I could only find one photo, and it was very fuzzy. The price is much cheaper than the genuine Grados (I have two of those), and reading the reviews at B&H, users say it has no Sennheiser markings, nor does the Sennheiser website list such an adapter. So apparently this is not a genuine Sennheiser item.

ChrisS wrote:

Hi, I got mine on ebay. Lots of companies out-source their peripheral and accessory products, so I'm not suprised if Sennheiser does too. Nevertheless, I heard a clear difference between that particular adapter and the Grado (and the cheap plug adapter), but your mileage may vary with different headphones and music system.

My company outsources certain items as do many companies, and my company puts their own name on those outsourced products to indicate that they are made to our specification by our outsourcing partner. For example, Leica cameras made by Panasonic that carry the Leica brand name (Leica DLux5), as opposed to the Panasonic LX5 which has a "Leica" lens only.

When the outsourced product does not carry a brand name, then it is not likely outsourced by (in this case) Sennheiser corporation, and different samples will likely have variances in their product spec, giving purchasers unpredictable results.

Thanks for that reply, Chris. Quality control is something I think about a lot now with all of the new items being released, especially of course the more expensive components. And speaking of Sennheiser, their new HD-700 has a lot of people interested. I was reading the review at Headfonia - an amazing review that describes a "grain-free" sound and certain other things the 700 did right that he wished the 800 could have done better. So far I haven't seen another really definitive review, and I'm wondering if that review sample was final production, or whether Sennheiser might tweak the HD-700 a little further before they hit the stores in quantity. There are different issues in QC of course - the production line QC, or later modifications like the manufacturers say in the small print "Specifications subject to change..." This could be a good test subject for Innerfidelity too, if they can find unmodified samples from different time periods - like maybe a HD-600 from year 2000, 2005, 2010 and so on - to see if there's a major evolution to the sound of that model.