[icebear]

The piece of equipment Sennheiser was showing uses 8 (as in eight, that odd looking number between 7 and 9) tubes.

This is about the only fact that can be taken as such, everything else is pure speculation.
 
The hype over this **** or TTT* TOTL statement product is classic marketing.
Not typically what I would expect from Sennheiser though

but I guess they hired a new person in this department and he or she has to show off.
 
Besides all of this, the new Morpheus or Orpheus Mk2 can't possibly live up to all this.
The level of SQ already achieved with the current headphones is remarkable. There can not be possibly a leap of improvement, just marginal inching forward of certain aspects.
Most likely this is the reason they show a HD800 gold edition

and not a HD900. The HD800 is already so good, it will be really difficult to improve it significantly.
 
 
* throw the towel

 

 

[connieflyer]

Law of diminishing returns applies here. Law of hot damn I want one also applies!

 

[Rin1990]

Wow....that thing looked like it can send you into heaven of fidelity....if only I can test it..... 

 

[complin]

Well its difficult to say how good, bad or leap forward it might be until someone gives it some ear time and reports back. The Stax 009 and HifiMan HE1000 for example proved recently its still possible to improve on what we have even if its fairly subtle
 
I believe the Gold HDVD/H800 is a special edition to commemorate Sennheisers 70th anniversary and I suppose we will be expected to pay a premium price for a lick of black paint and gold plate

 
 
Quote:

  The piece of equipment Sennheiser was showing uses 8 (as in eight, that odd looking number between 7 and 9) tubes.

This is about the only fact that can be taken as such, everything else is pure speculation.
 
The hype over this **** or TTT* TOTL statement product is classic marketing.
Not typically what I would expect from Sennheiser though

but I guess they hired a new person in this department and he or she has to show off.
 
Besides all of this, the new Morpheus or Orpheus Mk2 can't possibly live up to all this.
The level of SQ already achieved with the current headphones is remarkable. There can not be possibly a leap of improvement, just marginal inching forward of certain aspects.
Most likely this is the reason they show a HD800 gold edition

and not a HD900. The HD800 is already so good, it will be really difficult to improve it significantly.
 
 
* throw the towel

 

 

[complin]

Agree I think most experienced based audio buyers prefer to choose a separate DAC which is likely to outperform an internalised product. However; I doubt this product is aimed that type of buyer.
Personally I don't like the majority of the up-sampling DACs much preferring a NOS or ladder R2R instead
Digital moves so quickly these days that FOTM products are quickly superseded by new ideas and implementations
 
Quote:

 

 

[Me x3]

  Not typically what I would expect from Sennheiser though

but I guess they hired a new person in this department and he or she has to show off.

+1
 
At this point, I think I'm happy that there were no "Extra-Bass" writing on the marketing ploy for this headphone. That would be shameful.
 
This is pretty much the Anti-Schiit marketing.
Trying to get attention with non-audio related stuff like a piece of marble, or meaningless frequency talk (8Hz to 100kHz).
Can we try the headphone?
 
Nope.

 

Originally Posted by complin
The Stax 009 and HifiMan HE1000 for example proved recently its still possible to improve on what we have even if its fairly subtle
 

That's debatable, some people prefer HD800, some prefer HE-1000.
Some people say HD800's soundstage is unmatched. Some people like SR-009 soundstage better. You know...
I think personal preferences play such an important role at this point that it's really hard to tell what's best.
 
--------------
 
Last but not least, for those making the conversion based on dollar inflation, plenty of things are cheaper now than they were in the past. We are in 2015, not 1993 anymore. Technology has changed, pretty drastically. So that kind of estimation can be inaccurate.
 
That said, they can price the combo whatever they want. They can even make only 4 of them and sell them over 80.000 dollars each, you know, that's how these things work.

 

[jibzilla]

  +1
 
At this point, I think I'm happy that there were no "Extra-Bass" writing on the marketing ploy for this headphone. That would be shameful.
 
This is pretty much the Anti-Schiit marketing.
Trying to get attention with non-audio related stuff like a piece of marble, or meaningless frequency talk (8Hz to 100kHz).
Can we try the headphone?
 
Nope.

 
That's debatable, some people prefer HD800, some prefer HE-1000.
Some people say HD800's soundstage is unmatched. Some people like SR-009 soundstage better. You know...
I think personal preferences play such an important role at this point that it's really hard to tell what's best.
 
--------------
 
Last but not least, for those making the conversion based on dollar inflation, plenty of things are cheaper now than they were in the past. We are in 2015, not 1993 anymore. Technology has changed, pretty drastically. So that kind of estimation can be inaccurate.
 
That said, they can price the combo whatever they want. They can even make only 4 of them and sell them over 80.000 dollars each, you know, that's how these things work.

 
This. And until quite a few more people chime in with listening impressions your going to have TT and Speaker fans chiming in and clowning on this. $40k is "our" sweetspot and we are not giving it up lightly.
 
Think I'm critical? Wait till the speaker guys show up. Only a matter of time.

 

[jibzilla]

Since sennheiser wants to make this headphone a hypo. I'm going to pose a hypo.
 
Sennheiser has stopped making the hd600,650,800, and as much as I do not care for it the hd700 and declared the new Orpheus their only flagship because it is "just that good sounding". What do you think of them?

 

[pietcux]

-As long as you qualify it as an opinion, I am happy. I read your initial post more like a statement of fact, which was what I took objection to - there are plenty of examples out there that counter your assessment of integrated dac/amps.

For instance, in the Benchmark DAC2 manual THD+N is quoted at -106dB when fully driven - and while it doesn't have to do nearly as much voltage amplification as the new Sennheiser amp must do, it is also built into a significantly smaller chassis with less room for EMC shielding. .

(-106dB, by the way, is at least two orders of magnitude below audibility - the Sennheiser amp could do a lot worse than that and still sound perfect.)

That being said, if I designed such a statement product, I would leave a DAC out of it - for the exact reason you bring forward; the perception (sometimes correct) that separate components are superior would probably miff some customers. Much better to design a headphone system and let the customer supply his own DAC.

The Schiit Audio Yggdrasil also has built in USB. And nobody complained about the presence of USB in the DAC so far. Most complaints are because of the DAC's absence in their homes, due to production delays @ Schiit.

 

[goodyfresh]

  Since sennheiser wants to make this headphone a hypo. I'm going to pose a hypo.
 
Sennheiser has stopped making the hd600,650,800, and as much as I do not care for it the hd700 and declared the new Orpheus their only flagship because it is "just that good sounding". What do you think of them?

That would be extremely stupid.  They would never do it, because the company would start hemmorhaging money.  They can't stop selling and producing their 400 to 1700 dollar premium models, as that is what the vast majority of audiophiles are actually willing to pay for hi-fi sound from headphones.  Only a very, very select few audiophiles are actually willing (or ABLE, for that matter) to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a pair of headphones bundled with an amp.

 

[Army-Firedawg]

  Law of diminishing returns applies here. Law of hot damn I want one also applies!

 
 
I dunno the original Orpheus is now profitable to have so who knows, if this turns out to be audio divinity and they only make say 100 of them then you may see these selling for 50k in a few years

 

[3083joe]

Wow!!!

 

[astrostar59]

Is it really 44K US?

 

[goodyfresh]

  Is it really 44K US?

I'm wondering the same thing.  Because if that's true, then it doesn't matter HOW good they sound, for a pair of headphones rather than high-end speakers, that much money amounts to highway-robbery!

 

[paradoxper]

  Is it really 44K US?

Yes you cheapo.