Hifiman Sundara vs Sennheiser HD580

This is a planar magnetic over-ear open back headphone that comes in right at around $350. So let's take a look. This review unit was sourced through ...

The old Sennheiser black mesh, this one's made out of either nylon or silk, I believe it's nylon. It was a little bit less dense than the newer models...

Seriously? For me, however, the dealbreaker was comfort. The housings on these things are very large and the clamping force is substantial. No matter how much I adjusted them, the pads on the housings pressed hard on the back of my ears and the bottom rear of my jaw, and I found that I could wear them for much more than thirty minutes before I have to take them off. This may have to do with the fact that the ear cup housings do not rotate at all, they are fixed perpendicular to the headband, and thus there's no compensation for pressure differences from the front to the back of the ear cups against your head/ears

Sennheiser HD580/600/650/660S fit just about any head size, and can stand the test of time easily. My HD580 is 23 years old, been actively used by the original owner throughout the years (and now by myself), and only ever needed the pads to be replaced as they inevitably wear out over time. Still in a 9/10 condition, and still competes in today's market in terms of sound. I can easily see it survive another 23 years, without needing to baby them

Also these are some of the most open headphones ever. If you can hear your music someone 10 feet away can as well. As far as comfort goes they aren't the worst for me. Their pads are scratchy and slightly small, while the headband is just fine

My pair is very well broken in so the comfort level is supurb and they have just the right amount of clamping force. Just be careful if you get a new pair and attempt to streach them out as you can easly snap the headband. This is not to say that they are built flimsy, quite the contrary I think they are very durable. Then again I baby my cans and my pair has not a single blemish on them

I’ve had no issues with “build quality” at all. Nothing has loosened and there are no “glued on” parts falling off. The non-swiveling cans are a non-issue to me. I’m using these to listen to music without waking someone down the hall or next door, not to be a DJ in a club somewhere

.: This is the definitive category that the Sennheisers have been made for. The HD580 makes even the $700 Grado RS1 sound like a joke