What it's like listening to a $50,000 pair of headphones

Image: Sennheiser

You may think you’ve got the best headphones in the world. But there’s a good chance that they don’t stack up against the new headphones developed by Sennheiser that cost $50,000 and that were on display this year at CES 2016. Popular tech YouTuber Jonathan Morrison this week posted a video of himself and fellow YouTubers Marques Brownlee and Austin Evans trying out these $50,000 headphones and it sounds like they live up to the hype, even if none of them were really willing to lay down the money needed to actually buy them.

So what exactly makes these headphones worth $50,000? Here are some tidbits from Sennheiser’s website:

“The Orpheus is the first electrostatic headphone with a Cool Class A MOS-FET high voltage amplifier integrated into the ear cups.”
“Its amplifier sits on a housing crafted from glass, and a solid block of Carrara marble. This luxurious natural stone—the type made famous by Michelangelo’s Renaissance sculptures—lends beauty but also prevents structure-borne noise.”
“2.4-micrometer platinum-vaporised diaphragms are employed as their size was shown by Sennheiser’s research to deliver optimal sound reproduction.”
“Outstanding electrical and acoustical performance is ensured through gold-vaporised ceramic transducers, while 99.9 % silver-plated OFC cables are used for optimal conductivity.”

You get the idea. These headphones belong in a museum, not on your head.

Nonetheless, Sennheiser did take them out of their case and let Morrison and friends listen to them. Given their immense value, I was personally surprised that they used the Eagles’ “Hotel California” as the sample music — really, with headphones like this I expect some Mahler or at least some John Coltrane.

But no matter: The YouTubers were very impressed by what they heard. Some choice quotes from the video:

“I’m wrecked.”
“It’s like the audio gods are licking my ears.”
“OK, so that’s what music sounds like.”

So… it sounds like they’re pretty good.

Check out the whole video below.

This article talks about:

CES 2016

Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.