Sennheiser HD410, HD414, and HD424

We managed to get our hands on 3 variants of Sennheiser’s classic open design phone: the HD414 Anniversary Edition, the HD410, and the HD424. These cans prove to be an interesting find: great sound for the price at a relatively low price. I think if you are into vintage cans, and/or just liking the vintage designs of these phones, they definitely have the sound to back up the looks.

Upon first look, these cans might look lightweight, but in reality they all need quite a powerful amp to shine. The HD414 Anniversary Edition can still play out of an Ipod, but an amp will help with getting the impact. The HD410 and the HD424, however, are totally different. You might be shocked to find out that the puny looking HD410 is actually a very hard cans to drive. Both the HD410 and the HD424 need a lot more gain than the HD650 even! On the Beta22 amplifier, I had to turn the volume to 1 O’clock, and 3 O’clock for the HD424. So don’t apply unless you have some very powerful amplifier.

senn-sixtyyears-image1Fit on all three headphones quite varies. The HD414’s pads is actually very comfortable, and many Grado owners replaced their original pads to the HD414 pad for more comfort. The HD410 is about the same size as the HD414, but it comes with a different, thinner, and more uncomfortable pad. The HD424 with its big diameter and flat pad is the most comfortable of all. I also has a thicker, more comfortable headband. All three HD414, HD410, and HD424 are very lightweight, and they also have a very light clamping force, overall they feel nice on the head. The HD 424 is unique in feel because it is big, full-size circumaurals, and yet they use a flat pad so the feeling is different than other full-size headphones. Both the HD410 and the HD424 comes with a 1/4″ jack, sort of hinting at their power hungry character, while the HD414 comes with a 1/8″.

After listening to all three cans, its very clear that they don’t have the usual Sennheiser dark sound, but instead they sound brighter and more neutral. Its like the HD25-1, except with much less extension, detail, refinement, and bass. Some people commented that the HD414 is the Sennheiser that sounds like a Grado. The HD414 tends to be bright, and while it can be a fun cans to have and throw around, the only thing I can use it for is for low level listening in the office, where I want some low volume background music without any harshness in the long run.

The HD410 is a better version of the HD414, perhaps largely to their higher impedance and hard to drive nature. The HD410 is like listening to the HD414 with added bottom end. Now the sound is no longer thin, and is more involving, more musical.

The HD424 is the best of the trio. It takes that whole HD414/HD410 and improves it to the next level. With the HD424, you actually get good soundstaging, a bigger, and a much fuller sound.

3.9/5 - (25 votes)
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44 Comments

  • Reply July 6, 2011

    Tjpines

    I’ve had my HD424’s since the mid-1970s, and I still enjoy them today.  I drive them from the headphone jack on my Yamaha C-55 preamp; power amp is a Marantz 15.

    • Reply July 7, 2011

      Anonymous

      Nice! I miss listening to the HD424.

  • Reply July 14, 2011

    Johnny Siu

    I have had my HD410 since 70’s.  Now my children have grown up and they love their dad’s headphone.

  • Reply December 16, 2011

    Chris in LA

    The 424’s you have pictured above, with black end caps, seem to be scarce as hens teeth. Nearly every pair I’ve seen on the market have silver caps (the part that says, “Sennheiser HD424”, etc.). I’ve had both and the drivers in the black version are significantly lighter. What’s the difference? Is the impedance different?

    • Reply December 16, 2011

      Mike

      Hi Chris,
      Looks like you’re more knowledgeable about the different HD424 versions than I am. I absolutely have no idea what the differences are.

  • Reply February 19, 2012

    Dominik Howland

    I have an old pair of Sennheiser HD 410’s and wonder if I could sell them. Do you think I will find somebody who buys them and how much would it be worth (if it is worth)?
    I couldn’t find any information about their price usw.

    • Reply February 20, 2012

      Mike

      Aww I have no idea what they would be worth today.

  • Reply March 7, 2012

    Clondoner

    I love my HD 424 phones; bought them in the late 1970’s and have changed the ear pads periodically. Very light weight but must use a good amp to get quality sound….will play softly if the amp has the power to replicated the softnpassages.

    • Reply March 7, 2012

      Mike

      The other day I was just telling my friend who collects vintage headphones to go hunt the HD424 as I still remember how pleasant it was.

      • Reply March 8, 2012

        Clondoner

        Mike, I’ve read that the HD424 had several evolutions with each one having a different sound to it. Mine are the older ones I think; they are very flat on bass, and very bright on middle and upper tones. I enjoy all kinds of music with them but of course must use a Receiver because the impedence is 250 Ohms . I have no idea if they will respond to an mp3 or an Ipad requirements.
        Carroll A. Londoner, PhD
        Professor Emeritus
        Virginia Commonwealth University
        Adult Education & HRD
        CAPT (Ret). CHC, USN

        Sent from my iPad2

        • Reply March 8, 2012

          Mike

          Oh yes they definitely won’t run out of an MP3 player or an Ipad. Need a receiver or a big amp for the HD424s.

  • Reply January 20, 2013

    Calvin Purnomo

    Curious here, is it as thin as AKG K701? One of local headphone store here was selling it pretty darn cheap. Just curious how thin-ish this little fella sounds. 😀

    • Reply January 21, 2013

      Mike

      Ummm
      Definitely not like the K701. If you can get it cheap just go for it, it has quite a fan base and I think it’s a pretty nice sounding headphone.

      • Reply January 21, 2013

        Calvin Purnomo

        Okay, just snagged it. Let’s just hear it as soon as I get it. Thankies Mike! 🙂

    • Reply January 23, 2013

      Calvin Purnomo

      Just got it and made a cable for it (Hard time soldering the HPSC plug btw). A very fun sounding headphone indeed! And yes it’s far away from the AKG, much more Grado-ish. Still, got enough detail and brightness for a headphones I got at this price point! Bright enough sans the sibilance. My DT880 now sounds a lot more sibilant.
      Light enough to be driven right out of my Mac. Durable build can be seen from how solid it is.

      Best buy of my life.. :))

  • Reply October 28, 2013

    Evan Caverley

    I Actually still have a pair of the original (white) 2000 ohm impedance HD414s, while I understand you were testing newer available gear, The sound reproduction is completely different to the modern (anniversary edition pair) I have actually tested all the models tested here over the years and still opted to keep my original pair of HD414’s because to peformance was quite noticeably much better from the earlier models. So in conclusion I would seriously suggest to anyone keen on obtaining a pair of retro style earphones with outstanding sound reproduction, try second hand, And if looked after the older the better as they reduced the impedance periodically during their production run, also, the company produced of 10 000 000 pairs of HD414 from 1968 so there are still definitely great units out there to be continually enjoyed!!!

  • Reply June 28, 2014

    Yohan Seris

    I’d love to try these out for their neutrality albeit high impedances.

    I would say the best cans I’ve ever used are the Sennheiser HD25 1 ii, ATH-M50 by Audio Technica and the BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro not necessarily in that order and they are all around the same price at around the £139 mark

    • Reply June 29, 2014

      dalethorn

      I had the original HD414 and it was awful. The 30th anniversary HD414 was much better (ca. 1998). The HD424 was much better than the original HD414, but not nearly as hi-fi as the 30th anniversary HD414. Sennheiser included printed freq. response curves with the HD414 and HD424, and they sounded exactly like the printed curves.

  • Reply September 22, 2014

    Frustrated Teacher

    Had a pair of 414’s when I was a teenager. They were the best phones I have EVER had but unfortunately they didn’t survive High School (I think I had a wire go bad and just threw them out…>DUH). NOTHING made today matches them for lightness and sound quality. It didn’t feel like you were wearing phones at all but they had a big rich sound…….sigh….

    • Reply September 22, 2014

      dalethorn

      The 424 came with a printed response curve that actually matched how it sounded! I sure liked mine.

  • Reply March 28, 2016

    Ocelotty1

    My HD242’s were the mutt’s nuts. Best sound ever. Long gone to history and I’m damned if I can find a replacement, but I sure would like one

    • Reply March 28, 2016

      dalethorn

      The problem is, the 242 was apparently a Russian or other non-standard edition, so a google search turns up nothing that gives a clear picture of the sound. But there are other headphones in the $100-$150 USD range that should compare pretty well. The Edifier H850, the Brainwavz HM5, the AKG K553, the KRK 8400, etc.

      • Reply March 29, 2016

        Arthur Johnson

        but are not gorgeous

  • Reply October 21, 2016

    Paul

    Anyone know if the Fiio E 12 will run the 424 well? I dragged mine out of storage a month ago and it’s working well on my iMac. with an incomparable sound. I’d like to give it more portability and hook it up to the iPod through the Fiio but I have no idea if it will sound good. Anyone know?

    • Reply July 12, 2017

      Paul

      My 424s work very well with the Fiio A5 on my iPhone 6s.

  • Reply April 4, 2017

    Mark

    Wow. Just read your article while shopping for new pads for my 30 year old HD410. I didn’t realise that mum had bought me such a great pair of headphones ! I’ve always loved the sound quality though. Mine had yellow pads originally but I can only find black now.
    So the yellow HD 424 are compatible ?

  • Reply February 6, 2018

    Mmmike

    Anyone know if and where 410 SL’s can be repaired?

    • Reply February 7, 2018

      Lieven

      Mail Senn? 🙂

    • Reply November 27, 2018

      Trung

      I have 410sl and it’s my best one. My other hp is hd480, hd430, hd540, AKG K550, K601, Hifi man he400. HD410sl beats them all if you have a right amp.

  • Reply April 11, 2019

    Nathan

    Just found a pair of 70’s Hd424’s and the sound is amazing through a modern 7.1 Onkyo amp with effects off. Even without the pads as they’d disintegrated, sound is bright, crisp and they certainly love to be driven without distorting. I own Irish made Sennheisers from the 2000’s before they went to China to be made but they sound thick, almost muddy and less clarity- almost tinny!.
    Certainly beat the Bose I have as they can come across as brash/ harsh and clinical where the 424’s have a natural spatial warmth like listening to great 180 gram LP’s on a great turntable and speakers vs CD’s or digital which compresses the hell out of original recordings .
    Best ever………..find them while you can!!!

  • Reply May 9, 2019

    isidroco

    Anyone has an idea on how these compare to hd480?

  • Reply July 9, 2019

    Anthony

    This review is very on point. I have the hd414 and 424(my dad gave it to me) the 414 is too harsh for me but the 424 has this special addicting sound that I can’t describe with words. It has a very flat sound signature without sounding boring. It might not have the frequency extension like modern headphones, but it does very well within the range.

  • Reply August 20, 2019

    Andrew

    Back in the 1980 the HD424 was unbeatable…wao!!…now I have a Grado 60 which sounds almost as good but not so comfortable as the HD424 was

    The HD424 if they put it on production now with the same sound I would prefer it to the HD598

    If you own a working HD424 you must be insane to change it for another, even the cables are stratospheric, stainless steel wire so they last to break and never tangle.

  • Reply September 14, 2019

    Michael H.

    I have used the HD424s for years and I have to say that they have severe low and high end roll-offs. Not too badly, but enough to make them sound “lo fi”. So they have quite the “hump” curve if you were to see their character on a graph. – That doesn’t mean it can’t render more low and high end, because you can “recover” them by using the shelf-EQs on a stereo amplifier or some such thing and turn them up quite a bit (to the point they match the level of the mid-range).
    And yes, the mid-range is very forward and quite detailed. Not the best, but it stands out. This is a quality many headphones lack and so I think the HD424s have an edge (advantage) to begin with.
    They’re not that good on their own, they lack fullness, but if you turn up the bass and treble on an EQ you’ll be able to balance them out a lot more and make them fuller and more detailed and have like 7.5 out of 10 headphones or so… “Stock” they’re like a 5/10 to be honest. They’re very clear and crisp, but again, very rolled off at the outer ends…

  • Reply March 16, 2020

    EMILIOS VR

    I still use my HD410 since 1980…they sound perfect. I only replace the pads with new ones from China!

  • Reply January 6, 2021

    Christian Weidemann

    Hello,
    Often we are using 2 HD414 (one bought about 1980 and one HD414 Anniversary Edition, bought about 1996) when my wife and I are listening to TV-sound. This because we have different demands on sound level. These headphones produce a sound with superb clarity when listening to general programs. But for advanced music – such as Beethoven’s Violin Concerto – we prefer to switch to a stereo system attached to the TV. This because the HD414 produce a somewhat thin sound in the lower frequency range.

    Many times I use also a Koss Prorta Pro e.g when I use mobile equipment such as Mini Disk players. The Koss, designed 28 years and still manufactured, is very portable, convenient and has a good sound. Some people report that Koss presents too much sound in the bass range, but , listening to acoustic instruments, I find no problem with that. When I wake up at night and want to listen to a CD i and using the Koss and an old Sony DF201 Walkman FM-Radio CD player.

    Now a question: Can you give me a hint where to buy a new cable for the HD414?
    Sennheiser has no in their spare part list. Thomann.de has a cable for HD-25-Light that seems to fit, but I am not sure if the red and black connectors really can be inserted into the HD414.

  • Reply April 17, 2021

    Derek Heeps

    The first headphones I bought were HD424s , back when I worked in the hifi trade in the 70s , we sold an awful lot of 414s , but the 424s just had that little bit more extension , well worth the extra £10 or so over the 414s , which were about £15 back then .

    The only headphones I lusted after more were Stax electrostatics , but these were , and still are , horrendously expensive ( but I do love my Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers ) .

    I also have a pair of HD25s , which I use for ENG work , these must now be 25 years old , and still going strong ; all parts still available from either Sennheiser direct or Canford Audio .

  • Reply April 17, 2021

    Derek Heeps

    @ Christian Weidemann ,

    Sennheiser parts available at following link

    https://spares.sennheiser.com/en-uk/catalog/product/000102-hd-414

  • Reply March 4, 2022

    Robin Tyson

    Still have my HD410s. We used them in broadcasting. Superb sound and, most important, if you stepped on the cable (or trapped it on your chair while you were setting up an LP) the cables just pulled away from the headphone. You simply clipped them back on again and they were good to go. Very few headphones seem to have that feature.

  • Reply March 22, 2022

    Fred

    I’ve had a set of H410’s since 1983.
    Love them and will never give them up.
    If there are any questions about Sennheiser customer service, I can attest that it is excellent.
    In the late 90’s the foam pads on my 410’s were rotting away and I needed new ones.
    I emailed Sennheiser and THE NEXT DAY, found a new pair of foam ear pads in my mailbox.
    No charge.
    To say I was, and still am, thoroughly impressed is an understatement.

  • Reply November 19, 2022

    D.T. Rogers

    The silver end cap HD 424 are 2000 ohms. The later Black with gold lettering end cap HD 424 are 600 ohms. Love them.
    I have a HD 410 and an original HD 414 and have an HD 414 Anniversary Edition with 52 ohms coming in this week to hear for the first time. I love the yellow foam pads but they dry rot in just a couple of years and have to be replaced.

  • Reply March 26, 2023

    Jens Urbigkeit

    Hi guys,
    I definetly can subscribe that the 80s made Sennheisers are better than most new ones. I own a pair of HD410s with golden writing on the sidecaps and they outplay my other Onkyo HS 300 I think they‘re called.
    I own the 410 since I was 14, so since 1983 and they cost 50 DM(lot of money those days)which is around 25€ today.
    The sound is warm and sooth, but mids and hights very good also snd the bass is great. Driven by the jack of my Onkyo P3370 they sound awesome. Never would change them against new ones, accept maybe, if they break down, with a pair of Beyerdynamik.
    Greetings from Germany
    Jens

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