Sennheiser HD 620S

Open-back sound ina closed-back design? Is it possible?

Over-ear headphones £300 whf.cm/HD 620S

We have long been fond of Sennheiser’s HD 600 range of open-back headphones, which have been impressing us since the late ’90s all the way through to current incarnations, for their wonderfully comfortable design and smooth, very listenable performance.

It’s quite a departure then, for the HD 600 range to introduce a closed-back design; but that’s exactly what the Sennheiser HD 620S headphones are. Sennheiser aims for the new HD 620S headphones to have the airy spaciousness of an open-back design with the privacy and non-leaky advantages of closed-back cans. Does it succeed?

The Sennheiser HD 620S wired headphones cost £300 at launch, remaining firmly in the HD 600 range’s long-standing tradition of being not-too-budget and not-too-premium, attracting casual listeners and audiophiles alike.

Long listening comfort

At this price, there are plenty of solid five-star headphones we like that are of an open-back design, such as the Grado SR325x and Beyerdynamic Amiron, and Sennheiser’s own HD 600 cans. The closed-back headphones we rate highly at this price include the comfortable and punchy, articulate Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X headphones (tested at £219).

Sennheiser’s HD 600 range has always valued comfort for long listening

periods, so we have certain expectations of the HD 620S. The build quality is solid: the frame does feel a touch plasticky, but the reinforced metal in the headband and earcup housings make the whole arrangement feel sturdy and there are no creaks when we twist and bend the headband. The HD 620S headphones share design cues with the more budget HD 560S cans, but the new closed-backs have a speckled, textured finish on the earcups to distinguish themselves from their open-back brethren.