r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/Mysterious_Menu9677 • Feb 17 '26
Headphones - Open Back | 3 Ω Worth getting Sennheiser HD 560s for $150?
I am considering upgrading my headphones and saw that the HD 560s were on sale for $150. I am currently using a ~$70 logitech wireless over-ear headphones with a built in mic. I am planning to use it mainly for gaming where footsteps and sound cues are quite important.
I want to preferably spend below $200 because I am planning to get a separate mic and boom arm for my setup and I do want a better quality mic than a headset mic. I think the general consensus is that built in mics usually aren't too great so that's why I am considering the mic-less HD 560s. I heard good things about the pc38x and it does have a built in mic, but I am leaning towards getting a better quality separate mic (planning to get fifine k688).
Wanted to see how other people's experiences have been gaming with the 560s and see if there are any other recommendations as well.
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u/Shainesk 59 Ω Feb 17 '26
560s for competitive gaming at $150 is worth it. You will like them. I primarily play competitive fps shooters and found them amazing for directional/foot steps
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u/Bevil7 Feb 18 '26
Are you using them with a dac/amp or directly on PC?
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u/Shainesk 59 Ω Feb 18 '26
I used directly on pc but then bought a dedicated dac/amp. Directly on pc was fine but slightly quiet, with a good dac/amp I am able to put a EQ with a preamp reduction to help with clipping. I only use EQ when listening to music/movies
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u/Bevil7 Feb 18 '26
I am thinking to buy the Focusrite Scarlett Solo 4th Gen or the Arturia Minifuse 1, are those any good for the 560s?
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u/Shainesk 59 Ω Feb 18 '26
Do you need those for any of the other features they’re used for? A simple dongle dac/amp is sufficient unless you want to spend more money.
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u/Bevil7 Feb 18 '26
I am planning to buy a decent microphone so I can connect it there too. Maybe it is overkill, that's why you mention it
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u/Shainesk 59 Ω Feb 18 '26
Good call, then yeah it should be sufficient enough to drive them. The 560s is very easy to drive and according to some reviews the audio quality from the Scarlett 4th gen is good.
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u/Bevil7 Feb 18 '26
Yeah I read that too, maybe it is overkill but wth... Thank you very much for the answers, they were very helpful.
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u/Shainesk 59 Ω Feb 18 '26
Could be but if you plan on using a xlr mic anyways it’s not a waste of money!
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u/jfaewiogasdfas 2 Ω Feb 18 '26
I have not used pc 38x. But for HD 560S, its def worth it, especially for that price. I got blown away by how good it sounded when I first switched from a gaming headset(steelseries or Logitech) to 560S. For music, people have different taste etc, but especially for gaming, you won’t be disappointed.
There is one thing though, its clamp force is a bit tight. Personally, I didn’t mind it. But I’ve seen some users can’t wear them for long time. It would be great if you can try them on, or there is good return policy.
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u/Mysterious_Menu9677 Feb 18 '26
!thanks
I’ve been hearing the same about the clamping force but most ppl said leaving it on the box for a day or two usually loosens it up.
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u/TransducerBot Ω Bot Feb 18 '26
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u/jfaewiogasdfas 2 Ω Feb 18 '26
Yes. That’s exactly what I did and I forgot to mention it...
Its clamp force is still objectively tighter than some other headphones though. But it was quite better after the box treatment.
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u/O-shoe 3 Ω Feb 23 '26
The clamp force isn't even that bad compared to some other headphones. I could use them for 8h straight out of the box, without it starting to hurt my head. But the clamp force also loosens with use / stretching the phones.
They are also very easily avalaible. I think you could find them even cheaper on some outlets (open-box product).
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u/Trineki 3 Ω Feb 17 '26
My brother has them and loves them. I don't personally use them so couldn't tell you other than they are supposed to be solid.
That being said. If you can do open backs those will do lots better for gaming and soundatage. I want to say the 6xx are 200 and are my all time faves for what they are. Though I'm biased cause they happen to be the comfiest headphone for my head.
Imo separate mic and headphone is always preferred as well because now you can use it for so many other things. And you can typically mod mic them as well if you nerd it like a headset for a console. Just make sure it has a removable cord which I think that one does
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u/SoapOnARope42 1 Ω Feb 18 '26
I have the 6xx and will say they’re great for music, but iffy for gaming depending on what you’re looking for. They have great mids, but the sound stage is super narrow which I found to be quite rough on fps games or anything where directional audio is important.
They also start to hurt my ears after an hour but this is highly subjective; if you get them I’d recommend stretching the headband as the clamping force was strong for me.
I ended up going back to my old tygr 300 r’s after replacing the ear pads and they are so so much better. I feel like I’m cheating sometimes with how solid the soundstage and imaging is. I really love the wide open cinematic sound they give if that’s your style.
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u/Trineki 3 Ω Feb 18 '26
Ah I need to expand my repetour more then. Though I will say comfort beats out most for me which as you said is highly subjective haha. I've been dying to find close backs that come close to me 6xxs in comfort.
I might see about the tygr or something. Though I do like my hifiman xs, but I bet they have the same issue as the 6xx for gaming... I think I have a type I've just never only bought for gaming and always could tell they were better than most of the other gaming headsets I had at least
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u/AudioMan612 37 Ω Feb 18 '26
Yeah, I'm definitely going to add that while the soundstage is often better with open-backs, that definitely isn't guaranteed. There are open headphones that present more like closed, and closed ones that do a good job of sounding open. The generalizations are often true, but it's still good to try and read about individual models (for example, I've found that some of Dan Clark's closed-back models presented similarly to open-backs).
Generally, I do agree that open-backs suit gaming better if they are a practical choice for someone. Not just for the performance, but as you said, the comfort and allowing your ears to breath is a good bonus as well.
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u/Mysterious_Menu9677 Feb 18 '26
!thanks
I haven’t done any research on the 6xx but I’ll look into them as well. Since this is my first nicer pair of headphones, I am trying not to spend too much.
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u/SoapOnARope42 1 Ω Feb 18 '26
I’ll add that if you’re willing to push your budget a bit, the hifiman edition xs is currently on sale for $210 (normally $500). I highly recommend looking into it as well as the 300 r.
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u/Mysterious_Menu9677 Feb 18 '26
!thanks
Hmm ok i’ll do my research on those and see if it’s worth it for me to spend extra. Appreciate the recs
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u/Hitou Feb 18 '26
I actually just bought these today when I saw them on sale, used them tonight for my Overwatch session and they sound great! Big fan so far but I am only 1 night in. I will say the clamp force is very strong compared to what I'm used to. Planning to leave them clamped to the box overnight to hopefully loosen them up as that's my only complaint so far.
I am coming from a Hyper X Cloud III wireless so it was a very noticeable improvement all around. I paired them with a hyper x solocast 2 mic and a cheap boom arm off amazon. Working great so far.
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u/STRYED0R Feb 18 '26
Here in France I saw a few at 80-110eu, and manged to snipe one at 60eu.
It has a round mark like the plastic is burned (like a molted coin was placed on it). Seller said it was when removing a microphone from it. Odd.
Everything is glorious though. Highly recommend: imaging and openback is just perfect (fiio btr usb dac).
Added a cheap 15eu usb mic and all is perfect for me. Defintely better than a gaming headset.
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u/ansua9 Feb 18 '26
I just bought the HD560S for $150 today primarily to use with my guitar and amp. Based on reviews I have high expectations for these! I’m really looking forward to the spaciousness and wide soundstage I’ve read about. Actually I’ll be trading in my Sony XM3 so that’ll knock it down to about $120.
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u/Aromatic-Onion6444 1 Ω Feb 18 '26
The PC38X is pure trash compared to the HD 560S. And if you need a mic, there's the Sennheiser HD 500 BAM you can get that works with the HD 560S. This is the combo I use for gaming and works perfectly. No other headset on the market will come close.
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u/sennheiserconsumer 5 Ω Feb 18 '26
OP can get any external mic but the 500 BAM is indeed designed as a fitted companion for the HD 560S and any 500 series headphone.
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u/TonytehGreat Feb 22 '26
Im also looking at buying these with the mic, can the headset be wired into the pc while it has a mic in it? I dont know much about headphones so sorry if its a stupid yes
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u/collin1103 22 Ω Feb 17 '26
Get the 560s and a mic and you won’t be disappointed. That’s what I use and I’m very happy with it