Sennheiser HD660S headphones reviewed: New and improved with performance to make more expensive headphones sit up and take notice.
With a heritage heading back to the 1990s, Sennheiser’s HD range of headphones has been a reference point for open-back dynamic headphones, virtually since its introduction. Consistently evolved through four generations, the new Sennheiser HD660S headphones raise the bar again.
Dropping in, once again at Audio Affair’s beautiful showroom, your author eagerly donned a pair of HD660S headphones and settled in for a critical listening…
Sennheiser HD660S – a classic evolved
The Sennheiser HD660S is immediately recognisable as a direct descendant of the original HD580; the plastic moulded driver covers have given way to metal grilles, and the Sennheiser branding is more apparent and slickly executed. There is, however, absolutely no doubt that these are a pair of Sennheiser HD series headphones.
The HD series has been a staple choice for professional sound engineers and audiophiles for decades; aesthetically, their design can best be described as “workmanlike”. There are no “Artisinal, handcrafted, exotic wood” headphone cups here. indeed there’s an absence of overtly flashy materials.
This may cause the casual shopper to pass over the HD660S based on visual appeal and “wow” factor, but to do so would be to miss out on one of the true bargains in the high-end Hi-Fi world. As became apparent, what Sennheiser have saved on flash and glitz, they’ve invested into quality construction and exceptional performance.
Performance beyond their price-point
Listening tests were conducted using the excellent Sennheiser Orpheus headphone amplifier/DAC, connected to a MacBook running Tidal. These were the last pair of headphones I’d had the pleasure of reviewing that day; some of which cost in the order of more than ten times the asking price of the Sennheiser HD660S.
Bracing for disappointment (after all, how can headphones at this price point compete with something so much more expensive?), Daft Punk’s beautifully produced, engineered and written Lose Yourself to Dance cued up. Adjusting expectations after listening to such rarified transducers, the play button was hit…
Immediate impressions were hugely favourable, bordering on outright astonishment! How has Sennheiser achieved this for the money? These are most certainly a marked improvement on the previous (and superb) HD650 headphones, and delivered much more than was expected.
Displaying superb transparency and an open, clean presentation, everything one could objectively look for from a pair of “reference style headphones” was here in spades. It was time for a clinical analysis and an uncompromising search for any flaws evident…
Teutonically Terrific
The first aspect of the Sennheiser’s character which was immediately apparent was that classically German hi-end presence around 5-6kHz. The emphasis here helps the headphones feel detailed and defined and really brings out the nuances of recorded music. It’s nothing overt or distracting, but a classic signature of high-end German audio.
Lang Lang’s beautiful piano performance of Chopin’s Nocturne in C Sharp Minor, proved the Sennheiser HD660S headphones control and composure. The piano is one of the hardest instruments to reproduce accurately, yet transients were handled cleanly and accurately with wonderful detail.
A personal favourite, a 24/96kHz recording of the great Pavarotti performing Puccini’s La donna é mobile, showed the Sennheisers capable of reproducing superb diction and clarity, with the backing swells of the orchestra being powerful, supportive and well defined.
How would they behave with something rather more aggressive and demanding? Electro-Industrial act Nitzer Ebb provided the firepower with their classic, Warsaw Ghetto. Cranking the Orpheus’ volume control to weapons-grade levels, the Sennheiser HD660S just took it all in their stride with a tight, precise and powerful performance.
An Outstanding Performer
So, what’s the catch? At this price, there simply isn’t one; indeed this reviewer has yet to hear anything at this price point which performs as well, although one is always open to the concept!
If forced to find fault, it’s that the Sennheiser HD660S are perhaps ever so slightly clinical; they certainly didn’t have the same sense of emotion conveyed by some of the more expensive offerings reviewed on the day, nor did they quite have the same sense of scale to the performance.
With this said, the HD660S must surely represent a headphone benchmark, above which more expensive headphones must now prove themselves. Whilst there are designs which outperform the HD660S, the performance to price ratio cannot be emphasised enough.
Anyone seeking to purchase their first, truly serious pair of Hi-Fi headphones would do considerably worse than to choose the Sennheiser HD660S headphones. These are headphones which will give many, many happy years of listening ahead. It’s a very strong thumbs up from this reviewer!