tl;dr Headphones: Sennheiser HD650 or the newer HD490 Pro Plus? Using with interface: NI KA6 mk1 (and stock pc soundcard sometimes). Sound quality accurate enough? Enough power from the soundcards? Comfort for long hours?

update tl;dr : instead of buying another 100-300euro amp to make up for lacking KA6 headphone output and compatibility, how about the Sennheiser HD490 Pro Plus + Focusrite Clarett+ 2Pre instead?

Hi everybody, I have been researching headphones for using to produce, mix and master especially when I travel.

The interface I use is either stock system soundcard or NI Komplete Audio 6 mk1 (the original one) which is important because if possible I want to try to avoid buying another device for powering these headphones, unless it is absolutely necessary, very small and not too expensive. I dont work at loud volume, usually low to middle, but then listening back to rendered mixes and masters I need to listen loudly to make sure the music is hitting correct in spectrum and also to really feel the vibe. i wont be using for everyday casual listening to music, gaming or anything like that. I only use for making my music and music videos.

From all of the material I have read and watched, it seems Sennheiser HD650 or the newer Sennheiser HD490 Pro Plus are often and highly recommended, but specs are different, there is price difference and I am not sure which is better for my setup and use purposes. Unfortunately, where I live I cant demo either and I have never even heard them before so I am little worried they wont be a good match for me.

The music I mostly produce is House, Synthpop, Melodic Tribal Techno, this kind of stuffs, so while accurate lows are obviously extremely important for club music and sound systems, I am not doing anything really crazy down there. Just typical solid, punchy fat warm basses and kicks for these genre.

Another important consideration is comfort for long hours of use. Normally, I spend around 5 or 6 hours before taking a break, but some days I work nonstop for 12 hours or more. So comfort and non-fatigue are important to me.

My current headphones are old Sony MDR7506, which work just ok for tracking at low-mid level volume, only to hear something is recording lol but nothing else really. Plus the way they fit on top of ears starts becoming uncomfortable after 1 hour or so. If I am going to spend 400euro I really hope the new phones will be amazing by comparison.

Does anyone own these Senn headphones and interface or can recommend something else newer and better?

Thanks!

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2026 at 1:35 PM

Can't really speak to the senn's mentioned although I do check mixes on the HD280pro's which are profiled for Equalizer APO. My regular go-to's are Audio Technica ATH-M50X's with the proper freq profile from auto.eq for Equalizer APO. Also changed out the earpads and headband to some non-toxic comfy velours which makes the wear factor go up by order of magnitude.

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2026 at 12:52 AM

Look at the MassDrop community's HD-6XX Sennheiser clone of the '600 series'. MassDrop went out of business, but MassDrops clone of the '600 Series' is on the Sennheiser website???? Check it out --> https://us.sennheiser-hearing.com/products/hd-6xx

I have the 600 and 650 btw. The 650 has a little bit more of a bass bump. The 600 is more ...flat across the spectrum. I happily use either one of them no problem.

 

The 650 has a pretty high impedance and you're likely to have issues properly powering it. It has an infamous issue where you get skewed low end (for better or worse is up to you) because the low frequencies have really high impedance. I would suggest looking for headphones that are 80 ohms or less if you don't want to buy an amp. Though, in my opinion, getting an amp should be the second thing you get after an interface. Again, up to you. Any headphones can mix, produce or anything in-between, you just need to use it enough and learn the sound. If you want great accuracy, maybe the HD600 is what you want.

The 6XX is not a clone, the Massdrop (now called Drop since they've been bought by Sony) headphones are crowd sourced headphones made by Sennheiser themselves. That is true for every Massdrop/Drop product. The 6XX is essentially the 650 with minor differences, the data is pretty much available. I think it's a better deal if you can get one, but I think it can be hard.

Speaking of Drop, I own the Sennheiser HD58X back from the time they were called Massdrop and Sennheiser still made them in some non-obvious country in the EU. It's great, though I've moved on from Sennheiser since I don't like paying the Sennheiser pad tax yearly. They 100% make shitty pads on purpose. These days I've been daily driving the FiiO FT3 (now discontinued? idk) and the Sennies are in a drawer. I actually find the FiiO way more comfortable to use, I used to enjoy the Sennheisers but the headband is crazy painful. Using the 58X for just a few minutes almost made me feel like my head would pop like an watermelon full of rubber bands.

 

so far the best pair of cans I have found is the Neumann NDH30. I like them because when you make a decision with them, you'd make the exact same decision on a pair of good speakers. There is no need for guesswork or time to "know" them as it is the case with so many other pairs of cans (i've had a bunch, HD600, HD650, DT880, K240 (600ohms), pro750....). These Neumann are kind of WYSIWYG

 

Sold my HD600s and got Hifman Sundaras. Never looked back. Much smoother, better low end. I use them with an Atom Amp+ connected to my Apollo Twin. Also use the "Harman Curve Target EQ" with them.

 

i went from hd600s to hifiman ananda nano's, also eq'd. got a topping dx5 ii running it. for the music youre making there would be no comparison the ananda nano's hands down. so much more bass, the hd600s have like very very little compared to it.

 

Are you somewhere Thomann delivers to?
You might think I'm kidding but I LOVE these:
https://www.thomann.co.uk/the_tbone_hd_815.htm
They're about 30 bucks from their store brand. THIRTY. They have a metal casing, are better built than my DT770 (180 Bucks) and sound better imho.
Only thing: They have a lot of airband.
But that is not a problem. I cut circles the size of the ear muffs out of a hanky and just put them 'in' not even under the pads, just behind the flaps.
I used two layers per side to get where I want to be, but I like a soft top end, most people will be happy with one layer.
(I mean one hanky, not one layer from the sheets the hanky is made of).
It is so dirt cheap that I highly recommend checking it out.
They are very robust, and are perfectly happy on your computers headphone plug (32ohm),
PLUS: They come with detachable cables...
(Yeah, again, My DT770 doesn't do detachable cables, I had to do soldering to get that feature).
Oh and depending on your head you have to give them a good bending to make them comfy.
They bring a high pressure, but again no problem, its all metal and thats perfectly bendable.

I didn't like them. And I'm a neumann guy, I love the kh310, kh120 and kh80.
With their speakers, just like you say, they tell what to do. but that headphone never clicked with me.

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2026 at 4:12 AM

Those look interesting. Is that magnetostatic thing marketing or is it truly special (I wouldnt care if it was marketing, if they sound good, I don't care how it's done)?
Would you describe them as rather warm or rather bright?

 

I've got the DT 770 pro 250 ohm. Very nice.

@Plendix those
the t.bone HD 815 look great and the price is hot. I think I'll pick one up.

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2026 at 5:52 AM

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I spent a few more hours reading articles, reviews and watching comparison videos from some widely respected sources and still it seems the consensus is HD490 Pro Plus is the better option with updated version of the 600's which fixes those notorious flaws in them. Does nobody here have tried these headphones?

They are supposed to be extremely comfortable for very long day uses like you forget they are even on your head.

They have better specifications and wont require another amp, but apparently coulld still benefit from one.

So I started to look at amps and the prices then decided if I must buy an amp for 100-300euro, then why not just buy a better interface with a great amp inside instead

Enter the Focusrite Clarett+ 2Pre. On paper, in in all specifications, it blows away the NI KA 6 which is over a decade old now. Its supposed to be a very high quality interface for mixing and especially critical mastering. It has all the i/o connections I currently use with the KA6, so its like a upgrade/swap in a sense and due to the headphone specs inside I wont need another amp. Does anybody here use one of these interface?

On the side, im actually been saving money for almost a year to buy new studio monitors (Dynaudio), so I guess this extra 450euro I didnt budget for will set me back some more time, but in the long term could be the best path forward? What do you guys think about this plan?


About some of the other suggestions, I dont mean to be dismissive of anyone and the reviews could be totally wrong, but the ATH-M50X/M70X are apparently only good for certain areas and mostly inaccurate without major corrects and even still when tested side by side not at the same level in any aspects as the 490 pro, especially for the styles of music I make. I bought and then later sold the Behyerdynamic DT880 Pro, it was comfortable but the sound just wasnt translating for me, too many corrections afterwards on monitors. so not a fan of those. Hifiman recommendations, I read about these many times, but again I cant test anything so many people say things like "go up models for even better sound", Ananda Nano or? which makes me second guess the quality of the 500euro models. I mean either they are accurate or they are not. Its seems mostly audiophile and casual listeners use these

So this is where im at right now and I am still very open to suggestions for my upcoming equipment purchase. I am also looking at Aune AR5000 right now.

I hope some of you have or had Sennheiser HD490 Pro Plus + Focusrite Clarett+ 2Pre and can give me some honest feedback about it

 

We have to keep in mind that a headphone has to have some curve to sound natural to us.
Harman started this with the Harman curve. That was not very scientific, just some folks from the street being asked what frequency response they like better. So every model has its own curve and every curve reacts / sounds different through the shape of your ear and your ear canal.
So forget specs. The only thing that helps is when you already know a model that workes for you and compare it's frequency plot with the model you are interested in. And testing it and sending back. There is no other way to find 'your' headphone.
With headphones it is way more depending on the individual than with speakers. And it's not easy there, so..