In the past few years, Sennheiser have have won the hearts of portable and casual listeners alike with two closed-back offerings - the Momentum series, and more recently, the Urbanite series.

Sticking with this winning formula, they have decided to up their 'closed-back' game, and have tried their luck this time with a more premium offering.

When the HD630VB was first announced, the initial reaction was one of division. On one hand, Sennheiser fans were excited that a new product was being added to the famous line - one that takes on a closed-back demographic that was being dominated by companies such as Denon, and Beats. The other half seemed apprehensive about the idea of a closed-back headphone entering the ranks of the classic Sennheiser favourites - let alone a product with bass adjustment features and smartphone compatible buttons.

Is this release an example of Sennheiser devolving into gimmicks and fancy titles? Or did they actually manage to stay true to the legacy of the HD6xx line?

Packaging and materials

The HD630VB comes with the following:

• Hard carrying case
• A 6.35 to 3.5mm adapter

The fit and finish of these headphones is remarkable. They have a solid feel in the hand, and appear durable. This might be thanks to the solid aluminium ear cups, sliders and headband. There is also lashings of faux leather - both the removable ear pads and on the headband itself. Both ear cups rotate 90 degrees (toward the listener), and can bend inwards for storage inside the carrying case.

The non-removable cable is made from a durable rubber, and includes a microphone.

A CLOSER LOOK

The HD630VB is a closed-back, circumaural headphone.  While one ear cup is a smooth, large surface of aluminium, the other is packed with technology. The most obvious feature is the ring around the outside of the cup, which rotates to adjust the bass level of the headphone (yes, seriously). Towards the middle of the cup, there are three buttons - volume up, volume down, and a multi-purpose button. The underside of the cup has a small switch, which can change the compatibility of the buttons between Android and IOS devices.

The multi-purpose button requires a bit of a learning curve, but after a few uses, the most useful functions aren’t too difficult to remember. Tap it once to play/pause the current track. Tap it twice to skip to the next track. Three times to go back. Press and hold twice to fast forward a track, and three times to rewind. If you press and hold the button once, it will activate Voice Control (on IOS) or Google Now (on Android). The button also has functions for accepting and rejecting phone calls, or putting them on hold.