A 360-degree sensory experience which begins with aesthetics and offers the best in sound quality. Sennheiser unveiled the HE 1 in Milan, the highpoint of its range, the best that the German manufacturer founded in 1945 can offer music lovers. Those who love it so much as to spend 61 thousand euros.

We are looking at a masterpiece. The first aspect to emerge is aesthetics. The amplifier is encased in a Carrara marble base more or less the size of a record player. From the front of the stone emerge the analogue dials that allow users to select the source and volume. But it is on top that the HE 1 gives its best. Eight red-lit valves rise up from a steel base. Alongside these are the actual headphones, which are held in a metal case with a glass cover. At a touch of a button the cover rises to allow the listening ritual to begin.

Once the eyes have had their feast, it’s the turn of the ears. The marble contains eight DACs which convert digital audio to analogue and then pass it to the valves, which give the sound warmth, clarity and crispness as only analogue can. In fact once the headphones are on, the listener enters another dimension. The first reaction is always the same: even with a track you have listened to hundreds of times, details emerge which you have never noticed before. This is also due to the frequencies reached, which range from 8 to 100 thousand hertz, considering that the perfect human (who doesn’t exist) hears only between 20 to 20 thousand hertz.    

According to the manufacturer, the idea of the HE 1 is to “demonstrate Sennheiser’s technical capacity”. The system has been made by a dedicated laboratory which was given “the utmost freedom in terms of budget, and no limits or restrictions”. There are no precious elements on board, but there are six thousand components which have all been assembled by hand, the majority of which are customisable. It is no coincidence that it takes two months to produce and up to now “between 200 and 300 units have been sold, we don’t provide precise figures”: A good result considering the price of the custom-built unit.

However, in order to enjoy the high quality of the HE 1, it is necessary to give it suitable sources. Vinyl is good, providing an almost physical fragrance which is really difficult to reproduce with other headphones. With digital, the choice needs to go to so-called Studio Master files, non-compressed formats which can be purchased online or listened to in streaming from platforms such as Tidal or Qabuz. Connection to a CD player can also be considered but it needs to be of a sufficient level as to take full advantage of the qualities of the HE 1. To do otherwise would be a real pity.