Sennheiser Brings Back Its Legendary Orpheus Headphones With $55,000 Price Tag

Sennheiser's Orpheus headphones are a legendary product in the personal audio industry, and have achieved iconic status in the years that have passed since its launch in 1991. Back then, Sennheiser had given its engineers instructions to develop the best headphones in the world, without worrying about the price. The result was the Orpheus HE90, a $16,000 (approximately Rs. 10,50,000 at current rates) pair of electrostatic over-ear headphones that were built in a limited run of only 300 units. The pair came with its own tube-amplifier, and represented the absolute pinnacle of analogue audio back then. Today, the value has appreciated, and buying a used pair of Orpheus HE90 headphones can set you back double that amount.

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The German personal audio specialist has now brought back the legendary Orpheus name, albeit with major upgrades to both the headphones and the dedicated amplifier. In development for over a decade, the new Sennheiser Orpheus headphones are hand-made in Germany using over 6,000 components including gold-vaporised ceramic electrodes, platinum-vaporised diaphragms, and Italian marble for the amplifier housing.

The Sennheiser Orpheus headset is notable because of its digital amplification and signal conversion system, which now takes place within the headset itself. It has a total of eight digital-analogue converters to pull out the best from your audio. Although nothing prevents you from using the headphones with a smartphone, it's important to note that headphones such as this are built for use with high-end components, so you may want to send your lossless audio files through a more capable setup.

Sennheiser has announced that the new Orpheus headphones will be produced from 2016 onwards, although production will not be limited to a single run. The company will produce no more than 250 units a year. The price tag goes up as well; the new Orpheus headphones will be priced at EUR 50,000 (approximately Rs. 36,00,000 or $55,000). Audiophiles with the money to spare: you know what you want next.