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

[TheClue1107]

Well I almost cried when I saw this. Bravo!

 

[mscott58]

Ok new argument. Having couple of beers or music after sex sounds better. Our brain can color the sound too.

Everything colors sound, it's just a question of whether the colors match your preferred palette.  
 
Also life without color would be awfully boring...
 
Cheers 

 

[icebear]

   
That's not the point. When you release a statement product of such caliber and ask top dollar for it, don't skimp on the essential components and leave room for criticism.
 
I don't want this to be a Vertu of the headphone world.

Obviously there are as many hard core tube fans as there are people who swear that R2R DACs are simply superior to anything. I haven't heard a lot of DACs and no R2R for that matter. I have experience with my own equipment, see profile if your care. I do have the chance to listen to a lot of live concerts and when I listen to recordings on my set up it pretty darn close to how I personally perceive the live sound of voices and instruments, emotional stuff, goose bumps etc included and this SQ comes from a DAC and an SACD player that use DS type chips. Obviously not in the price region of a upper middle class car but I am very happy with price performance ratio.
 
That being said, what ever choice any company makes, there will always be enough room for criticism, particularly from people who haven't had a chance to listen to the equipment or even read comparative reviews on the SQ vs other DAC designs, too funny really

 

[madwolfa]

  That being said, what ever choice any company makes, there will always be enough room for criticism, particularly from people who haven't had a chance to listen to the equipment or even read comparative reviews on the SQ vs other DAC designs, too funny really

 
I have recently upgraded my DS DAC (Bifrost Uber) to Multibit, so I guess I have a good feel of it. 

 
Tubes and R2R is not a valid comparison. The only driver of DS technology is cost. Tubes, on the other hand, are just technologically obsolete. But I understand the appeal.
 
It's just odd to see a cost-driven technology in the heart of a 55K statement product.

 

[saidentary]

The price seems a little high.  If I decide to buy it, I think I'll wait for it to go on sale. 

 

[bmichels]

I really wonder if the internal DAC is at the level of the Headphone ! So far, from what we know, there is nothing "special" in the DAC design ! 

 
It will be a shame is an external TOL DAC is needed to get full benefice from this (expensive) Headphone technology !

 

[Rhamnetin]

  I really wonder if the internal DAC is at the level of the Headphone ! 

 
No chance in my opinion.

 

[mscott58]

There are some great implementations of the ESS9018 (and its variants) and there are some crappy ones. Unfortunately Jude only tested with the Hugo TT while in Paris, so don't have any real good data to go by. However, I would be hugely surprised if they released a crap version with the $50K unit.

 

[RMSKFX]

I do believe that they are also going for the snob appeal.

 

[RMSKFX]

I also believe that they got it

 

[VGoghs earfrmsc]

Credit where it's due to Sennheiser, I and many others have heard the Orpheus set up, at events like the london canjam.  I can't think of any other luxury products, be it a car, jewellery or clothes etc, that allows the great unwashed to fully experience their products.

 

[saidentary]

  I do believe that they are also going for the snob appeal.

I'm still going to wait for them to go on sale before buying.  This might also be a good time to start combing through the on line coupon sites.

 

[saidentary]

  Credit where it's due to Sennheiser, I and many others have heard the Orpheus set up, at events like the london canjam.  I can't think of any other luxury products, be it a car, jewellery or clothes etc, that allows the great unwashed to fully experience their products.

The Head-Fi crowd hardly comprises "the great unwashed."  The main concern I have is that, so far, apart from Jude Mansilla's testimonial, there is seemingly zero data to support Sennheiser's brash assertions.  Their statements thus far have been largely pompous and vacuous, or at least that's how it seems.  This is not to say that they aren't correct in their assertions.  This may very well be the best headphone system ever.  But it's their job to prove it's the best and that the price is justified.  It's not our job to believe them and automatically conclude that their superlative claims are true simply because at that price, "they must be good."  To do so might cause the buyer to "take a bath" and if that's the choice, I'd rather stay unwashed.

 

[lukeap69]

LOL on the spelling...

 

[raypin]

mmm.....with this huge price hike that the overwhelming majority here will not bite, I hope Senn will throw us a bone by REASONABLY pricing the HD 800S. Moderate your greed, please. Advance congratulations to those who will own this true summit-fi headphone system.