First, I'd like to thank Sennheiser USA for asking me to do a review on their new HD-1 in-ear Wireless headphone (HD1). This review contains my honest feedback, and I have received no financial compensation for doing this review. I may, however, keep the review sample - and I'm quite pleased about that. Read on to find out why.
At face value, I'm not the target market for this IEM. First, I often have fit issues with IEMs. Secondly, I've become accustomed to carrying around a pack of cables with me whenever I go to work, and of carrying around a portable DAC. I figure this is just the cross that the audiophile has to bear. This may be changing, however, if the quality of the HD1 is any indication.
My reference point for excellent portable audio is my Chord Mojo and a Periodic Beryllium IEM, a combination that really ticks a lot of boxes for me. I'm not mentioning this to say the HD1s should sound as good as $900 worth of gear; rather, it's worth mentioning to show I have a frame of reference. If the HD1 is your first mid-fi IEM, I imagine you will definitely enjoy these.
The Mojo/BE combination provides me with many things: Portability, a warm and detailed presentation, which I'm fond of, and the combination performs admirable with any test material I throw at them. This combination, however good it may sound, is not the most convenient when I'm out and about, or at the office. The HD1, as a wireless Bluetooth IEM, allows me the the very best in portability, with very few trade-offs. I expect the HD1s will stay in my rotation because of how incredibly convenient they are.
Build Quality & Fit
As has been said before by many others, it does not matter how good your headphones sound if they are uncomfortable to wear. Indeed, I've returned or sold dozens of headphones for ergonomic issues alone. Thankfully, Sennheiser - who's been in this business for decades - knows how to get the fit right. The HD1 uses a genuine leather headband that is very soft with just the right amount of padding, and the whole package is very lightweight. Even more importantly, the housings are small and lightweight, and are of a commonly-found diameter, so you're sure to find a tip that fits you, if none of the four that come in the package fit you perfectly. I do believe, however, that a $200 IEM should have more than four sets of eartips, but I had success with the largest ones, which are pretty big. Of course, your mileage may vary, however.
The HD1s also come with a high-quality zip-up hardcase that is less than 2 inches thick - very easy to slip into a backpack or briefcase. I've been using these every day for two weeks now, and the case is rugged, attractive, and serves its intended purpose.
The HD1s are very attractive and well-made, taking many visual cues from Sennheiser's well-regarded Momentum series. In fact, these remind me very much of my original Momentum Over-Ears which I had a few years back and enjoyed a great deal.
The battery life on the HD1 is very good, and its listed life of 10 hours sounds just right to me. A Bluetooth headphone can be held back by a weak battery, but the HD1 has no such problem.
Sound Quality
I did all my testing via my LG V10 smartphone and Samsung 10.1 tablet. I was able to connect to either device quickly and easily, and never had any difficulty engaging pairing mode, or having the HD1s not show up as a pairable device.
For my music listening, I used Tidal on the HiFi setting to access my offline content, Tidal via USB Audio Player Pro and Spotify's Extreme setting when I was on my workplace's slow guest WiFi connection.
I listened to dozens of carefully curated test tracks through Tidal, and many tracks that I am very familiar with to gauge - in my admittedly subjective manner - how close to neutral the headphones sounded, vs what I know these songs should sound like.
I also watched an episode of Netflix's excellent Daredevil to see how the HD1s stood up as a general purpose media consumption headphone.
What about the bass?
The bass on the HD1s is full, impactful, and reasonably articulate. I would not call these serious basshead cans, nor would I call them bass-light. They are bassier than neutral, but not offensively so. This warm and smooth quality is usually a good combination, and only runs into problems on occasion.
The bass shows good impact and decent speed, and never overpowers the rest of the mix, even on bass-heavy dance and hip-hop tracks. For a Bluetooth IEM, I'd say bass performance is very good. Listening to "Mombasa" from Hans Zimmer's Inception soundtrack, the HD1s thumped with authority - no mean feat. Many reviewers use this track to review full-sized home subwoofers to see how well they can keep it together with a deep, hard-hitting track. The HD1s did a very nice job with this very difficult track.
I do have one criticism of the bass, however. It does have some difficulty with some extremely dense passages. I found this to be problematic when listening to progressive instrumental metal (which I listen to probably half the time). When listening to complex tracks from Meshuggah, Animals as Leaders or Polyphia, the HD1's bass couldn't quite keep up, and showed an unfortunate muddy and one-notey tendency. The bass was much more agreeable on less complicated passages. Much popular music isn't so demanding for playback devices, so you may never run into this unless you're looking for it.
To be fair, I'm not sure if this criticism is perfectly fair to level at a $200 IEM, but I wouldn't want readers to expect these to have a world-class bass response.
Still, the bass shows few of these problems, except when pushed to the limits in dealing with dense passages. For 80% of my listening, I thought the bass was very good.
Mids:
The mids on the HD1 are clear and transparent, and quite good overall. They are smooth and thick, but they lean on the warm side. I listened to several songs from Incubus and Thrice - two of my favorite bands that I'm very familiar with - and the vocals on each had a warmer presentation than I usually hear. If you're not in the habit of closely listening, you may not notice this. In fact, this didn't bother me at first, but as I continued listening to my favorite singers, I thought the mids were a bit off. I understand this warm presentation is very popular with many people, and may actually be a benefit to some.
This warmness in the mid-range isn't all bad, however. I though it was good for TV watching, however. Dialogue was crisp and clear when watching Daredevil, so there are certainly benefits to this sort of tuning.
Treble:
The treble response on these is good, but not great. If you are sensitive to sibilance, these are a great choice for you. In listening to stringed instruments, especially guitars, the HD1s never showed a hint of sibilance and were never strident.
Edit: After further listening, the treble is my favorite part of the HD1's sound signature. Some tracks' treble may sound slightly muted, but that is seemingly how the song was mixed. After listening to more songs with pianos guitars and violins, the treble response was very good and well detailed, while never verging on sibilant or "zingy."
Imaging:
Stereo imaging on the HD1 was very good. In one Meshuggah song, they recorded the sounds of insects buzzing around. You could hear them move from left to right, then right to left. It felt as if this swarm of who-knows-what was flying around my ears! This sort of imaging typically comes from more expensive IEMs
Instrument Separation:
Overall, instrument and note separation was very good. In Spanish Harlem, sung by Rebecca Pidgeon, you can hear each individual not played on an upright bass guitar and the piano. This song shows off Pidgeon's dynamic, yet controlled voice, and Pidgeon wonderfully complements the band playing with her. This song is found on Chesky Record's most recent audiophile demonstration disk, so it's a great test. The HD1s handled this song very well. I listened to Spanish Harlem several times, and was impressed with how well the HD1s handled it.
Subjective Take:
I know I've been a bit critical the sound signature, but taken as a whole, it just works very well. Everything I've listened to has sounded pleasant to very good, while never spectacular. Even when listening to complex metal, the HD1s never sounded bad, and usually sound very good.
What's so good about these?
I think the real draw of the HD1 is that they're an excellent IEM to use at the office when extra wires will slow you down, or when you're kicking back to enjoy a TV show or movie on your laptop or tablet. When you think about the HD1 IEMs in this way, and remember that they're only $200, and wireless, the value proposition is strong.
Comparisons:
Unfortunately, I don't have any IEMs that are direct competitors to the HD1s. My Periodic Audio Berylliums cost $300 and are wired, so it's not exactly a fair comparison. The "BEs" punch above their weight class, and they are tuned with audiophile sensibilities in mind, so they're not the best comparison.
I also recently had the iBasso IT03s. With a $260 MSRP, these are closer in price to the HD1s, but are also superior in sound quality, but are much weaker in comfort. Even though the IT03s sound better, the HD1s are much more comfortable. You just plug them into your ears, and enjoy, and that's really what this hobby is all about - enjoying the music.
Final Thoughts
While these IEMs are not "perfect" by audiophile standards, they are very good wireless IEMs that provide very good sound on the go. If you're looking for a wireless Bluetooth IEM, definitely give the HD1s a listen. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!
Individual Rankings:
Accessories: 8
Design: 9
Fit/Comfort: 9
Sound Quality: 7
At face value, I'm not the target market for this IEM. First, I often have fit issues with IEMs. Secondly, I've become accustomed to carrying around a pack of cables with me whenever I go to work, and of carrying around a portable DAC. I figure this is just the cross that the audiophile has to bear. This may be changing, however, if the quality of the HD1 is any indication.
My reference point for excellent portable audio is my Chord Mojo and a Periodic Beryllium IEM, a combination that really ticks a lot of boxes for me. I'm not mentioning this to say the HD1s should sound as good as $900 worth of gear; rather, it's worth mentioning to show I have a frame of reference. If the HD1 is your first mid-fi IEM, I imagine you will definitely enjoy these.
The Mojo/BE combination provides me with many things: Portability, a warm and detailed presentation, which I'm fond of, and the combination performs admirable with any test material I throw at them. This combination, however good it may sound, is not the most convenient when I'm out and about, or at the office. The HD1, as a wireless Bluetooth IEM, allows me the the very best in portability, with very few trade-offs. I expect the HD1s will stay in my rotation because of how incredibly convenient they are.
Build Quality & Fit
As has been said before by many others, it does not matter how good your headphones sound if they are uncomfortable to wear. Indeed, I've returned or sold dozens of headphones for ergonomic issues alone. Thankfully, Sennheiser - who's been in this business for decades - knows how to get the fit right. The HD1 uses a genuine leather headband that is very soft with just the right amount of padding, and the whole package is very lightweight. Even more importantly, the housings are small and lightweight, and are of a commonly-found diameter, so you're sure to find a tip that fits you, if none of the four that come in the package fit you perfectly. I do believe, however, that a $200 IEM should have more than four sets of eartips, but I had success with the largest ones, which are pretty big. Of course, your mileage may vary, however.
The HD1s also come with a high-quality zip-up hardcase that is less than 2 inches thick - very easy to slip into a backpack or briefcase. I've been using these every day for two weeks now, and the case is rugged, attractive, and serves its intended purpose.
The HD1s are very attractive and well-made, taking many visual cues from Sennheiser's well-regarded Momentum series. In fact, these remind me very much of my original Momentum Over-Ears which I had a few years back and enjoyed a great deal.
The battery life on the HD1 is very good, and its listed life of 10 hours sounds just right to me. A Bluetooth headphone can be held back by a weak battery, but the HD1 has no such problem.
Sound Quality
I did all my testing via my LG V10 smartphone and Samsung 10.1 tablet. I was able to connect to either device quickly and easily, and never had any difficulty engaging pairing mode, or having the HD1s not show up as a pairable device.
For my music listening, I used Tidal on the HiFi setting to access my offline content, Tidal via USB Audio Player Pro and Spotify's Extreme setting when I was on my workplace's slow guest WiFi connection.
I listened to dozens of carefully curated test tracks through Tidal, and many tracks that I am very familiar with to gauge - in my admittedly subjective manner - how close to neutral the headphones sounded, vs what I know these songs should sound like.
I also watched an episode of Netflix's excellent Daredevil to see how the HD1s stood up as a general purpose media consumption headphone.
What about the bass?
The bass on the HD1s is full, impactful, and reasonably articulate. I would not call these serious basshead cans, nor would I call them bass-light. They are bassier than neutral, but not offensively so. This warm and smooth quality is usually a good combination, and only runs into problems on occasion.
The bass shows good impact and decent speed, and never overpowers the rest of the mix, even on bass-heavy dance and hip-hop tracks. For a Bluetooth IEM, I'd say bass performance is very good. Listening to "Mombasa" from Hans Zimmer's Inception soundtrack, the HD1s thumped with authority - no mean feat. Many reviewers use this track to review full-sized home subwoofers to see how well they can keep it together with a deep, hard-hitting track. The HD1s did a very nice job with this very difficult track.
I do have one criticism of the bass, however. It does have some difficulty with some extremely dense passages. I found this to be problematic when listening to progressive instrumental metal (which I listen to probably half the time). When listening to complex tracks from Meshuggah, Animals as Leaders or Polyphia, the HD1's bass couldn't quite keep up, and showed an unfortunate muddy and one-notey tendency. The bass was much more agreeable on less complicated passages. Much popular music isn't so demanding for playback devices, so you may never run into this unless you're looking for it.
To be fair, I'm not sure if this criticism is perfectly fair to level at a $200 IEM, but I wouldn't want readers to expect these to have a world-class bass response.
Still, the bass shows few of these problems, except when pushed to the limits in dealing with dense passages. For 80% of my listening, I thought the bass was very good.
Mids:
The mids on the HD1 are clear and transparent, and quite good overall. They are smooth and thick, but they lean on the warm side. I listened to several songs from Incubus and Thrice - two of my favorite bands that I'm very familiar with - and the vocals on each had a warmer presentation than I usually hear. If you're not in the habit of closely listening, you may not notice this. In fact, this didn't bother me at first, but as I continued listening to my favorite singers, I thought the mids were a bit off. I understand this warm presentation is very popular with many people, and may actually be a benefit to some.
This warmness in the mid-range isn't all bad, however. I though it was good for TV watching, however. Dialogue was crisp and clear when watching Daredevil, so there are certainly benefits to this sort of tuning.
Treble:
The treble response on these is good, but not great. If you are sensitive to sibilance, these are a great choice for you. In listening to stringed instruments, especially guitars, the HD1s never showed a hint of sibilance and were never strident.
Edit: After further listening, the treble is my favorite part of the HD1's sound signature. Some tracks' treble may sound slightly muted, but that is seemingly how the song was mixed. After listening to more songs with pianos guitars and violins, the treble response was very good and well detailed, while never verging on sibilant or "zingy."
Imaging:
Stereo imaging on the HD1 was very good. In one Meshuggah song, they recorded the sounds of insects buzzing around. You could hear them move from left to right, then right to left. It felt as if this swarm of who-knows-what was flying around my ears! This sort of imaging typically comes from more expensive IEMs
Instrument Separation:
Overall, instrument and note separation was very good. In Spanish Harlem, sung by Rebecca Pidgeon, you can hear each individual not played on an upright bass guitar and the piano. This song shows off Pidgeon's dynamic, yet controlled voice, and Pidgeon wonderfully complements the band playing with her. This song is found on Chesky Record's most recent audiophile demonstration disk, so it's a great test. The HD1s handled this song very well. I listened to Spanish Harlem several times, and was impressed with how well the HD1s handled it.
Subjective Take:
I know I've been a bit critical the sound signature, but taken as a whole, it just works very well. Everything I've listened to has sounded pleasant to very good, while never spectacular. Even when listening to complex metal, the HD1s never sounded bad, and usually sound very good.
What's so good about these?
I think the real draw of the HD1 is that they're an excellent IEM to use at the office when extra wires will slow you down, or when you're kicking back to enjoy a TV show or movie on your laptop or tablet. When you think about the HD1 IEMs in this way, and remember that they're only $200, and wireless, the value proposition is strong.
Comparisons:
Unfortunately, I don't have any IEMs that are direct competitors to the HD1s. My Periodic Audio Berylliums cost $300 and are wired, so it's not exactly a fair comparison. The "BEs" punch above their weight class, and they are tuned with audiophile sensibilities in mind, so they're not the best comparison.
I also recently had the iBasso IT03s. With a $260 MSRP, these are closer in price to the HD1s, but are also superior in sound quality, but are much weaker in comfort. Even though the IT03s sound better, the HD1s are much more comfortable. You just plug them into your ears, and enjoy, and that's really what this hobby is all about - enjoying the music.
Final Thoughts
While these IEMs are not "perfect" by audiophile standards, they are very good wireless IEMs that provide very good sound on the go. If you're looking for a wireless Bluetooth IEM, definitely give the HD1s a listen. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!
Individual Rankings:
Accessories: 8
Design: 9
Fit/Comfort: 9
Sound Quality: 7
