Sennheiser HDB 630 review: Audiophile ANC, at a cost

Audio mainstay Sennheiser has long been in the conversation when it comes to the best-sounding headphones, but it’s definitely struggled a bit when it comes to active noise canceling (ANC) headphones. Though the company had an enthusiast darling in the Momentum 4 Wireless, weak ANC and dated hardware meant that this model was quickly leapfrogged by the likes of Bose and Sony in the market.

But Sennheiser is an interesting company, and it recently released a Momentum 4 Wireless-like set of audiophile ANC headphones. Dubbed the Sennheiser HDB 630, these cans have some big shoes to fill — and some pretty big gaps to cover. Let’s see how they do.

What’s it like to use the Sennheiser HDB 630?

The Sennheiser HDB 630 is a rather posh set of headphones, with a manageable weight (311g) and thick leather-like padding on the ear cups. The exterior is a matte plastic with a metallic-looking band made of a lighter material connecting the yokes to the ear cups. Inside the ear cups, you can see the angled drivers, covered in a mesh material to keep bio gunk and other foreign objects from reaching the speaker component. The headphones can fold flat so the Sennheiser HDB 630 can lay in its included travel case.

Said travel case is a fabric-covered hardshell, with a recess for the headphones and a cable. It also has three mesh pockets for an airplane adapter, Bluetooth dongle, and USB cables each.

Because the mass is manageable and the padding is so thick, the headphones are quite comfortable to wear for long periods of time. I was able to wear these through the entire commute back and forth to the office (50 minutes each way), and a full day in the lab nonstop. Because there are no exposed hinges or other moving parts, it’s very difficult to get your hair pinched into something. Just remember that the headphones have no ingress protection rating, so you can’t get these things wet without worry.

The controls of the Sennheiser HDB 630 are straightforward and easy to navigate, and are virtually identical to those of the older Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless:

Sennheiser HDB 630 controls:

However, if you find that they suddenly stop working, just open the app and turn the controls switch off and then back on. It’s an odd thing, but at least it’s an easy fix.

What are the best features of the Sennheiser HDB 630?

Despite the fact that Sennheiser makes its name on sound quality, the features are the main selling point of these headphones. Which is good, given that they’re more expensive than more popular models that they need to compete with.

These ANC headphones make full use of the Sennheiser Smart Control Plus app, which in turn allows users to manage connections, sound quality, ANC level, control customization, Find headphones, and more. Unfortunately, you will need a Sennheiser account to access advanced features like the hearing test. But with that account, you get genuinely creative and useful features. One of the more interesting advanced features, Sound zones, allows you to set geofencing to determine how your headphones behave automatically based on where you are at a given time. For example, you might want the transparency mode on when you’re at home or at the café, but ANC is a better fit for you when you’re walking on the street or taking transit. With that feature, any time your phone enters one of these user-selected spots, the headphones will automatically adjust its behavior to meet your needs.

Inside the app’s equalizer function, you can now use five parametric EQ filters to achieve the results you want with your headphones. Unlike other parametric EQs, though, you can select more than peak filters — you can also add a high shelf or low shelf. This is by far one of my favorite implementations of a parametric EQ in a set of headphones, and I’m unbothered by the limitation of 5 filters because you can very easily handle preference adjustments with something that already sounds pretty close to good. This one even lets you toggle a bypass function so you can quickly hear the difference between your custom EQ and the original sound. I cannot laud this enough.

How does the Sennheiser HDB 630 connect?

There is no dearth of options for the Sennheiser HDB 630 to connect to source devices, including 3.5mm TRS, USB-C, Bluetooth 5.2, and the BTD 700 dongle that grants users access to aptX Adaptive. This is a clever way to help out your headphones when a user’s phone or computer is older or can’t use the latest-and-greatest out there, and I’m happy to see it used here.

Wired listeners should not need an amp, and the internal DAC makes USB-C listening frustration-free up to 24-bit/96hKz audio. Above that, and you’ll need to downmix or adjust your settings, but the supported audio quality is dramatic overkill for humans anyway.

However, it is a bit of a pain to get the dongle working in the first place. To do this, you need to connect the dongle, and place both it and the headphones into pairing mode. Be sure to use the app to delete sources that could confuse the headphones nearby, in case the headphones recognize devices they’ve been paired with before and ignore the dongle.

Once paired, you should be able to enjoy aptX Adaptive connectivity at better data transfer rates and range than you might have before with just a phone or computer’s wireless card. It’s a nice upgrade, and if you use it often (or swap to charging your phone wirelessly), it won’t be much of a headache as time goes on.

How long does the Sennheiser HDB 630’s battery last?

While we’re still running the battery test for the Sennheiser HDB 630, it has already surpassed the limit that would earn it a 9.9 in our tests, so we’re confident that entering this score now shouldn’t move the overall score too much. Sennheiser advertises that they can reach about 60 hours of playback with ANC on, and given their past track record: I’m inclined to believe that’s realistic. Companies seldom pad their performance stats here, so it’s not a surprise.

How well does the Sennheiser HDB 630 cancel noise?

Just as it is with the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, ANC is a sore spot. However, the situation is not “bad” by any stretch; just a ways away from competing with the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM6 and AirPods Max. You can tell by the score above that while the ANC will reduce outside noise considerably, it won’t delete the outside world or provide anything near its closest competitors.

The deep pads and soft material inside make for a really good fit, even if you wear glasses. Consequently, the Sennheiser HDB 630 does a solid job at isolating you from noise even without the ANC unit running. However, that ANC unit just isn’t competitive with the best ANC headphones for the price point. Though it can destroy about 80-84% of noise (fit dependent), that’s a bit less than you’d get from any of the other front-runners, and at this price some might be upset about that.

I will point out that a lot of the improvement in the performance over the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless is achieved on the back of the superior isolation, as the effect of the ANC unit itself is extremely similar between both models. However, with the easier seal and better padding, the Sennheiser HDB 630 can kill more outside noise — but it isn’t a whole world of difference.

How does the Sennheiser HDB 630 sound?

In the lab and out in the world, the Sennheiser HDB 630 sounds very good for a set of ANC headphones, and many of the issues that some might take with it can be addressed with the equalizer.

Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)

The chart below shows how the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score (MDAQS) algorithm from HEAD acoustics assesses the sound of the Sennheiser HDB 630. The sound quality is rated on a scale from 1.0 (very bad) to 5.0 (very good).

Reviewer’s notes

Editor’s note: this review uses a hover-enabled glossary to describe sound quality based on a consensus vocabulary. You can read about it here.

Can you use the Sennheiser HDB 630 for phone calls?

As the Sennheiser HDB 630 is a set of headphones meant to replace your daily drivers, it shouldn’t be any surprise that they come with a microphone array that enables voice chats and calls. Below are some samples we recorded in controlled conditions.

Sennheiser HDB 630 microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Should you buy the Sennheiser HDB 630?

No matter how you slice it, 500 dollars is a lot of money to spend on headphones, but it seems as though that’s just how much ANC headphones cost now. Though the Sennheiser HDB 630 doesn’t compete with the most-recognizable models in the category in terms of noise attenuation, it kicks their ass when it comes to sound quality. It’s just gravy that you don’t have to sacrifice anything when it comes to connectivity, either. So if you’re looking for sound quality first and ANC second, these could be a good buy. They’re definitely aimed at the buyer who is unwilling to give up quality for convenience, and as someone who’s exhausted by the enshittification of headphones, the Sennheiser HDB 630 is a breath of fresh air.

Though the slight deficiency in ANC is annoying when you’re spending that much money, it’s more of a testament to how far we’ve come in that regard instead of anything “wrong” with the headphones. As someone who willingly bought headphones with weaker ANC for the tradeoff of better sound quality, I’d make that decision again in a heartbeat — and I think you might want to as well.

What should you get instead of the Sennheiser HDB 630?

Competition for the Sennheiser HDB 630 is varied, but it’s difficult to get an apples-to-apples comparison. Normally, I would have said the Focal Bathys ($699 at Amazon) are the closest competitor, but the Sennheiser headphones beat them out the now-ancient ANC headphones. If you’re fine with somewhat weaker ANC, but want to save money, the aging Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless ($289.23 at Amazon) is a lot like the Sennheiser HDB 630 — just without the parametric EQ, BTD 700 dongle, and a slightly different sound. If you already own the older headphones, there isn’t much of a reason to upgrade. If you can’t afford the Sennheiser HDB 630, the older Momentum 4 Wireless can often be found on deep discount during holidays for about half the price.

If you absolutely need superior ANC, then you’re going to have to get comfortable with a number of tradeoffs. For example, you could grab any of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen.) ($449 at Amazon), Sony WH-1000XM6 ($448 at Amazon), or JBL Tour One M3 ($449.95 at Amazon) — but all three have noticeably poorer audio quality, and insufficient means to deal with them. They don’t sound horrible, but there is a noticeable step down in audio quality with each model listed.

If you have no desire to equalize your headphones, and you have an iOS device, then the only other competitor to these headphones should be the Apple AirPods Max ($499 at Amazon). While I’m not crazy about the platform tradeoffs introduced by these headphones, to someone locked into the Apple ecosystem, the AirPods Max offer a lot of the niceties that the Sennheiser HDB 630 has available. That being said, the increased price tag and incompatibility of some features to work outside of Apple devices is a real buzzkill.

Sennheiser HDB 630 review: FAQs