The New Standard in Dynamic Open Back Headphones for Mixing? (My take on the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro) 

You should be aware that the Sennheiser 490 Pro and the Neumann NDH-30 are part of Sennheiser Pro in Germany, while the HD series is part of Sennheiser Consumer Audio, owned by Sonova and based in Ireland. These are two seperate companies, that sometimes work together, but do not produce the same products or have the same goals for them.

Thanks for your review Justin. I finally went ahead and bought a pair of Sennheiser HD490 Pro. Used Neumann NDH30 for a year but ended selling them as they were simply too "muted" on the top end for me. My mixes were too bright when I listened to them on other sources compensating for the lack of "spark" of the Neumanns. As Justin points out, the Neumanns can be boring and not engaging (even if they do sound very neutral). I had tried Beyer DT1990 before, but gosh, they were sooo bright, I got exactly the opposite kind of mixes... too tamed in the upper register to compensate for the exaggerated brightness. Also used (and still use) a pair of Audeze LCD-X 2021, and even though they are nice with good bass response and extension and super fast transient attack, the lower mids are a bit "thick" making everything sound a bit more "pleasant". My daily cans for mixing were (until now) the Sennheiser HD-600 which I love for their honesty and intimacy... but they do lack a tiny bit of low end....which does not seem to be the case with these new HD490 Pros. Have only had them for a couple of weeks but they are my new favorite cans for mixing! They give me the honesty of the HD600 with just a bit more bottom end (which translates way better on all listening scenarios) a bit wider soundstage than the HD600 (meaning more realistic) and a drop more of sparkle on the top end which makes mixing decisions easier. I was saving for a pair of Audeze MM_500, but with these Sennheiser HD490 I don't feel any rush to go that direction.... highly recommended! Anyway...my 2 cents... and thanks to Justin again for his honest review!

Thanks for the constant quality output Justin. My approach is 1) Choose the Best monitors you can afford (that of course sound good to you regardless of cost level) , 2) Buy Headphones that sound similar to these Monitors . Buy the headphones that work as an extension of your monitors and not ones that build a world of their own. My idea behind it is that Headphones will always be fantastic when used as a magnifying glass and will always reveal specific details better than a monitor in a room but what i Don`t need from my headphones is them deviating too much in character from my Main Monitors. If they have too much character of their own i find it much easier to get lost. After all it is not only about „objective sonic quality“ (if that even exists) but also about your own taste which is what we are selling as engineers. We will always be biased by our taste, however i see this as the beauty of the whole thing

I just got these in yesterday and so far I hav had them on my head for over 10hrs lol 😂. A sonic improvement in every way over my trusty old hd600s. But yet still retaining the classic mids the hd6xx are known for. Your review was spot on..cheers….!

really great review. you get in the weeds, without waffling & wasting time. just detail, which is what its all about. cheers!!

Nothing will ever top my kitchen countertop HD600. But I do all of my bass management in the studio with serious speakers. So I agree with what he is saying but I've just gotten so used to my 600s...

The only headphones I got are OLLO S4x, I don't know what the differences are between these and more expensive headphones but I am really comfortable mixing on them , I don't use my studio monitors for mixing any more. I have now bought a Schiit amp/dac and looking forward to use it as soon as it arrives.

I’m seriously considering these headphones. I’m coming from the Astro A40. So hopefully I’ll be very pleased!

You definitely have to come to terms with finding a balance between what excites you and what provides YOU with the most important information for making critical decisions. There is no magic set of cans even when you cross that $1000-1500 threshold. I personally need to hear hype in order to get inspired early on in a mix which is why my initial decisions are still made with my M50x cos my ears are fully tuned to them at this point and by now I know how that hype translates. When I get to that last 10% tho I’m at the desk automating with my UF8 and referencing between my monitors and open backs which in my case are the Shure 1840s. The thing about neutral open backs, and I auditioned many, is that they all sound underwhelming. They’re a tool like a finishing cloth. Their usefulness only really comes at the end, at least for mixing. Mastering is a different story. What is absolutely essential is a good DAC and I don’t mean your interface unless you have a Burl in your backpack. That said, start your mixes with your ear buds, production cans, whatever it is that you like to listen to your favorite music with recreationally to get your mix exciting! THEN put on the open backs and clean out the garbage. Checking your ref the whole time of course.. 🙏

Great ref. Max Headroom!

NDH 30's turned out to be the magic pill for me. I can mix with complete confidence now. Total game changer, i love them. Thanks to Justin for the suggestion on these. Also picked up a Rupert Neve Headphone amp. Man, what a different universe.

hey man I mix on sennheiser 560s .have you tried them vrs the 490? I'm just wondering how they compare.

Dang! I just ordered a pair of the 660S2 headphones before seeing this video!! Did I make a mistake? I’m using them for mixing… 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

I'd like to know your opinion of the 490 Vs 560s sennheisers.

Thanks for your comparison between the NDH-30 and the HD490. If the pricepoint and the convenience is not the point - just only the sound: which one would you prefer?

Thanks so much for this helpful video! I will definitely try the HD 490 Pro. Have you ever tested the planar Hifiman Edition XS headphones? They have an amazingly neutral frequency response.

I've been able to stop using Sonarworks since starting to mix on Sennheiser's 6XX cans (a rebranded version of the HD 650). They're almost, like... boring, lol - what you call "neutral" in the video. They even feel less open than other open backs I've used. I'd so much more rather listen to music on a pair of Beyers, but when I try to mix on them they trick me into thinking the high end is more hyped than it actually is and everything comes out too dark! Might check out this pair when the time comes to upgrade. I don't love how strongly the 6XX presses on my ears.

Heyyy Justin, did you get engineer Jason Goldenberg to appear in this mix con of 2024? 😮😮 Looking forward to autumn now!

Thanks a lot for the review ! If the pricepoint is not the point, which one would you prefer between HD 490 and Focal Clear MG Pro for mixing and producing in term of sound and confort ? (I try to find the best sounding headphone without loosing a lot in term of confort, i sold my Audeze headphone because of that)

I can't really trust my room at the moment - I have some dt770s and dt880s but was thinking of getting these or the Slate VSX to finish my album mixes....leaning towards Slate at the moment because of the club emulations....what do you think?

One thing about the NDH 30 I don't see mentioned often is how the positioning on your ears impacts the frequency response. At least for me the sound changed way too much if they moved around at all which they did often. Maybe it depends on ear or head size but I haven't had that issue on multiple other headphones and I couldnt trust them for that reason. The headphone jack on the right ear was also annoying. The 490 I thought were good but had a plasticky high end sound in comparison. Everything's a compromise.

Hi Justin. I’ve read that the 560s are almost identical to the 490pro but for a fraction of the price (at least as far as frequency response). What’s your take on this? Have you compared these two?

Hello, thanks for your useful channel. I wanted to see if my sound card is Steinberg mr816csx. Does it support Neumaan ndh30 or 490 pro headphones? Thanks

Hi! Casual listener here I was trying to understand which one has the better bass, I miss the rumble since I listen a lot of edm xD Between HD 490 and Sony mdr mv1 can one of them slam and rumble ?

How does the hd490 compare to the mm-100? :-) also do you recommend people have multiple headphones or to just get used to one they really know….

Could you elaborate on how exactly the 490 Pro sounds more pleasant than the NDH 30? I am trying to decide between the two and got to try the 490 Pro briefly, but not the Neumann. I didn’t love the 490 Pro and thought the vocals sounded recessed with the velour pads. I have heard great things about the NDH 30’s tonality and timbre which didn’t impress me on the 490 Pro but they are still an annoyingly under-reviewed headphone to this day. It is really hard to get an idea of the Neumann with so few people talking about it. In my limited experience with the 490 Pro, it didn’t sound all that much better than the far cheaper 400 Pro/560S.

I'm looking for Headphones with "excellent sound isolation", flat response, comfort for long wearing sessions, works for Mixing and general listening, and won't break the Bank. What do you recommend - Makes, Models?

Paranormal activity happening with the camera loll

Just got 490 pros there, good with either pads and the plugin is decent, though. I did get a weird feeling you get when you take off in a plane strange.

How to trust in these analysis ... when you receive Mikes, Headphone for free ...