Marble, Gold and Leather
These are the materials that dreams are made of and that includes the dream of Sennheiser’s new Orpheus headphones.
Dark stones fall from the sky and form the building blocks for a major monument of sound. This monument is the Orpheus – headphones made with the finest materials. A new way of listening. And as with so many good things, it’s worth waiting for. Once you bring the Orpheus to life, it takes a few seconds before the amplifier tubes stand to attention and the black lid opens to release the headphones within.
The Orpheus was introduced to the world from the stage of London’s Westminster Central Hall. The presentation was preceded by English singer and Grammy Award-winner Imogen Heap and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie orchestra under the baton of Jonathan Stockhammer, performing classical pieces as well as the Orpheus song, “Tiny Human.”
With this Orpheus, Sennheiser has created another milestone in the search for the ultimate sound experience. Sennheiser set out on this search for the perfect sound under the motto “reshaping audio excellence.” But really, it’s a journey which began decades before. For 70 years, Sennheiser has stood for German engineering, for quality products, excellence in sound and unconventional innovation. Sennheiser has shaped the future of audio.
The legacy of the first Orpheus was taken to the next stage, and the result is the new Orpheus. Each of the 6,000 individual parts in the new headphones is the product of manufacturing excellence, selected and processed by hand. This is work which demands precise craftsmanship. The headphones cover an ultra-wide frequency range of between 8Hz and 100kHz. It would take a bat and an elephant together to perceive the extremes of this spectrum. The distortion level of just 0.01 percent at a sound pressure level of 100dB is the lowest ever measured in a sound reproduction system.
The headphones use gold-vaporized ceramic transducers to guarantee outstanding electrical and acoustic performance. The vacuum tubes are wrapped in high-quality quartz bulbs to prevent any sonic influence. The 99.9% silver-plated copper cables ensure there is no loss in quality. This is technology which makes the ultimate sound experience possible.
But it’s not just the technology which is first class; the design, too, uses only the finest materials. The result: a work of design art. The ear pads are made from leather and velour. Each control dial is made from a single piece of brass beneath a layer of chrome. The housing of the Orpheus is made from fine Carrara marble which can withstand any vibration.
(Author: Simon E. Fuchs /Photos: Sennheiser)
