Something old but new - the Sennheiser HD 424

Being a child of the 60’s I decided I was old enough to indulge in some good nostalgic consumption. Since re-creating my dream electric train set was out of the question I decided to get a pair of Sennheiser HD424 headphones. I know that technically they are not exactly the same thing, but I remember that both gave me plenty of enjoyment prior to the discovery of girls.



These are the same headphones my parents had and back in 1977 they created quite a stir among my friends as most of them had either large, heavy and fully enclosed KOSS or SONY. By comparison, the HD424 with its bold colors and on ear lightweight design was deemed revolutionary.

I confess that I like the 70’s look and the design with its canary yellow pads looks extremely cool, especially when paired with the TEAC AI-501DA with its retro (and rather useless) amber VU meters.

How do they feel? In a word: Excellent. The lightweight construction and open over the ear design with its flat foam pads excels at keeping them on your head for prolonged listening sessions. They don’t pinch or squeeze your ears and are extremely comfortable.

Can they isolate you in a blissful cocoon of music? Ahem…no. The same qualities that made the HD 424 so comfortable are also responsible for making it the less isolating headphones you could ever wear. A mouse can fart in the kitchen and you’d still be able to hear it in the living room.

How do they sound? Well, that’s difficult to explain. They are fine, if you don’t mind pushing up the volume of the amplifier. The staging of the music is great, I tried them with Louis Armstrong “What a wonderful world” and the channel sound separation is easily on par or surpassing the one in my modern HD 600. On the other hand, moving to “C’est si bon” made me aware that I was missing something which is harder to quantify. For lack of better words, they don’t sound “smooth”, they are a bit hard edged and while there is some bass, despite the open on ear design, it sounds flat. They are definitively not as engaging as I remembered them to be.

I switched amplifiers to the Apogee Groove but had to give up. Although the Groove is wonderful with the HD 600 it was unable to drive the HD 424 satisfactorily without pushing the volume to the limits.

How do they compare to other modern headphones? The HD 600 is much better sonically, everything there sounds more connected, flowing and balanced but they are less comfortable and I’m not a fan of the shiny faux Caesar stone headband. On the other hand, there is no competition when comparing them to the ATH-M50X, another pair of headphones that enjoys an iconic status. The HD 424 is not only more comfortable to wear but also emphasize how bloated the sound of the ATH-M50x is.

Bottom line: It’s a true piece of audio history and perhaps it should have remained in a museum. But I’m wowed by the retro look and I don’t care if they don’t sound like what I believed they did when I was a teenager.

I’m keeping the HD 424.

 

I had a mate in high school who's parents had a pair of these. I also thought they were way cool at the time. Not so much now!

I have a mid '90s pair of HD455s and they are similar in presentation. I also have a pair of HD598s and they are fantastic.