There was a time when Sennheiser’s sound signature was a cushty place. Its traits have been clear — versatile throughout music genres and steadfast resoluteness towards ‘v-shaped’ tuning. A lot nonetheless stays true, besides Sennheiser not retains that exclusivity of sentiment (Bose had a say, however has since pale away), because the aggressive panorama has sharpened important over time. Sony 1000XM5 and Apple AirPods Max discovered a candy spot with premium headphones, Sonos Ace is extending its legacy and Dyson’s OnTrac have reworked standard knowledge to good impact. The query for Sennheiser is, can the brand new HD 505 reclaim a few of that misplaced sentimental territory?
The Sennheiser HD 505 headphone. (Vishal Mathur/ HT Photograph)
Just a few elements ought to work effectively within the HD 505’s favour, as you additional shorten the headphone shortlist. It’s an fascinating selection of supplies which blends plastic, metallic and an expensive velour-like materials into a light-weight design (round 237 grams; the AirPods Max tip the scales at 386.2 grams compared). It’s an open-back design, which is simply the ticket if a wider and extra dynamic soundstage is what you favor — the trade-off being this shall be much less adept at blocking out ambient din. The sound signature and tonality steadiness, with the specifics of design to bear in mind, is a reminder of the older instances.
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The 120-ohm angled transducers play their bit in delivering strikingly spectacular sound throughout genres of music and an extra assorted utilization together with podcasts and TV reveals. There’s pristine readability being delivered, no matter quantity ranges, and even decrease high quality audio information are processed moderately effectively and don’t betray than lower than elaborate bitrate origins as you progress alongside the playlist. Wired headphones have their benefits, and the latter, definitely finds its roots in Sennheiser’s easier strategy to headphones.
The Sennheiser HD 505 are removed from the definitive headphones in case you’re on the lookout for highly effective bass or a basic v-shaped (such a tuning atmosphere boosts decrease frequencies and subsequently over-compensates with vocals) equaliser out-of-the-bix. The main target right here is pure sound, so far as potential, and delivering a way of balanced realism. The underlying theme is that these headphones get extra proper with sound than less-than-perfect. That can also be accentuated by the broader than normal soundstage, which provides the finer components in a monitor their area to shine by way of. Particulars are properly filtering by way of, and crisp larger frequencies stay snug with out ever erring in direction of an excessive amount of sharpness.
An fascinating factor to notice right here is, the transducers in use with the HD 505 have beforehand been seen within the HD 560S as effectively — however to be used now, they’ve acquired tuning enhancements for vocals (these transducers can go larger within the frequency response vary) however there’s a comparative discount on the decrease frequencies, with considerably lesser extension (12Hz now, in contrast with 6Hz within the 560S). This appears to be a wonderful steadiness that Sennheiser has performed with the {hardware}.
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It’s, earlier than we draw conclusions, crucial as an example the aggressive panorama the HD 505 (this prices ₹27,990) finds itself in. The closest, by way of worth, could be the Sony 1000XM5 (that’s round ₹34,990), whereas the Dyson OnTrac (round ₹44,900), the Sonos Ace (round ₹39,999) and the Apple AirPods Max (you’ll be parting with ₹59,900). It should stay in perspective that these are collectively pushing a case for noise-cancelling with music, which the HD 505’s more and more rarer open-back design doesn’t permit for. Our comparability is solely on the facet of sound, signature and the way effectively the headphones have been put collectively.
The Sennheiser HD 505 will enchantment to a really particular demographic of patrons. For starters, you should cross out on the guidelines, what you’d be capable to do with out. Noise cancellation and isolation, for starters. Throw in wi-fi connectivity for good measure. The HD 505 are centered, wired headphones with an open-back design. There aren’t many headphones that now comply with this selection. A large, detailed sound signature is primarily delivered very effectively. The consolation even after hours of sporting this, is a bonus.