[Dublo7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaloS /img/forum/go_quote.gif In car interior - use metal instead of all the plastic and you got an extra ton on your car. That's excellent for performance, ye know? Same thing here...would you rather have a kg or 2 on your head?

I can't imagine how unpleasant that would be.

However... you would eventually get pretty strong Trap muscles

 

[Uncle Erik]

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.

Ben: Yes sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Ben: Yes I am.

Mr. McGuire: ‘Plastics.’

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Ben: Yes I will.

 

[Deadneddz]

The O2 driver housing is rigid aluminum, and this is probably a contributing reason to why the O2s have such low distortion.

But if there is special plastic that can achieve similar results, then thats great!

 

[my.self]

if the headphones were made of metal, they would be very heavy. which would cause the wearer to be uncomfortable. im pretty sure sennheiser did what was best to bring most comfort to the wearer.

 

[Herandu]

It doesn't take an accountant's education to figure out that these cans ain't worth $1400, no matter how much is written to justify it. Anyone with a sense of proportion would acknowledge that we are staring at a nice money making scam. The sad thing is that since it is likely to be able to copy those cans in China for less than $50, if that, fakes are going to hit the street in next to no time.

 

[hypersoar]

The price isn't about what it cost to make them, it's about how much people think they're worth. If these are significantly better than any $1k cans available, people who can afford it will buy it. If someone else can make headphones of similar quality, sell them for $50, and turn profit, they haven't yet.

As for using plastic to control costs, I bet that materials are a relatively small part of their cost. Most if it probably comes from the supposed Germans who will be hand-making them. If they wanted to make them out of metal and charge $1450 to compensate, I don't think any eyebrows would be raised.

 

[kaushama]

I want the most expensive type of plastic in it!

I do not care if they have used the most suitable substance that gives best sound quality. But there is a point in his worry too. If Senn used plastics only as a bid to cut cost and get more out of our wallets, I strongly protest. But there is no way of knowing this, unless a Senn engineer reveals it.

 

[kaushama]

Quote:

explained Maurice Quarré, Product Manager Home Audio at Sennheiser. “Not only to develop the technical intricacies but also to select the finest materials – in other words, we took the time that was necessary to make it perfect in every detail. After all, the sound properties of headphones ultimately depend on the interaction between all the individual components.”

Is this the answer?

 

[RockCity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif It doesn't take an accountant's education to figure out that these cans ain't worth $1400, no matter how much is written to justify it. Anyone with a sense of proportion would acknowledge that we are staring at a nice money making scam. The sad thing is that since it is likely to be able to copy those cans in China for less than $50, if that, fakes are going to hit the street in next to no time.

You're overlooking the fact that materials aren't the only facet in production. What about R&D and the engineers hired to design these for several years? What about the new factory machineries required to stamp out out these products? The patents and the permits necessary before they are deemed safe for market?

Sennheiser is asking for big money because they spent big money. With your logic, it doesn't take an economist to know that they should minimize their unit cost as much as possible.

 

[kaushama]

Quote:

The exceptional sound properties of the HD 800 are supported by selected materials and a top-quality finish. To ensure that the acoustic properties of the headphones are not impaired by any partial vibrations, the transducer is mounted in a specially produced high-precision gauze made of stainless steel. The ear cups are made of high-quality plastic with particularly good attenuation characteristics. What is more, there is no covering at all for the ear cups, as less material means that there is less opportunity for partial vibrations to occur. For the same reason, a special headband was developed for the HD 800. A patented multi-layer design consisting of metal and high-quality plastic attenuates all of the vibrations of the headband, thus effectively eliminating any dips in sound pressure level at low frequencies.

And they further say!!

 

[Skin]

Its not the fact that its using plastics [how many high end phones DONT use plastic?], its the fact that its a minimalist design. Sennheiser needs to prove that less is more. Simple as that. A handful of first impressions and a sky high sticker price arent going to swoon most people.

 

[Herandu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockCity /img/forum/go_quote.gif You're overlooking the fact that materials aren't the only facet in production. What about R&D and the engineers hired to design these for several years? What about the new factory machineries required to stamp out out these products? The patents and the permits necessary before they are deemed safe for market?

Doesn't that apply to just about all products? Are you implying that their other heaphones were mere cheap rubbish that involved heavy cut backs in order to sell them at their price point? I don't think so.

 

[nor_spoon]

It is probably going to be fine, but if the plastic has a layer of paint, I hope it won't flake off. Have no problems with the HD650 so far. Seems to me that especially chrome paint on plastic seem to flake off more easily...?

 

[RockCity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Doesn't that apply to just about all products? Are you implying that their other heaphones were mere cheap rubbish that involved heavy cut backs in order to sell them at their price point? I don't think so.

My point is you're buying a headphone not a house or gold, where the composition is quintessential to its purpose. The materials used in headphones do not predict the overall character; research and assembly do. Your problem is you believe the monetary value of ore/metal is inherently selected for audio. Instead, they're priced by scarcity and value in society. Sound doesn't know whether it's played from a copper wire or a golden wire. Why limit your materials to expenses instead of just sticking to what sounds good?

 

[arnaud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shirukii /img/forum/go_quote.gif While your point stands for the headphones, the use of plastics for car interiors has little to do with saving weight. Weight on a car is not a bad thing, in fact, car weight trends have been upwards since the start of production for multiple reasons. In fact, some car makers make the bases out of thick plated steel to increase weight and bring the center of gravity of the car down. The only reason you would want to reduce the weight of the interior of your car is so that you can put a heavier engine in and increase the power.

Weight is one of the KEY parameters in car design. I work on car acoustics performance and I can guarantee you that 100g is a BIG think for any car maker. That's even more relevant in today's environment where it's all about efficiency for a large portion of the vehicles on the market.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif It doesn't take an accountant's education to figure out that these cans ain't worth $1400, no matter how much is written to justify it. Anyone with a sense of proportion would acknowledge that we are staring at a nice money making scam. The sad thing is that since it is likely to be able to copy those cans in China for less than $50, if that, fakes are going to hit the street in next to no time.

Are you judging these phones from a technical standpoint or material cost analysis? You can't talk about the actual value based on sound quality because there's just not enough feedback on this to tell, so it's got to be either of the above. As said by others in these threads, material cost has little to do with the pricing:

1) IMO, these cans cry out loud the word innovation. You can interpret the marketing as mumbo jumbo BS but I actually am pretty convinced Sennheiser design team got their act together on this. The driver is radically different, the materials are original (foam pads), the frame is apparently effectively transparent, combine that to the attention paid to control of spurious resonances in the driver and the housing and it's not hard to imagine these cans probably do sound just as good as their specs are impressive.

2) I think it's naive to believe that sale price directly relates to cost of manfacturing / marketing / design for such statement products. Of course Sennheiser is in the business to make profit, but it's hard to believe their can recoup all the costs by just the sale of this product. I mean, it's not like they're going to sell this to 10% of the audience listening to headphones in this world... I don't know how many would need to be sold, but I also can't imagine they will send 10,000 pairs of this.

3) So why are they selling them and why for so much? It's been said, the perceived quality is just as much the actual product as its price. Hence Sennheiser being difficult with retailers who'd want to sell at less than MSRP. Basically, Sennheiser wants to make a statement that their cans are going to be fighting for the crown and not embarassed be its high price (on the contrary). To me, it's a very good sign actually! Because they would not market it at that price if it wasn't rivalising with similarly priced headphones.

You could interpret point 3 as implication that the cans are not worth their price. I think we will have to wait and see to really tell. I have the nice feeling thouth that these headphones are of the exceptional kind, and don't have to justify their price any more than by their stunning look and hopefully amazing sound.

arnaud.