[Evshrug]

There’s quite a bit of interdepartmental communications that have to happen before a response will be ready.

I think we’re up to 6 people in this 139 page thread with reported issues? Has a single one of them contacted Customer Support and sent in a pair? That’s still my recommended course of action to clear cases for good.

http://www.sennheiser.com/service-support

 

[Evshrug]

Well this is probably Karma....
Listening to "thick ear" by Sleaford Mods....on HD599. The bass in the first 5 seconds,
the left earpiece has an awful vibration that none of my other headphones exhibit..
Shocking....it sounds like a paperclip rattling on a desk...
I give up on Sennheiser now.

I recommend making use of Sennheiser’s customer support service. Not only can they fix the headphone, having them see it physically and log it helps anyone else if they experience a similar issue.

http://www.sennheiser.com/service-support

I’m going to say it again, because it bears repeating: this could be a lose screw, or something else.

There could be a loose screw, however not everyone will be in the same situation (in fact most won’t). I personally had an issue with a totally different headphone where a strong bass hit on a song made an audio artifact that sounded like a strip of metal vibrating against glass or something (which doesn’t sound right for “Angel” by Massive Attack, although not much different from the intentional effect in “Babel” by the same artist), but it ended up being the USB host port on the DAC I was using. When I plugged my smartphone into this USB Host Port, I got that rattling sound with any headphone I used, but it was gone when I switched to Bluetooth or any other input on that DAC. And what if it was a transducer or cable issue, somehow? Also, it could be a screw issue in some cases, but over tightening the screw could strip the threads in the headphone, in which case the only fix back to stock condition would be to replace that entire part of the earcup frame... or permanently gluing it, which wouldn’t be stock.

Sennheiser will have test equipment and replacement parts on hand, and it’s better to let them take responsibility for delivering a working pair back to you than a DIY approach that could misdiagnose the issue or cause accidental damage.

 

[472837]

I just picked up my pair of 560s's, and I am VERY happy with the sound. From all the reviews I have seen, I thought they would be more flat/boring to listen to, but I don't find that to be the case

 

[Brava210]

I recommend making use of Sennheiser’s customer support service. Not only can they fix the headphone, having them see it physically and log it helps anyone else if they experience a similar issue.

http://www.sennheiser.com/service-support

I’m going to say it again, because it bears repeating: this could be a lose screw, or something else.

There could be a loose screw, however not everyone will be in the same situation (in fact most won’t). I personally had an issue with a totally different headphone where a strong bass hit on a song made an audio artifact that sounded like a strip of metal vibrating against glass or something (which doesn’t sound right for “Angel” by Massive Attack, although not much different from the intentional effect in “Babel” by the same artist), but it ended up being the USB host port on the DAC I was using. When I plugged my smartphone into this USB Host Port, I got that rattling sound with any headphone I used, but it was gone when I switched to Bluetooth or any other input on that DAC. And what if it was a transducer or cable issue, somehow? Also, it could be a screw issue in some cases, but over tightening the screw could strip the threads in the headphone, in which case the only fix back to stock condition would be to replace that entire part of the earcup frame... or permanently gluing it, which wouldn’t be stock.

Sennheiser will have test equipment and replacement parts on hand, and it’s better to let them take responsibility for delivering a working pair back to you than a DIY approach that could misdiagnose the issue or cause accidental damage.

No offence but I've had two pairs, different model and both vibrate/buzz.
I am not prepared to pay to send them somewhere to be "repaired" when they are only a day old. I will let the supplier I bought them from do that.
Good luck everybody..I am moving on.

 

[mvule]

I just picked up my pair of 560s's, and I am VERY happy with the sound. From all the reviews I have seen, I thought they would be more flat/boring to listen to, but I don't find that to be the case

Only flat and boring if the music, source and amp are...

 

[TomD]

Yeah, just typical PR responses which is to be totally expected. I won't be trying any further 560s until we get a direct confirmation that this issue is understood and that its going to be fixed

 

[dbss]

I'm buying speakers guys.

Lmao good choice. I think I might do the same.

 

[goodyfresh]

Only flat and boring if the music, source and amp are...

Exactly. The HD560s have an extremely neutral tuning with a bit of a lift in part of the treble that adds some extra detail (it only sounded slightly piercing for the first two days before my brain got used to it and I came to love it), so they present everything almost exactly as it is from the source and recording.

Yeah, just typical PR responses which is to be totally expected. I won't be trying any further 560s until we get a direct confirmation that this issue is understood and that its going to be fixed

You mean Evshrug's responses? That's not fair, Evshrug isn't actually a PR person or part of the marketing team, that's not what it means to be sponsored on here. He's really trying his best but has no actual control over what the people at Sennheiser do. He's a nice guy, so don't blame him for "typical PR responses," he's really making an effort. It's up to Sennheiser, not him, to look into this issue (which is honestly pretty uncommon anyway, even in this latest batch where the issue seems to have arisen) and figure it out.

We have people here now saying that this is "terrible" quality-control. Psh, as if. You know what's truly terrible quality control? Philips with their Fidelio line, but we have people here swearing by those while dissing the HD560s. At least the HD560s always have proper channel-matching/balance. I had to buy three pairs of Fidelio X2HR's before I got one with proper channel balance that didn't have an audible imbalance in the bass and low mids during music and movies. Solderdude from DIY Audio Heaven also had to get three pairs of the X2HR's before getting one with proper channel-balance, and only "recommends" them while noting that they're a gamble and people need to hope to get lucky. There are multiple people I've found online who went through as many as SIX pairs of X2HR's, ALL of which had channel imbalance, only to give up completely on Philips in the end.

Sure, people can get unlucky with the HD560s. But even with this latest batch in which some units have issues, every unit has proper channel-balance, and you're a lot more likely to get lucky with a good pair of these than to get lucky with some X2HR's or some HiFiMans or something.

People are only reacting this strongly and negatively because this is Sennheiser, who have a reputation for good QC. If this was Philips or HiFiMan, people would be like "oh well this is just typical and to be expected." HiFiMan, for one, has much higher levels of/more-common detective units than what we're seeing here even with their lines of headphones that cost over $400.

 

[Evshrug]

I’m not offended.

I realize it doesn’t feel great when you get unlucky. To try to help, I alerted Sennheiser and offered an immediate solution. Of course, everyone is free to make their own choices, and even if that choice is to take a pass, I want to say thanks.

This thread has been very interesting and frankly unique! It’s rare that an announcement post becomes the de-facto discussion thread for a product, and there’s been what I feel as an honest balance of questions, working through waiting and customer support questions, and people who have said the headphones are really to their taste and those that are taking a pass. It’s not a train of over favorable hype or anti-hype, yet we have almost 140 pages of posts in just four months and a few weeks, and there’s a lot of quality posts with owners dropping impressions, suggesting tips, sharing songs, and yes giving feedback that Sennheiser needs to hear. Thanks to everyone that helps out others. All that is good, I couldn’t ask for more... other than a few photos, but people mostly come to Head-Fi for text and discussion

With all that said, things will keep moving. I heard back that there’s an investigation going on, but that will take time, and I don’t have more info yet. And I’m interested to see how the thread continues to evolve.

 

[Evshrug]

That's not fair, Evshrug isn't actually a PR person

I used to do IT for another company, that felt like PR sometimes
I came to Head-Fi to unwind. Still love it

 

[goodyfresh]

I’m not offended.

I realize it doesn’t feel great when you get unlucky. To try to help, I alerted Sennheiser and offered an immediate solution. Of course, everyone is free to make their own choices, and even if that choice is to take a pass, I want to say thanks.

This thread has been very interesting and frankly unique! It’s rare that an announcement post becomes the de-facto discussion thread for a product, and there’s been what I feel as an honest balance of questions, working through waiting and customer support questions, and people who have said the headphones are really to their taste and those that are taking a pass. It’s not a train of over favorable hype or anti-hype, yet we have almost 140 pages of posts in just four months and a few weeks, and there’s a lot of quality posts with owners dropping impressions, suggesting tips, sharing songs, and yes giving feedback that Sennheiser needs to hear. Thanks to everyone that helps out others. All that is good, I couldn’t ask for more... other than a few photos, but people mostly come to Head-Fi for text and discussion

With all that said, things will keep moving. I heard back that there’s an investigation going on, but that will take time, and I don’t have more info yet. And I’m interested to see how the thread continues to evolve.

As always, thank you! We know that you or someone straight from Senn will let us know on here once their investigation reaches a conclusion, but obviously as you said, sometime like looking into possible QC issues on a particular batch of products form a factory could take quite some time. As I've said before, due to their decades-long stellar reputation for QC, I have complete faith in Sennheiser that they will address whatever this issue is!

Meanwhile, I'm actually using my own HD560s to listen to the album "A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak" by Zach Callison. It's an EXCELLENT album. I can't really put its genre into words... it's a short (only 28 minutes total) concept-album telling a semi-autobiographical story and the songs combine elements from hard rock, soft rock ballads, emo, and a lot of hip-hop. What I CAN tell you guys in less ambiguous terms is that every track on the album sounds AMAZING with the HD560s. After tightening the screws, my own pair only gets a rattle/buzz at overly-loud (above listening-level, like probably 100dB or more) volumes; I do still plan to send them in to Senn at some point to get looked at ***just in case*** that's a defect (since other people report that their pairs don't buzz/rattle at all even at super-extreme ear-bleeding levels, haha) that may get worse someday, but I've been procrastinating on doing so because it doesn't affect anything at normal listening volumes and everything sounds soooo good on these headphones! Like this album by Zach Callison (which I highly recommend that people check out) sounds INCREDIBLE. For now, I'm gonna stop worrying and just enjoy how great everything sounds with these Keep on jamming/vibing, everybody!

Anybody else got any albums, tracks, or artists that they feel sound especially great with these heapdhones?

 

[astroid]

WhatHiFi just awarded these best headphones under £1000, quite a change for them as Amiron and Grado have usually received these plaudits.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/sennheiser-hd-560s

 

[TomD]

Interesting that people are also mentioning the buzzing / rattle issue which I assumed was due to the lose screws. I'm fairly sure both my pairs had that same buzzing issue

 

[mvule]

WhatHiFi just awarded these best headphones under £1000, quite a change for them as Amiron and Grado have usually received these plaudits.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/sennheiser-hd-560s

Best under £1000 for a sub £200 can is really impressive.

 

[idsyphe]

Anyone tried Brainwavz pads on these yet? I've ordered an adapter ring from modhouse audio, so just waiting for that to arrive. I've got a selection of Brainwavz pads lying around (pleather and velour in the oval size), so curious to see how they sound with some deeper pads, but also tempted to order a set of micro-suede oval's (have the gel pads for my K7xx), so keen to hear if anyone's tried those yet