Sennheiser has long been at the forefront of professional audio products of the highest quality. In April, Sennheiser launched its top-of-the-range closed-back headphones for studio and live environments. Sennheiser cites that the top design goals were to deliver tight, accurate bass reproduction and ensuring ultimate comfort for audio professionals tasked with recording, tracking, or monitoring in the studio, and in live audio environments. With closed-back headphones, accurate reproduction of the low-end is more challenging than open back headphones. “This is where the HD 480 PRO excel. Compared to other closed-back headphones, they are a lot tighter on the bass, their low-end is super-accurate and realistic,” notes Jimmy R. Landry, Category Market Manager, Music Industry at Sennheiser. “Comfort is of paramount importance when headphones are a work tool,” adds Gunnar Dirks, Senior Product Manager for professional headphones. “Engineers often spend hours on end in their sessions. They need a lightweight, ergonomically designed pair of headphones to keep focus and concentration up. The HD 480 PRO eliminate any pressure points and fit every head precisely and comfortably—even if you’re wearing glasses.”

Subtitled by Sennheiser as, “nothing but the truth,” these headphones sounded astoundingly good from the moment MC tried them. Often with headphones there is a few moments of transition where you sit and think, “what are theses headphones doing, and what areas are hyped or lacking?”

Not so with the HD 480 PRO. Lightweight at 9.6 ounces (w/o cable) and feeling very durable—we all know this is of prime importance as no matter how hard you try, headphones always end up crashing to the floor at some point. Most importantly, the sound on these headphones is clean, clear crisp and non-fatiguing. MC had the opportunity tospend dozens of hours listening to the HD 480 PRO and they immediately became afavorite. Additionally, when compared to many other high-end headphones, some costing double the amount, the HD 480 PRO were less hyped and more accurate and simply pleasing to work with. And if a tone was unexciting, it always meant that you needed to work harder on the tone of that sound.

Sennheiser elaborates further: “The HD 480 PRO are an ideal choice for monitoring, producing, and recording, but also for mixing, which makes them Sennheiser’s most versatile professional headphones to date. Their absolute accuracy, uncolored frequency response and honest low-end ensure that the audio translates reliably to any listening situation from home speakers to automobile use and PA systems.”

The HD 480 PRO feature multiple stages of passive sound shielding, while comfortable ear pads with soft grooves at the temples for glasses ensure the precise seal that is required for good audio reproduction.

The HD 480 PRO are stylish and sleek, with a very modern and subdued look. The brushed metal clamp fits securely on your head without excess pressure. The coiled 3-meter cable is detachable via a 4-pin mini-XLR plug and has two unique features. The cable can plug in to either side of the headphone set, which can be very helpful to musicians that have a preference to which ear the cable feeds. Additionally, the cable has a secondary area of added coiling near the earcups which are designed to prevent cable-borne acoustical noises from reaching the headphones. The compact carrying case is rugged but does not have an area to allow the cable to remain plugged in to the headphones while in storage. Earcups are circumaural and do an excellent job blocking extraneous sound both wearing the headphones and listening outside them. Earcups are clearly labeled L and R on the inside and feature Braille markings.

$399 for PRO-soft case
$439 for PRO PLUS-hard case