The Sennheiser HD 480 PRO is 130Ω at 98.0 dB/mW; the Sennheiser HD 600 is 300Ω at 91.8 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.
The HD 600 needs 6.2 dB more than the HD 480 PRO to reach the same loudness — 6.6 mW against 1.6 mW.
| Specification | HD 480 PRO | HD 600 |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 130 Ω | 300 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 98.0 dB/mW | 91.8 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 106.9 dB/V | 97.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 1.6 mW | 6.6 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.45 V | 1.41 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 3.5 mA | 4.7 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 16.25 Ω | 37.50 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 261 |
19 of the 280 sources have the power for the HD 480 PRO but not for the HD 600 — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 16 more.
2 sources are low enough in output impedance for the HD 600 under the one-eighth rule but not for the HD 480 PRO (Schiit Valhalla 3, Arturia AudioFuse Rev2).
261 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.
The gap between these two in decibels does not change with volume — it is a property of the two headphones. What changes is the size of the numbers, and it changes fast: every 10 dB costs ten times the power. The row that matters is the one nearest the level you listen at, and for most people that is nearer the top of this table than the bottom.
The HD 600 is more demanding than 99% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the HD 480 PRO than 85%. Both figures use the same measure as the rest of the site: whichever runs out first against a 2 V, 100 mW dongle, voltage or power.
| dB SPL | HD 480 PRO power | HD 480 PRO voltage | HD 600 power | HD 600 voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.02 mW | 45 mV | 0.07 mW | 0.14 V |
| 85 | 0.05 mW | 81 mV | 0.21 mW | 0.25 V |
| 90 | 0.16 mW | 0.14 V | 0.66 mW | 0.45 V |
| 95 | 0.50 mW | 0.26 V | 2.1 mW | 0.79 V |
| 100 | 1.6 mW | 0.45 V | 6.6 mW | 1.41 V |
| 105 | 5.0 mW | 0.81 V | 21 mW | 2.50 V |
105 dB is included because forum power figures are usually quoted there or higher. It is also a level that damages hearing in minutes — how many minutes is its own calculator.
| Source | Price | Headroom, HD 480 PRO | Headroom, HD 600 | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 15.0 dB | 5.2 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 11.8 dB | 1.8 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
| iBasso DC03 Pro | $69 | 11.8 dB | 2.0 dB | 0.12 Ω | 0.9 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 261 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 68 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both — the rest either fail one of those or never printed the number at all, and 192 of them are in the second group.
The cheapest of the 68 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 15.0 dB of headroom on the HD 480 PRO and 5.2 dB on the HD 600, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 16.25 Ω and 37.50 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 29 dB and 38 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
Cheapest that satisfies three published numbers is not the same as best, and none of it is about how either headphone sounds. To put either model against a source this page does not mention, or to change the target loudness, use the amplifier matcher.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| HD 480 PRO | 3 Hz - 28,700 Hz | not printed | not printed |
| HD 600 | 12 Hz - 40,500 Hz | not printed | not printed |
Sennheiser prints 3 Hz - 28,700 Hz for the HD 480 PRO and 12 Hz - 40,500 Hz for the HD 600.
Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, and that is the whole of what this section can tell you. A wider range on one sheet is not deeper bass or more treble on that headphone: without a tolerance, neither number says how loud either model is at the ends of its own range, so the difference between the two is a difference between two pieces of marketing copy. A ±dB figure is what turns a range into a specification, and of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print it.
None of this is a measurement. What each maker publishes, and what it is worth, is set out in the frequency response audit.
Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Sennheiser HD 480 PRO and Sennheiser HD 600. Every figure on this page comes from what Sennheiser published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.