HD 560S Open-Back Over-Ear Wired Audiophile Headphones

My Use Cases: - Gaming ~50% - YouTube/TV ~25% - Listening to or analyzing Music ~15% - Podcasts and audiobooks ~ 10% Praiseworthy Comments: - Most (I say most because some songs just sound too harsh) music is well balanced, with every instrument distinguishable and vibrant. I love listening to music in these, and if I have live recordings that I’m editing they help me pick out every listless detail with ease. - FPS games with a focus on awareness sound crisp, clear and atmospheric. I can’t comment to how the sound stage compares to other headphones, but I had the HyperX Cloud II’s before this and I would say they are similar. Being able to pick out details more clearly on the 560S really gives it the edge though. - I can barely feel it on my head. It is so light and it really is comfortable to me. I don’t think the clamping pressure is too big and I have more of a round head. ** I can play a video or a podcast while I’m playing a game and I’m able to distinguish both audio sources. I couldn’t do this on my Cloud II’a as they were just too muddy and I couldn’t hear either well. For me this is actually really huge as I play casual games, or sweaty games and I like listening to a podcast, news, or YouTube. - they look nice. Really simple aesthetic. Not bulky, wide, or different colors/textures. Noteworthy Criticisms: - the treble clarity and levels were overwhelming at first. I turned down the volume a good amount but my ears were tuned to different headphones. My Cloud II’s used some pleather ear pads and the bass was a bit stronger because they were closed back. The 560S is so open back you can hear yourself talk while listening to music. So the sound is just different from the cloud II’s. - I tried some “sheep skin” ear pads with these headphones and the clarity was lost. I got used to the clarity of the lows, mids and treble and I had a hard time adjusting to the sheep skin pads. I’ll try them again, and I’ll play around with the EQ but idk if I’ll want to switch from the velour. - even though they look good they feel cheap. I am going to take care of these, but I don’t necessarily think plastic can take a beating like metal components can. They will stay at my desk at all times so I’m not worried. - lack of lower end bass. You can hear the bass, the tone of the bass, and they clarity of the notes but there aren’t a lot of sub frequencies pushing through. I like this now, but it took some time to adjust. - no mic for gaming. I hardly meet anyone online anymore anyways, (sadly) so doesn’t change much for me. Final Thoughts: For $140 it’s hard to go wrong with these if your looking for a set with mid range audio quality. They are light, have a clean aesthetic, have ample clarity, and can be EQ’d (if that’s your thing) to some degree. I would recommend this to someone that analyzes their audio, or more specifically you are paying attention to a lot of different details in whatever it is you are listening to. Don’t buy these if you just want a pair of gaming headphones or you don’t know what is best for you. You may not like the sound.

There are a gazillion reviews, so there's not a lot I can add, but thought I'd speak to two attributes I was most concerned about (beyond quality of sound, which is excellent). That is, the comfort both in terms of 'clamping force' on my large head (and contact with the top of my head), and whether they are 'hot' on the ears. My only other pair of over the ear headphones was something from the 1970s and it was truly horrible in all of these regards, but turned me off to over the ear headphones for years (I'm an In Ear Monitor person generally, but ones that rival the sound of these are several times the price) Clamping force on head: I have a larger head and the clamping force has been about perfect. It has never felt uncomfortable in that regard. I do have them extended all the way. Contact with top of head: The top of the headband does have an indentation that is intended to keep it from making contact with the top of my head, something I am VERY sensitive too. Unfortunately, it does make some contact with my head, but I suspect a smaller head would not have this problem, that said it has been an adjustment to getting used to the sensation, rather than causing discomfort, so overall, it is working for me and I have dozens of hours of use as of this review. Ears 'hotness' and comfort: The material used on the pads is very comfortable. Generally, wearing them (indoors) I never feel hot in them, but some days I do feel some warmth. Not sure why some days, and not others--perhaps just down to body temperature. Even then, I don't find it uncomfortably warm. The ear cups do flex/swivel a bit, and this also helps with fit and comfort. Cord Length: A quick word on this. The included cable length is fine. However, Sennheiser does not currently seem to provide a 15ft version (or any longer version0 with their proprietary twist connection. So, if you need to extend them, it is going to have to be with a cable extender. HOWEVER, and this is an important point if you want to extend it AND you need a 6.5mm (the larger size) male plug to go into your audio source of choice. The 6.5mm adapter they provided SCREWS into the smaller 3.5mm connector. Sure, that's more secure, but if you want to use a cable extender, that will be a male/female 3.5mm connector (likely) and then you will have to buy a separate plug in type 6.5mm adapter. These are not expensive, but it is an annoyance. In summary: My opinion is these headphones are a bargain. I watched many hours of video reviews on this headphone where it was also discussed, compared and contrasted in relation to similar products, by well known and regarded audio reviewers, and while sound was at the top of the list, the comfort factors I described above were right up there with sound. Reviews did a good job of objectively evaluating the Sennheiser 560S, and I would buy them again.

I'm not an audiophile or headphone expert. I played drums as a teenager and later took guitar lessons for 10 years, still play the guitar almost daily, and love music in general. Hard rock has always been my favorite genre. I use headphones with my PC while watching YouTube music videos and concerts and also while playing video games like Cyberpunk 2077, Skyrim, Diablo IV, etc. I also have a pretty big library of old and new music on a 7th gen iPod Touch (now discontinued) and do some critical listening with that. I had been using budget headphones like the Koss KTXPro1 and Logitech G333 gaming earbuds, but always wanted to try something considered as "audiophile" headphones. My son is somewhat of a headphone expert, so I reached out to him for buying guidance. His ideal headphones would be completely neutral, with no emphasis on either highs or lows. To start, he gave me a FiiO K3, which is a DAC/headphone amplifier. I didn't know I needed one, but he insisted. He also convinced me to download and install the open-source Equalizer APO application and its companion Peace UI component. It's a bit daunting for a newbie to get started with the headphone amp and equalizer software, but there are plenty of YouTube tutorial walkthroughs available. In a few hours I had the headphone amp and the Peace interface working, and had separate configurations saved for the Koss and Logitech headphones. I downloaded pre-configured settings for each pair of headphones, which are set with the preferred "Harman Curve". I had no idea about any of this stuff previously. By the end of that day, I had learned how to tweak and save additional configurations, and now could choose between multiple pre-sets for each pair of headphones. For example, I created a pre-set that boosted the bass, another that boosted the highs, and one that boosted both bass and highs while leaving the middle frequencies at the standard Harman curve settings. That allowed me to experiment and decide my own personal preferences for music listening. Just a primer - the headphone amp connects to the PC by USB, and it disables the built-in PC audio chip with a more powerful and clean signal. Then you plug your headphones into the headphone amp instead of the PC headphone input jack. Windows audio and volume is bypassed, so now the volume is controlled by the volume knob on the headphone amp. (You can turn off the headphone amp to listen through PC speakers or with the standard PC headphone jack.) With the headphone amp and equalizer software, both my Koss and Logitech headphones sounded better than ever and I was hearing details that I wasn't hearing before. I had heard of headphone amps before, but never thought they were necessary. I couldn't imagine not using one now. Then my son lent me his AKG K702 open back headphones to try. He likes them because they are pretty neutral. As he puts it, "you hear the music as the producer and engineer intended it to sound." The AKGs were the best headphones I had ever tried, hands down. I downloaded the pre-configured parametric EQ file for them and listened for a few days. I learned that I preferred a more bass-heavy sound, especially with the hard rock I usually listened to. (I am currently obsessed with a band named The Warning, but like many other artists including Spiritbox, Breaking Benjamin, Band-Maid, Evanescence, Muse, and older classic rock like Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, Hendrix, and Van Halen.) Given that I liked a bit more bass emphasis, my son suggested the Sennheiser HD 560S. I love them. With the standard EQ configuration, the low bass is a little lacking for my taste. I want the bass drum emphasized. So I created a pre-set with the bass boosted at 52 Hz and left the rest of frequencies alone. Perfect! I created another pre-set with the same 52 Hz boost and an additional boost at 5K Hz. I have some high frequency hearing loss, so this compensates for that, and allows me to hear the cymbals a little better. Normally I listen with the bass boost pre-set only and can hear everything fine. The only minor gripe I have with the Sennheiser HD 5600S phones is the comfort level. The ear pads are soft and comfortable, and the clamping force isn't too much. But the headphones are somewhat bulky, especially compared to the Koss which are feather light and have almost zero clamping force. The Logitech earbuds are another story since they weigh virtually nothing and there's no clamping force. That said, I have used the Sennheisers for hours at a time and they're fine. You do forget they're on once you're immersed in the music or the game. I'll definitely choose the Sennheisers every time for critical listening. Occasionally I will use the Logitechs or Koss when watching non-music videos like interviews or product reviews, for the improved comfort level. Here's a good website for scientifically tested objective headphone ratings: https://www.rtings.com/headphones Definitely recommend the HD 560S as an entry level audiophile headphone. They're a tier above sub-$100 headphones for sure.

I was in what felt like an endless quest for the perfect set of over-ear headphones for my personal needs... every time I would think I landed on the perfect one, I would find something about it that I hated, or I would find other users' testimony online that would scare me away... ultimately, I landed on these for a number of reasons. I needed a set of cans that would, first and foremost, not lie to me when trying to mix/master. I also wanted something with a bit less of a claustrophobic feel to them. I already had a set of pretty good closed-backs that I use primarily for tracking bass and guitar, and while they are great for that, they were a bit too "exciting" in sound to give me an accurate representation of the rest of the track. I also just get a bit of anxiety wearing closed backs for long periods of time: I just dislike the lack of awareness around me. I also wanted, as an added bonus if possible, something that would also be able to be used for general listening and gaming. By extension, I wanted something that was going to be comfortable to wear for long periods of time... With all of those requirements in mind, it seemed like every headset I came across would excel in one or two of those categories, but always fell short in another... Not wanting to compromise, it seemed like the more research I did, the more it became clear that this HD 560s was probably the closest thing I was going to get to checking off all of those boxes, and after stalling for a few weeks, I finally decided to pull the trigger... I am SO glad I did. These things sound incredible. I immediately noticed issues with the mix of a few songs I have been working on. Once I put these on, it was like a fog was lifted from the music and I could hear everything with much more clarity, and I was able to get a mix that was significantly better and more clear as a result. I also love the nature of open-back headphones. I can still hear if someone knocks on my door, and the sound just kind of has a more "roomy" feel to it. It ALMOST sounds more like I am listening a well-treated room than isolated cans. They are also very comfortable to wear, even for long periods of time. I have a large head, and I wear glasses so it's not unusual for me to get a headache after awhile wearing headphones, but these seem to be a lot more forgiving than any of the past sets I have used. I should also mention that these don't need a crazy headphone amp to drive them. Just about anything should push the drivers without much issue at all. Finally, I can confirm that for casual listening, these are pretty great as well. Sound is crystal clear, and if you feel like you want a more "exciting" sound, you can always achieve that with some EQ adjustments. As for gaming, while this wasn't the primary reason I purchased these, I will say I was pretty shocked when I started using these for my online Warzone sessions. Thanks to the aforementioned flat EQ curve, bass isn't blown out, which means a lot of the sounds that used to dominate the sound mix are far less obnoxious, and the wider-feeling sound stage really does give me a LOT more fine details on directional audio cues like footsteps. All of that is to say that I think I landed on my very favorite headphones ever. I could have spent a fair amount more, and truthfully, I have a few other headphones that were FAR more expensive, and they honestly do not sound as good as these... and it's really not even close. The plastic build doesn't scream expensive, but they don't need to: I can't see them when they are on my head anyway. I do not believe the plastic makes these any less durable than anything else. They seem very well made and I would expect these to hold up for years to come. Considering the price, these headphones are about the easiest recommendation ever. If you want clarity, comfort, and a little bit of versatility, these are it. Stop looking. You found them. One last thing I wanted to point out: based on ALL of the reviews of these that I watched prior to purchasing, I expected an obnoxiously long 10' cable with a weird pig-tail dongle if you wanted to use them with a 3.5mm jack... I was surprised to find that the cable that mine came with was a more standard 6 foot cable that terminates in a 3.5mm jack and a nice adapter to 1/4" that screws on. To be honest, I was slightly disappointed with the shorter cable length, but I think MOST people are going to actually see this as a plus. They must have changed what they ship these with since all of the reviews from when they first starting selling these.

The first thing you'll notice is that they're *very* tight on your head. For two days, I had a headache because it would press my glasses into my temporal lobe. I solved this by placing them over the cardboard box they came with for two nights, and they have been incredibly comfortable since. There is a bump in the back of each ear cup that bothered me at first, it would brush against my Ferengi lobes. I got used to this over time, and it no longer bothers me. If you have them positioned properly (I did not at first) you won't notice the bumps. I took off a star for build quality, even though I still think they're quite good. The plastic feels quite durable. They have survived the airport, I made sure to pack them carefully between clothes, and a few drops from when my dog snags the cord. No visible damage after a month. Now for the complaints: the padding on the headband seems to be sightly raised away from the plastic (picture attached). This makes sense though, as there seems to be a compliant mechanism inside that allows the plastic to be stretched. Nevertheless, what I don't like is the fact that I can clearly see adhesive where the overlap occurs. The second complaint is that the left and right swivels feel different. I notice that the right is more loose. When I place them on my head, because the right has less resistance, the do not swivel to the same degree and I have to manually adjust them. No normal person would ever notice this though. As for sound: the high impedance but also high sensitivity make this easy to drive with a laptop or smartphone. I do think it is worth finding something of quality to drive these, because of the high sensitivity. Normally it accentuates the high-middle frequencies, but it is clear all around. It is pleasant for listening, but high frequencies can sometimes get irritating. It sounds excellent by itself, but I went the extra mile. I use this with and Qudelix 5K. Using that little DAC-Amp significantly cleans up the audio signal and allows these headphones to truly shine. Do note that the sensitivity on the box says 110 dBSPL/V while software is going to ask for dBSPL/mW. That measurement is going to be 100.78 dBSPL/mV, do some research on this to verify my calculation. Impedance is 120 ohms. Since I have the Qudelix, I started playing with the parametric equalizer. I discovered these headphones can sound even better and more accurate than they do from the factory. I ended up with a customized version of Oratory1990's parametric settings for the Harmon target. I changed some of the gain levels in the upper-mids and highs to bring the headphones closer to the way they sound from factory, but to reduce the irritation and allow me to listen comfortably for longer. The preset I used definitely helps with the bass, and I left that alone. Don't get these if you're a basshead. That is not what they are meant for. The bass is clear and accurate, and just boomy enough for me. Imaging is, I would say, great, but the Philips SHP9500 beats them by a small margin. When playing video games, you can hear things in front, above, and behind you, but other headphones may be better. Overall, these are a great general-purpose pair of headphones. Combined with the Ablet Boom Microphone, they're great for gaming, and with a Qudelix 5K, they're great for music. Highly recommend. Would have been 5 stars if not for the visible glue on the headband and the sloppy swivel on the right ear cup.

I really love these headphones. The jump in sound quality is massive... the detail, the wide soundstage, and the precise imaging are absolutely incredible. They are well worth the money and are the perfect choice for anyone getting into the audio hobby who doesn't want to spend a fortune on higher-end gear. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about different things online, but honestly, it all comes down to the setup. To get the absolute best out of these headphones, make sure you use a dedicated DAC and a balanced cable when necessary. Not to mention, your source files have to be high quality... these headphones will expose bad audio files! The only thing I don't like is that they are physically huge. They look and feel quite large on your head, but I think that bulky size is just the price you have to pay to get this level of soundstage and audio quality. Highly recommended!

These are outstanding headphones at any price, and an unbelievable value at their typical ~$150 street price. I'm a recovering headphone addict and these have been good enough to help me stay sober. I think if your budget is up to $300 and you don't want to fuss around with amps and DACs and other gear considerations, these are probably the best "plug 'em into anything" headphones I've ever owned. They're light, they're comfortable for average-sized heads (though see more below), and they sound great playing any content from any source. Highlights: - Value: I've owned a lot of headphones (including perennial darlings like the HD600+650 and Audio-Technica ATX-M50 and higher-end stuff like the Audeze LCD-X and Focal Clear) and honestly, the headphone world is a perfect case study for the Law of Diminishing Returns. In other words, you can spend $150 on the 560S and get 75% of the sound quality that's even possible, or spend $1500 to get to like 85%. For most people, this is the sane stopping point. - Weight: the all-plastic build lets these float on your head at 280g (9.9 oz). For comparison, the Hifiman Sundara (another highly regarded pair of <$300 headphones) weighs 379g (13.4 oz). Three ounces may not sound like much, but over the course of hours, you really feel every ounce that's sitting on your head. - Easy to drive: I use these plugged directly into a PS5 controller and they get plenty loud at roughly 50-60% volume. I've tried them with different combinations of amps and DACs as well, but such gadgets are totally unnecessary to get the most out of the 560S. - Perfect audio for gaming: the wide soundstage is great, as is the sharp treble for picking out things like voices, footsteps, and gunfire. These are very popular with FPS players, and I can see why. I don't play PvP games, but they've saved me from many a cheap off-camera attack with their amazing positional audio cues. The nicest surprise on these is the bass, which is meatier than you'd expect for open-backed headphones. Unfortunately, because of the proprietary cable jack, I had to buy a kooky adapter (ASIN: B07Z2MPW61) so I could use the V-Moda BoomPro mic I had lying around for voice chat. The overall setup is a bit klunky but almost certainly outperforms popular gaming headsets. - Surprising noise isolation: these are by no means going to block out the outside world like a pair of closed-back headphones, but there are enough layers of stuff inside them between the grille and your ear that you're not going to hear everything around you with them on. Lowlights: - Oddball connector: I despise proprietary connectors, and Sennheiser's 2.5mm recessed jack with a twist lock is one of the most obnoxious on the market. What they lose in compatibility with other cables is by no means gained in security—who cares if your headphones unplug at the earcup when subjected to intense force? - Not very comfortable for big heads and big ears: although the design of these is generally compared to the HD500 line, having owned the absurdly comfortable HD598SE, I can say these don't come close. They clamp kind of hard and worse, the earpad foam is thin and when it flattens out (immediately), it presses the driver units against the cartilage of my ears. Fortunately, I was able to modify these with some third-party 3d-printed adapter rings so I could use bigger, cushier pads from Brainwavz. Now I can use them for 4+ hours without major discomfort. This may not be an issue if you don't have big ears like I do. Also worth noting is that some styles of glasses will be agony with these. - Not as nice for music: the things that make them perfect for games (accentuated high frequencies) make them a riskier proposition for music. Your mileage may vary, of course, but these can be pretty spicy for certain instruments and effects. All in all, despite the added hassles and costs to make these comfortable for my anatomy, I'm still very happy with them and don't think I could do better for my use case (plugged directly into PS5 controller with an inline mic) at any price. For their usual price of $150-180, I can't see what anyone could complain about. Thanks for reading!

Look, I am absolutely not an audiophile. I don't make music, and I usually just watch YouTube reviews until my brain melts. I’m just a guy who plays first-person shooters on PC, usually sticking to IEMs. However, I bought these headphones for one hyper-specific reason: Rainbow Six Siege. Let me tell you, these are an absolute game-changer. The open-back design makes the audio so clean and crisp that it feels like cheating. I can pinpoint exactly where glass is breaking or what direction a roamer is sprinting from without the sound getting muddy. My in-game spatial awareness skyrocketed. I've since started using them for racing games and everything else, too. The Build & Comfort: The Cord: It is ridiculously long. You could practically jump-rope with it, which is awesome for PC setups. Comfort: The foam earcups and headband are incredibly plush. I can play for hours without my head feeling like it's locked in a vice. Durability: Yes, it is made of plastic. No, it is not "dollar store" plastic. I have accidentally gravity-tested these multiple times on my floor, and there isn't a single scratch or crack. Plus, the stealthy all-black grill looks sharp. ⚠️ TWO HUGE PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS: THERE IS NO MICROPHONE: I’ve seen people complain about this online. Read the box, folks! If you want to trash-talk your teammates, you will need a standalone mic. YOU WILL HEAR EVERYTHING: Because they are open-back, sound goes both ways. If you have a blue-switch mechanical keyboard that sounds like a machine gun, or a loud roommate, you will hear them. Luckily, once the game volume kicks in, I easily drown it all out. Verdict: For the price, these offer top-tier performance without forcing you to sell a kidney. If you want a massive competitive edge in shooters like Siege, buy these immediately. 10/10.

Great for natural sound. Great for mastering but not monitoring, for obvious reasons. Great entry headphone for audiophiles.

These headphones are as great as RTings & Audiosciencereview measurements indicate -- and even better! Are they perfect in fidelity sound reproduction? Not quite: drop off in bass below 100 Hz (faced with more distortion if trying to compensate, eventually limited by dynamic drivers hitting stops), some peakiness in 3~10 kHz frequency range, messy phase response. Don't ever try to let them reproduce anything below 60 Hz at high loudness. But the comfort!!! The "openness"! "Soundstage"! You put them on, listen to ambience or voice captured by a Rode NT2000 microphone connected to TOPPING E2x2 OTG audio interface (better use high gain on E2x2 headphone output, which still has very good SINAD BTW) -- and you can barely tell the difference between live sound and that coming through the headphones... any good/great closed-back 'phones that I tried could not match that. Of course, closed-backs like AKG K371 are handy when a singer wishes to monitor her voice live: much better isolation to outside world. But I feel the Sennheiser HD 560S are far more accurate and detailed for voice, female voice in particular. Comfort is the first and the greatest thing you notice right away. Like others say: you put these headphones one, and soon forget they are there. I wanted to give them a "4" mark due to somewhat patchy frequency and phase response, not great PRTF, and other small flaws (like distortion at LF, build quality, looks, etc), but given the level of comfort and price, I think there isn't a better deal than these.

Very nice and more detailed information about the recorded music from the source. Very glad to have this headphone. One small suggestion to the company please provid the cable with latest "C". All are good 👍. Keep it up.

highly recommended.you can hear so much details in songs with comparing Sony M4s .Once your ear gets used to it you feel to hear so much details which you never heard it before .and of course you must need to select a HQ music source and better pair with a DAC/AMP for better performance .

Amei! Meu 1º open back. Grave me surpreendeu, para quem vinha de um HD25 velho onde o seal já estava comprometido. Eu achei que acharia o grave fraco no HD560s, mas por ter uma extensão de freq e resposta dinamica melhor, eu achei o grave até forte (mas num bom sentido), mas mais em relação ao subgrave tbm. Soundstage ótimo, confortável. Não causa fadiga auditiva como os agudos do HD25. Enfim, adorei!