Meet the new Sennheiser Orpheus

[Guest]

 

 

If you're tired of those Apple EarPods, I have a treat for you. Sennheiser is attempting to make the world's best headphones. Again.

 

Back in 1991, Sennheiser created the Orpheus HE90, which became widely known as the best pair of headphones money can buy. They came with an amplifier, cost $16,000 and only 300 pairs were made. If you wanted them today, the Orpheus HE90 would cost you triple the retail price, if you can even find a pair for sale.

 

"THE ORPHEUS ISN'T REALLY MADE FOR PLAYING MUSIC FROM YOUR SMARTPHONE"

 

Nearly 25 years later, Sennheiser has returned with an updated version of the Orpheus, and this time it will cost you €50,000 (roughly $55,000). The new Orpheus headphones have been in development for over a decade. Hand-crafted in Germany using over 6,000 components including gold-vaporized ceramic electrodes, platinum-vaporized diaphragms, and Carrara marble amplifier housing from Italy — the same used by Michelangelo — the Orpheus is far more ornate than your average high-end headphones.

 

But all those precious metals aren't just for show; they can noticeably improve conductivity when utilized properly, and given Sennheiser's history of crafting excellent headphones, they were likely crucial to the construction of the Orpheus. The luxury extends to the amplifier as well; the control elements are crafted from a single piece of brass which is then plated with chrome. Even turning on the headphones is a precession, with those chrome-plated brass knobs extending out from within the amplifier housing, the eight quartz-encased vacuum tubes rising from the amplifier base and starting to glow, all before the glass encasing around the headphones is raised. But would you expect any less for €50,000?

 

-The Verge

 

 

Like the original headphones, the new Orpheus are not designed for portability, they're designed to sit on your desk like a piece of art. The originals featured a tube amplifier constructed out of wood, metal, and glass, complete with a key to turn them on and warm up the vacuum tubes. Sennheiser has gone for a more modern aesthetic for the new model, opting for a marble transistor amplifier that also "combines to perfection the advantages of a tube amplifier." Sennheiser says it used marble shipped from Carrara, Italy, home to the same marble that Michelangelo used.

 

Each of the amplifier's controls are created using a single piece of brass, and once you turn the headphones on, the quartz glass vacuum tubes rise up from the marble enclosure and emit their characteristic glow.

 

And while the design of the headphones themselves hearkens back to the original Orpheus, the new version loses the wooden accents in favor of a modern color scheme that's not unlike Sennheiser's popular HD 800, though it retains the characteristic, oval-shaped metallic grill.

 

“It is able to deceive our senses in a completely unique way, creating the perfect illusion of being directly immersed in the sound," Sennheiser CEO Daniel Sennheiser said of the new Orpheus.

 

-Tech Insider

 

Article 1: http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/3/9663230/sennheisers-new-orpheus-headphones-will-cost-you-55000

Article 2:http://www.techinsider.io/new-sennheiser-orpheus-headphones-cost-about-55000-2015-11

 

 

I've been waiting for another headphone to relish over and I think i just found it.

The only problem is.....where am I going to get that much money

 

 

[Dubesta11]

Wow those actually look nice.

[The Official Czex]

Beautiful. 

[pagani123]

i want that so much i was waiting for a new Orpheus but no one could justify that price tag unless they want to waste money. although i could see someon buying them as an investment look at how much the originals gained in price 

[TechStyle]

Very impressed. The Orpheus is considered by many as the best headphones ever made. 

[NickTheMajin]

Are these better than beats though?

[Guest]

Are these better than beats though?

It doesn't have enough glossy plastic on it, so yeah beats are better

/sarcasm

[pagani123]

Are these better than beats though?

thought you were being serious for a second there then saw what headphones you have

[Silverfields]

Well, I know what I'm getting if I ever win the lottery

I had a rare opportunity to listen to the old Orpheus, and words can't even begin to describe how mind-blowingly AMAZING they were. I can't even begin to imagine what THESE will sound like.

If anyone here ever gets these, PLEASE do a review of them

[as96]

That thing is actually made in marble?  :huh:

[NickTheMajin]

thought you were being serious for a second there then saw what headphones you have

To be fair I do own solo 2s as well. They were basically free though.

[J. Hammond]

Are these better than beats though?

 

Speaking seriously though, Beats are better than the Orpheus if you're walking down the streets listening to MP3s on an iPod.

 

Of course, they're still not the best headphones you could get for the price, but my point still stands.

[AHaskin14]

AMAZING!!!

[Bsmith]

time to rob a bank!

 

again

[NickTheMajin]

Speaking seriously though, Beats are better than the Orpheus if you're walking down the streets listening to MP3s on an iPod.

 

Of course, they're still not the best headphones you could get for the price, but my point still stands.

There also could be a price to performance benefit of the beats if we get real technical.

$300 for studios vs 55,000 for the best headphones ever constructed.

[atrash]

Those earpads look so comfortable

[TechStyle]

I love how beautiful and industrial the design is. A+++

[SurvivorNVL]

I hate Sennheiser.  I'll have to get these in a few years ;-;  Damn them.

[Lethal Seraph]

Damn, that's one hell of a shelf piece.

[Guest Kloaked]

Are these better than beats though?

 

They're not painted red so obviously not.

[Deli]

i want that so much i was waiting for a new Orpheus but no one could justify that price tag unless they want to waste money. although i could see someon buying them as an investment look at how much the originals gained in price 

Only 300 pieces of the original Orpheus were made. They are collectable items now. The new Orpheus isn't a limited production.

[XTankSlayerX]

These are how much?

 

Excuse me?

[pagani123]

Only 300 pieces of the original Orpheus were made. They are collectable items now. The new Orpheus isn't a limited production.

ya i posted that before i read the entire article but i doubt they will be made for a long time though as there are a very limited amount of people who would drop 50k on headphones and amps

[Prysin]

i must be honest, but is it only me, or do you guys sort of prefer the old amp over the new one?

 

the new headphones looks ballin... but the marble amp simply puts me off.

[SSL]

As if the pricing of TOTL headphones wasn't already ridiculous enough, he have to endure this nonsense.