dry.
@@Jason75913 Tbf I've heard the 800s and they're pretty shite. Very unengaging and unnatural. They make sense as part of a really expensive collection because their soundstage is second to none, but they just... don't make music sound very good. That said, the original commenter is still being ridiculous. Sound gets A LOT better than mid-fi headphones. Shit, equally priced speakers will absolutely smoke these.
Of course, but the left channel will have to be disconnected for the plug that goes into the right and the right channel will have to be disconnected for the plug that goes into the left. You will also need to get inside and de-solder or cut the ground wire connecting both channels in one of the ear cups, just one will do and it doesn't matter which. This setup will ensure no shorting of the R- and L- wires so you can run the headphone balanced. Same as any other headphone designed for you to plug one unbalanced cable into either side to get unbalanced stereo.
Wait wdym you compared it to a brand more expensive and wont name it? Why wouldn't you? The whole point is to understand how good these headphones are for the price and what tuning its going for. Just because something is more expensive doesn't make it better, and anyone who's into audio already knows this... Also why would you be confused why a headphone company would include 2 pads for tuning? High-end brands do this all the time, and even if they didn't, consumers always want pad options either for tuning or comfort reasons and often buy them 3rd party. Wearing 2 different pad with different materials/sizes makes a pretty substantial change to sound despite your claims it doesn't I feel like these are like, basic things to understand when reviewing a headphone, yea? Lol
How do these compare to the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro? I tried my friend's pair about 5 years ago and was blown away. Bought my own immediately. They're the first and only monitoring headphones I've ever used
DT770 are great for recording/monitoring. They are inherently super bright (like all Beyer's) with a serious treble spike around 8kHz. If you listen to "most" Sennheisers in comparison they have a bit less bass and way less treble, but definitley more neutral. Once you get used to the sound you can mix much easier on these. I've not heard the HD490 yet specifically, but I would say it will sound smoother, wider, more precise and in general better than the 770's. Open-back headphones are in my opinion useless for recording/monitoring
Interesting. I use use the Neumanns and they are the best of my bunch by a long mile (Audeze LCD 1, Senheiser hd650, AT atm h50, Sony 7506, KRKs etc). Not as good as my bros Focal Utopias though. Then again they got broken and it cost him $3900 AUD to fix them.
Ok, what headphones give very clinical clear sound for mastering? I don't want to enjoy music, rather I want to hear what I need to add and what stands out too much
ah, I replied to your other question above too ;-] Sadly I don't own any HD650 headphones, just HD600s, so I'm unable to offer an informed opinion there - but I'm guessing the slightly 'warmer' 490 pads might be at least in part a nod to the 650 character? I'd also hazard a guess the differences between HD600 and HD650 would be much less than HD 600/650 vs the new HD490. We were both impressed by the HD490, and it's a headphone I think you could work on for extended periods.
The frequency graphs must be telling the truth to some degree. To which end, a 10dB disparity from 1.2K to 3K is a LOT. Too much for me to trust in a mix situation. By comparison, the HD-600s only boast a 4dB disparity in that range, and I don't mix much below 40Hz, so... Cheers!
"a 10dB disparity from 1.2K to 3K is a LOT" Where are you seeing that? The curve shown at 20:53 shows about a -5 db drop between 1k to 3k for the fabric pads and about -3 db for the velour ones. That's nothing crazy. The fabric ones have a very flat bass response though. Overall the curve looks pretty flat to me. EDIT: Ah I see what you mean in the later measurements now. Interesting how this measurement is quite different from the curve Sennheiser published. But headphone measurement can be a bit tricky so I'm not sure we should read to much into this.
@@MacXpert74 Ya, I was looking at Sonicstate's independent test results. I'm currently in the market for some new monitoring headphones, for mixing purposes, and I'm looking for the truth, not flattery. Sennheiser and Shure are both on my radar, as possible replacements for a tired pair of AKGs. Cheers!
Keep in mind that earpad swaps cannot ever replace an equalizer, never. Earpads also gradually flatten with time and use and that's guaranteed to change a headphone's tonal balance, clarity, and how much of the excess resonances you get to hear that occur in most headphones. Driver elements sitting too close to your ears tends to screw up the sound, basically. Throw a parametric EQ like DMG EQuilibrium, TDR Nova GE, or Fabfilter Pro-Q on your master channel to correct any headphone's tonal balance, and disable the instance right before mixdown when you are done. You can develop the right settings by using online frequency response graphs together with listening tests (testing your mixes on different systems and comparing to reference tracks) to understand how you need to EQ your headphone.
Sounds like their great... but do they *need* a seperate headphone amp, or will your typical desk/interface/instrument drive these well? I was hoping it would have been mentioned by the close of the review... if anybody knows please reply :)
HD490 is 130 ohms and 96dB/mW sensitivity, they should be fine out of most desktop gear. 98 dB/mW or more is the sensitivity that most headphones have, coupled with being 32-50 ohms. So HD490 will force you to turn up the volume more _a little bit_ .
Headphones in general tend to not be noisy unless they have high sensitivity to the input signal, like ATH-M50 and HD-25, and then you have headphones that go to the other extreme, anything high impedance (120 ohms or more) like the 250-ohm Beyerdynamic headphones and 300-ohm Sennheisers which require more volume boost to reach the same volumes as more common headphones. HD490 is 130 ohms with a sensitivity of 96dB/mW (average is 32-50 ohms and 98 or more dB/mW), so it will be a bit less sensitive than most headphones but not as much as 250-ohm headphones. Then if your gear has very sh1tty headphone output circuits, you will want to avoid sensitive headphones because they may hiss a lot.
Judging by your reactions, the new 490 is not for me. There is only one frequency response. I know, I know…. But that is a fact if a headphone is designed for mastering and mixing. Any deviation from a flat response is just of no interest to me. I have some 30-40 headphones in my studio’s stock for larger sessions so I get to audition a lot of phones. My current fave in large quantity is HD280 Pro and Hd380 Pro which I consider interchangeable, and have a total of 16. Sticking with large quantity stock, I have 10 Fostex T20. Honestly, I haven’t compared them back to back with my Sennheisers but I recall they have similar response. Skipping my vintage Beyers, I am required to maintain 3 sets of Sony MDR 7506 for a special customer. I absolutely detest these phones, with their ridiculous high freq hype. It turns out many people like them and I just don’t know how. My new fascination is my IEMs. I intend to keep looking in that department.
7506 & V6 are fatiguing with their crappy, grating trebles and the big ~2kHz peak that makes them very nasal and annoying. They are legendary and popular to this day, unfortunately, no thanks to past headphone being even more terrible until 2002 or so, I speculate based on old forum posts I've skimmed through. At least V700DJ and its fragility is finally gone. We are spoiled for good choices these days, 7506 & V6 need to disappear already, yuck.
@@Jason75913 I maintain a small stock because I have special customers who ask for them. I can’t stand to put them on for 15 seconds to see if they’re working.
@ildarkinildarkin Whilst the 990 Pro's are excellent value for money, they sound noticeably dull when compared directly with MV1's. Bare in mind they are also in a different price category. More detail and separation are noticeable with the MV1's.
I don't know if you're asking because you have them or are considering buying them, but I can't recommend the DT 900. Not because of how they sound (tho I'm not sure if I would recommend them for their sound either, not bad but felt a bit like a slight downgrade from the 990s), but the connection between the headband and ear cups are terribly designed. They are held together just by some sort of plastic clamp, which is way to brittle and just broke and sprang off on one side after a year of use. Oh, also the leatherette on the headband partly ripped off even earlier, revealing the cushioning inside causing it to slip out. Headphones of this price should definitely be more robust.
I have them and like the way they sound (though sometimes I want more bass, so maybe I should have gotten the DT 700), but I haven't had them long enough yet to experience the connection problem or headband issue. I had heard they had improved that since the early runs of the headphone... or at least I hope they have. It's something to keep in mind. Thanks for letting me know. These new Sennheisers (HD 490) haven't been out long enough to know if they have build quality problems. @@paperino0
Did you find their slight downgrade in sound from the 990s due to a difference in frequency response (less u-shaped), or was it that it sounded clearer (less muffled)? Some have said the fleece disc inside the 900 and 700 dampens the sound too much. @@paperino0
@@msd5808 After listening to both just now back to back, I don't find the flatter sound signature to be an issue, they do sound a bit less warm and not as full as the 990s, but I suppose you get less ear fatigue in return. But I'd say my biggest issue is the considerably smaller sound stage in the 900s. Maybe due to the smaller ear cups, which also makes them less comfortable as I can feel my ears touching the cups. Also what I just noticed is they push quite a bit harder on your head than the 990s.
Would you say there is a difference in detail retrieval? The 990s measure louder in the high frequencies, so I wonder if that gives them a sense of more detail, or if that is equalized down it will sound less detailed like the 900. I suspect they sound kind of similar though, but the 900 has a newer driver. @@paperino0
The HD820 is a ultra high grade audiophile headphone. Very hard to drive. You need a high quality and expensive headphone amp to extract all its potential.
HD820 is high end, HD490 very likely isn't, especially with that price tag. @@carlosnieto8241 A high end amplifier is secondary to a high end "soundcard", neither of which will exist in most musicians' arsenals among the very few that pick up HD800 or HD820. All this is total overkill. Ty Unwin shows up periodically on Sonic Talk, he's quite the audiophile but seems to be more into high end stereo speakers, I think. Anyway, this is no place for audiophoolism discussions 🤣🤣
That monitor is muddy compared to HD600 and HD650, and likely this new HD490 that probably sits between those HD6xx series and upper-tier "mid-fi" like K612, HD599, and ATH AD900.
I almost stopped watching after seeing what you were plugging the 600 into, but what made me stop watching and comment is seeing you putting on the 600 backwards.
I just bought a pair of FiiO FT5 headphones that are much more in the fun category. They come with two sets of pads that offer wildly different sounds. I am not a fan of super neutral, but my interest is piqued on these. I have finally found a Sennheiser that I really like, the HD660S2. I am guessing these will sound very different. I am not a fan of the HD600/HD650, so I am not sure how these will hit me. Might be interesting.
@@danieleturrin5625 Way, way different! Lots of bass, the mids are recessed just a bit and the treble is softer/recessed. Really liking them! I am guessing these would be the polar opposite of the featured headphones. :-) Definitely a more fun kind of tuning.
@@mikeg2491 Totally agree. And after a few months I pulled out the foam filters. My collection used to peak with my top three headphones. Now it peaks with my top four headphones. :-)
