Good evening, folks,
so Uwe (member of Sennheiser) answered some questions on the German hifi-forum.de already and I thought that I'd use some time to translate it for you.
Please don't be mad at me because of mistakes - I hope you can decrypt the meaning of each question.
So here we go, this is the first bunch of questions and answers:
Question from rpnfan:
Headphone amplifier: What is Sennheiser's opinion about headphone amplifiers in general and which output-impedance would they "expect" to fit best as well as suggest to be optimal?
Answer from Sennheiser:
The better a pair of headphones is the easier it is for the listener to separate the individual strenghts of an amp. That additionally means: with cheaper ICs [note: originally "chips", which I assume means ICs], which are/were often used in CD players, the HD800s can't unfold their full potential. Because of the different characteristics of each single headphone amp it's possible to slightly adjust the sound to your own preferences. The HD800 likes output impedance between 0 and 20 Ohms.
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Question from MacFrank:
Is there a vital interchange of ideas and technology on the design and development of headphones like HD800 between Sennheiser and engineers/technicians of Neumann? Is there some kind of "collective research" between Sennheiser's companies, or do they all do parallel research on their own?
Answer from Sennheiser:
Between us and our collegues from Neumann and K+H there actually is an similarly active exchange of know-how than there is with our "own" microphone-engineers. This restricts mostly on basic research and measuring.
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Question from George:
How much "made in Germany" does HD800 really contain? Only assembly and capsules? Or mechanic parts as well?
Answer from Sennheiser:
Very much: metal-mesh from Baden-Württemberg, drivers and parts of the earcups from North Rhine-Westphalia, parts of the headband from Franconia. Head- and earpads do come from Japan, the parts themselves are from Franconia. The cable is from Korea, the plugs on the headphoneframe are from Bavaria.
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Question from rpnfan:
What does Sennheiser think of the idea of "sound-adjustable headphones"? As we learned from our testings even pads do affect the sound quite much. If there would be some parts (e.g. various elements for damping) already be considered in the process of construction it could be possible to adjust a pair of headphones to a different taste, just like it's already possible with IEMs.
Answer from Sennheiser:
A very interesting idea. Nevertheless, there has to be a way to make sure that every single adjusted version of these headphones actually sounds "good". Yet because of the many dialogues and feedbacks Sennheiser has had/has got from various High-Enders from all over the world, we don't see a real need for such a product at the moment. The HD800s and the feedback we get about these headphones do strenghten our anticipation further.
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More answers to come from Uwe.
If you don't understand anything - just ask, I'll do my best to find a way of transporting the original meaning via the net.
Cheers!
