Sennheiser Orpheus $50,000 Headphones

[Homer J Simpson]

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The question is really only relevant to the portion of the population that *has* $50K siting around as loose change. My guess is that other than Dave , that rules all of us out.  If you are in the "are three Ferrari's enough or should I get another one?" set, the answer still is most likely no. In my neighborhood the neighbors seem to stop after the first Ferrari

Bob

[mariush]

Sennheiser's good, i own a pair of headphones and they're still great years later ... granted mine were just 60 euros. Also impressed with my interaction with their distributors .. the cable for my headphones got broken (my fault, catching it under chair legs or pulling it too hard) and the local distributor ordered one replacement cable for me and shipped it to me at the regular (decent) price.

Of course, I wouldn't pay $50k for something, unless I had maybe over $100m ... lots of other things to throw money on before spending $50k on hi-fi audio.


A look at inside the factory,  lot of work still done by hand:

[AlxDroidDev]

A $50,000 headphone and you can't hear everything because of some ear wax your forgot to clean!

A $50,000 headphone and all you listen to is Kanye West.

Honestly, how many people have such auditory acuity to actually benefit of this headphones?

On a side note: I find that guy from the video, Linus, to be a total douchebag.

[uncle_bob]

A $50,000 headphone and you can't hear everything because of some ear wax your forgot to clean!

A $50,000 headphone and all you listen to is Kanye West.

Honestly, how many people have such auditory acuity to actually benefit of this headphones?

On a side note: I find that guy from the video, Linus, to be a total douchebag.

Hi

I suspect that if you are in the small group who *has* the $50K, you also have somebody "on staff" to clean the wax out of your ears

Note: This is in no way a knock on Senheiser. They do indeed make terrific stuff. Everything I have ever got from them has been top notch. The guys I have known who work there say it is a fine place to work.

Bob

[AlxDroidDev]

This is in no way a knock on Senheiser. They do indeed make terrific stuff.

Agreed, and I have stuff from them (and from Plantronics as well), but I never spent over US$ 100 on headphones. I imagine that for most people, a $50 headphone will enable the same "experience" than a $1,000 headphone.

[hayatepilot]

There is already a thread on these: Headphones that are over engineered even for a bat just $55k

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I think this thread is more oriented to the "sort of person who spends $50K on a toy" ....They actually *looked* at the headphones over in the other thread.

Bob

[Kilrah]

I never spent over US$ 100 on headphones. I imagine that for most people, a $50 headphone will enable the same "experience" than a $1,000 headphone.

$350 for me, Bose QC15. Probably my best purchase ever, besides the quality and comfort they actually turned out cheaper as I'm still using them after 5 years while previously I'd usually have to change my $100 or so things after a year because they'd break. I changed the cable twice but it's conveniently plug and play...

[Dataforensics]

Back in 1997 when I had more money than sense, got a pair of Sennheiser HD600's for a few hundred pounds.
However perhaps they were not bad value as apart from replacing the earpads, I still use them.
Of course my hearing is degrading over time so I probably cannot appreciate them as much.
If I had $50k then rather spend it keeping my ears in as good a shape as possible.

[Falcon69]

If these headphones can make my hearing go back to my birthday....bypassing all the damage from my teenage and low 20's age of my 10,000watt car stereo blasting down the neighborhoods at 2am (Which I am sure damaged my hearing, at the time I didn't care)....then I'd find a way to pay the 50k, just so I can experience what real music sounds like.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Ok, so we all seem to have bought Senheiser stuff from time to time. My observation is that such purchases have less to do with your total income (much of which may go straight to taxes, rent, new oscilloscopes ,  or some other pre-defined destination) that with your disposable income. Simply defining disposable income is hard, estimating it is even worse. Thus wild guesses are perfectly acceptable in this case:

When you bought your last purchase from Senheiser, what percentage of your (annual) disposable income did you spend?

In my case I'd say it's never been over 1% a reasonable guess would be half to a quarter of that.

If the 50K headphones scale accordingly, their target customer would have a disposable income at least $5M and more likely in the $10M to $20M range. Again, not *total income*  or net worth, this is annual disposable income ...

I could dig out some statistics I suppose. My guess is that you have just narrowed the customer list down to a group of < 10,000 people.

Bob

[Dataforensics]

Cannot remember exactly how much I paid back then, but it would have been about a months disposable income.

[uncle_bob]

Cannot remember exactly how much I paid back then, but it would have been about a months disposable income.

Hi

Ok, so on that basis, you have a much larger target audience for these. Your typical rock star or top football player might be able to afford a pair. That assumes they retain >1/20 of their >$12M a year as disposable income. In many cases that could be a stretch ...

Bob

[rollatorwieltje]

[blacksheeplogic]

I imagine that for most people, a $50 headphone will enable the same "experience" than a $1,000 headphone.

No you can tell the difference. Whether it sounds better or not however is a subject of opinion. When you get into the higher end earphones it comes down too which engineered sound profile you prefer. For example the Sure SE535's sound very different to the Sure SE846. Depending on the type of music you listen to and your personal preferences you may prefer the way the SE535 sound but there is a very noticeable and clear difference in the sound  between the two sets.

[Artlav]

I'd usually have to change my $100 or so things after a year because they'd break.

Interesting.
I still use the same $10-$20 headphones i got around 2009, and they have no signs of breaking.
Where would you even find $100 (much less $350) headphones?
The most expensive ones i've seen around are about $50.

[Monkeh]

Where would you even find $100 (much less $350) headphones?
The most expensive ones i've seen around are about $50.

Amazon, eBay, your local hi-fi shop, your local electronics shop.. y'know, just about anywhere.

[Kilrah]

Where would you even find $100 (much less $350) headphones?
The most expensive ones i've seen around are about $50.

Anywhere really. And that's only looking at "good" models, not even counting the "fashion" ones that can be significantly more expensive, and usually actually pretty poor...
IMO the $100-$350 range gets you the best stuff in termms of sound quality.

My headphones usually fail at the plug or entry point in the headset. Being plugged/unplugged/packed in a bag/phone in the pocket several times a day tends to do wear things quickly.

[uncle_bob]

I imagine that for most people, a $50 headphone will enable the same "experience" than a $1,000 headphone.

No you can tell the difference. Whether it sounds better or not however is a subject of opinion. When you get into the higher end earphones it comes down too which engineered sound profile you prefer. For example the Sure SE535's sound very different to the Sure SE846. Depending on the type of music you listen to and your personal preferences you may prefer the way the SE535 sound but there is a very noticeable and clear difference in the sound  between the two sets.

Hi

The same thing is very true of microphones. You can spend a *ton* of money on this or that device. Switch back and forth between them... you *can* hear the difference.

Crazy demo in a speaker factory ..errr ... decades ago:

Eyes closed, listen to the speaker. Call out when the sound changes. Surprise, you spotted the change each time. What were they changing? The (virtually identical) cloth on the speaker enclosure cover. The purpose was to show just how nutty making a pair of speakers "identical" could get. Was either sound "better"? I make no claim to having the "golden ears" that can make that call.

So being a bunch of engineers, one *must* measure and quantify. Off we go to grab a bunch of test gear and measure the speaker before and after.... gee ... that's a pretty small change(but consistent over several octaves). The textbook says you can't hear less than 1 db ... guess it's time to re-write that part of the textbook.

Bob

[uncle_bob]

I'd usually have to change my $100 or so things after a year because they'd break.

Interesting.
I still use the same $10-$20 headphones i got around 2009, and they have no signs of breaking.
Where would you even find $100 (much less $350) headphones?
The most expensive ones i've seen around are about $50.

Hi

Amazon, "headphones" in the electronics category:

Select Senheiser and sort by price going from low to high.

You cross $50 on page 3 
You cross $100 on page 5
There are 8 pages in the search.
Highest price listed is $1,169 on the HD-800 (only 19 left in stock order soon !!)

... and I only wanted the HD-800 if I could get two dozen of them shipped out today ...

Bob

[MrSlack]

I spent some proper money on some decent headphones (Sennheiser HD25) about 10 years ago and it was money well spent but only because you can replace every part on them without having to fish out for a whole new pair and they sound pretty good, plus the cable is really long and is virtually impossible to break. Prior to this I destroyed a pair every 6 months which was getting expensive.

I'd wager that in a blind test they don't sound any different to these $50k things.

My daughter has some beats one and they sound like a dog shitting in a bin and cost more than the HD25's did.

[borjam]

I've got a pair of HD600, purchased almost 20 years ago, and the sound is really great. Moreover, they are very light and comfortable. And last week I bought new earpads and headband cushion to renew them.

There *are* very important differences between loudspeakers, microphones, headphones, etc. Of course there is a lot of bullshit in the audio world. Some people even buys special "cable stands" so that cables don't touch the floor.

I remember, speaking of Sennheiser, when I bought a MD-441 microphone. The first time I used it at the jazz club, a guy from the audience came to ask what had changed. The trumpet sound was so much better. The guy doesn't know anything about sound and of course he wouldn't notice a new microphone. A $900 microphone and well worth it.

[AlxDroidDev]

I've been using a Plantronics Gamecon 777 (headset, not just a headphone) on my computer. I paid £36 for it on Amazon.co.uk back in 2009. It still serves very well and has a very rich sound. On my cellphone I use a Sennheiser earbud, a CX 300, and I paid about US$ 40 for it in 2010. I must say I am quite happy with both of them.

The central point of our discussion, however, is price X value. If you see value on a $350 headphone and the price is ok for you, then just go for it. In my case, due to my damaged hearing (I used to be an IPSC shooter), and even worse paycheck, I can hardly justify paying more than I did for my headphone and headset.

[suicidaleggroll]

I spent some proper money on some decent headphones (Sennheiser HD25) about 10 years ago and it was money well spent but only because you can replace every part on them without having to fish out for a whole new pair and they sound pretty good, plus the cable is really long and is virtually impossible to break. Prior to this I destroyed a pair every 6 months which was getting expensive.

I'd wager that in a blind test they don't sound any different to these $50k things.

You'd be wrong.  Now which one sounded better would be a matter of taste, but they would almost certainly sound different.  I own several "high end" ($150-400 range) headphones, and they all sound very different.  All equally good, but in different ways, and more at-home with different musical genres.  My HD650 is probably the best all-around, but I also enjoy my HifiMAN and Audio-Technica cans as well.  Even the Senn HD595 sound completely different than the HD650.

My daughter has some beats one and they sound like a dog shitting in a bin and cost more than the HD25's did.

What else do you expect from Dr Dre?