National Music Day

Audiophile Q&A with Product Manager, Jermo Koehnke

Music is a creative outlet that has been proven to improve health and well-being. Simply listening to our favourite songs can trigger beautiful memories and emotions of overwhelming joy and happiness.

During the pandemic it has provided a positive outlet as the world connects via music; sharing playlists for different moments, embracing different cultures, and learning viral dance moves. We recently sat down with Product Manager, Jermo Koehnke, to discuss his take on music and the Audiophile world in celebration of National Music Day.

1. What made you want to work in the audiophile world?

It wasn’t actually my plan, but after I did an apprenticeship with Sennheiser as part of my degree and experienced Sennheiser’s innovation in audiophile, specifically its transducer development and manufacturing expertise, I felt very passionately about it. I dreamed of working with Axel Grell, Sennheiser’s Chief Headphone Engineer, who was instrumental in many milestone developments for the brand and through a series of happy little accidents, he became the examiner of my bachelor thesis. The rest is history!

2. Who inspires you in the audiophile/music world?

While Axel was instrumental in shaping Sennheiser’s development in the past, much of the team of acoustic engineers is still the same: Heinz Epping is a brilliant microphone developer and inventor who is always at the centre of new transducer developments for headphones as well. Markus Kuhr built the original HD 800 Transducer, the SYS56, and recommended using a Helmholtz Resonator to smoothen the treble. André Michaelis is our expert for miniature transducers: He headed the development of the IE 800 transducer SYS7 and automatized that concept, which is now implemented in the IE 300 and IE 900 for a tremendous performance increase. Kurt Mick and Meike Faulhaber continually develop our automated high-performance transducer platforms for outstanding headphones like HD 560S or HD 660S. Many more brilliant engineers have countless stories to tell, incredible experience, and an unquenchable fire to achieve immaculate sound transmission.

It is their passion that inspires me to always do my best and drive our audiophile category to new heights.

3. Where does your passion for music come from?

My older brother (whose room was next to mine) was a huge Michael Jackson fan and listened to his songs all day. I think Michael Jackson is the greatest artist of all time. All of his songs bring to life his talent, hard work, and most importantly, raw emotion. To this day, I often listen to his music. Another influence was frequent church visits in my childhood. I was never someone to tap deeply into the religious aspects, but I always looked forward to listening to live music from the organ. It is visually impressive, and its’ “breathing” has a human element to it. It is a unique instrument that covers the entire frequency range, and especially the low tones resonate with your body for an experience that you can feel. I believe this “whole body” experience fosters our emotional connection with the music.

4. What is your advice for someone wanting to break into the audiophile world?

You’ve simply got to listen to it. The good news is that something like an HD 560S is affordable, offers a massive step above all Bluetooth headphones and works well right out of a laptop. When you listen to a very high-quality headphone for the first time, many inexperienced listeners don’t immediately notice a huge difference. That’s because some aspects like soundstage and greater clarity need to be experienced for a while, so when you switch back to regular headphones you notice that something is missing. The good news is that there is no such thing as golden ears, and critical listening skills are earned through training and experience. But you don’t need to become a professional. Simply appreciating the work of the artist in the best format possible makes you an audiophile.

5. What do you see happening next in the audiophile space?

The pandemic has resulted in many people spending a lot of time at home and wanting to make the most of this time, so we have observed an increase in demand for dedicated listening equipment at home. Within the industry and from us at Sennheiser, new affordable products were launched that certainly provide audiophile sound quality, namely the HD 560S and the IE 300 to try to meet this demand.

I hope this all converges to dedicated listening becoming more convenient and less intimidating. This new approachability should lead to more people discovering high-quality music enjoyment as something that gives you refuge and balance in everyday life. Especially if you have to sit in front of a screen for long periods, getting closer to the artist and empathising with their feelings is an essential aspect of having a healthy dose of emotion in your life. To summarise, I hope this hobby becomes a lot more mainstream.

6. What are the best Sennheiser headphones for audiophiles?

The HD 800 S. To this day, its soundstage is still something nothing else comes close to. What I love about them most is that they effortlessly pull you into the music. Even when you’re only trying to listen to music in the background while working, at some point you unconsciously stop and just focus on the details in the song you’re listening to. To me, it’s the most significant leap in headphone technology ever made.

7. What’s your favourite piece of music to listen to with these headphones?

”Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone” is an album that primarily uses strings but is extremely emotional and uplifting. On a technical level, strings work brilliantly to showcase the distortion-free mid-range and treble of our headphones. I come back to this album again and again.