Sennheiser HD 480 Pro vs Audiophile Closed-Backs

While Griffin already gave us his more "pro audio" centered take on the Sennheiser HD480 Pro, I've decided to evaluate this $400 closed-back through a more "audiophile" lens, comparing it to the current lineup of popular audiophile closed-backs. Let's dive in.

Visually, HD 480 Pro is great if you're like me and appreciate a clean, utilitarian aesthetic. It is completely blacked out and features a lightweight, slightly flexible design that keeps things extra regular. It's featherweight and swivelable design might be a bit loose in the hand for some people, but don't mistake that for it being cheap; few have grasped the art of high-durability, low-weight engineering quite as well as Sennheiser, and the HD 480 Pro is a great example of this.

Ergonomically, the HD480 Pro is—like the open counterpart HD 490 Pro—awesome. The cup swivel floats freely enough to match the angling of the temples, but not so freely that they feel floppy. The large oval-shaped pad openings accommodate my big boy ears without crushing them, the headband has super satisfying clicky extension arms, and overall the HD 480 Pro provides a secure, comfortable fit that for me, completely avoids hot spots. It feels like an engineer's headphone rather than a designer boutique piece, and that is exactly what makes it so compelling as someone who cares more about how headphones actually feel to use than how they look.

When it comes to sound quality, the HD480 Pro frankly dunks on most of the competition in the audiophile space, including closed-backs that cost thousands of dollars. It delivers a balance of clarity and natural tilt that compromises less than almost anything else on the closed-back market.

The weakest link is arguably the bass, which favors imposing sub-bass thump over mid-bass richness or upper-bass tonefulness. While on tracks like James Blake’s Retrograde, the low-end hits with immense, satisfying authority, on other tracks it can lack the organic, textured nuance required for acoustic instruments like the upright bass in GoGo Penguin's Murmuration.

Thankfully, on-head measurements show a much smoother transition into the low-mids than standard rigs suggest, avoiding any hollow or sucked-out character.

The midrange is exceptional, carrying a slight emphasis around 2.5 kHz that adds an incisive edge to instrument notes, thankfully without ever crossing too far over into being shouty or glaring.

The treble presentation seals the deal with a relaxed lower treble and an emphasis on mid-to-upper treble air that aligns with my preference and sidesteps the typical issues headphones have for me (imbalance between the fundamental and harmonic of percussive tones).

The result is that, overall, the timbral accuracy here is solid; snare snaps and cymbal crashes are presented with an effortlessness that I haven't really encountered often in closed back headphones.

When stacked against the audiophile competition, the HD480 Pro easily holds its own... and in some ways, puts on a clinic.

It offers cleaner mids and smoother treble than the FiiO FT1, even if the FT1 holds onto a richer bass texture. It again outclasses the Meze 99 Classics V2 in the midrange and treble, while those seeking isolation above all else will probably still want to go for the 99 Classics V2. HD 480 Pro bests Focal Azurys in bass presence and midrange accuracy, and even when compared to higher priced options like the Meze Strada or the DCA Noire X, the Sennheiser remains the most timbrally coherent and natural listen of the bunch, proving yet again that price is not indicative of sound quality.

Ultimately, I think the Sennheiser HD480 Pro has established itself as a new benchmark for what a closed-back headphone should be, one that other manufacturers ought to take notice of. It is a great example of a mostly-honest, gentle presentation in a form factor that is often defined by hyped responses and aggressive presentations. 

While I might want to throw a tiny parametric EQ tweak at the sub-bass, lower midrange, or lower ear gain, this headphone gets the fundamentals good enough right out of the box that I'm happy to recommend it.

Sound Score

6.1 / 10

Overall Score

6.5 / 10