Every drummer who owns an electronic kit should have a good set of headphones. While it’s great to play your drums through an amp so that everyone can hear, it’s not always possible.
You’ll sometimes need to practice quietly, and you’ll need to wear headphones so that you can do that.
There are thousands of amazing pairs of headphones out there, but there aren’t too many that are as popular as the Sennheiser HD 600 Open-Back Audiophile Headphones. These things are amazing, and they tend to work very well for drum kits.
Here’s our review of them.
The first thing to note about the Sennheiser HD 600 headphones is that they’re mainly intended for mixing. However, they can easily be used with an electronic drum kit when you’re playing. You just need to understand that to understand why they sound like they do.
They have an open-back design, meaning they don’t block out a lot of sound, but that’s not a big issue when playing electronic drums.
Their frequency response is 12Hz – 39kHz, which makes them sound very flat and true to whatever you’re playing. There are no boosted frequencies to enhance sounds in certain areas.
The build quality is exceptional, and there are magnet systems that stop the sound from distorting.
Finally, you get a detachable Kevlar cable that has an incredibly long lifespan.
The Sennheiser HD 600 headphones are headphones that are made for audiophiles. This means that they produce very accurate audio that people who understand frequencies and mixing will love.
The main word for their sound would be flat. It means that no frequencies are boosted more than others, and that gives you an even sound from your drums as you play them.
Flat sounds aren’t loved by everyone, but they’re essential if you want to do mixing. So, these headphones are great for drummers who use audio production software as well. You can use them for both purposes.
The sounds you hear from them are also incredibly detailed. If your electronic drum kit allows you to play subtle dynamics, they’ll sound even subtler when wearing the HD 600 headphones.
The biggest thing to note about the HD 600 headphones is that they have an open-back design. The ear cups don’t close over your ears and block sound out. They leave a small gap by each ear, allowing you to hear the outside world.
For mixing, this is perfect. For drumming, it’s not ideal. However, electronic drums aren’t as loud as acoustic drum kits, so you don’t need to have sound isolation to protect your ears.
We wouldn’t recommend using these for acoustic drums due to their construction, but they work wonderfully for electronic drums.
The other construction features worth mentioning are the internal magnet system and the high-quality mesh pieces on the ear cups. The magnet system ensures that there is never any distortion, while the mesh pieces make the earphones feel very comfortable to wear.
They’re also very light, allowing you to wear them for a long time without getting uncomfortable.
There are several headphone types in Sennheiser’s HD line, and all of them are incredibly popular around the world for their excellent performance and long lifespans.
These HD 600 headphones follow that same trajectory, as they always work wonderfully. The Kevlar-reinforced cable is a big reason for that, as cables are usually the first thing to go with headphones.
We found that these headphones have amazing performance, and they work great when playing electronic drums.
Unfortunately, the Sennheiser HD 600 headphones are quite pricey, especially if you’re comparing them to other popular options for electronic drums. In fact, these cost about double what you’ll spend for headphones that most drummers get.
However, these headphones are quite affordable compared to all the other headphones that people get for mixing.
So, we’d mainly suggest getting these if you’re going to play drums as well as mix on audio production software. They’re a great option for having one pair of headphones instead of one pair for drumming and one pair for mixing.
If you’re happy to spend a lot more money, then they may be a good option for you to get purely for drumming. However, there are some amazing headphones that only cost $100 or $200 that work well with drum sets.
The fact that these are mixing headphones makes them excellent for studio recording. These are the exact kind of headphones that you want to have to track drum parts and then jump onto a computer to make them sound good within whatever music you’re playing to.
It’s very common to see studio producers having several of these lying around. So, they’re a great option to get for studio purposes.
The Sennheiser HD 600 headphones aren’t as ideal for live settings as they are for studio ones. This is due to their open-back design. You’ll get a lot of bleed coming in from other instruments on stage, and that will force you to boost your monitoring volume higher.
It’s never ideal to be in that situation, as you want to protect your ears as much as possible. So, it’s better to get closed-back headphones that have good sound isolation for live gigs.
The Sennheiser HD 600 headphones are a solid option for drummers who want a flat and accurate sound when they’re playing. They’re also amazing headphones for mixing. If those two things appeal to you, you’ll end up loving this set.
If you want boosted bass frequencies or you want to get the best bang-for-your-buck headphones, then these won’t be your best pick.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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