Tag: headphones

Sennheiser’s $55,000 headphone: A wonder or luxury?
The German company Sennheiser has yet again surprised us all with their top of the line headphones that are definitely going to break the bank. The next generation Orpheus headphones or “Orpheus Reborn”, as the company calls it, cost $55,000 per pair. Sennheiser promises you to “transform music from something you listen to, into something you live in.”

Sennheiser first introduced the best headphones in the world in 1991 called the Orpheus. The company limited it to only 300 units and priced it at $16,000. And today, you’d be lucky to find those headphones double that price now. Keeping the same name and the philosophy behind their product, Sennheiser introduced the new and better Orpheus model, putting a mighty $55,000 price tag on it. This time, the headphones are not limited in production numbers, but the company says it is capable of building only 250 per year due to the time each unit requires to be built.

So what are the features of these $55k headphones that make them worth their price?
- Electrostatic Earphones
- Designed with Carrara marble
- Audio range from 8 Hz to more than 100k Hz.
- The lowest distortion in a sound reproduction system measured yet; 0.01% at 1 kHz, 100 dB SPL.
- A platinum-vaporized diaphragm which is 2.4 microns thick.
Image Credit: BusinessInsider

The headphones took more than a decade to be created. They are made with such finesse and perfection that the engineers claim that these headphones will provide you with the cleanest sound you’ve ever listened to. So why do these headphones cost $55,000, and are they actually worth it?

Comes to Life with a Touch

Orpheus headphones give you a luxury experience from the moment you press the power button. The whole thing comes to life as the buttons slowly pop out, the analog amplifier tubes come out ready to be used and finally the box’s lid opens revealing the headphones.

Created with uncompromised Materials

Orpheus promises you the perfection you’ve never experienced. The company didn’t compromise on the materials they used to create the headphones. These are the first electrostatic headphones that use cool class A MOS-FET amplifiers eliminating any noise or distortion in the sound signal. The diaphragms are just 2.4 micrometers thick, made from vaporized platinum. It sits between two gold-vaporized ceramic electrodes, coated with a layer of gold to ensure perfect conductivity. The cables are made from oxygen free copper, plated with silver and other materials to eliminate any noise.

How does it Sound?

To put it straight, it sounds like heaven. People who have actually listened through these luxurious $55,000 headphones claim that they’ve never heard anything like it before. You become aware of every beat, every instance of music that you never knew existed. The Orpheus really provides you with the best audio sounds ever.

So the question still remains, are these headphones actually worth $55,000? And the answer is yes. Each and every component exists for a reason; it is a beauty with a purpose. And it all combines to give you the best hearing experience of your life. But should you spend $55,000 on a set of headphones? That depends on if you really appreciate high fidelity audio. If you can afford to spend $55k on headphones, then sure, go ahead.

Cover Image: YouTube
November 13, 2015
Beats selling cheap plastic headphones at premium rate might not be true

Beats is a name that has achieved great credibility among the music lovers, the company also provides some of the top notch headphones which has been loved by its fans and widely accepted. That is what makes it so special, and popular.

Recently, the company was criticised for selling cheap plastic headphones at high price, which otherwise would have costed only $17 to manufacture — and definitely not worth the $200 that we spend on it.

See Also: Beats is selling cheap $17 plastic headphones at $200

The engineer who tore down the headphone, claimed that Apple Beats by Dr. Dre is simply a rip off. He performed a complete tear down of the said headphone and concluded that the company is using cheap materials in manufacturing process, which includes adding metal components inside the body to increase weight.

However, it is now being speculated whether the headphone that Avery Louie ripped apart might just be a Knockoff. He didn’t mention the model of the headphone that was dismantled, and core77 believes that it was a discontinued version of Beats Solo HD headphones.

According to the article posted on Core77, there are several reasons that points out the claimed teardown was based on the fake beats product.

A reddit user also posted a detailed comparison of a fake beats headphones and a real one.

Furthermore, the Redditor also explained why Beats headphones use those metal components.

“Those metal parts aren’t just to add weight; they serve a functional, structural purpose as both the headband extensions and the hinge,” vantt1 said.

The ripoff nowadays have packaging and overall design, which are very smilar to the read product. It often succeed to fool even a trained engineer into believing he or she is dealing with the real thing.

One thing that would have indicated that the product that Louie ripped off is a fake one is absense of additional speakers. The product that was dismantled has 4 drivers, while the teardown only had 2.

This particular detail seems to be a strong indicator that the pair of Beats headphones used to demonstrate how the company is selling $17 headphones at $200, is completly false.

However, if the price set by the company for a pair of headphone is justified is still unclear. Beats fans will always jump in favor of their daily companion of ‘beats,’ while others would still question the quality vs money they are paying for this product.

We would like to point out to the LifeHacker’s post about beats headphones again, which pointed out that it might simply be a garbage.

Don’t forget to watch the videos, explaining the difference between real and fake beats headphones.

Image: Flickr, aqeelkolla95

June 28, 2015
Beats is selling cheap $17 plastic headphones at $200

Beats, which is often recognized by its brand symbol ‘b,’ is nearly impossible to be spotted near you, when you are on a train, flying on a plane or walking down the street. The brand got wider exposure when it fell under the Apple brand name.

So what it really is, that they are selling at steep price of $199? Is it only the name and how it is presented to us, or there really are some premium materials inside which is worth the price? After reading the analysis, you would probably conclude that – beats by Dre headphones are simply garbage.

According to some new in-depth analysis published over on medium by PopMech — The headphones are incredibly cheaply made. The compnay cuts corner everywhere it can; gluing pieces together instead of using screws, and reducing the amount of tooling wherever possible.

After a precise teardown of a $199 beats headphone, Avery Louie figured out that they use metals to increase the weight of the earphone, 1/3 of the entire weight of the headphones comes from metal weight. This is somewhat common trick to make products feel more substantive.

Louie figures that a pair of Beats headphone, which claims about precision sound design, the headphones use freaking off-the-shelf drivers! What is most shocking of them all is, the entire cost to produce a pair of headphone is only $17 — with most expensive of everything that they offer, being the outer package, manual, soft case, box and sleeve run that costs $7.

So why they are selling this cheap product at a insane price of $199? Mostly, they spend most of the extra $$ on agressive marketing and making consumers think that they are opting for a premium product, which is totally worth every buck.

At the end, they are saving a hefty amount of money that shows directly into their Quarterly profit charts.

Dr Dre once mused, “if you aint in it for the money then get out the game.” So, this is what he meant.

June 20, 2015