Category: Technology

High-resolution audio on the go isn’t very convenient. It typically involves wired headphones and a DAC (digital-to-analog converter) of some kind, plus your phone or another device to access files or a streaming service. All of this is necessary since Bluetooth compresses an audio signal by design, to allow for low-latency transmission and minimize battery draw. Simply put, wireless headphones haven’t been able to meet the demands of lossless audio, but Sennheiser has come the closest to fulfilling the dream with its HDB 630 ($500). 

Thanks to redesigned drivers, a new acoustic platform and a dongle, the company offers up to 24-bit/96kHz audio on the HDB 630 — depending on your configuration. You also get above average active noise cancellation (ANC), a highly customizable EQ, shockingly long battery life and advanced features to fine-tune the headphones to your liking. For some, the best possible sound is still only found on pricey setups and open-back headphones. For everyone else, Sennheiser has provided a taste of the audiophile life in a much more portable package. 

Design

Sennheiser says the HDB 630 “inherited” the same chassis from its Momentum 4 headphones. That’s unfortunate because my biggest complaint with that older model’s redesign is how cheap it looked compared to previous entries in the Momentum line. The HDB 630 suffers the same fate, although the splash of silver on the headband and yokes helps things a bit. Simply put, these don’t look like a set of $500 headphones, and since they’re $150 more than their predecessor was at launch, they really should have a more premium appearance. 

The outside of the right ear cup is still a touch panel where you can swipe, tap and even pinch to control the HDB 630. I don’t recall another set of headphones with a pinch gesture, and I’m still not convinced it’s warranted. The action is used to enable an Adaptive ANC adjustment that allows you to dial in the amount of noise blocking you need. After the pinch, sliding a single finger forwards and backwards fine tunes the mix of ANC and transparency mode. It’s a nice option to have on the headphones themselves, I just think a triple tap to activate it would be easier to master — and remember. 

The only other button on the HDB 630 is for power and Bluetooth pairing. Unless you’re frequently connecting these headphones to a new device, you might not be reaching for this control very often. That’s because the HDB 630 goes into standby mode when you take them off before powering down completely after 15 minutes of inactivity. You can extend that window to 30 or 60 minutes if you prefer. And if the headphones still have battery left, you can return to active mode by simply putting them back on your head. 

Sennheiser is betting you’ll use the HDB 630 for long listening sessions, so it outfitted these headphones with soft ear pads and a well-cushioned headband. The clamping force is adequate for a proper ANC seal, but never becomes a burden. And despite being around 20 grams heavier than the Momentum 4, this model still feels balanced and doesn’t weigh you down. 

Sound quality

The HDB 630 features new drivers and a specially designed acoustic system.

While the overall design may be familiar, the sound platform for the HDB 630 is completely new. 42mm drivers offer what Sennheiser says is “neutral sound with lifelike mids, stunning detail and a wide soundstage.” In order to deliver sound quality that’s as close to open-back headphones as possible, the company overhauled the entire acoustic system, from the drivers to the baffle’s transparent mesh, in the name of balance and clarity. And since audiophile headphones typically require a dedicated external amplifier to achieve their full potential, Sennheiser included a BTD 700 USB-C dongle for high-resolution wireless audio transmission. 

When I first put the HDB 630 on, I thought the audio quality was good but not great. Listening over the standard definition SBC codec produced decent results, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. Once I connected to the BTD 700 dongle and unlocked 16-bit/48kHz tunes from Apple Music, though, these headphones really started to impress. 

As good as they are, the HDB 630 may not be for everyone. That “neutral” stock tuning places high emphasis on the midrange, so you’ll likely need to make some adjustments to get the bass performance you crave from rock, electronic, hip-hop and other genres driven by low-end tone. While I concede the neutral base is a great starting point, and the HDB 630 does indeed showcase “stunning detail,” I’d argue Sennheiser’s promise of “a wide soundstage” doesn’t always hold true. 

These headphones are at their best with more immersive content, like the TRON: Ares soundtrack from Nine Inch Nails. After a slight adjustment, the electronic score had the booming bass it needed, offering driving beats that nearly rattled my brain. All that was layered with rich synths and Trent Reznor’s iconic vocals. The texture and distortion in the instruments came through in greater detail too, something that’s not as apparent on other headphones and earbuds. 

Switch over to Thrice’s Horizons/West and the HDB 630 is a different story. Transitioning from synth-heavy electronic music to a genre like rock causes these headphones to lose some of the immersive character they are capable of delivering. You still get absurd clarity and detail, particularly in Teppei Teranishi’s guitar riffs, but the music sounds slightly flatter and a little less energetic. It’s not bad by any means, but some genres won’t envelope you as much as others do. 

You can also use the HDB 630 wired over USB-C for lossless-quality audio. Since a number of competitors also do this, I dedicated the bulk of my testing to see if Sennheiser’s wireless dongle is meaningfully different. Of course, I did my due diligence and tested the wired configuration a few times, and it should come as no surprise that the HDB 630 sounds just as good in that setup. 

Software, features and accessories

There’s only one button on the HDB 630.

As I mentioned, the HDB 630 comes with Sennheiser’s BTD 700 Bluetooth USB dongle. This enables higher quality streaming than you’ll natively get from most devices. With the BTD 700, you can expect aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless listening up at rates to 24-bit/96kHz. The dongle also has a 30ms low-latency gaming mode, (supposedly) enhanced call performance and Auracast support for streaming to multiple headphones or speakers. The BTD 700 has a USB-C connector, but it comes with a USB-A adapter if you need it. This typically costs $60 if you buy it on its own, and since you need it to unlock the HDB 630’s full potential, it’s great to see it included in the box. 

The HDB 630’s settings and features are accessible in the Sennheiser Smart Control Plus app. And for this model, the company is offering a lot more customization than it does on the Accentum or Momentum headphones. First, the EQ editing options are more robust thanks to a parametric equalizer, which allows you to get a lot more detailed with your custom presets. For example, I was able to add the low-end tone I feel is missing from the stock tuning for those metal, rock and hip-hop tracks I mentioned before. And unlike a lot of headphone apps, adjusting the EQ actually improves the sound instead of just muddying things further. 

Another sound-related addition for the HDB 630 is Crossfeed. This allows you to blend the left and right channels so that it seems like you’re listening to speakers instead of headphones. Unfortunately, you only get two options here — Low and High — but the effect certainly enhances the sonic profile of the HDB 630 at both settings. 

Despite the BTD 700 dongle’s Mac and Windows compatibility, there’s no desktop version of the Smart Control Plus app. This means you’ll have to change all of your settings with the HDB 630 through your phone before you pair it with both the dongle and your computer. It would be nice if you could make EQ adjustments, create new presets and even change Crossfeed levels without having to reconnect to another device. This also means you can’t be connected to the BTD 700 and both your phone and your computer, since the dongle takes one of the two available multipoint Bluetooth slots.

Active noise cancellation and call quality

The HDB 630 has a very basic design with lots of plastic.

When it comes to ANC performance, I’m not entirely sure that the HDB 630 is better than the Momentum 4. But that’s okay. That previous model brought a significant improvement compared to Sennheiser’s older wireless headphones and the ANC is still quite good here. In fact, it was robust enough to block my family’s voices during their calls while I worked from home, and since most headphones struggle with this, that’s no mean feat. 

Sennheiser says the BTD 700 dongle will give you improved voice performance over the headphones alone. Specifically, the accessory should provide extended range, clearer voice pickup and, according to the company, “uninterrupted” calls. In my recorded samples, I think the headphones themselves sounded slightly better than when I captured my voice while connected to the BTD 700. However, I noticed a distinct lack of background noise in both clips, which is helpful in busier environments. I’ll also note the overall voice quality isn’t pristine, but it’s clear enough to use for work calls — even if you’re the main presenter. 

Battery life

Sennheiser promises that you’ll get up to 60 hours of battery life on a charge with the HDB 630. That’s the same staggering figure the company claims on the Momentum 4. And yes, that’s with ANC enabled, but you’ll only achieve that if you’re listening to standard resolution tunes. Based on my testing with a mix of noise cancellation and transparency mode while I was listening to music and taking work calls, I have no reason to believe the company’s numbers don’t hold true. If you choose to listen entirely via the BTD 700’s higher quality output, you can expect up to 45 hours of use on a charge. That’s still quite a long time considering a lot of the competition runs out at around 30 hours — and that’s without high-res music. 

Due to all of the signal processing that helps with the acoustic performance on the HDB 630, they can only be used when they’re turned on. Unlike some wireless models, you can’t use these as wired headphones when the battery is spent. However, if you find yourself with a completely depleted battery, a 10-minute charge will give you up to seven hours of use. The company doesn’t specify streaming resolution for that number, but I assume it’s at standard definition. Still, you’ll get a few hours of higher-res music in that time, which should be enough to get you through a work session, evening commute or that new album you’re dying to play for the first time. 

The competition

Incredible sound awaits, if you’re okay to carry a dongle around with your headphones.

In the realm of flagship headphones, any company’s top-of-the-line model will set you back $500 these days. I look back fondly on the time when $300-$350 got you the best Sony had to offer. While the HDB 630 is expensive, it’s also in the same ballpark of what you’ll pay for the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones ($450), the Sony WH-1000XM6 ($458 currently) and the AirPods Max ($549). Each of those have their advantages over the rest of the competition, with the 1000XM6 offering the most complete package overall. However, when it comes to pure sound quality, neither of those three are at the top of the heap. 

Up until now, that title belonged to the Noble Audio FoKus Apollo. At $650, those headphones are even more expensive than the HDB 630, but their stock tuning will appeal to more listeners and the soundstage is wider and more immersive. There’s also Bowers & Wilkins’ Px7 S3 for a slightly cheaper $479. It delivers the company’s warm, inviting sound and attention to finer details. After spending time with the HDB 630 though, these alternatives are just that — alternatives — as the new Sennheiser headphones are now my pick for best overall sound quality. 

Wrap-up

I get it:  in the current financial climate, $500 is a lot to pay for headphones (or anything else, for that matter). You can find a number of perfectly capable sets of ANC headphones for much less given how frequently things go on sale these days. However, what you won’t find is an option that gives you anything close to the performance of audiophile-grade, open-back headphones. That’s really what Sennheiser is doing here, and the HDB 630 slots nicely into the company’s HD 600 series of high-end cans. 

As good as the HDB 630 is sound-wise, I can also appreciate that these aren’t the best headphones for everyone. The company’s Momentum 4 is still a very capable set of headphones and it’s now available for about $250. If you crave the best sound quality that still offers the convenience of wireless headphones — and you’re okay with a few extra steps — the HDB 630 is a worthy investment. Just don’t leave home without that dongle.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/sennheiser-hdb-630-review-a-sonic-marvel-with-room-for-improvement-150000295.html?src=rss 

In recent weeks, OpenAI has signed blockbuster deals with AMD and Broadcom to build vast numbers of AI chips. Much of the focus has been on the financial implications, since OpenAI will need hundreds of billions of dollars to make good on its promises. As important as it is to look at the quite implausible financials, we also need to look at the broader implications for the industry. Like, the chips themselves, what that spells for the AI industry as a whole, and the added pressure on TSMC, the only chip company that can actually build this stuff.

The Deals

OpenAI’s deal with AMD will see the chip giant build out 6 gigawatts’ (GW) worth of GPUs in the next few years. The first 1 GW deployment of AMD’s Instinct MI450 silicon will start in the back end of 2026, with more to come. AMD’s CFO Jean Hu believes that the partnership will deliver “tens of billions of dollars in revenue” in future, justifying the complicated way the deal is funded.

Meanwhile, Broadcom’s deal with OpenAI will see the pair collaborate on building 10 gigawatts’ worth of AI accelerators and ethernet systems that it has designed. The latter will be crucial to speed up connections between each individual system in OpenAI’s planned data centers. Like the deal with AMD, the first deployments of these systems will begin in the back half of 2026 and is set to run through 2029.

Phil Burr is head of product at Lumai, a British company looking to replace traditional GPUs with optical processors. He’s got 30 years experience in the chip world, including a stint as a senior director at ARM. Burr explained the nitty-gritty of OpenAI’s deals with both Broadcom and AMD, and what both mean for the wider world. 

Burr first poured water on OpenAI’s claim that it would be “designing” the gear produced by Broadcom. “Broadcom has a wide portfolio of IP blocks and pre-designed parts of a chip,” he said, “it will put those together according to the specification of the customer.” He went on to say that Broadcom will essentially put together a series of blocks it has already designed to suit the specification laid down by a customer, in this case OpenAI.

Similarly, the AI accelerators Broadcom will build are geared toward more efficient running of models OpenAI has already trained and built — a process called inference in AI circles. “It can tailor the workload and reduce power, or increase performance,” said Burr, but these benefits would only work in OpenAI’s favor, rather than for the wider AI industry.

I asked Burr why every company in the AI space talks about gigawatts worth of chips rather than in more simple numbers. He explained that, often, it’s because both parties don’t yet know how many chips would be required to meet those lofty goals. But you could make a reasonable guess if you knew the power draw of a specific chip divided by the overall goal, then cut that number in half, then remove an extra 10 percent. “For every watt of power you burn in the chip, you need about a watt of power to cool it as well.” 

In terms of what OpenAI gets from these deals, Burr believes that the startup will save money on chips, since there’s “less margin” from making your own versus buying gear from NVIDIA. Plus, being able to produce custom silicon to tailor the work to their needs should see significant speed and performance gains on rival systems. Of course, the next biggest benefit is that OpenAI now has “diversity in supply,” rather than being reliant on one provider for all its needs. “Nobody wants a single supplier,” said Burr. 

The Factory

Except, of course, OpenAI may be sourcing chips from a variety of its partners, but no matter what’s stamped on the silicon, it all comes from the same place. “I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t TSMC,” said Burr, “I’m pretty sure all of the AI chips out there use TSMC.” TSMC is short for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company which, over the last decade, has blown past its major rivals to become the biggest (and in many cases only) source of bleeding-edge chips for the whole technology industry. Unlike historic rivals, which designed and manufactured their own hardware, TSMC is a pure play foundry, only building chips designed by others. 

Interior at one of TSMC’s Fabs

Gil Luria is Managing Director at head of technology research at investment firm DA Davidson. He said that TSMC isn’t just a bottleneck for the western technology industry, but in fact is the “greatest single point of failure for the entire global economy.” Luria credits the company with an impressive expansion “considering it has had to ramp the production of GPUs tenfold over the last three years.” But said that, “in a catastrophic scenario where TSMC is not able to produce in Taiwan, the disruption would be significant.” And that won’t just affect the AI world, but “mobile handset sales as well as global car sales.” 

TSMC supplanted Intel for a number of well-documented reasons, but the most relevant here is its embrace of Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV). It’s a technology that Intel had initially backed, but struggled to fully adopt, allowing TSMC to pick it up and run straight to the top. EUV produces the headline-grabbing chips used by pretty much everyone in the consumer electronics world. Apple, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, AMD (including the SOCs inside the PS5 and Xbox) all use TSMC chips. Even Intel has been using TSMC foundries for some consumer CPUs as it races to bridge to gulf in manufacturing between the two companies.

“TSMC is the current leader in advanced 3 nanometer (nm) process technologies,” said University of Pennsylvania Professor Benjamin C. Lee. The company’s only meaningful competitors are Intel and Samsung, neither of which pose a threat to its dominance at present. “Intel has been working for a very long time to build a foundry business,” he explained, “but has yet to perfect its interface.” Samsung is in a similar situation, but Professor Lee explained it “has been unable to attract enough customers to generate a profitable manufacturing business.”  

Professor Lee said that TSMC, by comparison, has become so successful because of how good its chips are, and how easy it is for clients to build chips with its tools. “TSMC fabricates chips with high yield, which is to say more of its chips emerge from the fabrication process at expected performance and reliability.” Consequently, it should be no surprise that TSMC is a money making machine. In the second quarter of 2025 alone it reported a net profit of $12.8 billion USD. And in the following three months, TSMC posted net profits of $14.76 billion. 

“TSMC’s secret sauce is its mastery of yield,” explained ARPU Intelligence, an analyst group that prefers to use the group name over individual attribution. “This expertise is the result of decades of accumulated process refinement [and] a deep institutional knowledge that cannot be replicated.” This deep institutional knowledge and ability to deliver high quality product creates a “powerful technical lock-in, since companies like Apple and NVIDIA design their chips specifically for TSMC’s unique manufacturing process … It’s not as simple as sending the [chip] design to another factory,” it added.

The downside, at least for the wider technology industry, is that TSMC is now a bottleneck that the whole industry has come to rely upon. In the company’s most recent financials, it said more than three quarters of its business comes from North American customers. And in a call with investors, Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei talked about the efforts the company has made to narrow the gap between the enormous demand and its constrained supply. While he was reticent to be specific, he did say that the company’s capacity is “very tight,” and would likely remain that way for the foreseeable future. 

In fact, TSMC’s capacity is so tight that it’s already caused at least one major name a significant headache. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that NVIDIA canceled an order of its H20 AI chips after being informed the US would not permit them to be exported to China. Once the ban was lifted, however, NVIDIA was unable to find space in TSMC’s schedule, with the next available slot at least nine months later.

“TSMC has no room for error,” said ARPU Intelligence, “any minor disruption can halt production with no spare capacity to absorb the shock.” It cited the Hualien earthquake which struck Taiwan on April 3, 2024, and how it negatively impacted the number of wafers in production.

Naturally, TSMC is spending big to increase its production capacity for its customers, both in Taiwan and the US. Close to its home, construction on its A14 fab is expected to begin in the very near future, with the first chips due to be produced in 2028. That facility will harness TSMC’s A14 process node, producing 1.4 nm chips, which offer a speed boost over the 2nm silicon that’s expected to arrive in consumer devices next year.

Image of TSMC’s Arizona Campus

Meanwhile, work continues apace on building out TSMC’s sprawling facility in Arizona, which broke ground in April 2021. As Reuters reported at the time, the first facility started operating in early 2025, producing 4 nm chips. Last week, NVIDIA and TSMC showed off the first Blackwell wafer produced at the Arizona plant ahead of domestic volume production.

Plans for the operation have grown over time, expanding from three facilities up to six to be built over the next decade. And while the initial outline called for the US facilities to remain several process generations behind Taiwan, that is also changing. In his recent investors call, Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei pledged to invest more in the US facility to bring it only one generation behind the Taiwanese facility. 

No amount of investment from TSMC or catch-up from rivals like Samsung and Intel will solve the current bottleneck swiftly. It will take many years, if not decades, for the world to reduce its reliance on Taiwan for bleeding-edge manufacturing. TSMC’s island remains the industry’s weak point, and should something go wrong, the consequences could be dire indeed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/openais-recent-chip-deals-heap-more-pressure-on-tsmc-130000194.html?src=rss 

The era of AI video is upon us, and honestly it’s kind of terrifying. Between OpenAI’s Sora and official communications from the Trump White House, it’s clear that we’re not ready for an unending onslaught of AI video. In this episode, Devindra and producer Ben chat with the Washington Post’s technology reporter Drew Harwell and Jeremy Carrasco (AKA “ShowtoolsAI”), a former livestream and media producer turned AI video literacy creator. Also, we chat about our final thoughts on Apple’s M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, with a few quick notes about the new Vision Pro.

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Topics

Google and Open AI’s video generation models have upended our sense of reality online, what comes next? – 1:10

Apple’s M5 chip is a significant boost in graphics power on the Macbook Pro – 34:11

The iPad Pro M5 is a solid speed boost for whoever wants it – 39:36

Preview of the Vision Pro M5 review – 44:00

Working on – 50:23

Pop culture Picks – 51:45 

Credits

Host: Devindra Hardawar
Guests: Drew Harwell and Jeremy “ShowtoolsAI” Carrasco
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/engadget-podcast-how-to-survive-our-ai-video-hellscape-120432652.html?src=rss