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Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG is a privately-owned German Professional audio company famous for its wide list of headphone families and the microphones it offers.
Sennheiser's international headquarters are located in Wedemark, Germany (near Hannover). Their United States headquarters are located in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The company's production facilities are found in Germany, Ireland, and the USA.
The company was founded in 1945 by Professor Dr. Fritz Sennheiser (b. 1912). In 1982 he handed the management over to his son, Jörg Sennheiser. Since 1991, Jörg Sennheiser has been honorary professor and has held lectures on electroacoustics at the University of Hanover since 1981.
Notable Headphone products
- Sennheiser HD 400/ eH Class Headphones (437/457/477/497) (Supra-aural): Marketed as a "streetwear" series, for portable and home use. The lower models, such as the HD 457 and 477, are sealed and seem to be tuned for more bass, targeted mainly to younger users and "audio neophants". The flagship HD 497 operates under an open-air principle, though it shares the same "streetwear" form-factor as its lower-end cousins. This series is now accompanied by a collection of similar low-priced circumaural headphones (HD 415/435/465/485) and the eH series, marketed for DJ and studio monitoring use (eH 150/250/350).
- Sennheiser CX Class (Canalphone): Currently, only the Sennheiser CX 300 is offered at a suggested retail of $70 USD. This is Sennheiser's first canalphones targeted to MP3 player users. Similar to the Creative EP630 and the Sharp MD33 (and based on design FOSTER 382326 *), The canalphones come with three sleeves for three diffrent ear sizes, but lacks a carrying case.
- Sennheiser PXC Class (150/250/300) (Supra-aural): A family of supra-aural noise-cancelling headphones with active noise control. Although the supra-aural form-factor may or may not cancel out noise entirely, it can be used whether or not the noise-cancelling feature is turned on.
]* Sennheiser HD 500/600 Class (580/600/650) (Circumaural): A fairly expensive family of open-air headphones, all targeted towards audiophiles. All three models (from $269-$549) share the same shape, although the higher-priced models feature better build materials, drivers and driver enclosures. The HD580's sound is characterized by a laid back, speaker like presentation and a treble roll off. The HD650's in particular is identified by its emphasis on bass response. Another series, the HD 515/555/595 ($109-289), also has highly regarded sound quality while featuring a more "upfront" sound presentation.*
- Sennheiser HE60/HE90 "Orpheus" Class: The HE90 along with its complement HEV90 tube-based amplifier was designed as a "cost-no-object" electrostatic headphone system, and is regarded as one of the finest audio reproduction systems available regardless of type. The HE90/HEV90 combination originally retailed at a price of $15,000 (with the headphone and amplifier each commanding $7500 of that price), and the HE90 headphone still easily commands a price surpassing $5,000. The HE60 and its complement solid-state amplifier the HEV70 (referred to as the Baby Orpheus combination by some) was made with more economical materials and design for an electrostatic headphone system that sold for a more reasonable price. Both setups are long discontinued and only available on the used market.
Measured performance
An independent test site shows the Sennheisser HD650 to have an exceptionally good low frequency response, and other models, such as the HD500 or PX30 to be less flat to varying degrees*. Bass response measurements are particularly revealing on headphones as many manufacturers make extravagant claims to the effect of 'frequency response 4Hz to 25kHz'. Claims such as these are of little or no practical value for they only imply that the headphones are capable of 'some' output down to 4Hz regardless of the level of harmonic distortion or attenuation. In reality, very few headphones are actually flat to 20Hz. Measurements of high frequency response are hard to interpret. Because of the equal-loudness curve headphones with a completely flat high frequency response (such as Etymotic's ER-4B) will likely sound unnatural when used to listen to normal stereo recordings as they are equalized to for use with special binaural materials.
External links
- Official site (German, English, French and Spanish)
- Official USA site (English)
Articles lacking sources | Companies of Germany | Electronics companies | Consumer electronics | High end audio | Microphones
"Sennheiser"