[alblon]

Mitchells00, I'm not sure you're hearing the distortion I'm talking about.
I'm aware that that Daft Punk album is full of white noise and distortions, and that I'm not listening at reference material and that I'm not an audiophile. In fact my first thought was that the distortion was in the audio material.  I eventually sorted out this option because I compared various songs (not only that two) on a Beyer Dynamic DT770 where the distortion I'm talking about are not present.  So, unless the DT770 are able to clean a bad recording, the noise is generated by the HD461 I received (and returned). 
Are the HD461 bugged or did I receive a defective unit ?  Reading all your reports I think that I received a defective unit.

 

[Malfunkt]

The HD471 I tried was quite clean. I'm sure there is some distortion, say compared to my LCD2, but I thought the bass was nicely done. A very decent and simple closed headphone.
 
I believe the 461 is meant to be more 'bassy' so perhaps they added a bit of distortion to increase the perception of 'moar bass'. :/

 

[chipstjuven]

maybe I'm deaf but what I hear is a very clean, smooth sound in my 461s. maybe you mistake the somewhat dark sennheiser sound signature for distortion? or maybe it's there. I don't know. all ears are different.

 

[Mad Max]

I love the look of that 451.

 

[nmatheis]

I've been testing out HD471 for awhile. Senn did a good job on the sound. Not the bass-heavy sound I'd expect at this price point. On the other end, not the over-sharpened mess that can happen when engineers boost upper end to try and replicate clarity. In short, a nice, relatively balanced sound. The build leaves something to be desired, but something's got to give at this price point. More to follow...

 

[BOEING 717]

Being a huge Sennheiser fan I will probably take the plunge when I get to B and H in NYC this summer for the US Open. My 9 year old daughter who is way too into good sound for her age has taken over my Senn HD 449 that I picked up for $50 last summer. I really would like to compare them to the 419 to 449 series as I get the feeling that the 451-471 are probably re packaged and almost twice the money as the previous 4 series that are decent for the price and comfortable to listen too for long periods of time but nothing fantastic. Mind you for under $100 I don't expect a 5 star pair of cans. 

 

[hifikid245]

I have both the 449 and 471, I got my 449 as my very first "hifi" headphone and they sure did served me well. After 3 years of torture my beloved 449 have finally given up(at least the aesthetics) but there still sound acceptably good. Went to a local retail store and they had the 471 on clearance $90aud from the original $189aud price, its a steal. 
 
 
 Here is my comparison(almost a review) so please read at your own risk.
 
 
Aesthetically they don't really look that different but here are the few changes Sennheiser have made:
-From what I can recall the HD449's headband was somewhat loose even when first time I put them on. And surely did, the headband of my 449 is so loose I can almost forget they're on my head. The HD471 on the other hand still remains its stiffness after 3 months of use so they have probably did improvements on the headband.
-The earpads are much better on the HD471,  pads on 449 has already given up the fake leather coat(?) is almost gone all there is is the cloth backing. The earpad on the 471 is leather-like material but is much thicker than the on the 449
- And last is the removable cable, to me it's somewhat unnecessary since we all know Sennheiser doesn't know how to make removable cables. One of my main gripe on HD471 is they expect you to use it portable but the portable cable(with inline remote) they give is so thin and for comparison the main cable of the Apple earpod is thicker so I don't expect much about it's longevity. However they give you another cable but its longer and its identical to the 449 cable they should've made the more rigid cable for portable use since it's more likely that users will use it most of the time.
 
Now lets get to the sound quality:
* Disclaimer: Please mind that I've already done some mods(cut hole on the cups) on my 449 so it might sound different from a stock HD449.
 
I won't go to too much detail since the signature is almost the same but there are notable differences. 
The 471 is much more detailed, the clarity on the 471 is significantly better. The bass also punchier but not as bloated as the 449. In short it's not a bassy headphone so don't expect much if you're a basshead. However that being said, the bass on the 471 will satisfy even if you are a basshead or not(in which I am either). One thing the 449 has I'm a big fan of is the separation and soundstage, now due to the mods I've done with my 449 it sounded more open and natural but the separation is much better on my HD471i. In summary the HD471 is closer to being analytical, balance and fun sounding headphone. It's a step-up from almost every aspect and will definitely please you if you're into clarity and detail.
 
Addition: Depending on the right track bass on the HD471 is very pleasing tighter  but will not rattle your head too much. I think the main strength of the HD471 is clean sound and it's extremely good separation second is it's clarity so on and so fort. Get a pair you will not regret it.

 

[pjs1969]

I just bought the 461g today.Out of the box they sound very good except I find the mids to be a bit harsh.Hopefully this will fade with burn in.

 

[Mad Max]

I just bought the 461g today.Out of the box they sound very good except I find the mids to be a bit harsh.Hopefully this will fade with burn in.

 
Harshness is generally an issue related to the driver housing, particularly plastic.  Burn-in doesn't ever alleviate that, unfortunately.  Dynamat Xtreme, Fatmat, and possibly sorbothane pieces are what remove harshness by adding them inside of the headphone in a manner similar to this:
 

 

 
Dynamat is what I have so I work with that.

 

[pjs1969]

Harshness is generally an issue related to the driver housing, particularly plastic.  Burn-in doesn't ever alleviate that, unfortunately.  Dynamat Xtreme, Fatmat, and possibly sorbothane pieces are what remove harshness by adding them inside of the headphone in a manner similar to this:







Dynamat is what I have so I work with that.

Interesting! Thanks for the advice.Anyhow upon further listening I realized perhaps it wasn't harsh but rather bright mids I was hearing.I may put some sennheiser foam inserts inside the ear cushions and see if that helps.

 

[Guust-Fi]

Does anybody have experience opening up these phones?
I have the HD 451's and I was thinking about opening / drilling the back cover. I prefer open cans because they are less hot (main drawback), wider soundstage and because I can hear my surroundings too... (can't wait to get my hd-580's back soon)
 
Any advice?
 
EDIT: After opening these up myself it seems drilling the back cover wouldn't help at all. These cans are sealed.

 

[hifikid245]

Does anybody have experience opening up these phones?

I have the HD 451's and I was thinking about opening / drilling the back cover. I prefer open cans because they are less hot (main drawback), wider soundstage and because I can hear my surroundings too... (can't wait to get my hd-580's back soon)

Any advice?

 
EDIT: After opening these up myself it seems drilling the back cover wouldn't help at all. These cans are sealed.

If you're really eager you can pry off the plastic sealing, they're just glued in place with some kind of rubbery adhesive. You can probably put them back together but I didn't bother putting mine back so. And also be wary that depending on the mod, it will alter the sound quite heavily, my HD449 become very boomy but in exchange the soundstage improved so there's that.

 

[Mad Max]

  Does anybody have experience opening up these phones?
I have the HD 451's and I was thinking about opening / drilling the back cover. I prefer open cans because they are less hot (main drawback), wider soundstage and because I can hear my surroundings too... (can't wait to get my hd-580's back soon)
 
Any advice?
 
EDIT: After opening these up myself it seems drilling the back cover wouldn't help at all. These cans are sealed.

 
You probably should have gone for HD518 or HD558 instead, although there appear to be newer versions around the corner.
 
 
Edit:  Got an HD471 to mess with.  I wish the treble wasn't so poor, but then again, not sure how I should feel about that versus HD449, which I don't have on hand to compare to.  At least it lacks the recessed, muddy upper mids of stock HD448, which I didn't at all like.  Looks it probably still has its Achilles' heel where the extension arms of the headband connect to the gimbals.  Yet again.  I like the improved padding.  The interior of the cups are the same as the predecessors, so the same mods posted around head-fi can still bring some nice/same changes/improvements according to one's tastes.

 

[pouskidis]

So: Can we bass mod them? Like we did the old 4xx seriers (429 439 449) by removing the tape or opening holes?
 
Why do I feel the 471 is 449, the 461 is 439 etc?
 
If I remember correctly, 449 was ment for a more balanced sound, while 439 had those things that made bass more pronounced...
Looks to me it is exactly the same series.

 

[Mad Max]

Yeah, it is the same series indeed, and you can mod them all you want in the same manner, but the earpads are different this time.  A little thicker, and instead of the inner side of the pads being pleather just like the outer but with perforations, it is now cloth, like Momentum headphones.  This is why they will sound a little different before modifications, and will likely affect the results of the mods that you will want to try unless you go with the old pads.  The pleather of new pads isn't the thin, wrinkly stuff of the old, so I think it is worth re-trying out mods and see what you end up keeping or not from before.