Sounds is not as warm as it was on my last headphones

Well yes, the HD560s are pretty well known for their relatively neutral sound signature.

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Soundstage is… off

What I think you’re experiencing is the difference between open back and closed back (Cloud 2) headphones. Your brain is “trained” to expect the Cloud 2 sound, so the difference with the 560s sounds off. Open backs generally have better soundstage than closed backs.

Hello, I have the same comfort problem with the Sennheiser HD 560S/many other headphones.

That’s why I mainly use IEMs (+ TWS adapters/Bluetooth adapters) these days since there’s like this IEM Renaissance at the moment, so many good deals every week/month (new marketed hype trains cycle, lol).

Most of my headphones are just there in their headphones cases and collecting dust, sigh, consumerism and fear of missing out is too real.

Anyway, do you wear glasses or have a big head and so on? That may be the problem and sadly you have to specifically look for headphones known for their comfort. Which is unfortunate as nobody really mentions that factor or experience, lol.

For comfort with headphones, if you have a big head, ear piercings, glasses, et cetera, basically anything that will interfere with the seal/fit of the earpads, here’s more info about headphones and glasses and workarounds it: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/zkjjcu/are_there_any_headsetsphones_that_are/j00kjt2/

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As for the sound itself with the HD 560S, make sure you don’t have any hair/etc. covering the earpads. Or like try wiggling the earpads to find an optimal position (sometimes this means the new angle of the earpads will be less comfortable but that’s just how it goes, same thing with ear tips and IEMs). Oh and try different headband width/tightness/etc. For me I don’t move around that much as I’m mainly at my computer and so I can make the fit more loose but if you are constantly going back and forth that can be a problem, so make sure to adjust it to your taste.

The soundstage of the HD560S can actually be good, same with the treble, and such things, and ya it’s the bass that people often find lacking and so on.

Since you like EDM/hiphop/etc. or bassy music then you’ll probably never be satisfied with the open back headphones and so you have to look for closed back headphones. It’s just a physics/design/etc. reality. Some people really do try using parametric EQ to work around their open back headphones like you’ve done already right, so just make say a bass shelf and see if it helps. But ya it probably won’t since people miss that closed back experience.

It’s like the noise reduction, the boosted bass, etc. that’s helping you get immersed sometimes with the sound of closed back headphones. On the other hand, for open back headphones users that lack of noise reduction and leakage of sounds (especially when they are listening at dangerously loud volumes) and so on are what enhance their experience. Atmospheric expectations.

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Forgot if some of the people on squig.link have graphs of the newer closed back headphones (these are like rarely released or reviewed aside from the mainstream Bluetooth ANC closed back headphones) but they do have the newer open back headphones last time I checked. They have AutoEQ and so on there now, try matching the HD560S to other headphones known for bassy sounds. And ya use oratory1990’s presets (https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets) if you aren’t already, same with (Peace) Equalizer APO, Neutron Music Player, UAPP, etc.

Sometimes IEMs/headphones will have drowned out vocals and so it can get tempting to raise the volume but after a while the brain will adjust to it since it’s always looking to adapt. Unlike IEMs, earpads rolling with headphones is not as talked about anymore IIRC, so you have to just to bear with the stock earpads.

Aftermarket earpads can considerably change the sound, especially comfort too. Like some of us used to switch the leather/etc. to velour because we wanted better comfort and all that.

Anyway, just search up the reviews about Brainwavz, Dekoni, etc. earpads. Check Head-Fi/etc. for updated info as recently some people are saying Brainwavz earpads went even more downhill or something.

Unfortunately, yes $30 is a lot and so that’s why stick to the well-known budget earpad brands on Amazon/etc. if you don’t mind the sound/etc. changes that come with them in comparison to the stock earpads.

Sennheiser/HiFiMan/etc. have that same expensive pricing for their stock earpads, cables, etc. lol.

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Personally despite enjoying a lot of the Sennheiser/HiFiMan/etc. open back headphones, I live in a loud busy area (even at midnight those random motorcyclists or car racers be flexing their mufflers constantly sometimes) and so even if my windows are closed, I need that noise reduction and so I can’t enjoy them as much.

Check the threads below as your window/door/room/etc. is affecting your sound perception with the headphones. If you are able to listen in a quieter environment, then you may appreciate the strengths of open back headphones more. Unfortunately a lot of people in the world don’t have quiet surroundings and so unless loud music is playing, people are tempted to drown out the external noises and this in turn causes a different sound experience. Basically try to listen at lower volumes first and then see how it goes for a while.

And ya sometimes it just takes like a week or so before going back to your older sets to understand the better clarity/details/etc.

Headphones, IEMs, and reducing PC/room noises: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/12yxyqs/question_about_open_back_headphones/jhq4mj6/

Open back headphones and solutions to PC noises: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/11dh2v9/is_there_anything_i_can_do_stop_hearing_my_own/ja8mltw/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/xpa9zd/pc_noise_with_open_back_headphones/iq2znjn/

How to maybe soundproof your room for better noise reduction/isolation: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/10epr17/struggling_to_enjoy_my_headphones_in_noisy/j4t4qaw/

If you get (legit, the expensive heavy ones, not the light/cheap/etc. ones) blackout curtains and tape them, it should do some changes. Though actually even using those plastic film thermal insulation kits did nicely as the vacuum seal on the window reduced the sound a lot.

Those thermal insulation kits will help a lot with not needing to run the air conditioner (or heater) all the time, you can keep it on a timer if your AC unit has that option. Just make sure to achieve that good/perfect vacuum seal with the windows when it comes to taping it. There’s also those door draft stopper or like foam you put at the bottom of the door, those can actually help quite a bit too with retaining the heat/cold, believe it or not.

You should try demoing the Focal Clear og.

One thing beforehand: Others will tell you that your brain needs some time to adjust to the new sound from a new headphone. I could never understand this statement because it is simply not true. The moment you are listening to a new headphone (be it on a hifi store or from a friend) you will notice immediately the difference to your old headphones. These differences will not magically fly away the longer you are listening to the new headphone.

What you are experiencing is that you simply don’t like the sound signature of the Sennheisers. They are flat, neutral and very analtical headphones with very little sub-bass. If you don’t like that it means you prefer something that is more straight forward like an Audio Technica headphone for example. I also like this kind of sound signature way more and think that flat and neutral headphones sound boring if you’re listening to things like metal and rock. So what you can do is to search for headphones that are v-shaped and have maybe a slight emphasize on the treble and midrange. Beyerdynamics might be too harsh but their midrange is also a bit recessed and muffled, sounds very strange.

Try stretching it out, so it can fit better, because I’m quite sure it’s a fit issue. If it still sounds bad then return it.

I’ve got the hd599se and I love them paired with a cheap fosi audio mini amp for pc. It’s got me curious zbout the 600’s or the 660S2’s but not sure they would be much better

You can try stretching them over the box they came in overnight to loosen up the clamp

Headphones are a subjective thing. Your ears might just prefer a warmer sound and not enjoy something neutral or analytical. Doesn’t mean the 560S is bad, maybe it’s just not for you. You have to spend some time in the audio hobby space to really figure out what you like and don’t like.