[Somafunk]

The £20 7Hz Zero 2 iem’s measure better than these (from what I’ve seen so far), why have sennheiser tuned these with so much treble response?

 

[Jammin72]

I would love to see some 6X0 drivers in a package like this. Love my sennheiser 580, and 6XX but goodness hearing the plastic creak every time I put them in my head detracts from the experience. I’d love to have some that are just built better.

 

[Nouvraught]

Correlating elevated treble with ice pick treble spikes is strange. bright doesn't mean spikes, lol.

 

[equalspeace]

Frequency responses from the video from Sonicstate posted in the thread. The response w the producing pads seems more v shaped. The mixing pads seem similar to the HD600 sound.

490 Pro w each pad versus the 600 response in green

 

[someyoungguy]

Another review, with more description of the sound:

I think I'll get one of these, like the design, easy pad swaps, easier to drive than HD650/600, better bass extension, looks good.

 

[joseluishs]

Posting measurements from the video posted on page 2; they were originally DF-compensated, which I’ve undone to display the results raw against a DF + slope target.

These look… exceedingly bright. Like brighter than HD 800 bright.



Obviously measurements aren’t everything but I can say confidently that this is an easy skip for me. Not sure what they were thinking with this one; we know fairly well that signatures brighter than “speaker flat” (in this case, DF) aren’t preferred, so really not sure what the plan here was.

I was wondering what is your EQ profile for the HD800S...? I would like to give it a try.

 

[drummerman1]

Looking forward to some (genuine) user reports as opposed to paid reviewers/members of the 'Sennheiser/dealer free distribution network vlogger team' ... .

Still don't quite understand how this phone, even in the full accessory version, is cheaper than a 660S2?

Is it that Pro's are less gullible (than audiophiles), is Sennheiser cashing in on the 6 series heritage or is the Headphone cheaper to make?

 

[listenerwww]

I was wondering what is your EQ profile for the HD800S...? I would like to give it a try.

I usually don’t recommend using other people’s profiles; personalization is the name of the game, and what works for me likely won’t work for you.

Something I do recommend however, is my process, which is as follows:

1) tracing available measurements from all of the major heads (4128, GRAS w/ KB50xx, HMSii.3, and of course, 5128). I use VituixCAD’s SPL Trace tool for this, but you can also use WebPlotDigitizer

2) calibrating them to their respective DF HRTFs (available upon request, except for one which isn’t finished yet).

3) uploading the calibrated measurements to my squigsite

4) averaging them using the Average All button on my site, as I have no idea which of these heads is closest to my own

5) using the average for EQ up to 3-5kHz or so, and then doing everything above that point by ear

Hope that helps. Sorry if this is derailing the thread further.

 

[joseluishs]

I usually don’t recommend using other people’s profiles; personalization is the name of the game, and what works for me likely won’t work for you.

Something I do recommend however, is my process, which is as follows:

1) tracing available measurements from all of the major heads (4128, GRAS w/ KB50xx, HMSii.3, and of course, 5128). I use VituixCAD’s SPL Trace tool for this, but you can also use WebPlotDigitizer

2) calibrating them to their respective DF HRTFs (available upon request, except for one which isn’t finished yet).

3) uploading the calibrated measurements to my squigsite



4) averaging them using the Average All button on my site, as I have no idea which of these heads is closest to my own



5) using the average for EQ up to 3-5kHz or so, and then doing everything above that point by ear


Hope that helps. Sorry if this is derailing the thread further.

Thank you so much! I do appreciate all of this information you’re the best!

 

[Rob80b]

Still don't quite understand how this phone, even in the full accessory version, is cheaper than a 660S2?

Can't really tell from the photos and vids but upon first seeing them I thought of my budget HD450SE, the 490 may be made in China and has the much more affordable 280 driver. The S2 is indeed a very fine headphone, possible higher grade plastics and much tighter build tolerances so the new 490 may sit somewhere above the current HD560S so pricing appears correct.... but don't quote me, just my cursory observations.

 

[kman1211]

Can't really tell from the photos and vids but upon first seeing them I thought of my budget HD450SE, the 490 may be made in China and has the much more affordable 280 driver. The S2 is indeed a very fine headphone, possible higher grade plastics and much tighter build tolerances so the new 490 may sit somewhere above the current HD560S so pricing appears correct.... but don't quote me, just my cursory observations.

The HD 490 Pro is made in Romania, so that is a plus. I am curious of its plastics quality compared to the HD 6xx line. Driver is likely a tweaked version of the HD 560S/400 Pro driver with a different voice coil, unless it’s using a different membrane material. There isn’t much information on the driver, only thing I can find is it has a unique impedance among Senns indicating a voice coil unique to the HD 490.

https://www.sennheiser.com/en-in/catalog/products/headphones/hd-490-pro/hd-490-pro-700286

 

[cel4145]

Another review, with more description of the sound:

I think I'll get one of these, like the design, easy pad swaps, easier to drive than HD650/600, better bass extension, looks good.

He lost my interest when he started battling about the Motu M series not being good with low impedance headphones, while not once discussing sensitivity of the headphones. Julian Krause's measurement show the M2 has an extremely low output impedance, and very low distortion at 32 ohms. He probably plugged his Audeze into the M2 and expected it to drive them well at loud volume. lol

Meanwhile, Sennheiser specifies 105 dBSPL (1 kHz/ 1 Vrms), 96 dBSPL (1 kHz/ 1 mW) for the HD 490 Pro, which is just a little better than the HD 58X. Should be pretty easy to drive.

 

[Rob80b]

The HD 490 Pro is made in Romania, so that is a plus.

Thanks...as per..."Durable design meticulously engineered in Germany and hand-assembled in Romania"......which could mean anything.....for costs savings the parts could come mass produced from the Orient...main thing is as long as they work and hold up as expected.

 

[pk4425]

He lost my interest when he started battling about the Motu M series not being good with low impedance headphones, while not once discussing sensitivity of the headphones. Julian Krause's measurement show the M2 has an extremely low output impedance, and very low distortion at 32 ohms. He probably plugged his Audeze into the M2 and expected it to drive them well at loud volume. lol

Meanwhile, Sennheiser specifies 105 dBSPL (1 kHz/ 1 Vrms), 96 dBSPL (1 kHz/ 1 mW) for the HD 490 Pro, which is just a little better than the HD 58X. Should be pretty easy to drive.

The entire review sounded like he was reading from a Sennheiser spec sheet or PR talking points. Not impressed with the content. I like something a bit more "real."

 

[equalspeace]

I should have a pair in by Friday. Will post impressions shortly after.