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

[astrostar59]

Looks like both are "permanently closed" according to their website. When I was there last year shortly after it opened, one of the people manning it said it was temporary, but if they generated a lot of business they might convert it to a permanent store. I'm guessing they didn't have enough sales volume to justify them staying open - not just the HE1 but lots of other models were there on display for audition.

Shame. I would be interested to know how many sets of the HE-1 they actually sell in the first year. Guess enough units to justify the development and production costs?

 

[raypin]

Mm..the fewer, the better.

 

[wink]

Better as in better sounding.....?

 

[raypin]

Mm..nope.

 

[raypin]

Shame. I would be interested to know how many sets of the HE-1 they actually sell in the first year. Guess enough units to justify the development and production costs?

Mm..if we are to believe the narrative, Axel Grell spent the last 10 years planning and developing the HE 1. If the goal is to make money, do you think Sennheiser will spend that long a time just to develop the one product?

 

[up late]

it was an exercise in sota audio engineering - first and foremost. sennheiser has the resources and the engineering chops to do this as tyll hertsen wrote in his blog. hopefully some of the technology from the he-1 will trickle down into the company's audio products for the rest of us.

 

[mulder01]

Ok well as a follow-up, I went by the Soho store shortly after my previous post and can confirm that it's closed. Shop at that address has been completely gutted. Ah well, I forgot to take my spare 50000 euro anyway.

 

[raypin]

Mm.

 

[Sennheiser]

Ohh man, I am gonna be in New York for a few days and wanted to try the HE1 but google's opening hours say it's permanently closed. Is that right? Nowhere to hear the HE1 anymore? Or have they moved it to their other store in New York? @Sennheiser

The New York location with the HE-1 was a "Pop-Up" store with a limited lease, but audiophiles showed us some great support during that time. There may come a day where another Sennheiser store opens in NYC again, but there will definitely be future events where the HE-1 can be auditioned! We will keep the Head-Fi community abreast of opportunities and use sign-ups schedules to keep things fair.

 

[336881]

, but audiophiles showed us some great support during that time.

Too bad sennheiser has shown zero support for audiophiles since the hd800. "Hey guys and gals we know we have release 100 beats pro wannabe headphones and gave you audiophools the pieces of junk that are the hd700 and hd800 amp and dac but we spent the last 10 years making something just for you"... Its cost is just a parsley $60000 usd.

 

[Dobrescu George]

The New York location with the HE-1 was a "Pop-Up" store with a limited lease, but audiophiles showed us some great support during that time. There may come a day where another Sennheiser store opens in NYC again, but there will definitely be future events where the HE-1 can be auditioned! We will keep the Head-Fi community abreast of opportunities and use sign-ups schedules to keep things fair.

Super cool! Wishing you the best, He-1 is a headphone that everybody must hear!

As I said before, I see it more like a statement in the technology, more like a state-of-art work made by Sennheiser to establish Senn as the creators of the magical headphone.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Too bad sennheiser has shown zero support for audiophiles since the hd800. "Hey guys and gals we know we have release 100 beats pro wannabe headphones and gave you audiophools the pieces of junk that are the hd700 and hd800 amp and dac but we spent the last 10 years making something just for you"... Its cost is just a parsley $60000 usd.

We shouldn't be too harsh, there are momentum series which sound great, there is HD600 which is still one of the best deals, especially at its price, and there is HD800S which is an improvement over HD800 that sounds amazing.

I would also say that the new ie800 Dior and HD800S Dior are stunning.

This and Sennheiser made ie800 which are in my honest opinion my first choice IEMs at this moment.

I think they made quite a lot in the last few years, but I would love to know that there is something like a HD900 or something else in the making!

 

[raypin]

Mm..I was just listening today to my HD 800S connected to the Woo Audio WA7, fed with Tidal Masters on my Surface Book (yay! Usb 2.0. Native works, thanks to Creator's update). It still is an exquisite listening experience (and I prefer it to my HD 800). I am not complaining that there seems to be no successor in sight.

 

[astrostar59]

We shouldn't be too harsh, there are momentum series which sound great, there is HD600 which is still one of the best deals, especially at its price, and there is HD800S which is an improvement over HD800 that sounds amazing.

I would also say that the new ie800 Dior and HD800S Dior are stunning.

This and Sennheiser made ie800 which are in my honest opinion my first choice IEMs at this moment.

I think they made quite a lot in the last few years, but I would love to know that there is something like a HD900 or something else in the making!

Maybe, but Hifi-Man is spitting new HPs out like bullets (not saying they are great or not) and Abyss has a 2 new HPs, Dr Beats lots of new ones. Seems IMO that Sennheiser as the biggest HP manufacturer in the world could make more, shake things up a bit in all price sectors?

 

[JimL11]

Maybe, but Hifi-Man is spitting new HPs out like bullets (not saying they are great or not) and Abyss has a 2 new HPs, Dr Beats lots of new ones. Seems IMO that Sennheiser as the biggest HP manufacturer in the world could make more, shake things up a bit in all price sectors?

Yeah, HiFiMan is behaving like Detroit automakers used to. A new model every year, whether it's needed or not, whether it's improved or not - of course, they will SAY that it's improved. Keep the suckers buying new stuff. HFM says some of their stuff is expensive "because it sounds so good." That's a quote to Tyll Hertsens at InnerFidelity. Nothing about cost of manufacture vs price. Then, they change it a year later, because... Because there are always new buyers. Never give a sucker an even break.

I prefer the Quad business model - design it right the first time, and you don't need to keep bringing out new versions. The Sennheiser HD 600/650 still sounds good a decade later because they worked it out before they put it on the market. Stax brings out new headphones when they think they have actually improved the technology, not because they are using the buyer as de facto beta testers. I think Sennheiser has a similar philosophy. If what you're selling is already among the best, why put out a new headphone just to say you have something new?