A sonic marvel with room for improvement

Excessive-resolution audio on the go isn’t very handy. It usually entails wired headphones and a DAC (digital-to-analog converter) of some variety, plus your telephone or one other machine to entry recordsdata or a streaming service. All of that is obligatory since Bluetooth compresses an audio sign by design, to permit for low-latency transmission and reduce battery draw. Merely put, wi-fi headphones haven’t been in a position to meet the calls for of lossless audio, however Sennheiser has come the closest to fulfilling the dream with its HDB 630 ($500).

Due to redesigned drivers, a brand new acoustic platform and a dongle, the corporate affords as much as 24-bit/96kHz audio on the HDB 630 — relying in your configuration. You additionally get above common energetic noise cancellation (ANC), a extremely customizable EQ, shockingly lengthy battery life and superior options to fine-tune the headphones to your liking. For some, the absolute best sound continues to be solely discovered on expensive setups and open-back headphones. For everybody else, Sennheiser has supplied a style of the audiophile life in a way more transportable bundle.

Design

Sennheiser says the HDB 630 “inherited” the identical chassis from its Momentum 4 headphones. That’s unlucky as a result of my largest grievance with that older mannequin’s redesign is how low cost it appeared in comparison with earlier entries within the Momentum line. The HDB 630 suffers the identical destiny, though the splash of silver on the headscarf and yokes helps issues a bit. Merely put, these don’t appear to be a set of $500 headphones, and since they’re $150 greater than their predecessor was at launch, they actually ought to have a extra premium look.

The skin of the suitable ear cup continues to be a contact panel the place you may swipe, faucet and even pinch to manage the HDB 630. I don’t recall one other set of headphones with a pinch gesture, and I’m nonetheless not satisfied it’s warranted. The motion is used to allow an Adaptive ANC adjustment that means that you can dial within the quantity of noise blocking you want. After the pinch, sliding a single finger forwards and backwards fantastic tunes the combination of ANC and transparency mode. It’s a pleasant choice to have on the headphones themselves, I simply suppose a triple faucet to activate it could be simpler to grasp — and bear in mind.

The one different button on the HDB 630 is for energy and Bluetooth pairing. Except you’re ceaselessly connecting these headphones to a brand new machine, you may not be reaching for this management fairly often. That’s as a result of the HDB 630 goes into standby mode if you take them off earlier than powering down utterly after quarter-hour of inactivity. You may prolong that window to 30 or 60 minutes when you want. And if the headphones nonetheless have battery left, you may return to energetic mode by merely placing them again in your head.

Sennheiser is betting you’ll use the HDB 630 for lengthy listening periods, so it outfitted these headphones with comfortable ear pads and a well-cushioned headband. The clamping power is sufficient for a correct ANC seal, however by no means turns into a burden. And regardless of being round 20 grams heavier than the Momentum 4, this mannequin nonetheless feels balanced and doesn’t weigh you down.

Sound high quality

Whereas the general design could also be acquainted, the sound platform for the HDB 630 is totally new. 42mm drivers supply what Sennheiser says is “impartial sound with lifelike mids, beautiful element and a large soundstage.” With a purpose to ship sound high quality that’s as near open-back headphones as doable, the corporate overhauled your complete acoustic system, from the drivers to the baffle’s clear mesh, within the identify of stability and readability. And since audiophile headphones usually require a devoted exterior amplifier to realize their full potential, Sennheiser included a BTD 700 USB-C dongle for high-resolution wi-fi audio transmission.

After I first put the HDB 630 on, I assumed the audio high quality was good however not nice. Listening over the usual definition SBC codec produced respectable outcomes, but it surely wasn’t something to put in writing dwelling about. As soon as I linked to the BTD 700 dongle and unlocked 16-bit/48kHz tunes from Apple Music, although, these headphones actually began to impress.

Nearly as good as they’re, the HDB 630 will not be for everybody. That “impartial” inventory tuning locations excessive emphasis on the midrange, so that you’ll probably have to make some changes to get the bass efficiency you crave from rock, digital, hip-hop and different genres pushed by low-end tone. Whereas I concede the impartial base is a good start line, and the HDB 630 does certainly showcase “beautiful element,” I’d argue Sennheiser’s promise of “a large soundstage” doesn’t all the time maintain true.

These headphones are at their greatest with extra immersive content material, just like the TRON: Ares soundtrack from 9 Inch Nails. After a slight adjustment, the digital rating had the booming bass it wanted, providing driving beats that just about rattled my mind. All that was layered with wealthy synths and Trent Reznor’s iconic vocals. The feel and distortion within the devices got here via in larger element too, one thing that’s not as obvious on different headphones and earbuds.

Swap over to Thrice’s Horizons/West and the HDB 630 is a special story. Transitioning from synth-heavy digital music to a style like rock causes these headphones to lose a number of the immersive character they’re able to delivering. You continue to get absurd readability and element, notably in Teppei Teranishi’s guitar riffs, however the music sounds barely flatter and rather less energetic. It’s not unhealthy by any means, however some genres gained’t envelope you as a lot as others do.

You can too use the HDB 630 wired over USB-C for lossless-quality audio. Since a lot of opponents additionally do that, I devoted the majority of my testing to see if Sennheiser’s wi-fi dongle is meaningfully totally different. In fact, I did my due diligence and examined the wired configuration just a few instances, and it ought to come as no shock that the HDB 630 sounds simply pretty much as good in that setup.

Software program, options and equipment

As I discussed, the HDB 630 comes with Sennheiser’s BTD 700 Bluetooth USB dongle. This permits increased high quality streaming than you’ll natively get from most gadgets. With the BTD 700, you may anticipate aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless listening up at charges to 24-bit/96kHz. The dongle additionally has a 30ms low-latency gaming mode, (supposedly) enhanced name efficiency and Auracast assist for streaming to a number of headphones or audio system. The BTD 700 has a USB-C connector, but it surely comes with a USB-A adapter when you want it. This usually prices $60 when you purchase it by itself, and because you want it to unlock the HDB 630’s full potential, it’s nice to see it included within the field.

The HDB 630’s settings and options are accessible within the Sennheiser Good Management Plus app. And for this mannequin, the corporate is providing much more customization than it does on the Accentum or Momentum headphones. First, the EQ enhancing choices are extra strong due to a parametric equalizer, which lets you get much more detailed together with your customized presets. For instance, I used to be ready so as to add the low-end tone I really feel is lacking from the inventory tuning for these steel, rock and hip-hop tracks I discussed earlier than. And in contrast to numerous headphone apps, adjusting the EQ really improves the sound as a substitute of simply muddying issues additional.

One other sound-related addition for the HDB 630 is Crossfeed. This lets you mix the left and proper channels in order that it looks as if you’re listening to audio system as a substitute of headphones. Sadly, you solely get two choices right here — Low and Excessive — however the impact actually enhances the sonic profile of the HDB 630 at each settings.

Regardless of the BTD 700 dongle’s Mac and Home windows compatibility, there’s no desktop model of the Good Management Plus app. This implies you’ll have to alter your whole settings with the HDB 630 via your telephone earlier than you pair it with each the dongle and your laptop. It might be good when you may make EQ changes, create new presets and even change Crossfeed ranges with out having to reconnect to a different machine. This additionally means you may’t be linked to the BTD 700 and each your telephone and your laptop, for the reason that dongle takes one of many two out there multipoint Bluetooth slots.

Energetic noise cancellation and name high quality

In relation to ANC efficiency, I’m not solely certain that the HDB 630 is best than the Momentum 4. However that’s okay. That earlier mannequin introduced a big enchancment in comparison with Sennheiser’s older wi-fi headphones and the ANC continues to be fairly good right here. In actual fact, it was strong sufficient to dam my household’s voices throughout their calls whereas I labored from dwelling, and since most headphones wrestle with this, that’s no imply feat.

Sennheiser says the BTD 700 dongle provides you with improved voice efficiency over the headphones alone. Particularly, the accent ought to present prolonged vary, clearer voice pickup and, based on the corporate, “uninterrupted” calls. In my recorded samples, I believe the headphones themselves sounded barely higher than once I captured my voice whereas linked to the BTD 700. Nonetheless, I seen a definite lack of background noise in each clips, which is useful in busier environments. I’ll additionally notice the general voice high quality isn’t pristine, but it surely’s clear sufficient to make use of for work calls — even when you’re the primary presenter.

Battery life

Sennheiser guarantees that you just’ll stand up to 60 hours of battery life on a cost with the HDB 630. That’s the identical staggering determine the corporate claims on the Momentum 4. And sure, that’s with ANC enabled, however you’ll solely obtain that when you’re listening to plain decision tunes. Primarily based on my testing with a mixture of noise cancellation and transparency mode whereas I used to be listening to music and taking work calls, I’ve no motive to imagine the corporate’s numbers don’t maintain true. In case you select to hear solely by way of the BTD 700’s increased high quality output, you may anticipate as much as 45 hours of use on a cost. That’s nonetheless fairly a very long time contemplating numerous the competitors runs out at round 30 hours — and that’s with out high-res music.

Resulting from the entire sign processing that helps with the acoustic efficiency on the HDB 630, they will solely be used once they’re turned on. In contrast to some wi-fi fashions, you may’t use these as wired headphones when the battery is spent. Nonetheless, if you end up with a totally depleted battery, a 10-minute cost provides you with as much as seven hours of use. The corporate doesn’t specify streaming decision for that quantity, however I assume it’s at normal definition. Nonetheless, you’ll get just a few hours of higher-res music in that point, which must be sufficient to get you thru a piece session, night commute or that new album you’re dying to play for the primary time.

The competitors

Within the realm of flagship headphones, any firm’s top-of-the-line mannequin will set you again $500 lately. I look again fondly on the time when $300-$350 bought you the most effective Sony needed to supply. Whereas the HDB 630 is dear, it’s additionally in the identical ballpark of what you’ll pay for the Bose QuietComfort Extremely Headphones ($450), the Sony WH-1000XM6 ($458 presently) and the AirPods Max ($549). Every of these have their benefits over the remainder of the competitors, with the 1000XM6 providing essentially the most full bundle total. Nonetheless, with regards to pure sound high quality, neither of these three are on the high of the heap.

Up till now, that title belonged to the Noble Audio FoKus Apollo. At $650, these headphones are much more costly than the HDB 630, however their inventory tuning will enchantment to extra listeners and the soundstage is wider and extra immersive. There’s additionally Bowers & Wilkins’ Px7 S3 for a barely cheaper $479. It delivers the corporate’s heat, inviting sound and a spotlight to finer particulars. After spending time with the HDB 630 although, these options are simply that — options — as the brand new Sennheiser headphones are actually my decide for greatest total sound high quality.

Wrap-up

I get it:  within the present monetary local weather, $500 is quite a bit to pay for headphones (or the rest, for that matter). You could find a lot of completely succesful units of ANC headphones for a lot much less given how ceaselessly issues go on sale lately. Nonetheless, what you gained’t discover is an possibility that offers you something near the efficiency of audiophile-grade, open-back headphones. That’s actually what Sennheiser is doing right here, and the HDB 630 slots properly into the corporate’s HD 600 sequence of high-end cans.

Nearly as good because the HDB 630 is sound-wise, I also can recognize that these aren’t the most effective headphones for everybody. The corporate’s Momentum 4 continues to be a really succesful set of headphones and it’s now out there for about $250. In case you crave the most effective sound high quality that also affords the comfort of wi-fi headphones — and also you’re okay with just a few further steps — the HDB 630 is a worthy funding. Simply don’t go away dwelling with out that dongle.