Sennheiser HD-414

[70salesguy]

When I was the 70salesguy, I lived at home. As a result, I often listened to my stereo after my parents had gone to bed. To maintain domestic harmony, I needed a good pair of headphones. Being the 70salesguy, I was able to take any pair that I was interested in home and give them a good evaluation.

Of all the cans that I evaluated, I liked the Sennheiser HD-414 best. Either Koss or Pioneer made a simular lightweight pair that looked much better, but to me, the HD-414 had the best sound and most comfort.

Years went on, and I lived in an apartment. Of course, this meant that for late night listening, cans were again required. So the HD-414s served again. Eventually, the foam ear pad cushions started to deteriorate and fall apart. Eventually, they were just shreds.

I looked and was unable to find any replacements, so I made a pair out of foam rubber. They didn't look very pretty, but they worked!

Years pass by. Not much need for headphones after I had my own house.

So a few weeks ago I was sorting through the 70salesguy Museum of Modern Electronics (exit at Dungeon Level) and run across the box containing my old Sennheiser HD-414s. Tested them out and they still sound good!

Now, thanks to the miracle of the Internet and eBay, I was able to purchase replacement pads for them. The original pads were grey, as seen on the front of the box. The replacements are yellow, and though they certainly are better suited for the purpose, they don't look that much different from the pads I made!

I have also posted a sales brochure for the Sennheisers that was in the box as well!

Does anyone else like these as well as I do?

 

[carbonman]

I had a pair of HD-414 cans that I talked my father into buying as my birthday present in 1969 or 70, I believe. He was a little freaked out at the 'hefty' $30 price, but they were far and away the best headphones I'd ever listened to. The cables were a real problem and eventually I had reliability problems with the drivers. They still rank as one of my favorite headphones of all time. BTW, I thought the HD-424's sucked in comparison.
I bought a pair of JBL 4311 monitors about 8 years later, so what do I know.

 

[10seventy9]

I have a set of 414's that I am using for headphone monitoring of myself against the house mix in a musical I am playing guitar for. They're one of my favorite headphones. Not the strongest bass response, but they're very open sounding and definitely not weak in the bass. I also have a set of (if I am remembering right) HD440's as well. I have replaced the ear pads on both pairs, and I have actually replaced the cable and a driver on the 440's. I used to work in radio, and I blew a driver when I opened up the mic and forgot and turned my head right against the mic, which fed back on the air, hurt my ear, and blew the driver, all in the course of a couple seconds. My ear rang for several days, LOL. The 440's have a little better bass response, but I don't think they sound quite as nice as the 414's, and they definitely aren't as comfortable to wear as the 414's.

 

[wualta]

My experience was very similar to the OP's. I wandered into the college music library in Athens GA and was presented with several AR turntables hooked up to mostly Fisher tube amps and a wide variety of headphones. There was one that caught my eye immediately because, as they say on Sesame Street, it wasn't like the others. Didn't take long to figure out that it had something special going though it looked cheap 'n' goofy.

It soon became apparent that not only was it special, it represented a complete rethinking of what a headphone should do and be. Consider:

It was among the first, if not the first, to show that a headphone driver should be a ruggedized microphone element, not a shrunk-down cone speaker.

It showed that a headphone needn't be big and heavy, because it showed there was no need to clamp an airtight seal around the ears to achieve decent bass. This opened the door to further miniaturization and the Age Of The Headphone in world audio culture. Before the 414, only geeks and audio engineers wore headphones. After the 414... well, look around. It's not too big a stretch to say the 414 created a whole new market for headphones.

Radio guys who had to wear headphones all day loved the 414.

It was the first headphone whose parts were user-replaceable. The early cables were copper and extremely fragile, so this came in very handy.

Aside from that cable, it set a new standard for ruggedness, despite its spindly appearance. Remember, most serious headphoners had Koss Pro 4 A/AAs or ESP-6/7/9s, which looked rugged, but could they survive being whipped violently against a concrete-block wall, as the 414 could?

Because it was the first open headphone, it showed that headphone frequency response could be smoother, all other things being equal, when the diaphragm operated in free air. No cavity resonances and no need for big heavy diaphragms to overcome the rise in resonance frequency in the closed cavity of a sealed headphone. Greater sensitivity with the same magnet strength/cost was another result.

Despite the quantum-leap watershed breakthrough status of the 414, the treble peak eventually wore me down and I went electrostatic. Still, I'd like to hear one again.

Oh-- they're also dandy for listening to binaural recordings.
.

 

[Mysteryed]

My setup in the mid 1970s was as follows:

Hand built amplifier, based on the Magnavox 6V6 stereo amp. Internally wired (color tagged) with copper/steel commo-wire. I was an ex-army brat, and commo wire was everywhere!
Nakamichi 600
Garrard Zero 100 with Shure V-15 cart
Sennheiser HD-414 cans
Acoustic Research AR-7 speakers

Life was good! I loved the HD-414s. First time I heard them was at a Lafayette Radio Electronics store in Anchorage AK. The album was Pure Prairie League's "Bustin' Out". I bought both immediately! Sennheiser were way ahead of their time, IMHO.

 

[SPL db]

I had/have a pair of the HD-440II headphones, like your 414s, the foam crumbled and I couldn't
find any replacements. I did find a pair of foams that are a bit too large which makes a sort of
psuedo closed ear set up.

Still sound just the way I remembered them!

Scott

 

[Panotaker]

My first stereo purchase from my first job was a SX-1250 receiver. I couldn't afford any speakers, so I bought a pair of HD-414 and use those until I was able to get some speakers. I later became a disco DJ and the 414's where the headphones I used. Everybody I knew that DJed had a pair of 414's. One of these days I am going to get another pair, so if anybody wants to sell, PM me.

 

[10seventy9]

I had/have a pair of the HD-440II headphones, like your 414s, the foam crumbled and I couldn't
find any replacements. I did find a pair of foams that are a bit too large which makes a sort of
psuedo closed ear set up.

Still sound just the way I remembered them!

Scott

I am pretty sure Sennheiser still has the replacement foam pieces for those if you want to replace them. I know I got some from them for my 440's a couple years ago....

 

[pmsummer]

I bought my HD-424s in 1973. I've replaced the foam twice (Sennheiser still makes the foam), and I still love them.

 

[kirk57]

I'm on my second pair (1st pair stolen, 2nd pair a $5 thrift store find) 3rd set of pads now

As I recall they were used by NASA on some space flights....

 

[KLH9]

Does anyone else like these as well as I do?

I bought a pair when they first came out (68/69). I am sure that they are still around somewhere (probably with their original packaging I would bet).

They were killer and light years ahead of the competition.

Its good to hear that replacement parts are still available. If I ever come across them again I am sure that they will need new ear pieces after all of this time.

 

[caddisgeek]

I think the replacement pads you bought look better than the ones you built

 

[cincy]

I have the 414's--lost somewhere in the basement.

 

[Urchinn]

I'm listening to a pair right now (David Bowie Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Edition)! Earpads pulled from a set of generic 'phones. I gotta say they sound quite good after all these years. My main phones are Koss KS75's because my favorite time for seriously listening to music is on a long walk: Koss KS75 attached to a Cowon D2 (full of flac files). Portable bliss...

 

[24HACKER]

Those were my first headphones. I put a jack in my car and had it wired to my casset deck - used it until I ran some guy pulling a boat off the Interstate listening to the Rolling Stones. I wonder how much they cost now?

 

[shocley]

I got a pair of HD-414X's as a painless alternative to Koss Pro 4AA's. A number of people gripe about lack of bass, but I think a large part of it is that the 414's have such excellent treble response. You really could hear detail with these - I remember listening to the Who's Live at Leeds and clearly picking out all the instrumental parts.

Like you, I saw the foam pads deteriorate, and recently, through the internet, bought replacements and rehabilitated them. They now do duty listening to internet radio, mostly.

 

[nicosianomad]

I got mine in 1979 and they're still going strong. They're on the third set of ear pads now. They were brilliant then when I was 27 and my hearing was better and I don't forsee replacing them unless they fail and can't be repaired.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

The 414's were used all over K-105 in the control room, production room, for remotes, etc. Sennheiser should reissue an anniversary version of them.

 

[old_marantz]

I still have my original ones I bought when I was in High School. Mine came with blue pads but have new yellow ones. They have listened to many a licken and still are ticken.

 

[Bynem]

Pair of Sennheiser 414SL

I got these in 1986, from a store in Rockville, MD. I loved 'em. The pads went after a while, and since some music has got to be loud, I managed to blow not one, but both drivers (the culprit may have been the drum-only intro to "What You Need" by InXS).

Sennheiser had a trade-up program, and in 1993 I traded for a pair of 530s. Great 'phones, and no more yellow pads to worry about.
That pair gave out around 1999, the drivers and vinyl covered pads (the culprit for the drivers may have been "If You Want Blood, You've Got It" by AC/DC).:scratch2:

I am a big Grado fan, but I miss those Sennheisers.