Sennheiser HE1

This is it. The best headphone in the world, that happens to cost as much as a fully spec’d Tesla Model 3. I had high expectations, but also didn’t know what to expect. CanJam allows attendees, who’ve registered in advance, to have a 10 minute listening session with the HE1.

Even the location of the HE1 is an appropriate prelude for the headphone. The listening room is located in an exclusive room, away from the main convention hall, so mere commoners can’t locate the HE1 by accident. Arriving in the secluded room, I saw the HE1 in the middle of the room, with a Sennheiser rep standing next to it, like a body guard protecting a principle.

The first thing I noticed about the HE1 was how it was designed as an art piece, the imported Italian marble encasing, metal capped tube enclosures, adorned with perfectly finished knobs and a wonderful symmetry. The headphones themselves were surprisingly light, but were very comfortable.

After the demonstration I wanted to quantify why it sounded so perfect. I can only go by the experience and my technical knowledge in acoustics for an explanation. The sound that came out of the headphones it is very natural, the detail is unsurpassed to anything I have heard. One reason for this natural ambience being produced may be because recordings that they played were on Sennheiser high resolution microphones in the very professional studio. I believe the source is extremely important when listening to music. People are paying premium for high sample rate music however if one decodes the music, one can find that the source is not from a studio recording but it is a copied track with only a high sample rate. All the high frequencies above 20 kHz have been clipped.

There is debate that frequencies above 20 MHz are inaudible so why have equipment such as microphones and headphones cater for such high frequencies. Some audiophiles think this is another marketing gimmick. I disagree with this notion. One reason that Sennheiser are so natural because the source is impeccable, and that the headphone translates it without any discoloration, distortion, etc. The transient signals from low to high frequency above the 20 Mhz level is are extremely well controlled, the brain processes these signals from the headphones to the two separate receptors i.e. the ears hence producing a very natural sound, as though the recording artists are playing in front of you. This is what the Sennheiser has achieved with HE-1. If you have the opportunity to listen to these headphones, please do so because it is the reference or the standard that other headphones or in ear monitors should follow.

After this demonstration I interviewed Wally Kilgore Area Sales Manager for Sennheiser, where we had a brief discussion about the HE1 and what technologies have trickled down to more accessible products. It’s a short interview please see the links.