The SENNHEISER FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE EXHIBIT at WTC

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

  1. The Life

    The Life Facebook Friend

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    Not at all. I picked a date and time and the lady just put into an iPad. Seconds later I got an email confirmation.
     
  2. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    I stopped by the Soho pop up this weekend and made an appointment for tomorrow night. Otherwise it was a nice pop up shop in Soho and it seemed they would happily let you sit there all day listening to the HD800, HD800s and the 650. I think they were u suing an A&K as a source with the Senn amp so I couldn't choose my own music. But I otherwise enjoyed the 800S and the 800 less so. I also think I simply don't care for an unmodded 650. Still felt it was too laid back/veiled out of the Senn amp, but I am used to the 600 and this is probably just personal preference. Will report back aftw listening to the HE-1.
     
  3. The Life

    The Life Facebook Friend

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    [​IMG]

    I went by for my appointment tonight. Before getting to the HE1 I hung out with the staff and checked out the 650, 800, and 800S that they had in the main area. I took along my Sony Z1Rs and let the manager, who was a real cool dude, listen for a good while. We then spent most of the rest of my time there talking about how great the Z1Rs were :cool:.

    After about 15 minutes, it was off to the back room for the main event. In ways both good and bad, the HE1 was not what I was expecting.

    For the good, it had the best bass I had ever heard. It was simultaneously visceral and clean. I tried my bass torture track, Gucci Mane's "Swing my Door," and it reproduced the guttural sub-bass without stepping even an inch into the rest of the spectrum. Also, as far as pure resolution, it was pretty amazing. The manager played a thick and complex metal track for me that the HE1 disected with clean ease.

    For the bad, the HE1 was waaaay darker than I had expected and, for open headphones, the sounstange was shockingly small. It was noticeably darker and had a less-open sound than the Z1R, which is a generally warm-sounding closed-back headphone (though the most open-sounding closed-back I've heard).

    Overall it was a worthwhile way to spend 30 to 45 minutes of my day. I would recommend it for any SBAFer in NYC.

    Also the whole startup sequence was as cool as I had imagined.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2016
  4. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    Was that your laptop or did the store have a laptop with Tidal or Spotify or other streaming service so you could select tracks with which you are familiar.
     
  5. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    Is the knob still a POS?
     
  6. The Life

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    Their laptop with Tidal. I was allowed to use my AK100II with the 650/800/800S setup but didn't bother with the HE1 once I realized the laptop had Tidal.

    It had a remote so I didn't think to use the physical knob. What was kinda cool was that the remote turned the physical knob when raising/lowering the volume. I don't think I've ever seen that before.
     
  7. Dino

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    I bought a Sony surround receiver in the early 90s with that feature. It was kind of cool. :)
     
  8. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    That's why they cost so much.
     
  9. Dino

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    I wonder if the sonic darkness could be an overreaction to the brightness of the HD800 and HD700.
     
  10. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Really? I think I've seen more remote controlled motorized pots than not. It's been quite common in all the random integrated amps I've had over the years.
     
  11. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    Thanks for the impressions! I'm sure the dac inside the unit and the USB is holding it back. Anyone have any idea what dac is being used in the HE-1 amp/dac?

    Is there a time limit on the HE-1 listening session? Can you make appointments for other people along with your self? Or maybe you can share your session with others?
     
  12. Drifterxny

    Drifterxny Friend

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    I went by on Friday after work, got to hear the he-1 without an appointment after a 20 min wait, only a couple of people in the store. They have a few cds and spotifiy for the he-1. I got to listen to a bit of Miles Davis, Norah Jones, and Eagles on their cds.

    I'm going to have to disagree with The Life's above post, I think it sounded great. The sound stage is not as wide as hd800, but it's deeper and much more real. I don't consider them to be dark either, considering I was just listening to the 650s outside before going in to test the he-1, it was quite a bit brighter comparatively.

    I went home and listened to the same tracks on my Yggdrasil/zds/utopia, they are actually pretty close, I miss the spacious and airy feel of the HE-1, but the vocals on the utopia sounds just a bit sweeter although quite a bit more forward. I feel like the he-1 is similar to utopias in the way that it doesn't wow you at first but really lets you listen to the music. Hope they make an he-1 lite one day without all that marble and gimmicky gizmo that's actually affordable, the damn remote felt like it was 5 lbs and made out of marble too hah.

    I'm curious as to how the sony zr1 sounds now, does anyone know if the Sony store has it for demo?
     
  13. Drifterxny

    Drifterxny Friend

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    I went there with a friend of mine and there was another guy waiting for the he-1, they let all 3 of us in at the same time. I think we spent about 30 mins in there total and basically took turns listening, definitely could've stayed longer, but had to leave to meet friends. I'm thinking about going back for a longer session one of these days.

    Btw their new ambeo 3d audio system wasn't set up properly when I was there, so they aren't doing demos of that yet, but it would be in the same room as he-1.
     
  14. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Hrm, I'm not sure that was the best test material, in some ways. I mean, it wasn't "Jazz At The Pawn Shop", but not far off.. The Eagles should be a capital crime as test material, as a lot of it is mostly beautiful smooth mids that sound great on pretty much anything. It could be a lovely setup- though it'd be kinda hard to tell there.

    I have to agree on all the stupid marble and so forth though- a lot of the price of the HE-1 goes on making it appeal to a sort of Trump sensibility- you can probably get a better sound for quite a lot less if you don't need bling. It's not really audio gear per se, more a Statement. It'd be interesting to see a similarly-priced unit where more of the BOM was spent on functional improvements, though.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2016
  15. Drifterxny

    Drifterxny Friend

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    well it was what they had, I'd rather listen to some cds than spotify. That reminds me, they had a pink floyd cd too, but i didn't get a chance to listen to it.
     
  16. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Hah, I can only apologise for implying that you did it on purpose then, my bad.
     
  17. MuppetFace

    MuppetFace Sultana of Seafoam Green - Moderator

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    Anyone who's heard the original Orpheus get a chance to try the HE-1? Reeeeally curious to hear how the two compare.

    The HE90 is a truly amazing headphone, and I would hope the HE-1 is a worthy successor, but goddamn that price...
     
  18. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    These are going to be tough to judge. Not many will purchase and opportunities to hear them will be restricted to limited to meet like conditions, me thinks. It's damn large leap of faith to grab these uber expensive headphones, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I wanted to try them! :eek: Same for the Shangri-La's.

    What I hate about this stuff is that some guys will buy them and of course they are going to say they are the cats ass even if they suck. Others will hear them at meets/shows and dismiss them immediately because they have these crazy price tags.

    I've seen a few quick impressions posted here and there, but not from anyone I know.

    Take one for the team and grab a pair!
     
  19. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Yep, and for most of us proles it'd be hard to have a long-term listen to really get the measure of them.

    (I'll still dismissing them partly for the wasteful random marble, though.. that just pushes the price up for no real reason- it'd be hard not to!)
     
  20. MuppetFace

    MuppetFace Sultana of Seafoam Green - Moderator

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    Is the Shangri-La really $50,000 like folks on head-fi are saying ...?
    Back when HiFiMan was still developing them, they told me the price would be around $10k for both the headphones and the 300B amp, and even that seemed absurd for a HiFiMan product. They offered a straight up trade for my R10s, which I refused at the time knowing they were planning on taking them apart. Then @Tyll Hertsens apparently heard them say $15k during an interview?

    $50k for a HiFiMan product blows my mind. Sennheiser? That's bad enough, but damn, at least they have the super e-stat track record and are known for some of the best headphone engineering on the planet. HiFiMan's last stats literally fell apart and every set I've owned had crackling stators. They don't have the pedigree nor the manufacturing capabilities.

    Though if I had known then what I know now, I would have traded that R10 just to have the darn thing! LMAO.

    Of course something tells me they would have just given me an HE-1000 or something.
     

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