Continue from my previous review about the Yamaha HP-50A here it would be more fun to have the higher tier of Yamaha headphone for this comparison.
In today post, I have the Yamaha HP-1 which is well known for the top tier Yamaha headphones line up. I personally never had any experience with this kind of headphone. This Yamaha HP-1 is the vintage audiophile headphone and it using the Ortho-dynamic driver same as the previous headphone review.
So let's begin.
Despite being a headphones for an electro organ like the HP-50A, this Yamaha HP-1 is intended for professional user, either it is for studio recording or listening to the music.
There is a signature that catch my attention, I personally don't know who signature on it, but I believe it is quite important person that make Yamaha put this signature on this headphone.
This Yamaha HP-1 is in second hand condition. I bought directly from US with total cost plus shipping is US$150.
This headphone condition is in near perfect condition. This headphone is all plastic material. The only fabric is on the head rest band adjuster surrounded with thin plastic band. This is quite scary because I found a crack on it.
Again for this vintage headphones, the plastic surprisingly doesn't have any sign of wear or crack except the thin head band surrounding the fabric that I mentioned above.
What surprise me is the leather pads is still in very good condition, like new in my opinion without any sign of wear out at all.
If I compare the driver diameter of this Yamaha HP-1 to the Yamaha HP-50A, the HP-1 has bigger diameter driver. It is 7 cm diameter and they share the same construction, which is an Ortho-dynamic headphones which I already explain this construction in the previous Yamaha HP-50A review.
During the test, I am using the Bottlehead Crack headphone amplifier. Although this Yamaha HP-1 is more sensitive to drive compares to the Yamaha HP-50A, but when I connect this headphone directly to internal DAP amplifier, this will not drive the headphone in full potential.
Yamaha HP-1 is light and comfortable headphones to wear. The drivers of the headphone barely touch to my ears. It will not having any force to my ears at all.
In summarized, my feeling when wearing this Yamaha HP-1 is the same like I wearing the Yamaha HP-50A before.
Then comes to the sound performance.
This Yamaha HP-1 shared same sound signature with the Yamaha HP-50A but with clearer and dynamic presentation. This Yamaha HP-1 vocal sound more natural. It is far from dry sound. It is slightly warm and have a smooth presentation.
While in Yamaha HP-50A, there is blur presentation in detail of the music, it is just like having a thick blanket that attenuate the music, but in this Yamaha HP-1 is much more open. Especially the detail is more pronouce and the high frequency can reach higher without causing fatigue on my ears for long listening session.
There is some flaw in the mid range frequency which I found some peaks that cause the sound edgy.
The bass surprisingly loud enough for this small drivers, although I find it roll off and less tight, but it is more control than the Yamaha HP-50A. The bass in this Yamaha HP-1 more solid with good timing.
Next, I am comparing this Yamaha HP-1 to the Sennheiser HD600. I believe they are in the same class but on different era.
In my opinion this Yamaha HP-1 still has so many flaw. This vintage headphone cannot perform as good as the recent dynamic headphone like the Sennheiser HD600.
The Sennheiser HD600 vocal presentation is warmer and more airy. The other frequency also pronounce far clearer with overall balance in sound level. This what makes Yamaha HP-1 still cannot compete at all. The vocal of Yamaha HP-1 is smooth and more natural. This is the strong point of this headphone. But for the other music presentation besides the vocal is just like at the back of the vocal itself. Less detail and dynamic presentation compares to the Sennheiser HD600.
Sennheiser HD600 is far easy to drive. This is the benefit of recent dynamic driver that find on almost every headphone today.
When I write this review, I feels like I am a die fan of this Sennheiser HD600.
This is not without any reason.
This simple review for Yamaha HP-1 sound performance is way too far to compete with the Sennheiser HD600. This Yamaha HP-1 is a vintage headphone and the Ortho-dynamic headphone at that era couldn't beat any recent dynamic headphone like this Sennheiser HD600 at all.
Anyway, I notice there is no Yamaha headphone right now. Where are they now?
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Hi, Thanks for your review and must be a lot of research to find the HP-1 in amazing condition. I purchased them in the early 80's and used them until they broke sometime in the early 2004. One thought is that the time could have degraded the polymers in the drive units and corrosion could possibly be affecting the wires in the orthodynamic drivers. These days I much prefer Over-ear headphones. I recall the sound of the HP-1 as having remarkable sound staging , imaging, and detail. The tonal balance was very good and timing exceptional. Apparently improving on this costs $5000...Ouch..Cheers!
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