[Music Alchemist]

  But what are you really paying for with the new Orpheus? You can't really have it both ways. If all you care about is speed in a car, you wouldn't be paying for the luxuries and excesses of a Rolls Royce, you would want the Ferrari.
 
With the new Orpheus, you are paying for the marble amp, the motorized tubes, the integrated amplifier in the ear cups. When it comes to Ferrari, we know they use carbon fiber to reduce weight. It makes sense. With the new Orpheus, you have to genuinely believe that marble constructed amplifiers have audibly less distortion than amplifiers made out of less rigid structures. You have to genuinely believe that cables are an audible source of distortion so that the only solution is to build a headphone with integrated amplifiers. The problem is these things are demonstrably false.
 
The only people who have been allowed to talk about the new Orpheus are hand picked individuals from Sennheiser themselves. They are all "on message", and have not legitimately had the chance to properly criticize and compare. Notice the press reviews for each new Ferrari release all gush over them in the same way?
 
Aside from that, each headphone has it's own subjective parameters important to it's evaluation. To suggest that it doesn't matter what it sounds like personally to you, you want it, belies a motive aside from sound for acquiring these headphones. There's no other way around it.

 
I don't care about all that. I only care about the sound of the headphone, which you have practically ignored in your critique. The fact that it's included in a system (and you can't buy the headphone by itself) is irrelevant, for me personally. As for what it sounds like to me...firstly, I did not suggest that my subjective experience is not important...and I have a policy of not listening to headphones until I buy them. (With the exception of auditioning stuff in shops on occasion.) I'm hardcore like that.

 

 

[eke2k6]

Before people take the moral high ground and indignant, remember that personal audio hardware is a discretionary hobby. No more and no less. After all one can enjoy music tuning into an FM radio broadcast. Sennheiser is not selling medicine or food. Sennheiser are not the reason there is war and suffering. It is a toy for the well heeled. Last I checked, Sennheisser sell sub-£20 headphones. Relax and breathe

 
It's not about the high ground. It's actually a very selfish reason for being against these prices. 
 
Everything commercial follows trends. When the trends in the housing market are facing up, the price for a good house will increase for all buyers. Right now, audio is very much a seller's market, which means we have to pay more to get products at the top of the pile. I personally dooonn'ttt caareeee what others spend their money on, but the fact is that what people are willing to pay for affects the market. Econ 101. Thusly, prices for me will increase until I get to my WTP threshold. 
 
People are praising products like this for innovation, but in reality it's no better than a Vertu phone in my book. For instance, the ad highlights Carrarra marble, stating that it was used by Michelangelo as if it has some magical properties among marbles. Yet they neglect to mention that carrara marble is actually among the cheapest and most widely used of marbles. This product is expensive for the sake of being so. No more, no less. Let's not pretend otherwise.
 
 
 
 

   
You may or may not know that there is variation between HE 90 (as well as HEV 90) units. For example, in Jude's original SR-009 review video, he said the SR-009 sounded better to him than the HE 90...but in the new HE 1060 video, the HE 90 he heard courtesy of Sennheiser themselves sounded better to him than the SR-009. (This is just an example to illustrate the point of variation between HE 90 units. I'm not implying anything here, and in the end, personal preference is what matters.)
 

 
Yeah, this was on the BHSE side by side, with a unit heard by many others who had previously heard other units. The HE-90, to me, was good but did not differentiate itself from the HD-800/LCD-3 tier enough for me to justify it's position in audio lore. The SR-009, on the other hand, was on a different planet. It may be preferences at play, but my opinion stands.

 

[Exidrion]

The fact that you're determined to spend $55,000 2 days after announcement with nothing more than Jude's review as a basis is.....

I'll go with "shocking." Especially when you have such an odd policy where you don't listen until you buy. Please explain this thought process. Please.

 

[superlowfi]

   
It may be preferences at play, but my opinion stands.

 
That's the thing about headphones, preferences are ALWAYS at play. People sometimes forget that when jumping on new product bandwagons.
 
Headphones at the best of times are subject to nebulous personal subjective biases. When Sennheiser releases a new Orpheus and asks the audiophile community to test it, those audiophile testers are having endorphins released at a rate that would shame cocaine itself. It may be a very long time before we see legitimate critical opinions of the new Orpheus, if ever, if such a thing is even possible.

 

[echineko]

Wow, things really went downhill fast. So, two things I'm genuinely curious about:
 
1. How many people have actually even heard this to date? And are the units being shown now considered production units?
 
2. For the objective set, has there been any detailed specs/measurements provided by Sennheiser yet? I just saw some fancy webpages so far, if I'm mistaken, anyone have a link?

 

[soulorc]

I have got a new goal in my life: Become rich and buy the new Orpheus. I mean it...

 

[RMSKFX]

eke2k6 then don't buy it!!

 

[vnmslsrbms]

It's a halo product. It's supposed to be expensive.  Like the Lexus LFA.  People are so used to halo supercars that they just wait for the trickle down tech.  The LFA wasn't super awesome but just an example.  
 
I don't think it really makes HD800 sound like trashcans.  It should be a different sound, and maybe even a little better, but they are still headphones.  It's not going to put you in a virtual reality with 360 speakers (because it's not.  If it does then you're just imagining it).  It's two electrostats pumping music straight into your ears.  With the technology in the Opheus 2 it sounds like it just makes them easier to drive.  You won't need those expensive and specialized energizers to drive these cans.  This is Hi-Fi.  Just like hugely expensive speaker systems that mainly benefit from better room setup and louder volumes (also demonstrated sometimes by how manufacturers themselves fool listeners by playing from the small guys).  I'm not saying there isn't a difference, but if you put the same quality 3 way or even 5 way speaker against it's ultra expensive brethren is it really that much better?  Nah.  But it really is better looking for sure.  

 

[kerrys30]

Can't we just agree that 99% of us on here aren't in a position to buy this, whether want to or not. And 85% of us would love to just get a chance to listen to it one day to see what all the fuss is about.

No point arguing about anything.....switch on your current portable/home rig and be reminded we all have the sound we like with the equipment we like.

 

[Music Alchemist]

The fact that you're determined to spend $55,000 2 days after announcement with nothing more than Jude's review as a basis is.....

I'll go with "shocking." Especially when you have such an odd policy where you don't listen until you buy. Please explain this thought process. Please.

 
See custom title.
 
Haha. Just kidding!
 
...Then again, the "Gotta catch 'em all!" attitude somewhat applies here. I want to collect (at least some of) the best headphones in the world. When the founder of Head-Fi (who has heard the vast majority of high-end headphones) says that this is the best-sounding one he has heard, I can't ignore that.
 
Music is my life. And I don't enjoy speakers nearly as much as headphones, so this appeals to me very much.
 
As for actually buying it...that may take awhile.
 
This was my best friend's reaction:
 

Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap.
 
I don't care how much it costs and how long I have to save for, I am buying this. This is it. End game. Don't care about 009 anymore. Don't care about any other headphone anymore. 
 
THIS.
 
IS.
 
IT.
 
:O

Looks like I will be saving for a while!

 
Bear in mind, this is from someone who owns the HD 800 and considers the SR-009 to be the best headphone he's heard.
 
It's not based on that video alone, though. The Orpheus has a rich legacy to the point of being legendary among audiophiles, and the successor has improved upon it, apparently significantly! What's not to be excited about for crazy people like us two?

 

[wink]

 
Honestly the price disgusts me.  So much so that I will no longer purchase anything made by Sennheiser.  I truly love my HD800 but that's where my business with them ceases.  No ridiculous double priced HD800S and certainly no HE1060 that is nearly the price of a new BMW M4.  It's absolutely hilarious to me how we as a collective and community continue to stomach these ridiculous price increases on headphones over the last ten years.  It's the same as with everything else.  People in general these days simply have zero to 0.0001% willpower.  The "have to have it" mentality is just rampant and eventually leads to ridiculous tripe like this.

It's a damn shame that the majority of people that will purchase this system will simply do so because they can, not because they can appreciate or even care about the sound quality it may or may not reproduce.  This is simply another item for the superficial, shallow and gaudy of the world to display in their homes and brag about how much it cost them.

Prices of everything in the world continues to skyrocket, even when oil is at an all time low and no corporation is willing to reflect their lower transportation costs in their pricing, yet wages stay the same for the last thirty years.  Makes complete sense.

Please, why the aggro?
Any company including Sennheiser can build anything they want in the audio category.
We vote with our wallets.  If you don't like it, for whatever reason, don't buy.   Simple.
 
Also, if a company builds a statement model, you need not be offended if you can't afford it. Buy something you can afford.  Simple.
 
Sennheiser (or any other company) does answer to us by our purchasing decisions.
 
Why does the price disgust you..? You're not forced to buy it. You love your HD800, I love mine too...!
If Sennheiser want to buils an Orpheus 2 that I can't afford, that's their business, and I'm not getting my nose out of joint about it.
 
btw, I've heard the Orpheus 3 times and I still think it's the best headphone I've heard.
 
I have 2 x Stax SR-009, 2 x Stax SR-007, 2 x Sennheiser HE60,
Ampwise I have a KGSSHV, Headamp BHSE, DIYT2.
I could have bought an Orpheus if I didn't spend all the money on other gear.
Do I regret this...   NO...!  This is a journey, and I'm loving every step of the way.
Would I buy an Orpheus 2.?  Not likely unless I sell all my other gear.
Would I like to listen to an Orpheus 2.?  Lead on, MacDuff. I'm right behind ya....!!!!  

 

 

[edstrelow]

Sennheiser is not selling a headphone for $55.000, they are selling an integrated  system.
 
 I am personally only interested in whether the phones themselves are any better than say the Stax SR009 or SR007, or my personal favorites the Sigma/404S ( where S stands for modified with sorbothane damping. )
 
 Suspiciously Sennheiser has made this evaluation difficult if not impossible since even if you can get past its DAC you apparently can't avoid the amplification in the earcups ( and we assume it is only straightforward amplification and not some euphonic signal processing.)
 
A better comparison would be another phone, in the $2,000-$3,000 range hooked up to $52,000.00 of dac and amplifier. 
 
If someone wants to spend this kind of money on a system that is their concern.  If I had that kind of dough to splash around I would rather
put together my own system components.   I am already seeing criticism of the amp and the dac from people looking at the what they can see on the circuit boards.
 
 I just don't like the concept of being stuck with an integrated system,  and a very expensive one at that.  It kind of reminds me of Bose. 

 

[tonykaz]

There is only ONE of these things in existence ! 
 
Production begins in 2016 if they can actually get orders for the darn thing! 
 
First batch is 250.  Place your order and wait.
 
When the call you to pick it up you sell your ticket on ebay.  
 
Sennheiser keep the Spotlight for the next year.  
 
Tony in Michigan

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Sennheiser is not selling a headphone for $55.000, they are selling an integrated  system.
 
 I am personally only interested in whether the phones themselves are any better than say the Stax SR009 or SR007, or my personal favorites the Sigma/404S ( where S stands for modified with sorbothane damping. )
 
 Suspiciously Sennheiser has made this evaluation difficult if not impossible since even if you can get past its DAC you apparently can't avoid the amplification in the earcups ( and we assume it is only straightforward amplification and not some euphonic signal processing.)
 
A better comparison would be another phone, in the $2,000-$3,000 range hooked up to $52,000.00 of dac and amplifier. 
 
If someone wants to spend this kind of money on a system that is their concern.  If I had that kind of dough to splash around I would rather
put together my own system components.   I am already seeing criticism of the amp and the dac from people looking at the what they can see on the circuit boards.
 
 I just don't like the concept of being stuck with an integrated system,  and a very expensive one at that.  It kind of reminds me of Bose. 

 
I've been trying to find out if it's possible to use the HE 1060 headphones with an aftermarket electrostatic amp, but I don't know even the basics like the bias voltage, how many pins the headphone cable has, whether the headphone cable is even detachable from the HEV 1060, etc. =/

 

[tonykaz]

Other Amps voids warrantee ! , you should know this by now. 
 
Tony in Michigan