[charliex]

Are these original Sennheiser HD 414's? Are they of any monetary value as collector cans? How is the sound from these ancient phones? What is their current market value?

 

[Duggeh]

No, the originals were never released in black. I had a pair of HD-414 original 2000ohm with the headband pad intact and fresh earpads and in the original box with the original brochure. I sold them for £35. They're common enough if you look around, Sennheiser sold a lot of them. The original earpad colour was blue but the blue dye caused the foam to rapidly become brittle, yellow ones lasted much longer and are still available.

Those ones could be several of the various reissues, maybe the 25th anniversary ones. With no earpads and the headband pad missing the price shouldn't be expensive by anyones standards. The cable is probably worth replacing with the HD650 cable.

 

[charliex]

Thanks - they were being advertised as originals and with a hefty price tag of 45 Euros - I'll keep looking for an original pair...

 

[Uncle Erik]

I have a pair like those in the picture you posted. They're not the originals, however, I do think they're worth buying if you can get them at a fair price. They're not as good as modern headphones, but they're still quite good. I was surprised at their sound, not expecting much. I think I paid about $40 USD and I had a pair of spare pads that came with a used Grado I bought.

Also, the HD-414 has some historical value. I think they came out around 1968 and were hugely influential on headphone design and listening. They weren't the first stereo headphones, however. The first ones were the Beyerdynamic DT48, developed in 1937 and went into production in 1951. Still in production, as well.

 

[Reputator]

Yeah if someone had a pair of the original DT48s, that would be something.

 

[Nocturnal310]

They were the first open headphones rite?

i heard them recently at jaben...impressive but not anything like HD580/600/650.

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif They were the first open headphones rite?

Yes, the HD 414 were the very first open headphones and anyone else who wanted to make open headphones had to have a licence from Sennheiser. Sony had the first licence I understand.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reputator /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah if someone had a pair of the original DT48s, that would be something.

Such a pair sold on ebay uk a few weeks ago, alongside auctions for some nagra recording equipment from the same seller. The ending price was about £124.

Vintage Beyer DT 48 headphones for Nagra Recorder etc on eBay, also Tape Recorders Reel-to-Reel, Audio, Vintage Electronics, Consumer Electronics (end time 03-Jan-09 17:01:34 GMT)

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, the originals were never released in black. I had a pair of HD-414 original 2000ohm with the headband pad intact and fresh earpads and in the original box with the original brochure. I sold them for £35. They're common enough if you look around, Sennheiser sold a lot of them. The original earpad colour was blue but the blue dye caused the foam to rapidly become brittle, yellow ones lasted much longer and are still available. Those ones could be several of the various reissues, maybe the 25th anniversary ones. With no earpads and the headband pad missing the price shouldn't be expensive by anyones standards. The cable is probably worth replacing with the HD650 cable.

The originals were also released in black. I know for sure. I have a pair. Bought it in '74.

 

[Duggeh]

I sit corrected. My apologies.

 

[Ishcabible]

STOP MAKING ME FEEL BAD!!

2 VINTAGE BEYER DT 48S ANTIQUE RADIO HEADPHONES - eBay (item 140294679259 end time Jan-22-09 04:54:24 PST)

I was going to get them the day before, but I was sidetracked.

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif The originals were also released in black. I know for sure. I have a pair. Bought it in '74.

The originals came out in 1968 - the colour was cream with blue earpads.

The black version came along later - but made to the same spec.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Willett /img/forum/go_quote.gif The originals came out in 1968 - the colour was cream with blue earpads. The black version came along later - but made to the same spec.

I used the term originals as opposed to the anniversary edition that were released much later (in 1995 I believe).
The original grey ones (I have a pair of those too) and the black ones have identical specs (2000 Ohm nominal impedance) and sound exactly the same to me.
The anniversary editions are 52 Ohm and have a different sound.

These phones got me into HeadFi. I could have HiFi sound without a full size speaker rig (couldn't afford that then).

 

[boomy3555]

JABEN has some NOS 414's in amp combos at thier online store.

 

[wualta]

The original HD 414 (however we're defining "original") didn't have a headband pad, either.

In the US market, the headbands were a light grey and the pads were a darker grey. When Sennheiser (sometime in the mid-'70s) thinned the now corpse-white headband to make it less clampy, the earpads turned blue. They thinned it a little too much-- you could shake it off your head. And then with the advent of the mighty yellow earpad they got it right, but by then I was off onto Stax and the ECR-500 and lost track of the colors and specs of Sennheiser.