Sennheiser HE-1

[spritzer]

Did you see the serial number on the set you tried?  I think the one they had here was nr.26 so it might be the same one making the rounds...

[Bjorn]

Didn’t check for it I’m afraid, but it’s very possibly the same. The Sennheiser spokesman did say this set is moving around the northen contries.  

[wink]

I had a chance to spend a bit over an hour and a half with one this afternoon.

First off, it was powered by a laptop PC and running 44.1K 16 bit flac files.

I didn't look to see whether they were using the internal DAC or a Music Fidelity DAC sitting on the shelf below the PC.

There were sometimes multiple copies of the same ripped CD on the PC, other times they had the same track from different CDs.

Initial impressions were that the treble was a bit on the bright side and the mids were a little too recessed.

I listened to Rebecca Pidgeon on both the CHesky Demo CD and Rebecca's "The Raven" CD and they sounded indentical.

I also listened to Buddy Holly on two different CD rips and they sounded different. One was bright and lifeless whilst the other was far more balanced.

I also listened to Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra (First 2 tracks).

The first was Karl Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orch. This sounded bright and paper thin in the mids.

Switching to von Karajan version was a much better presentation albeit still a little thin, Bass was pretty good on both, but better on Karajan.

I tried Mahler's 5th, and was left disappointed.

Rimsky-Koraskoff's Scheherezade was much better on both recordings, but one was noticably better than the other.

I then tried various tracks by Roy Orbison, Kate Bush, Nilsson, Moody Blues etc. and they varied greatly.

Some tunes were very good. A couple just "sang" such as Johnny Mathis's "What Will My Mary Say"

The Diamonds' "Little Darlin'" was another disappointment.

I put most of the failures down to the Flac files.

A couple times I had the volume control maxxed out, and I am not a loud listener.

Some of the midrange euphony could be had at a louder volume but the treble became just too hot to handle.

In summary, I am glad I have a Carbon and a SR-007 and SR-009.

I would like to try my own WAV files through my YGGY as I truly believe it would sort out most of my grievances.

Don't expect that to happen............ 

[spritzer]

The DAC output from the internal dac is super low so you might have been using that.  Shame they won't allow you to bring a dac and your own files, I was allowed to do so.   

[wink]

I don't know if I would be allowed, as I just dropped in out of the blue.

Perhaps I should geve them a call to see if I could drop in with a Carbon, YGGY, and SR-007 & SR-009. They might kidnap 'em for a ransom. 

The venue is Len Wallis Audio in Sydney.

This appears to be the set that has been doing the rounds down here in the antipodes.

I didn't see a serial number on the phones, and didn't want to disturb the equipment to look for a serial number on the amp.

 

 

[Rossliew]

40 minutes ago, wink said:

I don't know if I would be allowed, as I just dropped in out of the blue.

Perhaps I should geve them a call to see if I could drop in with a Carbon, YGGY, and SR-007 & SR-009. They might kidnap 'em for a ransom. 

The venue is Len Wallis Audio in Sydney.

This appears to be the set that has been doing the rounds down here in the antipodes.

I didn't see a serial number on the phones, and didn't want to disturb the equipment to look for a serial number on the amp.

 

 

Perhaps just quote Birgir's name and they may give you a long private session with your own gears  

[spritzer]

I think the serial number is on the top of the phones like the HD800 but I'm not sure.  It is certainly in the users manual if that is sitting somewhere around the system. 

[wink]

I didn't see the users manual anywhere.

I had a look on the top of the phones, but there was nothing there.......

The top arc was covered as far as I remember...

Edited November 22, 2017 by wink
more info

[spritzer]

Yeah you are right.  I'm drawing a blank as to where it was but it is on the phones.  Might be inside on the sliders... 

The instructions manual is very heavy on the wank factor.  I shot some pics of it and yeah...they basically made the new world order... 

[Hopstretch]

6 hours ago, spritzer said:

The instructions manual is very heavy on the wank factor. 

Totally stealing this awesome turn of phrase for the year-end review process!

[wink]

Listening to the Stax SR-303 through the YGGY and KGSSHV and I like it more than hearing the Senn HE-1....      

[spritzer]

Hehe I can believe that.  That's why I so want to get one without the built in amp and roll my own. 

[P3t4]

 

[wink]

That wasn't my experience.

Rap/hip-hop should be banned from any Hi-Fi equipment on account of intrinsic compatibility alone.... 

[spritzer]

Anybody crying while listening to a HE90 should seek some professional help... 

[RudeWolf]

Had some time with the old and new Orphies. Didn't mind the new one too much, wasn't unbearably bright, so they haven't pulled a HD800. The old one had considerably more brightness. Listened to Stax 007 Mk II at the same day and I'm not sure if I was missing much from that combo compared to the 50k one.

Edited December 6, 2017 by RudeWolf

[Bjorn]

Agreed, bright isn't the word I'd use to describe the HE-1 either. "Soulless" kept going through my head though. Simple language like "dull" and "boring" would also qualify. 

*Yawn*  

[spritzer]

I think "yawn" pretty much nails the character. 

[Bjorn]

At least until the bass dropped.  If I were a billionaire I’d probably get one just to listen to Drake and Kendrick Lamar. I’d probably up the wank factor to 11 with a little gold in there as well. The Sennheiser guy did tell me an Asian customer ordered one with precious metal details for another 50k. Brought the total to a 100k.

 

Wank wank. 

[penmarker]

On 12/9/2017 at 10:08 AM, Bjorn said:

At least until the bass dropped.  If I were a billionaire I’d probably get one just to listen to Drake and Kendrick Lamar. I’d probably up the wank factor to 11 with a little gold in there as well. The Sennheiser guy did tell me an Asian customer ordered one with precious metal details for another 50k. Brought the total to a 100k.

 

Wank wank. 

I have no idea why it works, but the dumbest working sales pitch I see all the time is "More than 20,000 people have been using our product" and "Someone in Minnesota bought 3 for his family members and customized them for $15,000 extra each"

Dude who cares if 20,000 idiots are buying your product, that's not a defining factor for quality.

[Pars]

"More than 20,000 people have been using our product"

And 100 billion flies eat shit... your point is?

[spritzer]

Indeed, it's the HF way of doing things.  If it is popular it must be good...if some idiot is willing to pay for it then it must be awesome!! 

[wink]

And..... if the emperor has no clothes on - It's easier to admire his trouseau...........                                                             and everything else.... 

Edited December 22, 2017 by wink

[spritzer]

So true... 

Back on topic, has anybody seen Sennheiser claim the diaphragm thickness in the HE-1?  Mr. Speakers is claiming his Fuce is the same thickness which I frankly highly doubt... 

 

[lunaticbastard]

Quote

 2.4-micrometer platinum-vaporised diaphragms are employed as their size was shown by Sennheiser’s research to deliver optimal sound reproduction

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/sennheiser-he-1