HD 480 PRO

Sames! I’ve bought, designed and built home and car HiFi speakers and amps for decades. Total spend in the tens of thousands. I stumbled on some open back Sennheiser HD 480 Pro headphones in a secondhand shop for $50 that are rocking my world. They’ve more than doubled my hours of listening per day. If I had to replace them, I’d gladly pay $700+ for decent open backed headphones.

Sennheiser partnered with me on the video review of these. They brought a prototype to my studio last year, asked me to test it and give feedback over several hours, and sent me the final production pair this week. They're a paid partner on the video but impressions below are my genuine take — including caveats. Happy to answer critical questions. I'm a voice actor and sound designer in Nashville. I've been working with closed-back headphones for tracking and critical listening for many, many years. These are my new reference for tracking work. They sound natural, they are full-bodied, and detailed. \*\*Soundstage caveat\*\* Closed-back will never match an open-back for soundstage — that's just physics. Within the closed-back category, these are the most open-sounding I've used. For tracking, monitoring, isolation, and VO work — these absolutely shine. \*\*The detail I didn't expect to matter\*\* They're comfortable and quiet for tracking. I have another pair that I can't wear for VO tracking when I wear glasses because of the friction noise between the pad and the frame. Not the same with these. Small thing, big deal for anyone else who tracks with glasses on. Did a video breakdown from my studio as well — here's the link: [https://youtu.be/5DVOcrz4zXo](https://youtu.be/5DVOcrz4zXo) Happy to answer questions in the comments — curious what other Sennheiser users think.

There were two prototypes I tried in my studio that Sennheiser brought. I was methodical and took my time with them. I went back and forth between the headphones and my Neumann KH 150 monitors with some music tracks I know well (Toto, but also a few other things), and also between the prototype and a few other headphones I've used in the studio. I also recorded some VO with them the way I normally track — one ear off. After comparing back and forth, I told them the prototype sounded great but I thought it was a bit bass-heavy. That's when they had me try the second pair, and the balance was noticeably better. The final version is essentially that second prototype. Low end is full but well-balanced — not too much.

Thanks Jeeper! And yes — I've done a few multi-hour sessions with them now (VO tracking and editing/critical listening back to back) and they hold up really well. The clamp is firm enough to seal but comfy and not too tight. The dual-side cable mounting is underrated — extremely useful since my Apogee Symphony is always on the right side rack of my console desk. The swiveling ability is excellent too, as I often track VO with one ear off. The case I showed is part of the Plus package — well worth it if you travel with them, as I often do. Very protective but with a slim profile at the same time. Thanks for the comment!

I have both the 480 and 490 and love the velour pads for everything. The comfort is unmatched and I think the difference between the two is too minute to make much of difference. I would go with which ever you find the most comfortable.