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If You Can Only Have One Headphone...
By
dcha12
mdrr10
0
Jan 25, 2019
I've got a bunch of headphones, and use different ones in different circumstances. However, if I had to come down to one and one only, it would be the Sennheiser HE90. You need a better amp than the HEV90 to get the most out of it, but so far it's the best I've heard.
dcha12
461
Jan 25, 2019
mdrr10Er, I'm sorry but I'm scratching my head at this post. The HE90 (the original Sennheiser Orpheus) comes as a amp and headphone unit.
I have NEVER heard of anyone who wants to take the headphones off of the unit and try it on various amps. This is ignoring the fact that electrostat amps are hard to find and expensive, and will likely not yield more synergistic results (since the HE90's amp unit is designed specifically to work with the HE90 headphomes).
Oh, and let's not forget the ridiculous price AND rarity of the HE90.
mdrr10
0
Jan 27, 2019
dcha12Actually, there are more headphones than amps in existence, which could be due to the HEV90 having two headphone jacks. Further, Sennheiser made 25 of the HE90 headphones (but no new amps) in 2004 and sold them through Meier Audio in Germany to members of Head-Fi. That's how I got mine. The HE90 uses a bias voltage of 500 volts, but does work well with any Stax amp with pro (580 volt) bias. There are still amps made today with 500 volt and 580 volt options for both Sennheiser and Stax cans, but those are few and far between and the 500 volt bias is not really necessary (although a Sennheiser to Stax connection adapter is). In any event, something like HeadAmp's Blue Hawaii SE makes the HE90 sing. It's a much better amp than the HEV90 for the headphone and is available commercially. It's not that the HEV90 is a bad amp (it indeed sounds very good with the headphone), but it tends to limit dynamics and fast transients. The sound is too "tubey" for me (and I love tube amps). My own amp is a custom build. All put together at a fraction of the cost of the new Sennheiser Orpheus headphone/amp that recently came out ($55K retail in the US).
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