With their large ear pads, the HD400S’s fit around your ears rather than simply sitting on top of them. This and the padded headband make them comfortable for longer listening sessions. For their size, they’re also surprisingly light. With an inline mic and remote, the Sennheiser HD400S headphones are the perfect on-ear headphone match for your smartphone or tablet. The high frequencies of the Sennheiser HD400S have emphasis in various places across the lower treble, upper treble, and upper octave. However, it also has a cut around what sounds like 9 kHz. As a result, the highs have a unique shape that is able to give detail to high frequency instruments while avoiding sibilance.

John Lewis plc, registered office: 171 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5NN. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Register no. 724309) for the purpose of introducing the credit provided by Creation Consumer Finance Ltd, registered office: Wellington Buildings, 2-4 Wellington Street, Belfast BT1 6HT.The HD 400S exacts a secure clamping force around the head while remaining comfortable. Built into the underside of the headband is thin padding coated with soft rubber or silicone material to ensure the headphones stay in place. The HD 400S features a one-button smart remote conveniently located on the cable, which allows you to control music and take calls with ease, and the sturdy folding design makes these headphones durable and compact enough to be taken anywhere. Sennheiser dynamic drivers deliver a well-extended sound response with dynamic bass.

Prices valid in stores (all including VAT) until close of business on 31st October 2023. (Some of these web prices are cheaper than in-store, so please mention that you've seen these offers online.) Placing the headphones on my head, they have a comfortable yet secure clamping force. Additionally, on the underside of the headband is a thin piece of padding. This padding is coated in a soft rubber or silicone material. As a result, the headphones stay fixed in place. EarcupsSennheiser has done it again. The HD 400S performs well beyond its price range and is one of the better budget model headphones I’ve tried. It has very few bells and whistles and offers a simple means of listening that still delivers amazing clarity and quality. If you need a good first pair of headphones or need something that you can take out of the house, then the HD 400S is definitely for you. For example, when I was listening to the song Miles Runs the Voodoo Down by Miles Davis, the wide-panned electric guitars and keys contrasted well with the trumpet in the center. Additionally, the highs of the cymbals and trumpet contrasted wonderful in height from the body of the bass guitar and toms down below the head. The sense of depth wasn’t much to write home about, however came through in the song when the far off snare fills entered. These fills contrasted well with the intimacy of the trumpet. Overview Although the earpads seem too small for over-ears, they are very ergonomic and manage to be very comfortable for hours with a mixture of lay-on (in front of the ear) and ear wrap (behind the ear). In addition, they have a robust design with enough twist room for the ear cups and adequate padding, although the headband is somewhat uncomfortable.

There is a sub boost noticeable around the 30 Hz mark on the low frequencies of the Sennheiser HD 400S. This adds extra energy to every song that uses sub frequencies as a means for whipping up emotional impact. It achieves a perfect balance by boosting the lows without covering the low-mids in a shroud. The middle frequencies of the Sennheiser HD400S have a little bit of a low mid boost around what sounds like 300 Hz. As a result, bass guitars, pianos, electric guitars, and strings have a nice base. However, I wouldn’t describe this feeling as a feeling of body. On the contrary, a cut around 1 kHz followed by a boost in the high mids gives these headphones a little bit of a smiley face curve in the midrange. As a result, it doesn’t feel cloudy at all, but it skews the levels of midrange instruments in the mix. Because of the high mid boost, vocals tend to sit a bit louder in the mix. There is a decent feeling of contrast to be found in the height and width range on the soundstage of the HD 400S. It offers a powerful abstract center which provides good contrast for instruments spread out wide. You may experience a depth and extra tallness to the height with the sub energy present within your chest completing the contrast in the clearer and lighter regions of the high frequencies. You will find that the high mid boost makes the sense of depth feel a little crooked but often noticeable depending on how the mix utilized soundstage. Final Thoughts on Sennheiser HD 400SFor example, when I was listening to the song Didn’t Cha Know by Erykah Badu, the high-hat had emphasis, but felt less chunky than usual. It was emphasized more toward the upper treble and octave. Additionally, the hand drum had a slightly different shape than usual, but maintained a good balance in the mix. Lastly, Erykah’s vocal had nice detail and had good audible air during the “oo”s and “hey”s. Soundstage There is a low mid boost noticeable around the 300 Hz mark on the middle Frequencies of the HD 400S Sennheiser headphones. This offers a good base to the pianos, electric guitars, bass guitars, and strings, nonetheless, we can’t call this feeling ‘a feeling of the body.’ On the other hand, we find that the midrange gets a sort of smiley face curve in the midrange due to a cut experienced around the 1 kHz mark accompanied immediately by a boost in the high mids. This ensures that the user wouldn’t get a cloudy feel but the levels of midrange instruments in the music feel slightly crooked. You will find that vocals are usually louder in the mix thanks to the high mid boost. Creation Consumer Finance Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Register no. 311518).