OK here goes, so my HD630VBs arrived on Wednesday so I've had a few days to pull together my 'first impressions' plus give the headphone's a chance to loosen up a little.
I should note that all my listening has been via iPhone, iPad and Macbook with no accessories to improve audio. I've also been using Apple Music (256 AAC) and my own iTunes library which has everything from 128 AAC to 320 MP3, I have a long over due appointment with my CD collection to re-rip to FLAC! Of course the upshot of this is that the headphones have not been given their best opportunity to shine, however this is a bit of a moot point as pretty much all my listening will be as above but my comments should be taken in context. These are also the first decent headphones I've actually owned, as previously posted I spent a decade in a Hi-Fi store where we sold Sennheiser, Beyer and a few others so I have a little experience to call on, but nothing to directly compare them to - a friend has a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2 so at some point I'll do an A-B.
Design and build
I can imagine these will garner all sorts of opinion as they are a BIG headphone with a very unique style. They are built to an extremely high standard, lots of metal and they feel lovely, the red finish over the drive units is a particularly nice touch and adds an element of fun to what would otherwise be a statement of silver & grey. I really rather like the look, they've stepped over the 'large' mark by such a considerable margin that they make a bit of a statement. I'll not feel the least bit concerned using them on planes, trains etc. Everyone who's seen them has only had positive things to say so overall a winner, albeit a LARGE one.
The lack of a removable cable is a little irritating as I've fallen foul of damaged plugs in the past, but in the scheme of things not a big issue. Some people have remarked on the noise the cable makes though the headphone when brushing against clothing. Not something I've had any issue with, I listen to music loud and sit fairly still. I've tried simulating it and either I wear the wrong type of clothes or others are more sensitive to this than I am, it's there but a non issue in my opinion.
Wearing
Comfortable, secure, wear for hours etc. etc. Absolutely nothing wrong with the experience of wearing these. They effectively filter outside noise, you can have a conversation with someone close by but most ambient noise is suitably removed. At full whack you can only just hear sound when sitting close to someone wearing them, so, as wanted I can have my own personal party without upsetting those close to me.
Volume
This is quite important to me as in my experience most large headphones simply don't go loud enough running of iPhones, and these are no different. They go fairly loud but I still find myself trying to turn them up (from max) with some tracks. So not ideal. However I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my iPad Air is a much, much better source. Full volume via the iPad is plenty loud enough, better in fact than my Macbook.
I'm collecting an Arcam Music Boost on Monday, this rather cool little gadget doubles the battery life of the phone but more importantly has a DAC and amp built in, I'm hoping it'll drive headphones better than the phone - that and improve audio of course.
Operation; and that VB thing!
Rather than locating the controls on the cable Sennheiser have chosen to locate them on the right can, a rather excellent idea really. Raising your hand to your ear is of course an extremely natural thing to do in this 'age of the mobile phone'. Volume, play, pause and track control are all very easy to execute. So to this variable bass...
Excellent, brilliant, game changing, not sure if I'll ever enjoy a headphone without it. +/-5db @ 50Hz allows you to tailor the sonic presentation for each track, what I particularly like is the fact that you can over cook it; listening to some of my favourite dance tracks with a big bottom end I found that the full 5db is too much. I like it when you work within parameters rather than finding them not broad enough. I use the dial almost continuously, not so much during tracks but when a new one starts I make a small adjustment to dial it in just right. For older recordings, or those that sound a little thin it's a very helpful tool. Where other headphones will ruthlessly let the recording fall flat on its face the HD630VB says no, just turn this dial an we can make it sound a little better. What a great idea and well executed, having the dial rotate around the edge of the right can is genius.
Sound quality
As I said at the start I have nothing on hand to reference these against, well I do have a couple of pairs of £20 Sony's someone kindly brought for my kids a few years back, but the less said about these are better. No, all I can comment on is what I'm hearing and the effect it has on me. I know good audio as I've been selling it for 20+ years but headphones are not my area.
I've used a broad range of music, not so much searching for good test tracks but more going though my back catalog of favourites so I can enjoy listening to them again. That says a lot I think! One thing that is immediately apparent is the low end performance, god these things extend low! I can actually feel the headphones moving with some tracks, just awesome. In fact for Dance music in general these are great, not bass heavy as such just well suited to the presentation the genre deserves. Weighty, fast, detailed and open, but not bright. I've really enjoyed Adele's new single 'Hello', a remarkable track in its self but sounds fabulous on the 630s. The soundstage is wide with the instruments nicely layered and her wonderful voice just sores. Pink Floyd, The The, Dire Straits, Jurassic 5, Dr Dre etc. all sound great, never tiring and I find myself listening for longer and longer periods. Even turning the telly off in preference of listening to music, that's the first time I've done that since my kids arrived!
When I first put them on I was very pleased and impressed, but I did think the top end was a little tight and the soundstage felt a tad restrained, but then again I'm pretty used to this with speakers when unboxed for the first time. They've probably had around 5-10h of play now and things have loosened up nicely. It's a long, long time since I listened to the HD600s but I remember them having a broader soundstage and better imaging, but for a closed back headphone the HD630s are remarkably good and the frequency response outstanding. I've read lots of good about the Oppo PM3 and some closed back Beyer models, I'd love to try them as well and would be remarkably impressed if they outperformed the HD630. Maybe they do? Not fussed one bit though as I'm very happy with these and will enjoy them for years, but I like to keep options open, I'm a cyclist and amongst them there's a universally agreed ownership equation of N+1...
To close. To put the HD630VB in the context of something I know a fair bit about, Hi-Fi, to mirror the performance you'd comfortably need to spend several thousand and would need a sub to get anywhere near that colossal bottom end. I've only heard a few speakers that can go that low on their own. I've heard better headphones but they were open back, so overall I'm rather impressed.
Ali.
