[JimL11]

Listening to the Orpheus 2 underlined an issue with ultra high end audio, the higher you go, the less music you can listen to. Only the best recorded music will make a high end system worth listening to. But with a mid-fi system you have much more music you can listen to and enjoy, which, as far as I'm concerned, is what it's all about. I still have to give Sennheiser a lot of credit. The Orpheus shows what's possible.

I think that depends on your mindset, and to some extent your system. For example, my main speakers are Quad electrostatics, which are no-one's idea of mid-fi speakers. On this system, I was blown away the first time I heard a recording of Richter's live performance of Mussorgsky's Picture's at an Exhibition. Now this is a mono transcription of a radio broadcast, in AM radio quality sound, complete with background noise. But the performance transcended the technology. IMO a GOOD high end system can let you listen to more music, not less. Yes, you hear all the flaws more clearly, but the music comes through even better.

 

[JimL11]

KSE1500 is a more impressive product. Estat on the go? Now there’s a sales pitch.

Never heard them, but usually the only time I use IEMs is when I'm traveling and need the noise isolation, e.g. on an airplane, in which case the background limits the quality anyway. To me, the amount of time spent in combination with the background noise doesn't justify the cost of something like that system. On the street, you don't want to have too much isolation from your surroundings - too dangerous IMHO. The portable Stax system is much cheaper than the KSE1500 but it's lack of environmental isolation can also be a problem.

 

[VandyMan]

Would I buy one? That's a moot point since I can't afford it. But even if I could I can't justify spending 55 grand on a statement piece with all the hunger and misery in the world.

Appreciate your impressions. Would you never buy a 50K car? How about 20K? At what point are you increasing the hunger and misery in the world? I assume this means that you instead donate your spare cash to charity, which is admirable.

 

[VandyMan]

KSE1500 is a more impressive product. Estat on the go? Now there’s a sales pitch.

The KSE1500 sounds very good overall, but I found it to bring out the sibilance in some material. Brighter than the 009, to my ears.

 

[verycoolalan]

You guys are crazy lol xD

 

[astrostar59]

Never heard them, but usually the only time I use IEMs is when I'm traveling and need the noise isolation, e.g. on an airplane, in which case the background limits the quality anyway. To me, the amount of time spent in combination with the background noise doesn't justify the cost of something like that system. On the street, you don't want to have too much isolation from your surroundings - too dangerous IMHO. The portable Stax system is much cheaper than the KSE1500 but it's lack of environmental isolation can also be a problem.

JimL11
Have you heard the HE-1? If not I would try and get a demo somehow, it is worth it. On the higher we go and how much we can listen too re bad recordings, I think it is really the treble quality, and how a high resolution system handles that. I remember Grandpa's big radiogram thing in the corner, booming out lovely rich tones and music broadcasts. But it probably only went up to 7khz max, maybe less. So if we want to hear up to 20khz we need to have a system that doesn't punish us for that. Vinyl seemed to have a knack of handling upper treble very differently to digital. And there is the rub. It may be digital that is the issue here? Big subject, but I agree, a high end system will bring more enjoyments regardless (in most cases). No way IMO a v shaped boom box or mid-fi is going to be as enjoyable.

 

[JimL11]

JimL11
Have you heard the HE-1? If not I would try and get a demo somehow, it is worth it. On the higher we go and how much we can listen too re bad recordings, I think it is really the treble quality, and how a high resolution system handles that. I remember Grandpa's big radiogram thing in the corner, booming out lovely rich tones and music broadcasts. But it probably only went up to 7khz max, maybe less. So if we want to hear up to 20khz we need to have a system that doesn't punish us for that. Vinyl seemed to have a knack of handling upper treble very differently to digital. And there is the rub. It may be digital that is the issue here?

I had a 20 minute demo of the HE-1 back in November 2016 when Sennheiser had a temporary pop-up store in NYC shortly after its debut. I brought along a USB stick which was inserted into an Apple laptop and played a few selections. I noticed one weird thing about the imaging, which was that on a violin concerto recording by Kyung Wha Chung, she seemed to be playing in the back of my head, which I've never heard before or since. AFAIK, nobody else has reported that anomaly, so I don't have an explanation. Anyway, other than that, I didn't find it to be significantly superior to my modest DIY SRX-Plus/SR007 Mk II with port mod.

 

[raypin]

I listened to the Orpheus 2 at the Sennheiser store in San Francisco on Saturday. It's by appointment only. No walk in's. The listening room is on the 2nd floor. It's a large room that's almost completely empty. They have the original Orpheus there to but it wasn't connected. It was there just for show. Besides myself there was only one other person in the room, a store employee named Miles. The sources were Tidal through an Apple laptop and a Clear Audio Ovation turntable. Each appointment is 30 minutes in length. I hadn't prepared any play lists for myself so I just selected tracks I familiar with. The first was Art Blakey "Live at Birdland". I don't use Tidal so I don't know what the resolution was but it sounded a little flat and lifeless. I next listened to a vinyl record, "Blue in Green" from "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. It sounded truly bad as the Orpheus is so resolving that it was picking up every flaw in the recording and in the pressing as well as needle drag through the grooves. That was to be expected though. High end headphones and vinyl are not particularly compatible unless it's very well recorded, mastered and pressed (re: Music Matters Jazz). I'm not a bass head but I did a bass test anyway with "Chameleon" from Herbie Hancock's "Headhunters". Sub bass is weak and, like "Live at Birdland", it sounded flat. The last track I listened to was from the Argentine band "Sera Una Noche". They only have released 2 albums but both are extremely well recorded. Now the Orpheus sounded like what you would expect. It was the most transparent sound I've ever heard from any headphone or speaker. It sounded absolutely live. I only heard the piano, I only heard the guitar, etc. It sounded completely realistic. I was just amazed.

As for the mechanical attributes of the amp, you press the button to turn the amp on and first the buttons slide out of the amp, then the tubes emerge and then the lid rises revealing the headphones, and it's all completely silent. The phones are a heavy but comfortable, a little like an LCD 2.

Would I buy one? That's a moot point since I can't afford it. But even if I could I can't justify spending 55 grand on a statement piece with all the hunger and misery in the world. Listening to the Orpheus 2 underlined an issue with ultra high end audio, the higher you go, the less music you can listen to. Only the best recorded music will make a high end system worth listening to. But with a mid-fi system you have much more music you can listen to and enjoy, which, as far as I'm concerned, is what it's all about. I still have to give Sennheiser a lot of credit. The Orpheus shows what's possible.

OT: Mm...well said and I can respect that. Now about the social conscience matter, I have been working my butt off since university. Saved and saved and saved. At my age, it is payback time. I can justify my purchase on that respect alone. But in a world of hunger and misery, I do understand the imperative of leaving this place a little better than when we first found it. Rest assured than when the time comes, I will do my part to give back and help. Both goals, to my mind, are not mutually exclusive.

Back to topic, I do agree that one has to be choosy on the type and the quality of the material to feed the HE 1 to gain the full measure of its formidable musical prowess (replicating recorded music to the finest details).

 

[astrostar59]

Hmm, I was on the 009s and Carbon at the time I heard the HE-1, and yes I agree it is very revealing, but not as punishing as the 009s as regards treble sibilance and edge in recordings. It was a warmer and more accurate sound to me, and had more body and solidity to the 009s. On high end HPs and poor recordings, it can be hugely affected by the source, and by that IMO many DS DACs exaggerate treble detail in an unnatural way which exasperates the situation. R-2R DACs help in that regard.

I am on the LCD4s now, and they almost refuse to go into sibilance, it is a different way it presents the treble detail, and is one of the reasons I went to planers. Not saying one is better over the other, just to my ears I can enjoy more material without stressing out or track flicking.

 

[wrathofkhan]

Hmm, I was on the 009s and Carbon at the time I heard the HE-1, and yes I agree it is very revealing, but not as punishing as the 009s as regards treble sibilance and edge in recordings. It was a warmer and more accurate sound to me, and had more body and solidity to the 009s. On high end HPs and poor recordings, it can be hugely affected by the source, and by that IMO many DS DACs exaggerate treble detail in an unnatural way which exasperates the situation. R-2R DACs help in that regard.

I am on the LCD4s now, and they almost refuse to go into sibilance, it is a different way it presents the treble detail, and is one of the reasons I went to planers. Not saying one is better over the other, just to my ears I can enjoy more material without stressing out or track flicking.

I do not find my 009 + BHSE + HAPzes1 even close to punishing. Maybe look to the cable as the problem (Punishing) for which I use the Transparent Music Link Reference which gives an immensely detailed and dynamic right into the micro detail. If I change to the Van Den Hul "The First Ultimate" the sound becomes smoother in the highs but less interesting both in dynamics and musicality.

Maybe a change of cable will help astrostar

 

[powertoold]

I found the HE-1 to be very smooth and had a darkish signature similar to my 007 mk1. I think the vocals on the HE-1 had a little more body than my 007 mk1.

I thought the HE-1 sounded great. There wasn't anything particularly offensive about its sound, but I wouldn't pay $60k for it. I'm sure you can make an SR-007 sound close to it, but then again, you might be spending $10k messing around with amps and sources (a 007 mk1 w/ BHSE would be a good start though).

 

[raypin]

Mm...my experience is different: I am listening to more music than ever before. There are millions of tracks out there to choose from. The great thing about high-end audio equipment is the equipment becomes irrelevant. It disappears, melts in the background and seamlessly, effortlesslyand authoritatively works its magic. What remains is you and your music. You just stop being super critical. You just float with the music and allow it to drive your emotion. That’s my experience. It is a priceless experience.

 

[Sound Trooper]

Mm...my experience is different: I am listening to more music than ever before. There are millions of tracks out there to choose from. The great thing about high-end audio equipment is the equipment becomes irrelevant. It disappears, melts in the background and seamlessly, effortlesslyand authoritatively works its magic. What remains is you and your music. You just stop being super critical. You just float with the music and allow it to drive your emotion. That’s my experience. It is a priceless experience.

I can totally understand what you are stating here. Buying, researching, comparing and critiquing new gear can be fun, but at the end of the day musical enjoyment is paramount for me. What I am aiming to do is to build a system which suits my taste and for the music I prefer, it can be a $50 earphone or a $60K HE-1 but no matter what it has to form a emotional bridge to connect me with my music.

 

[wrathofkhan]

I can totally understand what you are stating here. Buying, researching, comparing and critiquing new gear can be fun, but at the end of the day musical enjoyment is paramount for me. What I am aiming to do is to build a system which suits my taste and for the music I prefer, it can be a $50 earphone or a $60K HE-1 but no matter what it has to form a emotional bridge to connect me with my music.

And also to your bank account

 

[raypin]

And also to your bank account

Mm...true dat.