Beyond the Curve - An Audiophile YouTube Series

[ThanatosVI]

I recently got heavy into estats after being in the hobby for 20 years.

Is Sennheiser going to release a consumer level estat? The HE60 and HE90 go for ridiculous prices and releases from Hifiman, Stax, Dan Clark, and Audeze show there is in fact a market for estats.

If Sennheiser released a decently powerful estat amp and headphone I am sure they would sell very well.

A "consumer" HE1 to compete with the Stax/Audeze/DCA offerings would be a very interesting development.

Of course they can't just make the HE1 work with a regular Stax Pro amplifier, but a new Electrostatic headphone with a tuning similar to the HE1 would be amazing.

 

[eskamobob1]

Of course they can't just make the HE1 work with a regular Stax Pro amplifier

I mean, tangent slightly, but I am still convinced that a passive HE1 would significantly surpass the whole locked down package that the system currently is. IMO, similar money to an HE1 spend on an HE90 system (say thrax maximinus mk2 -> viva STX (WE300b) -> He90) pretty significantly surpasses HE1 is most all areas, but I also feel that the HE90 driver is probably behind the HE1 driver in capability. So now imagine a similar setup to that HE90 chain but with an even better driver? Thats the thing dreams are made of IMO.

Ultimately, I just dont have as much trust in senn electronics as others and senn is not willing to convert an HE1 to passive drive even if you try and pay for it (I did try)

 

[ThanatosVI]

I mean, tangent slightly, but I am still convinced that a passive HE1 would significantly surpass the whole locked down package that the system currently is. IMO, similar money to an HE1 spend on an HE90 system (say thrax maximinus mk2 -> viva STX (WE300b) -> He90) pretty significantly surpasses HE1 is most all areas, but I also feel that the HE90 driver is probably behind the HE1 driver in capability. So now imagine a similar setup to that HE90 chain but with an even better driver? Thats the thing dreams are made of IMO.

Ultimately, I just dont have as much trust in senn electronics as others and senn is not willing to convert an HE1 to passive drive even if you try and pay for it (I did try)

Yeah I'd certainly want them to create an estat that works with the amplifier and DAC of my choice.

Their HE90 and HE1 are Testament that they know how to create great sounding estats.
They should Stick to that

 

[eskamobob1]

Yeah I'd certainly want them to create an estat that works with the amplifier and DAC of my choice.

Their HE90 and HE1 are Testament that they know how to create great sounding estats.
They should Stick to that

Totaly agree. He60 is the true senn totl option. Litteraly just hd6x0 series but with all the complaints fixed. Incredible can and cheaper than most other totl options to boot (imo he90 and he1 are well past the 'totl' designation)

 

[saMWyz]

There was a fiasco because some famous US retailers got their license with Focal removed after they put it on market at retailer price.
And boys this price was FAR from the Focal recommandation price!

I'd like to ear this 620s since I'm looking for a closed headphone.
Bokeh was my first choice but too classy and Focal 2024 is too expensive for the perfs.

I recommend looking into JM Editions XTC Closed back while researching your next closed.

 

[Digital Enigma]

Totaly agree. He60 is the true senn totl option. Litteraly just hd6x0 series but with all the complaints fixed. Incredible can and cheaper than most other totl options to boot (imo he90 and he1 are well past the 'totl' designation)

If I remember correctly the HD600 was designed to be the dynamic version of the Orpheus, an affordable option that practically anyone could get.

I don’t see how they could fix complaints of HD600 with HE60 if it came out before the 600.

 

[The Schraeer]

If I remember correctly the HD600 was designed to be the dynamic version of the Orpheus, an affordable option that practically anyone could get.

I don’t see how they could fix complaints of HD600 with HE60 if it came out before the 600.

Incorrect.
AFAIK That was supposed to be HD580, Axell Grell's first project in his initial years at Sennheiser.
HD600 was just a computerized perfection of the dynamic driver formula they've been doing for so many years.

 

[Digital Enigma]

Incorrect.
AFAIK That was supposed to be HD580, Axell Grell's first project in his initial years at Sennheiser.
HD600 was just a computerized perfection of the dynamic driver formula they've been doing for so many years.

@ericpalonen will know for sure

 

[Trinkle]

@ericpalonen will know for sure

I think in the beyond the curve series focusing on simulation they mentioned this, that is how HD 600 driver was improved by using the findings from simulations.

 

[Jermo K]

The HD 580 was the big leap, that was partly inspired by the HE 90. The HE 90 first explored the oval shape that is optimal in electrostatic transducers to minimize disrupting partial vibrations.
The earcup shape is still ideal for reducing resonances and creating an "ear gain" tuning for smaller transducers. The big milestone for the HD 580 project was exploration into the highest-performance transducers (exotic concepts like multiple coils were also investigated), and the resulting KDH 580 was the first BEM optimized system that systematically avoided partial vibrations for a dynamic transducer. The goal tuning was also not anymore inspired by measurement like in older headphones, but by loudness diffuse field testing.
The HD 600 was simply adding the metal grille to the headphones, which improved openness and increased the natural sound perception.

 

[Digital Enigma]

If we aren’t going to see a new flagship dynamic for a while still I think a new HD700 would be more than welcomed

 

[The Schraeer]

If we aren’t going to see a new flagship dynamic for a while still I think a new HD700 would be more than welcomed

That's just called HD660s and it's refined, updated and perfected formula - HD660S2

Seriously, more people needs to know HD660S/S2 is the HD700 driver...

 

[ThanatosVI]

If we aren’t going to see a new flagship dynamic for a while still I think a new HD700 would be more than welcomed

Within the coming 11 months there should be a new Sennheiser flagship.

However rumors weren't specific on wether it's a dynamic or estat.

 

[ericpalonen]

That's just called HD660s and it's refined, updated and perfected formula - HD660S2

Seriously, more people needs to know HD660S/S2 is the HD700 driver...

Incorrect but there are some shared philosophies here (vented magnet, for example). If you plucked the 660S2 driver from it and placed it into the HD 700 they would not sound anything alike (and the same in reverse). They are not the same. Diaphragm, coil, surrounds are all different. There certainly is DNA lineage here though

 

[The Schraeer]

Well I'm sorry about that, I was going off the information provided earlier by Jermo here.
"The fast answer is: the driver in the HD 660S and the HD 700 is the same."
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sennheiser-hd-660s2-thread.966685/page-119#post-17429121

I'd believe that the large technical differences thanks to R&D are implied due to significant time inbetween the releases.
And the way you call your drivers "platforms" internally - has almost no contact with end-users, so for the sake of clarity I did not delved into such specifics in my reply and chose the fast route.