The Rambling Thoughts From A Lucky Winner of the Sennheiser HE-1 and Factory Tour Experience
- Thread starter The Flying Kiwi
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Jude said he got to hear the HE1 4 years before its unveiling so I wouldn't count it out if there is a successor around the corner.
It was great getting to meet you Sam! What a fantastic group of people, definitely looking forward to the group meeting up again at some hi-fi meet in the future.So, taken a bit longer than planned to get this blog out ....... quite honestly, i've been spending too much time listening to music and living life to get the fingers to the key board!
I'll try and keep this one short(ish) and simple as I'm sure most of you are really only interested in how the might HE-1's sounded!
Firstly, I was absolutely stunned and thrilled to have been selected by the kind folks at Sennheiser to win this experience ...... in all honesty I was waiting to board a ferry with my amazing wife for a weeks holiday to celebrate a birthday( with an "0" in it) when i found out i'd won. It was like a birthday present come early!
Fast forward 6 or 7 weeks after finding out the good news, and boom, I found myself landing in a cool, crisp and chilly Dublin early November to meet the Sonovoa team and the other 5 lucky winners.
Without going in to too much detail, the warm welcome, hospitality and organisation from the Sonova / Sennhesier team was great - great hotel, great meals out, an amazing little whiskey distillery tour and lots of laughs along the way.
I'm pretty sure in this community I don't have to detail what the conversations on the buses and over dinners were like when you plonk a load of music and headphone lovers in a room / pub together and give them a beer or two! Some epic, educational, enlightening and entertaining conversations ensued!
But, what was the factory tour and the mighty HE-1's like?
Lets start on the factory floor - in all honesty, as amazing as the HE-1's were, I think I left the tour more impressed with the entire Sennheiser team’s absolute commitment to precision, perfection, improvement and utmost drive for customer satisfaction. The factory is mind blowing, almost a work of industrial art!
Sadly it was a highly commercially sensitive environment, so photos were very limited, but hopefully the professionally shot images from Sennheiser are on the way soon, but in the interim, here’s my favourite photo from the trip. It sums up everything to me - fun, friendship and good music.
And so on to the HE-1's .......... where you are ushed in to a tastefully decorated room and two James Bond style comfy chairs alongside the HE-1's.
Maybe I hadn't done my full research on the 'phones, so was totally blown away with the theatrics of the tubes rising up from the machined marble and the mirrored lid opening to reveal the phones themselves. A very impressive introduction to the HE-1's for a newbie!
First up was Guru's Jazzmataz, a stalwart album in my collection and one of my testbed albums.
What struck me first was the stunning sense of precision and placement of instruments in the sound stage - have never heard anything like it before - absolutely mind blowing. They painted the most beautiful soundscape i've ever heard.
I'm not too sure how the HE-1's do this, but they also seem to slow time down - the music seemed to flow out of the drivers at a slower pace than usual and delivered a very relaxing, rewarding listen.
Without going in to too much detail, I personally found the bass to be a little over bearing - don't get me wrong - it was sharp, tight, precise, there was just a lot of it! I wonder if it is possible to tweak the sonic character during the production phase to your personal preference?
The mid's were silky smooth and refined, startling clarity on the vocals, and again the precise positioning was awe inspiring. To my ears, I would have appreciated just a shade more through the mids, but i'm probably getting a nit-picky now!
The treble was outstanding: clean, clear, crisp, but not hint of edginess or harshness .... undoubtedly one of the finest I have ever heard.
My takeaway memory from our time with the HE-1's, wasn't so much the sound ..... it was after popping on a record - Gare du Nords Rendezvous 8:02 - the album that won me the position on this tour.
You listen in pairs, so my poor listening buddy was subjected to my choice of music for a bit. The opening track of this album is a kaleidoscope of husky jazz trumpets, vocals and vibes of back street jazz clubs ........ my listening partner didn't seem to know what hit him ..... his face was a mix of surprise, shock and pleasure all at the same time ..... in fairness, he nearly fell out of his chair in sonic delight! It was a pleasure to be a part of!
After what felt like 10 minutes, but was actually closer to an hour, our time with the HE-1's was all over. I did say they could slow down time!
And of course, there's that soundstage and imaging ....... I will never unhear that!
So, without rambling on too much more, it was an awesome few days away. Met many amazing people, made life long friends on the back of the tour, and have memories i'll talk about for years to come.
I can't finish this review without referencing how the Sonova team arranged to put us to hard work on the factory floor - building headphones!
We thought we were just disrupting the production crews and living the Sennheiser life ....... little did we know we were in fact building our very set of HD650's as a reminder of the tour from Sennheiser. These were dutifully presented to a very surprised group of audio enthusiasts at the end of the factory tour .... these were a God send on my way home where weather delayed my flights by 2 days, so I had some great tunes to listen to while I was waiting out the wind!
Massive thanks go to all the Sonova / Sennheiser team for making this happen - Nicole, Arne, Trent, Eric - thank you so much. If I ever get a chance to visit again, i'll be there in heartbeat!
Definitely agree. The best part of the trip was not some super secret headphone we got to hear, nor was it really even the HE-1 herself. It was the people, it was getting to spend time with a great group of audio nerds from around the world, it was touring the factory and speaking with the wonderful people building the headphones we love, it was getting to pick the brains of Nicole and Arne and learn their stories working at Sennheiser. But that doesn’t really make for a compelling head-fi post, they just want to know about the new gear lol.I'm going to be honest, I kind of don't want to at this point because most of the people here are asking for an hd900/hd800 successor
Two more of us lucky people - my humble self on the right here.
The HE1 was absolutely fantastic but as has been stated already, the whole trip was terrfic. So many lovely new people. the Sennheiser factory tour in Tullamore (no pics or videos were allowed but there was a film crew, so I'm sure we will see more of it soon), the HE1 listening session, the way we were taught to build and package our own pair of HD 650, as well as the Tullamore distillery tour and two beautiful evenings with excellent food - everything was a very special and unforgettable trip. Nicole and Arne from Sennheiser have been the most lovely people in the world, really.
Maybe a couple more pics of the HE1:
This was our group of lucky people:
As well as some rather random shots from the entry area of the factory (where pictures were still allowed):
Hey Sonova/Sennheiser,
You have excellent engineers and create outstanding products, but your marketing strategy seems to fall short.
Hosting exclusive meetings for select groups of audiophiles is a great idea and undoubtedly a treat for those who attend.
However, you’ve already organized two trips to the Tullamore HQ, and there hasn’t been any official release of photos or videos from these events.
Where is the added value for the wider audience who are interested in your products?
These events could have been a fantastic opportunity to showcase your impressive and
diverse portfolio of audio-related products to a broader audience. Instead, it feels like offering candy but letting people taste it only through the wrapper.
Take pride in what you’re creating—show the world what makes Sennheiser special.
Share the experiences and highlight your brand’s unique innovations.
Brag about it!
You have excellent engineers and create outstanding products, but your marketing strategy seems to fall short.
Hosting exclusive meetings for select groups of audiophiles is a great idea and undoubtedly a treat for those who attend.
However, you’ve already organized two trips to the Tullamore HQ, and there hasn’t been any official release of photos or videos from these events.
Where is the added value for the wider audience who are interested in your products?
These events could have been a fantastic opportunity to showcase your impressive and
diverse portfolio of audio-related products to a broader audience. Instead, it feels like offering candy but letting people taste it only through the wrapper.
Take pride in what you’re creating—show the world what makes Sennheiser special.
Share the experiences and highlight your brand’s unique innovations.
Brag about it!
I believe the good folks at Sonova / Sennheiser are working on a full media release ….. should be coming soon.
Silver
500+ Head-Fier
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i couldn't afford anything since MDR-CD3000
talk about life priority
talk about life priority
evga96
New Head-Fier
I hope that senn may release HE60(baby orpheus) again in a 5 pin, so it can be used more universally.
There are more e-stat users and nice e-stat amps than before.
There are more e-stat users and nice e-stat amps than before.
Puroplatino
Previously known as NotTheMomma
You have literally two of them at home Joey. Leave the demo for us poor mere mortals
Deleeh
Headphoneus Supremus
@The Flying Kiwi @Tenlow @TheHipsterCow
Hello,
Congratulations to the lucky winners of this year's trip 2024.
And thank you very much for letting us know how it was there.
What you found nice and good, what was not good.
I also understand that you are not allowed to say much but that's okay, it's part of the business.
We missed it last year when the first participants gave us a bit of information about what it was like there, so unfortunately it went a bit under.
You made a nice start by letting us know what it was like, that's nice and I'm very happy for you. Probably when Sennheiser organises another event next year, the participation and interest will be a bit bigger.
And congratz to your own HD650,Merry Christmas.
Hello,
Congratulations to the lucky winners of this year's trip 2024.
And thank you very much for letting us know how it was there.
What you found nice and good, what was not good.
I also understand that you are not allowed to say much but that's okay, it's part of the business.
We missed it last year when the first participants gave us a bit of information about what it was like there, so unfortunately it went a bit under.
You made a nice start by letting us know what it was like, that's nice and I'm very happy for you. Probably when Sennheiser organises another event next year, the participation and interest will be a bit bigger.
And congratz to your own HD650,Merry Christmas.
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