[jmills8]

 

[kaiserh]

No, not the 650 or 600s.
 
I did go out the following weekend and audition the HD 800 and HD 700 with a Sennheiser amp (I can't remember which one, but it was developed for either the HD 800 or 700)
 
I found the 800s a bit clinical - good headphones, don't get me wrong, but none of the impact that the Orpheus had - mind you, I was listening in quite a different environment.
The 700s however, I quite liked. I like my bass and it definitely seemed stronger on the 700.
 
They were both quite good headphones, and frankly I'd be happy to own either of them, but even between those two, the fact I preferred the 700 over the 800 shows that price isn't everything.

 

[kaiserh]

Very nice, Jmills8 - they look to be a different pair to the ones I listened to (the pattern in the marble is slightly different). Sennheiser said there were only 3 prototypes existing in the world at the moment (however this was over a month ago, so there may be another couple of pairs made by now) - Hope you enjoyed the experience.

 

[jmills8]

Very nice, Jmills8 - they look to be a different pair to the ones I listened to (the pattern in the marble is slightly different). Sennheiser said there were only 3 prototypes existing in the world at the moment (however this was over a month ago, so there may be another couple of pairs made by now) - Hope you enjoyed the experience.

I have to say it has a special sound.Very realistic detailed and warm.

 

[Trevayne10]

gotta love those retractable tubes & controls - quite a presentation!

 

[WB2016]

 
You're missing the point.
 
As someone a little above me said the Orpheus is a statement product, even if your hearing is short of stellar some people still want to have the satisfaction of having the best possible despite diminishing returns and bottlenecks - I've seen at least two different Bugatti Veyrons driving around Lisbon past few years, our highway speed limit is 120 (140 tolerance), even if you are able to squeeze in the occasional 160-200km/h. Why would one want a 400+ km/h top speed Veyron over my 1998 F355 Berlinetta that cost me about a 10th of the price? It can't be driven at a German autobahn anyway, one reason to be the whole "wanting the best" I already mentioned, a lot of people like the way it looks, same goes for the Orpheus because to my taste I think it looks beautiful and would easily compliment my living room area in a way very few other pieces could; it just depends on what you like and personally I'd much rather spend 50 thousand on this than on another painting or art in general. I could not even own a pair of headphones and I'd still have the WA7 Fireflies powered up on my desk just because it looks stunning.
 
To each their own, the only thing I dislike is your tone of disdain just because you don't think it's worth it - given your level of hearing could you really tell and appreciate a difference between the Orpheus v1 and v2? Or a Viva Egoista + Abyss? Or Woo WA7 + LCD-3s? Maybe you could, maybe you could not. I'll refrain from commenting on comparisons to 40$ headphones because I don't know to what level your ears have gone down to but either way I'm sure you understand what I'm saying. You don't buy them (just) because they sound 10 times better than a five thousand dollar setup, there are a myriad of reasons for why you'd want to own an Orpheus on top of the couple most obvious ones I have already touched on previously. Some people like real estate, some like cars, some like sculpture, some like headphones and sound systems.
 
If you are going to be so adamant in voicing your (uninformed, by your words not mine) opinion(s) expect reactions and responses such as the ones Vandyman gave you because I would say he did not come off as disrespectful at all.

 


I rather agree with the post. This headphone is for people who will spend a considerable amount on decoration and have to have the 2best". Many will buy it simply because it is the best, not even being able to distinguish it from a HD800. You will need to seriously refine your ears and do some training to even start to be able to distinguish the soundcharacteristics. (A good free start is Philips Golden Ear program. http://www.goldenears.philips.com/) Once you can do golden ears without mistakes, start befriending an installer and go to the audio shows. There are also recording engineer courses that are recommended but it is a good very start. Anyone seriously discussing audio should have finished the course or add IMO In the end its all subjective, but good to learn to be properly objective.

Same as judging wines over a Parker scale of ca. 95, you will likely be spending many many times more to train yourself (e.g somellier courses and tastings) to apreciate the bottle than the cost of the bottle. Or the ttens of thousand you spend on audio equipment.

Or you get what is "objectively" the "best" and save in the long run

Then the fact alone that they are beautiful and a headphone for those with the money is all it takes. The amount of beautiful speakers I installed over refined speakers...

In the end it comes down to what makes you happy (and your significant other) and especially what you can perceive and unfortunately also what tickles your ego for many.

For the development costs, production costs and exclusivity it really is not that much. If you will buy a reference turntable at 125K plus you sure would buy a reference headphone for 50K, obviously. At that level value is "if you have to ask you cannot afford it".

You can always buy a car that does give you the performance of a Ferrari, but in the end it still is not a Ferrari.

I will finally get a chance to listen to the Sennheiser on vendor day at the Munich Highend. So I will be able to see what level my hearing is at.

Cheers WB

 

[Trevayne10]

Thoughtful response, WB -    again, though, "most expensive" does not necessarily equate to "the best" - but you already knew that.  Of course, it is not for me - or anyone else, for that matter - to say what the tastes and sensibilities of the uber-rich ought to be.
 
But some posters here seem to have the rather benighted view that since *I* don't grasp the Orpheus' "boutique appeal" (fiscal considerations notwithstanding), that I therefore believe that nobody else should, either. This is nothing more than a strawman argument / false projection.  People do this sort of thing all the time, and I don't understand what they get out of it. It's a bad habit. In any event, I refuse to let them get away with it, and they don't like it.

 

[up late]

I never eat anything but Shoprite store brand white bread for $1 a loaf. I don't understand anyone spending much more than that, because the cheap bread seems perfectly good to me. The most I'd ever spend on a loaf of bread is $2. That $8 wheat bread is over priced in my opinion. And my opinion has value even though I've never tried the more expensive bread, can't afford the more expensive bread, and would not buy it even if it was priced at a fraction of the asking price. Given all of that, I'm sure you are very interested in my opinion on the subject.

nicely done

 

[Trevayne10]

Fans of the "non sequitur / false projection camp" are uniting!  It appears that they have nothing to gain but tinfoil hats.

 

[up late]

it's a change from the ubiquitous car analogy. and you're trolling by the way.

 

[Trevayne10]

Oh!  <ahem>  ...my apologies!

 

[wink]

Why do people have to justify their inability to afford one.?   

 

[VandyMan]

  Why do people have to justify their inability to afford one.?   

 
Did anyone actually say that? I didn't see it.

 

[wink]

Read between the lines....  

 

[VandyMan]

Edit: Never mind.