[MermaidMan]

  Surprised nobody has noticed the cable design yet.  Looks like typical wire as used for most headphone cables, which is notable because every modern electrostat uses a ribbon cable.  The purpose of the ribbon cable is to keep the capacitance as low as possible in order to make the headphone an easier load to drive for the amp.  If this isn't a temporary prototype cable, then this will be the first time an electrostatic HP hasn't used a ribbon cable since the 70s.

Surprised nobody has commented on this yet, I noticed that too...

 

[kawaivpc1]

  Surprised nobody has commented on this yet, I noticed that too...

yes,
 
it uses the same cable as HD700... 
I hope this is a commercial version of Orpheus. Imagine, sound quality of orpheus plus the price of HD700. 
Amazon would put this on sale then...

 

[vnmslsrbms]

  As a marketing director (which is my real job, sound engineer is a part time job-hobby), Sennheisser's marketing team was brilliant. Why? because they didn't say nothing about the product, only frequency response, and there is a nice thread on head-fi (the place where all that niche market for ultra expensive headphones is), with 62 pages of pure speculations...that's a massive win in my book.
 
They are playing with that, you guys don't know if the price will be 50K or 5K, because there isn't an official price announcement yet. It's a statement product, so is the best that they can do, but they make more money with cheap IEMs and the Momentum line in one month than selling all that new Orpheus (300 units for example) in one year.
 
There is a nice thread (battle of flagships) where the guy that reviews all the headphones places the Orpheus the #1 headphone in the world, above the Stax SR-009, which he ranked as #2. This is the new Orpheus, 24 years later, c'mon guys, this thing will wipe the floor with any other headphone on the market.

You sound like a director who is lost in metrics.  Oh we reached so many people and there is this thread with 62+ pages on head-fi!  Awesome!  Who cares most people are negative about an unannounced and unheard of setup?  Who cares that people think the website sucks and is clumsy as heck.  It's a success because people are talking about it.  All news is good news as long as we get publicity right?  Look I get what they are trying to do, but the fact is they haven't succeeded in creating a positive buzz.  The analytics actually do track positive and negative sentiment now right?  
 
Another way to look at it is that instead of Senn creating a halo product that enhances the brand, right now they're dug a hole that they need to climb out of.  But that's just my non professional opinion.  Even on the Erji link that was posted, the Chinese users are like ... WTH.  

 

[yaluen]

  Surprised nobody has noticed the cable design yet.  Looks like typical wire as used for most headphone cables, which is notable because every modern electrostat uses a ribbon cable.  The purpose of the ribbon cable is to keep the capacitance as low as possible in order to make the headphone an easier load to drive for the amp.  If this isn't a temporary prototype cable, then this will be the first time an electrostatic HP hasn't used a ribbon cable since the 70s.

 
On the topic of questionable design choices, why are the tubes sealed in what looks like glass cylinders with metal caps? How is the heat supposed to dissipate? Those poor tubes are going to die a premature death.
 

 

 

[TheAttorney]

It wouldn't surprise me if there was an EU law that insists that all tubes must have a protective cover to prevent humans from accidently burning themselves.
 
Most tube amps come with a protective cage (often easily removable by the enthusiast), but these can be rather ugly and also hide the "tube glow", so individual glass cylinders are aesthetically more pleasing. Having said that, in the unlikely event I ever purchase this new Orpheus, I'd probably remove the cylinders to improve heat dissipation.     

 

[wink]

Quote:yaluen

 On the topic of questionable design choices, why are the tubes sealed in what looks like glass cylinders with metal caps? How is the heat supposed to dissipate? Those poor tubes are going to die a premature death.

Maybe they're fakes, and maybe the headphones aren't electrostatics going by the cable.
 
Maybe next year, around April 1 we will know the truth.

 

[icebear]

   
On the topic of questionable design choices, why are the tubes sealed in what looks like glass cylinders with metal caps? How is the heat supposed to dissipate? Those poor tubes are going to die a premature death.
 

 

  Maybe they're fakes, and maybe the headphones aren't electrostatics going by the cable.
 
Maybe next year, around April 1 we will know the truth.

 
Most likely each individual tube cylinder has a built in air condition, at that price that's not too much to expect

 

[kiikasi]

Hey, I'd say there are holes on the top or a heat-sink or something. Any company that can consistently engineer the best headphones in the world wouldn't make one of the most obvious design-flaws possible in amp design. If the aluminum cap is solid, Sennheiser is officially dumb lol

 

[bearFNF]

Most likely each individual tube cylinder has a built in air condition, at that price that's not too much to expect

Heh, they are cryogenic cooling chamb ers.

 

[icebear]

  Hey, I'd say there are holes on the top or a heat-sink or something. Any company that can consistently engineer the best headphones in the world wouldn't make one of the most obvious design-flaws possible in amp design. If the aluminum cap is solid, Sennheiser is officially dumb lol

from the gallery :
http://www.head-fi.org/t/779102/lightbox/post/11872969/id/1440012
 
I can't see any holes in there, although it's not a close up...

 

[LouisArmstrong]

Which one sounds better - SR009 or the New Orpheus?

 

[Pale Rider]

  Which one sounds better - SR009 or the New Orpheus?

I would be surprised if anyone on this forum knows.

 

[DecentLevi]

I'll bet there's gotta be one person around here who has tried both. I've tried the SR-09 and while it was absolutely angelic with a texture satisfy for days (so to speak), it was slightly bass-shy, and I actually liked the Sony MDR-R10 better with it's absolutely enigmatic energy and luuuussshhh midrange. I've heard that the Orpheus 1 had more bass than the SR-09 so maybe it does one up the former.

 

[theboch]

  I'll bet there's gotta be one person around here who has tried both. I've tried the SR-09 and while it was absolutely angelic with a texture satisfy for days (so to speak), it was slightly bass-shy, and I actually liked the Sony MDR-R10 better with it's absolutely enigmatic energy and luuuussshhh midrange. I've heard that the Orpheus 1 had more bass than the SR-09 so maybe it does one up the former.

 
You are speaking of the "old" Orpheus, right? I do not think there is anybody here which has heard thew new Orpheus (if that will be its name) and the SR-009. At least not anybody who would be allowed to speak about it in public...

 

[Rhamnetin]

  I'll bet there's gotta be one person around here who has tried both. I've tried the SR-09 and while it was absolutely angelic with a texture satisfy for days (so to speak), it was slightly bass-shy, and I actually liked the Sony MDR-R10 better with it's absolutely enigmatic energy and luuuussshhh midrange. I've heard that the Orpheus 1 had more bass than the SR-09 so maybe it does one up the former.

 
I've never seen anyone say the HE90 has more bass than the SR-009.  It may have more bass than an underpowered SR-009, I wouldn't know though since I've never heard the HE90 unfortunately.  The famous Battle of the Flagships thread has detailed subjective impressions of both properly powered.