Sennheiser HD 490 Pro Plus Headphones – A Mix Real-World Review

New York, NY (January 23, 2024)—The increased portability of pro audio gear over the years has been a mixed blessing. While it’s great that you can bring top-shelf equipment almost anywhere, getting pro-level results isn’t always a given. Having less-than-ideal surroundings doesn’t mean you have to settle for less-than-ideal audio reproduction, however. That’s where high-end, professional music production headphones come in, allowing you to listen with the accuracy and clarity necessary to get the job done. To be sure, it’s a demanding, rarified corner of the headphone market, and the latest entry into the field drops today, with the introduction of Sennheiser HD 490 Pro Plus Headphones.

While the HD 490s will no doubt appeal to audiophiles and music lovers of all stripes, they are specifically designed as professional open-back reference headphones intended for use in producing, mixing and mastering. As such, they’re engineered with a focus on accuracy, avoiding resonances and eschewing coloration in order to present your audio in a ‘what you hear is what you get’ fashion.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

There are headphones that come in shiny, ornate packages that make the ‘unboxing’ almost a ceremony—but that doesn’t mesh with Sennheiser’s practical and ecologically aware style. The HD 490 Pro Plus model comes in a simple cardboard box that opens to reveal the headphones’ tough, fabric-covered carrying case.

The case unzips in half to reveal the ’phones seated in a custom-formed lining on one side. The matte black headphones sport a metal headband with a soft, velour pad on its underside that can be removed for cleaning if necessary. All HD 490s ship with a removable 1.8-meter cable attached that terminates with a 1/8-inch plug, enclosed in a ¼-inch adapter. Meanwhile, the removable ear pads on the HD 490s are covered in soft velour and are, to use a technical term, nice and squishy.

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Meanwhile, the other side of the carrying case features a flapped compartment that holds an illustrated quick-start sheet, safety instructions in a variety of languages, and a license for a free plug-in from Sennheiser subsidiary Dear Reality—the DearVR Mix-SE, which uses the company’s spatial audio technology to emulate different virtual world-class mix rooms in your headphones (Nice!).

Also in the compartment are accessories that emphasize why the HS 490s are meant for working pros—there’s a second cable, a second headband pad and alternate ear pads. Big deal you say? Yes, because they show the thought that’s gone into these headphones.

That second cable is three meters long, so while the headphones ship with the shorter cable automatically attached because you’ll probably try them out immediately on consumer electronics gear, the second cable is for when you’re actually working and need the flexibility to move further away from your source without getting those HD 490s yanked off your head. When it comes to connecting that cable, the headphones have sockets on both ear cups, so you can swap the connection as needed to keep the cable out of your way while working. Both cables are modern-day straight styled, but there’s a ¾-inch section near the ear cup plug that is coiled; while it looks like a mini throwback to the coiled cables of the 1970s, it’s actually meant to intercept physical noise from lower parts of the cable that could be caused by it sliding across a surface.

EARS TO YOU

The alternate ear pads, meanwhile, are different than the velour pair that ship on the headphones—you see, the velour ones are intended to be Production Pads, according to Sennheiser, while the alternates are Mixing Pads. What’s the difference and how will you tell them apart? The Mixing Pads are covered in plain, dark fabric, and Sennheiser has designed them to provide a flat, neutral sound to better ensure you aren’t being misguided by your headphones while you mix. By contrast, the velour Producer Pads are intended to provide a slightly warmer response, according to the company—the idea being that the warmer sound will allow users to focus on the vibe or atmosphere of what’s being created, allowing them to center in on artistic choices, before turning to practical audio decisions later on with the Mixing Pads.

Is there a difference between them? Certainly; you can hear the differentiation with as simple a test as placing one of each Pad on the headphones and then snapping your fingers. Since the headphones are open-backed, you can hear your surroundings pretty easily while wearing them, and those snaps are far more crisp on the side with the Mixing Pad; on the other side, some of the bite and resonance gets tamped down by the Production Pads’ velour and padding. Similarly, playing a mono track through them tends to show the Mixing Pad side to be more present and revealed; conversely, for recreational listening, I’d go with using Production Pads more often than not. While the pads are interchangeable, they don’t come off the headphones easily (which is a good thing); they require a strong yank to pry them loose—strong enough that I was certain I was about to break the headphones until they finally came off.

IN USE

Open-back headphones have that openness in order to reduce distortion and avoid the resonances that can build up inside a closed-back design. That makes for a clearer audio experience right off the bat, but as a result, they’re really meant for use in a relatively quiet room; while you could theoretically wear them in a public place like an airport, you wouldn’t want to, as they let in much of your surroundings, and at the same time, anyone near you can hear some of your audio.

Listening to a number of go-to test tracks, the HD 490 headphones presented a broad soundstage with clear, discernable placement of sounds within a mix, buoyed by a solid, accurate low end, apparently due to a special low-frequency cylinder employed inside the ear cups. Sennheiser says there are also very light voice coils in use, and that the 38 mm transducers inside the ear cups are placed at angles in order to better reproduce the typical positioning of studio monitors. The result is a listening experience that is pleasant, but which also underlines the fact that these headphones are a tool. With the Mixing Pads on, the sound is extremely clear, bordering on clinical—which is what you want in a mixing situation—while the Producer Pads perceptibly change the listening experience, making the HD 490s noticeably more appropriate for casual listening.

ALL IN ALL

The Sennheiser HD 490 Pro Plus Headphones come with the aforementioned accessories and run $479 (the non-Plus edition, at $399, comes with both sets of ear pads, the 1.8 cable and dearVR MIX-SE license). Clearly, a great deal of attention to detail went into them, recognizing that experiential aspects—comfort, useful accessories and so on—add a lot to our ability to focus when listening. The lightweight, comfy HD 490s make for an audio experience that you can easily customize to your needs, whether working or listening for pleasure, and pro users will surely find themselves doing a bit of both.