This is the official thread for discussing Sennheisers ultra-flagship, the HE 1
2 Likes
OMG 
Dream stuff !! Will I ever live to own them?
I was lucky enough to listen to him at a famous Italian store. Really a good sound, however, for that amount, I expect a lot more in terms of absolute quality …
1 Like
Would be super awesome if Sennheiser let you listen to your own music when they set-up listening shows.
I can see why they don’t though. Music that isn’t mastered very well would probably get torn to shreds by these suckers. Also the wait time for each individual to select their own song would probably be unbearable.
1 Like
These are my favorite headphones for air travel. So conveniently portable.
11 Likes
Do you mean for the price the build quality of it all wasn’t that good? To me the build quality of the amplifier looks ridiculously simplistic. A slab of marble or whatever it is for crap sake. For the price of it I would want a real crafty design instead of something that looks like someone went to a quarry, bought a slab of marble, polished it up and then whacked some volume knobs on the front of it. That’s just me anyway. I’ll make a car comparison… This thing costs the price of a Lamborghini or a Porsche and looks like a standard family station wagon 
. Mmm you know what maybe poeple could make some designs in Photoshop or something.
Wonder when the bluetooth option will be available? 
4 Likes
Ahahaha, this is impossibly unattainable for moi (as I’m sure it is for other people). So, the question becomes, if you had to pick between this one Sennheiser HE 1 or using that amount of money to buy other headphones, what would you pick?
1 Like
Wait, I think that the 820s will be an even worse disappointment from what I’m hearing.
Other headphones + pay my rent. Lol
1 Like
Anyone know the price of replacement tubes? I would expect you get lifetime replacements for that price…
I was thinking about this the other day (the amplifier). I saw a GIF of it the other day (probably last year) and when it’s turned on the volume controls slide out of it. I see a problem there because that means the inside mechanics of it are far more complicated than they need to be with lots of moving parts. Lots of moving parts means lots of internal vibrations so as far as I’m concerned Sennheiser went bling before performance. That’s just my opinion anyway 
. Maybe there’s a plan by Sennheiser to then release the “ultimate signature edition” of the amplifier without the moving parts and then it will only be affordable to the Bill Gates of the world. Didn’t Bill Gates die this year? Oh no that was the Hawkins dude. Anyway I think someone needs to do a blind test with the setup.
@Tony: Wonder when the bluetooth option will be available? 
Probably for $5,000, “the ultimate bluetooth upgrade”
2 Likes
@MKLBlacKey:
Ahahaha, this is impossibly unattainable for moi (as I’m sure it is for other people). So, the question becomes, if you had to pick between this one Sennheiser HE 1 or using that amount of money to buy other headphones, what would you pick?
Or think of the speaker setup you could buy. If I had the money I’d buy an observatorium or something.
Do you think you’d be able to get this on the loaner program?
-Paul-
2 Likes
Hahaha if only!
I suppose we could always ask Sennheiser if they would like to be generous and donate one
Apparently if you get lucky the Sennheiser dude will hook you up and let you listen to whatever you want on Tidal for a few minutes. There was a pretty epic reddit post recently about a guy that did this while high and his detailed recount of his emotions is truly a masterclass in audiophile writing and humor.
3 Likes
I listened to the HE-1 at NYC Canjam and we were allowed to do that. We ended up going with his recommendation though of Hysteria by Muse.
Basically I loved it and it ruined my Utopias for like a week and a half after listening for only a few minutes. The key thing that stood out to me was the separation of instruments was just unreal. Utopia + DAVE to my ears couldn’t come close.
I’m sure many of you already know this but at the time I wasn’t aware that the amplifiers/energizers for this thing are in each earcup, and that the marble box houses all the dac chips and the tube preamplifier.
3 Likes
Ya I saw that post when it went up. I sent it to @andrew but I don’t think he read it. Maybe he will now.
Definitely up there with the best descriptions of audio gear that I’ve ever read! Innerfidelity should have thrown him in for serious contention to replace Tyll. If nothing else, the write-ups would be entertaining.
Luckily at its price, even if I listened to my own music and fell in love with it, it is completely unobtainable unless I plan on losing my marriage and living out my years in a cardboard box.
1 Like
If you can run some clean power in there and still use that HE-1, it might be worth it.
2 Likes