Sennheiser HE90 - "Orpheus"

WARNING

Please Consider those measurements with the usual grain of salt. Those are carefully hand made by myself on my own somewhat amateurish rig. Y axis on FR plots is choosen to emphasis variations . FR are averaged from several takes with different positionning. This Orpheus is @3X0 's pair amplified by a DIY T2. My rig is designed to optimize the seal , hence maybe a better bass extension than in some other measurements here or there but more distorsion down low. Could be not accurate. Use with care.



FR Left - Right - Left vs Right







Distorsion Left & Right

 

Impulse Response Left & Right





CSD Left & Right





Spectro Left & Right





Impressions :

Thks to @3X0, I had the opportunity to listen and measure this legendary headphone a few days ago. I had to say i was excited to listen to it . it's kind of rare ( 300 pairs made I think ? ) and it's an expensive toy. I can't thank enough 3x0 for this ! He let me discover this Orpheus is very good and silent conditions with my own music. We used his Yggdrasil + DIY T1 amplifier with this HE90. I brought my SRX+ and my HE60 to have a reference point i know perfectly and @knerian brought his 009 and 007 as well

- The first thing i noticed is how smooth and linear is the FR. no brightness or coloration jumped at my face. I was expecting a euphonic and kinda romantic sound but it's not that true imo. For sure, mids are where the magic is but the overall response is really balanced and extended. It's not impressive. it's kinda natural I'd say. HE60 and 009 sounds both brighter than the HE90 and somewhat a bit off tonally speaking and relatively to the orpheus.

- Soundstage is huge "a la HD800" but more naturally presented than the HD800 . it fades more naturally in all directions whereas the HD800 seems to recreate a kind of artificial bubble around the listener.

- With most modern music I tried, I don't think the HE90 sounds better than my HE60. I think both headphones share some family traits and sound noticeably different from Stax headphones. They convey a kind of Sennheiser weight whereas stax headphones sound "lighter" . The HE60 is more forward and more energetic than the HE90. more fun with more bass impact . Extension is similar though. I can safely say I'd choose my HE60 over the HE90 for most genre. HE90 sounds a bit soft and bass is a bit diffuse.

- As soon as I listened to classical and especially strings, the magic appeared. this damn headphones reproduce Classical like no other in my opinion. Never heard classical sounds so right and natural in any headphone. My HE60 is somewhat good for chamber music for example but fails significantly to give me that sense of "grandeur" the bigger Orpheus offers. I would have compared to my HD800 though because I know it beats my HE60 for grandeur and orchestral music reproduction.

- it is NOT the best headphone I ever heard.... and that's a teasing

I can't give much more impressions in such a short time, especially against Staxes but maybe @knerian will be able to give his own impressions.

Overally it was a great listening session and the Orpheus deserves his reputation.

 

A few Comparisons :

HE60 vs HE90



HD600 vs HE90



HE90 vs SR009



HE90 vs SR-Omega



HE90 vs SR-007mkI

 

For the Record : @Marvey measurements on Changstar (2012) :

 

Honestly, it's a too short listening session. I can't honestly tell you what would be my preference without much more experience at home. I loved the HE90 for all strings. i'd say it was maybe a toss up between HE90 and SR009 for piano and I definitely think HE60 is really good for chamber music whereas the HE90 excels at larger orchestral stuff. That's all what I can honestly say. You could maybe have another opinion.

it's even more impossible to give any feedback on the DIY T2. I focused mostly on Headphones