A fun read: a real Sennheiser HE-1 unboxing by a real person

[ManuCV]

I guessed some of you would like to read this: Reddit thread

So it seems there might be another 137 pairs done out there. Not bad for a $59,000 headphone.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

I am curious if it measures better than the Expanse.

 

[Deleted member 21726]

I am curious if it measures better than the Expanse.

I am curious how it sounds. Headphones are ment to put on your ears. The purpose is listen music.

 

[ManuCV]

I am curious how it sounds. Headphones are ment to put on your ears. The purpose is listen music.

Exactly my thoughts. And just for the one-off experience I'd love to give it a listen for an hour or so.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I have learned a few sobering facts here at ASR: Based on those I speculate that this $59,000.oo item will at best sound same as an EQ-to-Harman-Curve-Sennheiser HD-800S or if not EQ-d, not as good as a TRUTHEAR TCZ ... For those who really care, it may not be as good as a DCA Expanse or Stealth, un-Equalized (of course! ).. Those DCA cost 15 times less... And yes there is still the $50.oo TCZ, if you favor IEM...

Can you remember the infamous $15,000.oo TOTALDAC, DAC that didn't fare better than an Apple $9.95 (now available for $7.95 at Amazon) dongle ?

Happy holidays!
Peace.

P.S. Edited for clarification

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

Relative to the DCA headphones, it does look like they have taken some (edit: additional) artistic license when it comes to the response:

Also interesting is the plot from the outgoing acceptance test that was included:

Im guessing that is normalized to their internal target, and is supposed to represent something analogous to the in-room response of speakers. Interesting to see that the slight upward tilt at the end correlates at least to some degree with the excess energy seen in the measurements, probably to give it some nice air out top. Whether the deviations are right or wrong comes down to the ears of the beholder. Evidently people are quite enamored with them so Sennheiser must be doing something right.

 

[VintageFlanker]

So it seems there might be another 137 pairs done out there

Well...

The registration card says 0138 for the serial number so it would seem only 138 of these have ever been sold?

That is quite a misleading conclusion. There's no way to know how many units have been made after this SN. Whatever it is a (very) limited edition or not, I see no manufacturer producing units one after the other and ship them in this exact same order...

 

[jae]

 

[charleski]

That amp is a hoot! If I won the lottery I'd be tempted. But I'm sufficiently jaded from decades of getting all excited about a new purchase to take his description with a big pinch of salt. I'm also a little surprised they felt that a +/-2.5dB match was good enough for a $60k product.

 

[solderdude]

Exactly my thoughts. And just for the one-off experience I'd love to give it a listen for an hour or so.

I did just that (well not a full hour) in a reasonably quiet environment. Some 'measurement hardliners' tried to burn me on a stake for saying... This was 'the best headphone I ever heard'.
Sure... some bias may have crept in knowing what it was/costs but I just listened to 'effortless reproduced music' without ever wondering if this or that aspect could be 'better' and could compare it to the HD800S and the HD650 directly on the same music.

No tears to my eyes though. Just nothing to nag or complain about, other than the price and looks of the energizer.

Could I still enjoy other headphones... sure. I still do even headphones less than $ 100,- I can thoroughly enjoy.
A headphone that came somewhat close to this was the Sonoma model-1 but at impressive levels it distorts.
Still... a HD800 EQ'ed to a similar tonal balance (not necesarilly Harman acc to a standard fixture) isn't that far removed either and more affordable....

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

That is quite a misleading conclusion. There's no way to know how many units have been made after this SN. Whatever it is a (very) limited edition or not, I see no manufacturer producing units one after the other and ship them in this exact same order...

Hard to say. It could be the last four digits of a longer serial number, and serialized over a year of production or over some period of time and "restarts" at '0000 for the next batch of runs Edit: Or even after a revision or other internal change. The last digits and the customer's name would allow them to then know which unit it was in their system, but that assumes it wont change hands as then the date of shipment wont be known. Also don't know if the serial number is assigned when the order is started, or after the headphone has been assembled, completed, and shipped. Presumably they take in orders, and build/ship on a first come/first serve basis, but this is speculation. But, only 138 units since 2016 would be quite a small production number. The very remote possibility would be that its just assigned randomly or something similar, but my experience on small-batch stuff is that the techs do like the SN to be something logical and easy to remember so they can keep track of things in production and it makes more sense in the system.

 

[okok]

not sure about the actual price, but the hifiman SGL Jr set was less than $20000

 

[FrantzM]

I did just that (well not a full hour) in a reasonably quiet environment. Some 'measurement hardliners' tried to burn me on a stake for saying... This was 'the best headphone I ever heard'.
Sure... some bias may have crept in knowing what it was/costs but I just listened to 'effortless reproduced music' without ever wondering if this or that aspect could be 'better' and could compare it to the HD800S and the HD650 directly on the same music.

No tears to my eyes though. Just nothing to nag or complain about, other than the price and looks of the energizer.

Could I still enjoy other headphones... sure. I still do even headphones less than $ 100,- I can thoroughly enjoy.
A headphone that came somewhat close to this was the Sonoma model-1 but at impressive levels it distorts.
Still... a HD800 EQ'ed to a similar tonal balance (not necesarilly Harman acc to a standard fixture) isn't that far removed either and more affordable....

Here is the thing.

Your observations/reviews/impressions/measurements carry weight. Lot of it.
I would not burn you entirely (we need you ) but would, at least participate in the flogging.
I understand that SOTA do come at a price but $59,000.oo is robbery territory, especially when similar, perhaps better performance, can be had for perhaps 1/10th the price..

I am one of those not yet convinced by Sennheiser. I am also one of those who like, as opposed to just accept, the Harman headphones curve. I need to listen to a properly EQ-d HD800s.. I am no longer searching for the best headphone, I have found it, the HifiMan HE6Sev2. I've heard/had some pretty interesting headphones, some in the >$5,000.oo, price range and with high audiophile reputation. To my ears and knowing, (THankfully!!) that my impressions do not carry any weight (as opposed to yours ), The best headphones I've heard/had is that, the HifiMan HE6Sev2. Raw and un-equalized it is acceptable.. barely. Equalized to Harman:.. one superlative headphones, the best to me and currently at $400.oo at Adorama!!! (Jump on it , people, before they run out of stock./are discontinued. forever...)


Happy holidays!

Peace

 

[solderdude]

Value for money is terrible. There is no doubt about that.
I would never pay that kind of money unless I had that much money to light my cigar with.
When it comes to sound quality it was great. There are plenty of folks that found it meh.

VFM is very important to me but I can not ignore the sound quality by itself.
I am fully satisfied with the headphones I have lying around though and would not buy one over € 1000.- myself regardless how good it sounds to me.

It should be noted that one of the reasons the HE-1 sounds as good as it does, is because it is EQ'ed and Sennheiser did a good job to my (not so Harman-y) ears.
The same is true for the Sonoma b.t.w.
Is that cheating or engineering ?

 

[Dazerdoreal]

I am curious how it sounds. Headphones are ment to put on your ears. The purpose is listen music.

This even more, of course.

 

[GaryH]

 

[Dazerdoreal]

Thanks, but I also meant distortion, group delay and stuff. I am aware that frequency response is by far the most important measurement though. It is just technical curiosity from my side.

I wonder if there is anything the HE-1 does measurably better than any other great high-end headphone what could justify its price (probably not), as unimportant as it might be in practice. Many people think in terms of "upgrades" and since the HE-1 is the most expensive phone and made by a highly reputable brand, they are sure it must be "the best", including Crinacle for example. I am not so sure if this is even true from a technical standpoint.

 

[GaryH]

Many people think in terms of "upgrades" and since the HE-1 is the most expensive phone and made by a highly reputable brand, they are sure it must be "the best", including Crinacle for example. I am not so sure if this is even true from a technical standpoint.

It's called price bias, and it's a very powerful thing. No-one is a immune from it, including reviewers, no matter how many headphones they've heard.

 

[Jimbob54]

If someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to spend 60k on one of these two headphones, I know which I would get though. The Senns comes with a nice marble doorstop and hopefully pads that dont feel like old nylon carpet against your head.

 

[solderdude]

The idea would be nice... buy a HE4xx add 6B of low bass and you have a HE1 and buy a T+A M 40 HV amplifier to go with it to invoke the price bias thing of the setup which won't occur when using the Atom amp. Must have been price bias that I did not keep the hifiman I owned (aside from a modified HE35X).