The SENNHEISER FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE EXHIBIT at WTC

Discussion in 'General Audio Discussion' started by Kunlun, Oct 15, 2016.

  1. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

    Pyrate IEMW
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,729
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Meow Parlour
    I'm honestly not sure what's going on here (at mall/train station by the World Trade Center), but it'll be fully operational soon!
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Ryu

    Ryu Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2015
    Likes Received:
    480
    Trophy Points:
    93
    inb4 new headphone reveal
     
  3. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

    Anti-SBAF PSYOPS Banned
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,532
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    This is clearly just their tribute to the HD650.
     
  4. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NYC
  5. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NYC
    Looks like it's open from Oct 23 – Mar 19. We should meet up sometime to check it out.

    https://www.westfield.com/westfieldworldtradecenter/events/all-events/enter-the-soundscape/34363
     
  6. take

    take Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    185
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Suffolk County, NY
    I'm definitely interested in checking it out. HE-1 will be fun to check out.
     
  7. Drifterxny

    Drifterxny Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    84
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    NYC
  8. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2016
    Likes Received:
    4,521
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    London, UK
    Oh christ, the best my local Westfield gargantu-mall can manage is a Bose shop. I went in there once and listened to the rubbish headphones, which you could barely hear over the boring clock/radio/speaker things playing shit R+B.

    Downside.. brand showrooms tend to sell everything at full RRP, so it's usually where you go to look at $product before buying it elsewhere. I wonder if they will have anything good, or it will mostly be the Orpheus demo, and then all 630, Momentum, a few earbuds etc., like the Sennheiser stand at shows..

    Oh, and @Kunlun - that's no moon.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2016
  9. Drifterxny

    Drifterxny Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    84
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    NYC
    if someone does get a chance to stop by soon, please inquire and post about the process of getting an appointment to audition the he-1, thx
     
  10. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2015
    Likes Received:
    781
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Roswell, GA
    I say we all sell some of our organs on the black market and chip in for an HE-1. Who's in?
     
  11. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2016
    Likes Received:
    4,521
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    London, UK
    I do fear that you might not be as whelmed as you expect to be by it. A lot of the price seems to have gone on making it Donald Trumpware, all shiny and blingy. While I am sure it sounds nicer than my HD650s, I am willing to bet that it's not as much nicer as the price multiple (roughly 110x at RRP) would suggest. Obviously, it's fun to have such a crazy system available to demo, though.

    I suspect that if you gave me an Orpheus-sized headphone gear budget, that I'd be spending it on very different options.
     
  12. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NYC
    I'm gonna go to westfield WTC to check out the soundscape during lunch today. The popup store in SoHo seems cooler though, so we should set up a date to check that out :D. More info can be found on the HF thread.

    http://www.head-fi.org/t/823563/the-future-of-audio-pops-up-in-new-york-city#post_12951369

    I will ask, unless it's open audition.
     
  13. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NYC
    Okay so I went earlier and the display area was pretty small. They had the following headphones: hd800, hd800S, hd650, hd569, momentum wireless, urbanite, urbanite Xl, HD 630VB, IE800, and maybe a few more that I forgot. They also had the IE800 and another pair of iems as well. The hd800/s and hd650 did not have cables and were not plugged into anything, although a hdvd 800 was on display (and not plugged in). Despite there being a lot of people at the mall, it was actually not that loud in there because of the vast open space. I would have liked Sennheiser to have something to play the hd650/800/800s at least.

    I spent some time listening to the hd 630vb and played around with the bass settings (+/- 5db around 50hz). At the minimal bass, the headphones were pretty thin sounding and lacking in bass, but had fairly clean mids and treble. At 2/3rds of the way through the rotation I found the bass to be at a pretty good level for me. At maxed out bass, it was bloated and boomy. They were fairly comfortable when I took my glasses off, but would not get a complete seal with them on. At $500, I think they're fairly expensive and most people will probably keep them on one bass setting anyways (Beyer Custom One Pro anyone?).

    The HD569 were okay but had too much bass for me, and probably a treble peak somewhere. I would have liked to hear the new HD599 but they were not available there. Maybe the SoHo store will have it.

    I've already tried the urbanite and urbanite XL in the past and wasn't too impressed with them. The non-XL or the regular ones actually sounded better than the XL, but not as comfortable.

    The HE-1 is on display there, but is only available for listening at the SoHo store. You have to make an appointment in person either at westfield WTC or at the SoHo store.
     
  14. take

    take Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    185
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Suffolk County, NY
    That's annoying. So you'd have to make a trip there and then come back at a later date when you get an appointment. Kind of kills the "oh hey I'll just stop by that pop-up store" aspect. I guess it's worth it for a chance to hear an HE-1 on the east coast, though.
     
  15. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NYC
    Yeah it kinda sucks. I forgot to ask how long the appointment is or if you can share the appointment with other people. I can't imagine them getting too booked, but who knows? There's gotta be some rich suckers in NYC who would actually buy a system.
     
  16. take

    take Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    185
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Suffolk County, NY
    Yeah, or it could be something like they only have it open during specific times, so it's limited in that way. Who knows, though, maybe it's easy.

    Also, having the HD800, HD800S, and HD650 without a cable is bokers. No idea what they're thinking with that one.
     
  17. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NYC
    Some of the other headphones didn't have cables but I believe you can ask the reps there for the cables. Not completely sure for the high end stuff though. Either way, it would be a terrible experience plugged into a smartphone anyways.
     
  18. The Life

    The Life Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2016
    Likes Received:
    168
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    The Bronx
    I'll walk over and check out the one inside the dinosaur skeleton during lunch or maybe after work today.
     
  19. The Life

    The Life Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2016
    Likes Received:
    168
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    The Bronx
    Went last night. It was way smaller than I had imagined and I was shocked that it was smack dab in the middle of the walkway. It took me a while to find it because I had assumed it would be one of the shops on the sides when all I had to do was look down.

    For an audiophile it was kinda of a useless experience given the fact that it is in the open in the middle of train station with no seats and so you can't really listen to any headphones for more than a few seconds. I did see them sell three Momentums in the 10 minutes I was there so I guess it's good business.

    On the bright side, I got a chance to sign up to listen to the HE1 on Monday.
     
  20. take

    take Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    185
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Suffolk County, NY
    Was it difficult to get an appointment? (Was it heavily booked, or were there lots of open slots?)
     

Share This Page