I never found the HE90 to be bright out of either HEV90 or ES-1. IMO, the HE-90 has pretty much the nicest treble out of anything I've ever listened too, in fact, the treble might be a little too polite out of the HEV90. OTOH, I always found the L3000 and O2 (via KGSS) to be slightly recessed in the treble though. If we are going to talk bright, the R10 is definitely a good bit brighter than the HE-90.