The company, in one page
For eighty years, Sennheiser has made equipment for both ends of the signal path: capturing sound and listening to it.
In 1945, seven people began building measuring instruments for Siemens in a farmhouse near Hanover. They made the DM 1 microphone in 1946 and released their own DM 2 in 1947. Headphones came roughly two decades later. The company learned capture and measurement before it made products for listening.
Today you'll find the badge on four kinds of gear. The microphones include the MD 421 and MD 441 dynamics, familiar in studios for decades, and the MKH range used in broadcast and film. Wireless systems run from Evolution Wireless to Digital 6000 and Spectera for stadiums, film sets and broadcast trucks. Professional monitoring includes the HD 25, a 1988 design engineers still specify by name. The consumer and audiophile line covers HD open-backs, IE in-ears, wireless headphones and earbuds, and soundbars.
Few competitors make gear for both recording and playback. Most focus on one side or buy in the other. Working for professionals who measure sound has shaped Sennheiser differently from a brand built only for retail.
- Founded
- 1945, as Laboratorium Wennebostel ("Lab W")
- Founder
- Dr. Fritz Sennheiser
- Headquarters
- Wedemark-Wennebostel, Germany
- Makes
- Microphones, wireless production systems, conferencing and installed audio, headphones, earbuds, soundbars
- Best known for
- The HD open-back headphone family and professional capture and RF systems
Why audiophiles keep coming back
Three things keep Sennheiser in headphone conversations, beyond its age or reputation.
1. They created the category you listen in
Before 1968, headphones were largely sealed tools for pilots, telephone operators and radio work. They weren't designed around listening to an album. Sennheiser documents the HD 414 as the first open-back headphone: lighter, unsealed and comfortable enough to wear for music rather than a work shift.
Opening the back of the earcup made a different kind of home headphone possible. Open-back designs remain a staple of serious listening, across brands and prices.
2. They supply the hobby's vocabulary
In headphone discussions, you'll often hear a model described against an HD 650's warmth, an HD 600's neutrality or an HD 800's wider stage. Those are shared reference points even when the headphone under discussion comes from another brand.
3. The ladder is climbable
Sennheiser's wired open-back range starts around $299 and runs up to its flagship. The designs feel related, and wear parts often interchange. You can start at the lower end and move up over time without switching to an entirely different family.
Moving up isn't automatically an upgrade for every listener. MyHiFi's published reviews score the $299 HD 550 85 and the better-known $499 HD 600 76. Choose by the headphone, not its place in the range.
↑ Back to the mapWhat can actually be claimed
Audio companies like to claim firsts. These are the milestones the record supports, with the uncertain priority claims kept in view.
If only Sennheiser documents a priority claim, the ledger says so. A company's account isn't the same as independent confirmation.
Lab W built the DM 1 for Siemens, then released its own DM 2 a year later. The company's roots are in capture and measurement, not playback.
Manufactured, then introducedSennheiser identifies this as the first shotgun microphone. Broader priority over every earlier directional design is deliberately not claimed here.
Company-documented firstDocumented by Sennheiser as the first open-back headphone. Open listening stopped being a laboratory curiosity and became a commercial category.
Introduced / category-formingA light, modular monitor that became a fixture of broadcast and DJ work, and is still supported by replaceable parts nearly four decades later.
Introduced / popularizedThe family that made replaceable pads, cables and headbands an audiophile expectation, with parts often interchanging across generations.
Platform lineageA flagship focused on spatial scale rather than midrange intimacy. It was later revised as the HD 800 S.
FlagshipWhat you can actually buy
Representative wired families checked in Canadian and US catalogues on 18 July 2026. Wireless families checked in the US on 30 September 2026, with the reviewed US end-of-life TW4 kept for context. Colours, bundles, accessories and replacement parts are omitted; Canadian availability may differ.
Consumer Hearing · Sonova-operated
- Open audiophile
- HD 505, HD 550, HD 560S, HD 600, HD 650, HD 660S2, HD 800 S. Entry enthusiast through flagship
- Closed audiophile
- HD 620S, HD 820. Isolation-oriented listening at midrange and flagship tiers
- Audiophile earphones
- IE 200, IE 600, IE 900. Single-dynamic-driver wired IEMs
- Wireless over-ear
- MOMENTUM 5 Wireless, MOMENTUM 4 Wireless (MyHiFi review), HDB 630, ACCENTUM Plus Wireless, ACCENTUM Wireless. Flagship, sound-focused and value ANC options; exact-model performance varies
- True-wireless earbuds
- MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 and ACCENTUM True Wireless are listed in the current US catalogue. MOMENTUM True Wireless 4 (MyHiFi review) is marked end of life and unavailable for purchase on Sennheiser's US site; availability elsewhere may differ
- Open-wear earbuds
- ACCENTUM Open. An open-fit alternative, not a sealed in-ear model
- Headphone electronics
- HDV 820. Flagship DAC and headphone amplifier
The wired open-back range remains the most complete part of the lineup. Its closely related models let you move up a rung without leaving the family. The wireless models answer different needs, and they deserve to be judged on their own terms.
Platforms, not products
You can maintain certain Sennheiser wired headphones for years. That parts support is unusual in consumer audio, but it does not apply equally to every product wearing the badge.
HD 600-series parts interchange across generations. You can replace HD 25 components instead of discarding the headphone. Evolution Wireless uses compatible transmitters, receivers, capsules and software; AMBEO and TeamConnect connect multiple products. Sennheiser has designed for continuity across several lines.
A headphone bought in the 1990s can often be put back into service with new pads, a cable or a headband. That's a practical reason to buy one when many consumer-audio products turn over every eighteen months and offer little repair support.
What we've reviewed
Five full reviews and three head-to-head comparisons across the wired and wireless lines.
- HD 550
- $299 · scored 85. Our highest-scoring Sennheiser headphone review
- HD 600
- $499 · scored 76. A reference, though not our highest-scoring one
- HD 660S
- Scored 81. A reviewed legacy model, not a current-lineup pick
- MOMENTUM 4
- Scored 84. Wireless over-ear coverage
- MOMENTUM True Wireless 4
- $299 · scored 86. Also compared against Sony and Samsung flagships
- Head-to-heads
- HD 550 vs HD 600 · WF-1000XM5 vs MOMENTUM TW4 · Galaxy Buds3 Pro vs MOMENTUM TW4
The comparison criteria change with the product. Wired open-backs are judged on tuning, comfort and serviceability. True-wireless earbuds face rivals on codecs, app behaviour and noise cancelling. A long headphone history matters less if the earbud in your hand doesn't get those everyday details right.
↑ Back to the mapOne name, two companies
Since 1 March 2022, two businesses have used the Sennheiser name. Which one is responsible for your product matters.
The professional business (microphones, wireless production systems, conferencing and installed audio) remains family-owned Sennheiser electronic SE & Co. KG. The consumer business was acquired by Sonova, which now develops and sells Sennheiser-branded headphones, earbuds and soundbars under a perpetual licence for consumer hearing products.
That split affects who directs consumer products and handles their firmware, apps and warranties: Sonova. The engineering history behind the badge is real, but the organisation responsible for a current consumer product is not the family-owned professional company that built much of that reputation.
- Professional owner
- Family-owned Sennheiser electronic SE & Co. KG
- Consumer owner
- Sonova Consumer Hearing, acquired 1 March 2022
- Brand arrangement
- Sonova holds a perpetual licence for Sennheiser-branded consumer hearing products
How this was assembled
- Wired lineup checked 18 July 2026 against Canadian and US catalogues. Wireless lineup checked 30 September 2026 against the official US wireless-headphone catalogue and US true-wireless catalogue. The US TW4 product page explicitly says end of life and unavailable for purchase. Canadian wireless availability was not independently rechecked.
- Priority claims are scoped to their source. Where only the company documents a "first", it is labelled a company-documented first rather than settled history.
- Ownership details reflect the Sonova Consumer Hearing acquisition completed 1 March 2022 and the perpetual licence arrangement for consumer hearing products.
- Scores and prices are MyHiFi's own, from our published reviews. See the methodology.