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Today we review the full-size model of open dynamic headphones Sennheiser HD 400 PRO, labeled as Studio Reference Headphones. This definition only adds to the official information that HD 400 PRO is a working tool for sound engineers, sound designers, and anyone involved in sound editing, recording, monitoring & mixing. HD 400 PRO continues Sennheiser's line of full-size professional headphones: HD 200 PRO, HD 280 PRO and HD 300 PRO, but the main difference is the open acoustic design. This is a very important feature that has both advantages and limitations.
We know from experience that there is a huge demand for lightweight, comfortable headphones with the highest sound quality in studios ranging from home and personal to large commercial studios, because in addition to mixing, there are no less important stages of music creation. These include writing instrument parts, selecting tones from hundreds of gigabytes of sound libraries, editing loops and grooves, selecting and adjusting the right effects, playing various electronic musical instruments, and rough editing the material. All of these steps can take hours, days, or even weeks! Sitting and working in a studio is not always the best option. Creative insights and new ideas can come to a musician when he or she is outside the studio room with monitors. That's why good headphones can be a great complement to the quality studio monitors you already have.
The Sennheiser HD 400 PROs are very reminiscent of their predecessor, the Sennheiser HD 560S. Therefore, for the sake of completeness, a parallel comparison of the HD 400 PRO and HD 560S on the main points cannot be avoided. But before we get to the comparisons and the main part of our Sennheiser HD 400 PRO review, let's look at these headphones' technical specifications.
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Best Price on Sennheiser HD 400 PRO
The Sennheiser HD 400 PRO is an outstanding choice for professionals and audiophiles seeking accurate and reliable headphones for studio work. |
Classic Package
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The frequency range of the headphones is specified differently. On the box: 12-38,000 Hz; in the manual and on the Sennheiser website: 6-38,000 Hz. The HD 400 PRO, as well as the HD 560S, were manufactured in China.
Dense cardboard packaging in gray-blue colors and a photo on the cover are already a standard presentation for Sennheiser headphones. The box of the HD 400 PRO is quite large and moderately informative. The headphones are in the middle, they are secured in white cardboard; no foam protection is used. In addition, a polyethylene sleeve is placed over the headphones.
The HD 400 PRO has a detachable cable (swivel mechanism) that is attached to the left earcup. The set includes two cables: coiled (extends up to 3 m) and straight (1.8 m). The plugs of both cables are gold-plated 3.5 mm, threaded. Additionally, the kit includes a screw-on adapter from 3.5 to 6.3 mm and instructions. This is the end of the package. Unfortunately, the HD 400 PRO doesn't even come with a simple soft case.
The HD 560S has a slightly different package. The cable is also detachable, but only one - straight (3 m) and terminated with a 6.3 mm plug. That's why the kit includes an adapter in the form of a short wire from 6.3 mm to 3.5 mm, which adds another 20 cm to the length. The HD 560S also doesn't come with a carrying case.
The HD 400 PRO's choice of two cable options is an advantage over the HD 560S. We also found the familiar 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter plug on the 400 PRO more convenient than the separate 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter wire on the HD 560S.
The design of the HD 400 PRO follows the tradition of the 5XX series. The headphones are all black. The headband and cup holders are made of high-quality plastic. The ear cushions are made of velour, which is also used on the inside of the headband to cover the foam padding. The outer side of the earcups is covered with a mesh with the company logo. The 560S has a gray logo on the cups and outside of the headband. On the HD 400 PRO, the same decorative elements are done in an overall black tone, which reduces readability but makes such attributes less noticeable. The only gray markings on the inside of the headband of the 400 PRO are the letters - channel designations (R, L) and the model name.
The headband extends, and all positions are fixed. The fixation is not rigid, so it can be broken with little effort. Out of the box, the headphones felt a bit of pressure - it takes a little time for the headphones to "spread". The velour oval ear cushions covered our ears comfortably and completely, and the evenly distributed weight of the headphones did not cause any discomfort during prolonged listening and studio sessions. In addition, we have not experienced any apparent overheating of the ears. We found the ergonomics of the HD 400 PRO to be perfectly acceptable.
Now we come to the most important part/section of our Sennheiser HD 400 PRO review. The Sennheiser HD 400 PRO is a professional model with a 120 ohm impedance, open design, and wide frequency range. Using these headphones with low amp sources is not recommended, as the headphone's sound does not open fully. According to the manufacturer, the HD 400 PROs are equipped with specially designed new high-tech diaphragms made of a special polymer composite. The drivers are angled. In addition to other speaker system enhancements, all of this should produce a very accurate, completely neutral, and extremely detailed sound. Looking ahead, this description of the HD 400 PRO's sound is true with a few caveats.
We have repeatedly mentioned that we use the headphones in a professional environment, so we evaluate them not only as a tool for listening to music but also as a device for your studio and professional sessions. The HD 400 PRO can hardly be called a melomaniacal model, but rather a professional instrument with a slight tendency towards audiophilia.
First of all, it should be noted (for audiophiles!) that the HD 400 PRO, due to its professional positioning, is demanding in terms of the track's recording quality. In poorly recorded tracks, the faults will be audible, but listening to the results of the correct work of sound engineers can be a pleasure.
The headphones build a moderately wide scene, well-developed in depth. There is a sense of stage distance and space. On some tracks with instrumental orchestras, we even liked the HD 400 PRO's sound a bit better than the HD 660S in these respects. The sound of the headphones is neutral and even, after all, they are positioned as “Studio Reference Headphones”. There is no clear dominance of certain ranges.
Bass is reproduced with precision, accuracy, and body. Bass guitar and upright bass parts are readable and clearly audible in the overall mix. The woofers are not the biggest, but their sound is not soft either. Even though bass is always present, these headphones may not be suitable for electronic dance music.
The midrange is clean and expressive. Instruments and vocals are natural. Midrange reproduction is detailed, although the headphones do not emphasize subtle nuances. This range is not colored, and no additional emotions are expected - everything is accurate, only what is laid down.
The HD 400 PRO's top end is very well developed. There's no deliberate attempt to add detail to the often synthetic high frequencies. The preference is for natural high frequencies with a good sense of atmosphere and space. The tweeter in the headphones can emphasize the power and scale of a track while remaining controlled.
Comment from the CEO of SoundGale.comThe Sennheiser HD 400 PRO headphones have a very detailed sound with a wide panorama. This sound will appeal to both professionals and audiophiles. The first thing that stands out is the good elaboration of the midrange. The whole range is in the palm of your hand and the sonic fidelity is very high. This increased detail is not tiring, however, as it is not accompanied by any unpleasant distortions or accents. In other words, bass and treble do not interfere, do not dominate, but are still audible.
In the high-frequency range, the typical characteristics of other Sennheiser models are evident. If I were to choose the models to which the HD 400 PROs are as similar as possible, the HD 560S would certainly be much closer than the 600 series models. In my opinion, when I switched from one model to the other with minimal pause, my preference was on the side of the Sennheiser HD 400 PRO. The HD 560S, on the other hand, is closer to the HD 6XX in terms of sound, has a more integrated sound and the highs are more balanced. The HD 560S justifies its audiophile orientation and is more affordable. The choice between different headphone models is mostly ambiguous and depends on personal taste. Since the ideal is unattainable, the chosen model must meet the personal preferences of the listener as much as possible.
Although the Sennheiser HD 400 PRO is quite faithful to the amplifier and does not make any unreasonable demands on it, a high-quality sound source can better reveal the full potential of this model. In other words, a high-quality high-level path for the HD 400 PRO is a pure advantage, and the benefits of its use are clearly audible.
The HD 400 PRO is lightweight and comfortable to wear for long periods. The velour ear pads are a definite hit and there is no thought of replacing them. I also liked the straight, padded cable that comes with the headphones, which comes in handy when connecting to portable sound sources.
The frequency response is very similar, but it is the HD 400 PRO that has a more linear midrange. The bass has no accents and its decrease is a peculiarity of the test bench, in reality, there is no decrease in the bass. The HF range, where there is a decrease and then a peak in the response, is very similar to Harman's target curve for headphones.
According to the available theoretical and practical data, this Harman curve corresponds to the listener's idea of an even frequency balance of the recording, which is what the listener is accustomed to when listening to speakers in a room. Therefore, it's not surprising that the frequency response has such a shape - this is the kind of characteristic that all manufacturers strive for in all their headphone models. The HD 560S, measured on the GRAS 43AG, proves it. Incidentally, the increase in bass in the Harman target curve has only appeared in the last few years, according to research that found that younger audiences prefer devices with good bass. All such researches are best treated with a fair amount of skepticism, as the data may change and refine over time. So far, the only clear thing is that the midrange is better perceived when it is linear, without peaks and valleys.
The shape of such a curve is still a subject of study and debate because human hearing is not linear. For the human ear, a straight line of frequency response is not the goal, but rather a smoothness of characteristic change. With increasing or decreasing volume, the edges of the range are raised or lowered, and such a sound is quite credible and timbrally neutral to the ear.
At this point, we will just throw out a few sentences because, throughout our Sennheiser HD 400 PRO review, we compared these headphones to the HD 560S in all parameters.
First of all, the HD 400 PRO should be compared to the HD 560S. We are not claiming that they are the same headphones, but the two models are quite close in terms of sound. We found the new HD 400 PROs to be slightly more neutral in timbre and more natural sounding, especially in the upper mids and highs. The HD 400 PROs are like a more refined and authentic-sounding HD 560S. Note that the differences described are subjective and were sometimes only heard in head-to-head comparisons. In other words, owners of the HD 560S should not rush to replace them with the HD 400 PRO - there is no "new level of sound" or dramatic change in the sound of the HD 400 PRO.
Now that we've reached the end of our Sennheiser HD 400 PRO review, it's time to summarize the results. Before we started testing the Sennheiser HD 400 PRO professional headphones, we had absolutely no expectations. We could have gotten anything and called it a "simple professional model", but we got a real gem from the German manufacturer's entire headphone lineup. It's an absolutely serious design that clearly embodies the very latest in driver technology.
Without a doubt, these headphones will appeal to a very wide audience of both professional users and audiophiles. If you've already heard the bestselling HD 560S, the HD 400 PRO is a pumped-up professional version with even more detailed sound and two interchangeable cables included. The Sennheiser HD 400 PRO sets a new standard for professional headphones with a level of detail and transparency previously only dreamed of at this price point, and we're looking forward to hearing more of these models in the future.
We hope you enjoyed our review of the Sennheiser HD 400 PRO headphones. Please feel free to leave your comments, questions, and suggestions in the section below. We will be happy to answer them all as soon as possible. If you already own a Sennheiser HD 400 PRO and have used it for a while, don't forget to share your impressions and tell us what you liked or disliked about this studio reference headphones. Finally, we recommend you to read our review of the more premium Sennheiser HD 490 PRO (where we compare the expensive HD 490 PRO with the cheaper HD 400 PRO).
Pros
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Cons
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9.2
/10
Our Score
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