[tolk]

Just got my brand-new HD414 (Annivesary version) from my friendly neighbourhood audio store and was bowled over by how good the pair sounded. A tad bright for classics, but great details in the mids and treble. Quite recessed bass though. Light in weight and extremely satisfying for an evening of stress-free listening.

I must admit, it feels great to have a piece of audio history in one's hands

[Headfiers interested in getting a pair, please refer to Jaben, a sponsor of Head-Fi, directly under Jaben Network or The Legend is Back, Senn 414...
Usual disclaimer applies, I am not in any way connected to the company, but am a satisfied customer etc.]

 

[Kees]

Thanks for the tip.
The HD414 are an early audio memory for me.
They were the first (commercially available) open headphones and sounded really good. That was back in the seventies.

I must be old.
I still like to lay my hands on an original pair...

 

[ElmerK]

For old times sake, I just bought the HD414 Anniversary Edition (60 ohm) on eBay and they sound great!! I know they made them in 600 ohm and 2000 ohm editions. Does anyone know how you can tell the difference? Are all white ones 2000 ohms?

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

Thanks for the tip.
The HD414 are an early audio memory for me.
They were the first (commercially available) open headphones and sounded really good. That was back in the seventies.

I must be old.
I still like to lay my hands on an original pair...

 
They were not the first commercially available open headphones - they were the the first open headphones.
 
The open headphone was a Sennheiser invention and the first people to get a licence were Sony as they could not produce the Walkman without having small open headphones.

 

[Kees]

I read in this forum that Jecklin Float claims to have made the first open headphones (in 1972)...?

 

[Jack Linguini]

First post on Head-Fi. I thought I would start with my current favorite setup:
 
50th anniversary edition Sennheiser HD414s into:
iPad mini directly. (iPad internal amp and DAC)
FIIO E7 via USB camera connection kit to iPad
 
The iPad amp can drive the Sennheisers to full volume.
It feels like the iPad amp has a slight bass boost.
With the FIIO these headphones get super detailed sounding.
 
Here's a pic of the setup. The cable is actually to a pair of Sony MDR-V6 but (so you can) get the setup:
 

 
I'll do a more detailed post on the iPad and USB dac setup later, but it just plain works.
 
JL