Rofl. My he1 broke in shipping and it took 5 months to even get a single email responce so I could pay to have it fixed.
Weekly for 2 months and then moved to more often. I tried everything from the parent company's support line to the he1 email to Eric's direct email (that I got from him at canjam Chicago months after the unit had already broken) and everything in-between. Finaly a CS agent reached out to me based off of a 4+ month support request form I did on the sennheiser website
Literally insane.
Basically, Sennheiser as we knew and loved it, ceases to exist. They were still supporting the Orpheus until the Sonova takeover. No longer. Would be very surprised if the HE1 continues to be manufactured much longer - gut instinct as opposed to anything I have heard
In some ways I guess sennheiser has been dead for a long time. It’s been over 10 years since they released a flagship that wasn’t just a remake of existing tech they had. Sad.
Thank you for the kind words. It's fun to share these experiences with the forum - I guess if you are reading them - it interests you, which is more than I can say for my wifeThis falls in line with a lot of what I've heard when speaking to people I know that have heard both. As you mention here and in subsequent posts, as with many vintage vs. TOTL models, it does depend on which genres you prefer and where you fall on the mesmerizing natural sounding tone vs. technical and advanced resolution comparison scale.
I expect the HE-1 is probably a bit more resolving, with better bass to an even higher degree, while the HE90 probably sounds more true and natural to life and maybe a bit more well rounded. Take your pick based on your preferences and what you listen to. Pursing through the boards, particularly with really in-depth and valuable posts like these (+ personal discussions with others whom you know their preferences and expertise), is invaluable. Again, I really hope to hear them one day and I'm kicking myself for missing the chance last year at Chicago CanJam. Thank you
. My son (a cellist), however, is also interested and has a very musical ear. He also agrees (without knowing my views beforehand) that acoustic/classical is more authentic via the Orpheus. He made another interesting observation that was less obvious to me but I think he is right. Female vocals though the HE1 are better. HOWEVER - the Orpheus wins out on male vocals. Birds (Dominique Fils-Aimé) was a good test of this. One of his favourite tracks on the HE1 is Bad Guy (Billie Eilish). If you haven't listened to this through the HE1 - I would strongly suggest it as part of your audition. The way her voice cuts through the driving and dominant baseline is eery. As though she is whispering in your ear in a very loud nightclub. The Orpheus couldn't compete. It's not so much something you hear, as feel. Goosebumps are either there or not.
FWIW, they have said this directly. When they split the company they lost the machine that makes the material for HE1 drivers. They have material in stock to keep going, but once its gone, its gone as far as I understand.
I have asked this directly. Apparently the glass stators of the HE90 are absolutely insanely expensive to make today and they arent even sure if they can hit the quality they need on them even if they did commission some.
At this point the only hope is that Audeze produces additional CRBNs with the now (large) Sony backing. The house sound and thought process in the CRBN is the closest to the HE-1/he90.
As good as he1 is, it's not just the end all be all of audio. Likely selling to downsize or maybe upgrade a different part of the chain.
