The Sennheiser Orpheus 2? A First Look At The Sennheiser HE-1 (The New Orpheus)

[ardilla]

The whole comparison is useless. You got your page views.

Sorry that you think it is useless to you. Hopefully it is not to others. I frankly do not think you are in my "target group". However, if you can persuade for Sennheiser to lend me the HE 1 for a longer period of time and want to lend me your T2 I'll do my best to write it up for you ,)

 

[paradoxper]

Sorry that you think it is useless to you. Hopefully it is not to others. I frankly do not think you are in my "target group". However, if you can persuade for Sennheiser to lend me the HE 1 for a longer period of time and want to lend me your T2 I'll do my best to write it up for you ,)

A skewed review. It is what it is.

If Sennheiser were to lend an HE 1, I'd look for someone with better references to make a comparison

No offense. It is what it is.

 

[raypin]

Mm...thanks for the review. Makes me all the more excited.....

 

[ardilla]

A skewed review. It is what it is.

If Sennheiser were to lend an HE 1, I'd look for someone with better references to make a comparison

No offense. It is what it is.

I am very much a proponent for doing reviews based on side-by-side, A/B sessions with equally priced/performing equipment (as I write quite clearly in my review). But this was a special case, and I chose to write this review anyway because there isn't really that much out there written about the HE 1.

I understand that you would like to see a review which compared the HE 1 to the 009 with a better amp than I had available. I would too. But MY review is not that review, as you have pointed out. My comparisons wasn't meant to be a comparison of potential equals. It was meant to serve the purpose of giving readers an impression of the HE 1 with reference to stuff they have heard. I didn't write this review for the "Stax Mafia", and never expected any kudos from any of them for writing this review. But again, I would love to read a nice elaborate side-by-side comparison between the HE 1 and a top notch Stax-rig, and if somebody have posted such a review I would, very much like to read it and would be grateful for a link

 

[Dobrescu George]

I am very much a proponent for doing reviews based on side-by-side, A/B sessions with equally priced/performing equipment (as I write quite clearly in my review). But this was a special case, and I chose to write this review anyway because there isn't really that much out there written about the HE 1.

I understand that you would like to see a review which compared the HE 1 to the 009 with a better amp than I had available. My review is not that review, as you have pointed out. My comparisons wasn't meant to be a comparison of potential equals. It was meant to serve the purpose of giving readers an impression of the HE 1 with reference to stuff they have heard. I didn't write this review for the "Stax Mafia", and never expected any kudos from any of them, to be honest. I would love to read a nice elaborate side-by-side comparison between the HE 1 and a top notch Stax-rig, and if somebody have posted such a review I would, very much like to read it and would be grateful for a link

Now I am a fan of Sennheiser, but He-1, as awesome as it sounds, is way too expensive for me to consider properly reviewing. One thing that people might not believe until they hear is that an ie800 + iDSD BL has many things in common with He1 with its original amp and DAC.

I can't do a proper comparison nor anything like that, just trying to bring something to the conversation. To my ears, He-1 sounded like the most real, dynamic and natural sound I've heard, but it costs more than ten cars and the headphones themselves are hot extremely lightweight. Audeze LCD-4 is also something worthy to have on the table when comparing He-1 but they are also quite expensive and heavy. I do think that Sennheiser did a great job with He-1 although I'm not sure whether it is supposed to be a product or statement of state-of-art tech.

 

[paradoxper]

I am very much a proponent for doing reviews based on side-by-side, A/B sessions with equally priced/performing equipment (as I write quite clearly in my review). But this was a special case, and I chose to write this review anyway because there isn't really that much out there written about the HE 1.

I understand that you would like to see a review which compared the HE 1 to the 009 with a better amp than I had available. I would too. But MY review is not that review, as you have pointed out. My comparisons wasn't meant to be a comparison of potential equals. It was meant to serve the purpose of giving readers an impression of the HE 1 with reference to stuff they have heard. I didn't write this review for the "Stax Mafia", and never expected any kudos from any of them, for writing this review. But again, I would love to read a nice elaborate side-by-side comparison between the HE 1 and a top notch Stax-rig, and if somebody have posted such a review I would, very much like to read it and would be grateful for a link

Fair stance. And as you said, I'm not part of your 'target group.' Of course, as a "reviewer", you are open to criticism; I am only pointing out how I would have done things differently, naturally.

 

[ardilla]

Fair stance. And as you said, I'm not part of your 'target group.' Of course, as a "reviewer", you are open to criticism; I am only pointing out how I would have done things differently, naturally.

Seems like we tend to agree on how the "perfect HE 1 review" would look like and that my review isn't it. Actually, I hesitated whether to call it a "review" at all due to the limitations that you have pointed out, but I choose to stick to having "review" in the title and rather point out the limitations in the text, because of the scarcity of HE 1 reviews. The term "review" seems to be used quite broadly, so I didn't intend to mislead anyone. I await the moment when a HE 1 owner teams up with a couple of Stax mafioso, using the best amps and the same source to run real time a/b comparisons.

Sure, as a "reviewer" I stick my neck out, but that is after all the reason I post my link here; to share my writing with the head-fi community and get feedback (positive or negative) and hopefully a discussion going

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Semantics aside, I appreciated your review, ardilla.

Its interesting your take on the midrange of the HE1 and HD650 being similar. I wonder if Sennheiser has a house sound to their midrange. My first impressions of the HD800 was one of contradiction, it soundeded very different than the HD650's but similar at the same time. I've owned both for awhile now, on the same systems, and have concluded that the mid-range is tuned similarly (natural, musical, and sweet) but different in all other aspects: the HD800 being more transparent, brighter, more refined treble, and larger soundstage compared to the HD650's. Given that most music resides in the mid-range, your perspective shows just how good the HD650's are, if their midrange is in the same ballpark of the HE-1's.

 

[raypin]

Mm..there is no need to apologize. You clearly stated the limitations. That should be enough. The important thing is you have honestly expressed *your*
personal opinion of the HE 1 vis-a-vis with other headphones that you have. That should be enough. Having auditioned the HE 1 myself (albeit briefly), I can identify with most of what you have written. Kudos....

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

The review is nicely done but I agree with @paradoxper
I would like if someone with a top notch setup can review the HE-1, if not, is useless. We all know and expect the 50k HE-1 to sound better than HD800, LCD-X, HD650 or 009 with Stax amp.

Sadly, I don't think that Sennheiser will send the HE-1 to someone with a DIY T2/Carbon and a Stax Omega/SR-007, they don't want the "my setup costs 20k and it's miles better" comment.

 

[Dobrescu George]

The review is nicely done but I agree with @paradoxper
I would like if someone with a top notch setup can review the HE-1, if not, is useless. We all know and expect the 50k HE-1 to sound better than HD800, LCD-X, HD650 or 009 with Stax amp.

Sadly, I don't think that Sennheiser will send the HE-1 to someone with a DIY T2/Carbon and a Stax Omega/SR-007, they don't want the "my setup costs 20k and it's miles better" comment.

I don't really think that the lower price is the main reason they don't send it to 20k setup owners and such. He-1 seems awkward to carry and such, it doesn't look like a system you want to send to many reviewers.

Also, I do think that it sounds considerably more natural than either HD650 or HD800. At least to those ears.

 

[ardilla]

Semantics aside, I appreciated your review, ardilla.

Its interesting your take on the midrange of the HE1 and HD650 being similar. I wonder if Sennheiser has a house sound to their midrange. My first impressions of the HD800 was one of contradiction, it soundeded very different than the HD650's but similar at the same time. I've owned both for awhile now, on the same systems, and have concluded that the mid-range is tuned similarly (natural, musical, and sweet) but different in all other aspects: the HD800 being more transparent, brighter, more refined treble, and larger soundstage compared to the HD650's. Given that most music resides in the mid-range, your perspective shows just how good the HD650's are, if their midrange is in the same ballpark of the HE-1's.

Mm..there is no need to apologize. You clearly stated the limitations. That should be enough. The important thing is you have honestly expressed *your*
personal opinion of the HE 1 vis-a-vis with other headphones that you have. That should be enough. Having auditioned the HE 1 myself (albeit briefly), I can identify with most of what you have written. Kudos....

Thanks guys @BoyNamedSue - THe HD650's midrange is not nearly as resolved as the HE 1, but there is something about the HE 1 that makes me constantly draw this parallel, they share that tonality, unbright, smooth, non-fatiguing. I agree that both the HD800 and HD650 have great midrange, but in different ways.. The way we perceive midrange instruments/vocals depends not only on the midrange, though - all the tiny overtones and undertones, small sounds like breath.. they are part of the "midrange experience" even if they are higher or lower frequencies. Hard to tell, but that's what makes it so fascinating to listen to different gear.

The review is nicely done but I agree with @paradoxper
I would like if someone with a top notch setup can review the HE-1, if not, is useless. We all know and expect the 50k HE-1 to sound better than HD800, LCD-X, HD650 or 009 with Stax amp.

Sadly, I don't think that Sennheiser will send the HE-1 to someone with a DIY T2/Carbon and a Stax Omega/SR-007, they don't want the "my setup costs 20k and it's miles better" comment.

Well, the world is filled with useless reviews for me too, ToroFiestaSol. I wanted to write a review that I would have liked to read myself, if I had not gotten the chance to listen to the HE 1 - you know - just to get a sense of what it is. All I could find were mostly impressions based on one single session. So I got a chance to have several sessions and had access to multiple flagship setups of the non-exotic kind (stuff you can actually buy in a hifi shop), and did the most of it. A review comparing the HE-1 to a Stax SR-009 with an ultimate Stax Mafia DIY amplifier is useless to anybody who haven't heard either and just want to get an impression they can relate to - so it all depends on who you are writing for.

 

[astrostar59]

I compared to what was available. And no - I didn't just compare by memory. I compared to the Stax rig at home, but also to the one in the adjoining room (so that was just like 50 sconds of inbetween time).

If you want to write a shootout with a maxed out Stax rig and the HE 1 or can point me to someone who had the chance to do that and did it, I can assure you I would read it with the utmost interest =)

My problem with this is along the lines of putting a 50K speaker on the end of a 2K amp. Unless you are reviewing as a Stax system v Sennheiser system, the best way would be drive the 009 with a better amplifier. At the very least a KGSShv, better a Carbon or BHSE or even a DIY T2. Anyone who has been around here for a while and / or has a decent non Stax amp (except maybe the new T8000) will know what I am talking about.

But do agree on one thing, waiting for a respected member to give an opinion on the HE-1 v 009 (well driven). That isn't happening here.....

 

[ardilla]

My problem with this is along the lines of putting a 50K speaker on the end of a 2K amp. Unless you are reviewing as a Stax system v Sennheiser system, the best way would be drive the 009 with a better amplifier. At the very least a KGSShv, better a Carbon or BHSE or even a DIY T2. Anyone who has been around here for a while and / or has a decent non Stax amp (except maybe the new T8000) will know what I am talking about.

But do agree on one thing, waiting for a respected member to give an opinion on the HE-1 v 009 (well driven). That isn't happening here.....

Exactly: I compared the most expensive Stax system presently produced by Stax to the most expensive Sennheiser system. Thanks for putting that straight. I think I mentioned it a few times though...

 

[mulder01]

Someone has their grumpy pants on.
Considering half the people that hear this system, simply post something like "It was truly amazing" and that's about it, he's done well.