Build Quality and Ergonomics
The 560S leans into Sennheiser's quietly utilitarian house style. The frame is matte plastic with metal reinforcement under the headband, the velour earpads are deep enough that nothing touches the ears, and the cups swivel just enough for a flat clamshell fit on the desk. At 240 grams it is among the lightest over ears on the market, and the open back grille is the only visual concession to its audiophile lineage. Construction feels less premium than the magnesium HD 600 series, but it also means you can wear them for ten hours without remembering they are on your head.
Performance and Latency
Imaging is the headline. The open back design and a neutral tilted tuning give the 560S a soundstage that exposes positional cues most closed back gaming headsets compress. Footsteps in Counter Strike 2 land with directional accuracy that closed back competitors simply cannot replicate, and the controlled bass response stops gunfire from masking quieter cues. For music the 560S is honest rather than fun: bass extension is clean but not boosted, mids are textured, and the treble is forward enough to hear engineering detail without becoming sibilant.
Software and Customization
There is none, which is part of the appeal. The 560S is a passive analog headphone that plugs into a 3.5 mm or 6.35 mm jack and produces the same response on every device. There is no virtual surround layer, no proprietary spatial mode, and no firmware. Pair the headphone with a clean DAC and amp combo such as a Schiit Magni Heretic or a FiiO K7 to get the most out of the 120 ohm drivers, but they will run perfectly well from a modern motherboard headphone jack at sensible listening volumes.
Real World Use
After a month of mixed CS2 ranked play and music listening, the 560S replaced both a previous gaming headset and a closed back pair for most desktop use. The trade off is the open back design itself, which leaks sound in both directions: people in the room will hear your game audio, and you will hear them. In a shared space or a noisy office this is a deal breaker, and the closed back DT 770 Pro X or a wireless gaming headset is the better choice. In a quiet bedroom or private office it is the single biggest competitive audio upgrade most players can make.