I had never even included Ireland in any of my travel plans before preparing for this Sennheiser factory visit, and although it was across the sea from the UK, I had the impression that it was a very remote and mysterious country.
When I returned home to Beijing after this visit, I was immersed in a variety of Irish elements for many days, including movies, music, books, and more.
Sennheiser's Irish factory occupies a unique place in the hearts of many enthusiasts, especially the HD650's "silver corrugated" packaging is super classic, focusing on an original flavor and revered status.
This rare opportunity also allowed me to confirm the changes in the HiFi circle observed in China over the years with the overseas factories of the most popular headphone brands, and to feel the unique charm of Ireland in a few days.
A wide and niche HiFi circle
It sounds paradoxical, but it can be true in the HiFi circle. The love of music is a hobby shared by most people in a wide range, and the use scenarios of headphones have been expanding in recent years. Some of them have higher requirements for sound quality, and are willing to invest in a series of equipment such as front and back ends, cables, and audio, have become purer HiFi enthusiasts, and are in a more central position relative to a wide range of people.
And now the key word of domestic HiFi is: AGC
Of course, friends who listen to AGC will also listen to European and American pop, light music, musical instruments and other genres at the same time, but most of the people who enter the pit are from AGC. Friends who simply like to listen to Chinese songs will have a much smaller chance of entering the pit.
Among the peer media who visited Sennheiser's factory in Ireland this time, there were old people like me who were born in the 80s, and there were also new humans who grew up watching comics and playing PC game consoles. Unlike many people who listen to symphonies and pure music after the 80s, friends who listen to ACG music are more concerned about the processing of human voices by the equipment, because it is easier to make differentiation compared to high frequency and low frequency, and ACG music uses a large number of synthesized sounds, and the requirements for separation and sound field are relatively low, and low-cost headphones can also meet the hearing requirements.
So we will see a big difference in the choice of equipment, listen to ACG into the pit, obviously will experience a process of equipment cost from low to high, and we heard in the Sennheiser factory the world's best earphone HE-1, is undoubtedly a HiFi hearing baptism, the strong contrast of the gap brings people "can't go back" feeling, and then listen back to their own headphones, what I think is "change, change, change!"
Although TWS is now the most popular in China, the regret of sacrificing sound quality still makes many enthusiasts insist that head-mounted Hi-Fi is their first choice. , and also need to use related equipment in sets, such as with decoding, power amplifier and other back-ends, and purchase special playback front-ends. It is precisely because of the higher overall cost of ownership that top brands such as Sennheiser have cultivated a highly loyal user base.
Zhang Yadong, a well-known musician who visited Sennheiser's factory in Ireland this time, is a typical representative, and his identity as a musician makes him extremely picky about products such as headphones and speakers, and in order to find equipment to restore the recording effect in the studio, he has established very strict selection standards.
Why Sennheiser chose Ireland
The island of Ireland can be called an ecological island, with a very characteristic and beautiful scenery, and the air and water are very fresh and clean. The Irish, on the other hand, are of Celtic descent and are one of the oldest ethnic groups in Europe, giving birth to the mythical story of King Arthur, which we are very familiar with. Now there is no longer a need for the cold weapons era, but the love of meadows, the love of music, and the love of spirits have been preserved.
Before the 20th century, Ireland was dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry, which also made Ireland have a very strong sense of family and advocated equality and fraternity. The Irish people give me a very strong sense of friendliness and simplicity, and the atmosphere of the whole society is very positive, which gives me a clearer and deeper understanding of the manufacturing, testing and commissioning, communication and interaction, leadership and management that I see at the Sennheiser factory.
Although I was curious about why Sennheiser set up its factory in this "small country" before I came, after coming here, I walked along the Lifei River in the center of Dublin and saw the world's top 500 office buildings, and I learned that Apple, Microsoft, Google, Accenture, etc. have set up European branches or manufacturing centers here.
Dublin itself is one of the top metropolises in Europe, and Ireland was ranked 11th best country to do business in 2019 by Forbes.
State-of-the-art technology, the most suitable environment, the most convenient facilities, and the best quality workers, the location of the Sennheiser plant is impressive. The combination of these factors has also allowed the factory to consistently produce the highest quality headphones on the planet, and has always been loyal to music lovers.
A conversation with an "old worker".
Pat Fulton is the head of this prestigious factory, starting from the ground up and becoming a passionate plant manager for more than 30 years. He knows every year of changes in the factory, every employee, every technological innovation and every manufacturing problem.
Pat Fulton was interviewed by PConline in the office of the Sennheiser plant in Ireland
To be honest, from Pat Fulton's eyes, expressions and face, the most intuitive feeling is the happiness of work, a sense of accomplishment and a sense of physical and mental health. On the assembly line of the manufacturing workshop, we see the most advanced robotic arms, robots and electronically controlled assembly line equipment, with a very complete maintenance system and a real-time status monitoring system for intelligent production. It can realize automatic control from material preparation, material co-ordination, feeding to production and shipment.
In the communication, I found that under all modern manufacturing standards, there is care and love for people and human nature
I asked Mr. Pat Fulton if he was looking forward to the rapid expansion of the factory and the introduction of more production lines to significantly increase product output. How many times would the ideal plant be the size of the plant it is today?
If you are a factory manager who pursues intelligent manufacturing to the limit, there may be a completely different answer to this question, but Pat Fulton emphasizes the corporate culture: forge ahead and make progress every day. The factory has always adhered to better manufacturing solutions and improvements, but it has not blindly pursued rapid growth in scale and output. It is essential to provide the highest quality products and meet the highest requirements of users.
It just so happened that the famous musician Zhang Yadong also visited the factory this time, and I was very curious about why many people who make music like Sennheiser, which point is the most impressive?
Pat Fulton thought for a moment and said that many Sennheiser products have a very special place in the hearts of users, whether they are entry-level models, classic models or the top-of-the-line HE-1, they all adhere to Sennheiser's love, persistence and respect for music. Perhaps in too many "taste-changing" products, Sennheiser's "original intention" is more precious, so it will attract these musicians even more.
Of course, Pat Fulton, whether it's Pat Fulton himself or an engineer or other technician in engineering, is just as aware of the changes that are taking place in the world.
In addition, since the end of 2022, many brands have launched spatial audio capabilities, and computational audio has once again become the focus of the industry. Many manufacturers have also updated their audio settings pages for wireless headphones to improve users' mobile entertainment experience through computational audio technology.
In fact, computing audio, modems, etc., are not new at all, and they are already mature skills in Sennheiser's eyes. Sennheiser takes the sound performance of the product as a starting point and uses a team of experts to adjust the headphones as a whole. There are also a variety of adjustments to suit different user preferences, such as a simple graphical equalizer with specific presets, a simple process to recommend equalizer settings based on a short listening test, and sound personalization algorithms in some products.
In addition to the sound quality that is regarded as a lifeline and has the industry's top tuning level, the specific use scenarios and uses of the product will be considered to meet the user preferences of audiophiles and portable products.
The interview with Pat Fulton was lighthearted and fun, more like chatting with the big neighbor and had a wonderful family atmosphere. After the interview, I also felt this way when I ate at the restaurant, and everyone regarded this place as an extension of the family, and there was a strong family atmosphere in addition to the rigorous work.
HiFi从何时兴起又会去向何方
If you look back in time, you will find that the most popular period of HiFi and the time when pop music is the most influential and sought after are highly overlapping. In recent years, not only domestic, but also global entertainment methods based on singing skills and music quality have begun to give way to film and television dramas, games, and traffic stars.
The distraction of people's attention has also led to the distraction of consumption, and it is difficult for innovation and development in the field of music to reproduce the glory of 20 years ago, at least the student friends around us who simply hide in the bed and listen to a few songs repeatedly are almost impossible to find.
However, headphones and HiFi will still have their own future, and there are always people walking on the road of pursuing high-quality music, from Beijing to Guangzhou, there are still audio equipment physical stores sticking to it, providing users with a foothold for hobbies.
In the future, it may belong to the pure ingenuity of sticking to craftsmanship, or it may belong to the ferocious AI.
It's just that too much emphasis is placed on personal preference for sound, there is really no panacea, there is always a physical parameter limit on the device, and the realization of more hearing must be achieved on different headphones.
My personal expectation is that a holy place like Sennheiser's Irish factory can be passed down from generation to generation, always walking on the road of interweaving tradition and modernity, and better combining algorithms and equipment to create HiFi headphones that are suitable for most people.