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New HiFiMAN headphones


Leonardo Drummond

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c/p

 

Bass:  The bass extension on these is amazing, think sealed Abyss or Audeze.  Overall bass is too present though, and it can be a bit overbearing on certain tracks, again think Audeze.  Bass is very textured similar to electrostat/HD800/Qualia bass, but with more quantity.  The bass isn't visceral like the Abyss or HE-6 though.  I'll get into some of this again later.

...........

 

Overall a good headphone but I haven't made up my mind yet on whether to keep them or not.  I like the clarity and convenience of these, but the FR needs improvement for them to stay.  I think with a redesigned earpad these can actually sound a lot better.  In stock form I wouldn't recommend these for the asking price to most people.  If you like some extra bass in your music and pump these loud enough to not be effected by the lack of presence much then you should check them out, though.  I had high hopes for this headphone and thought for sure I'd like them a lot.  I think they have that potential, but as of now these are probably right outside my top 10 headphones.

Thanks for your take.  I feel the same way on the HE1000.  In a way it is a very musical headphones, but it lacks the resolving abilities & transparency of the SR009.  Warmer tonality wise and also very forgiving though.  During a complex musical message, the SR009 distance itself from the HE1000.  I personally won't paid $3000 for them.  $2300 is a fair price for one.  Build quality is decent and it is too shiny for my taste.   I can see that Fang is going after the HE90 voicing IMO.  Still the HE90 is better in my book.  On the SuSy Dynahi is great at driving the HE1000 so as the GS-X MKII.

Edited by purk
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The EF6 and EF100 are better suited to the HE-1000 than my ZDT which is still too soft sounding with HE-6 and HE-1000.

Very true.  You need a fast & tight sounding amp with plenty of power to drive the HE-1000.

Edited by purk
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I wonder if Edwood and Iron Dreamer tried them out on an amp other than the EF-1000? Could it account for the extremely different impressions?

I have now listened to them quite a good amount from the GS-XmkII, (two more different pairs compared to the one that he and I originally reported on), and I am still coming to a few different conclusions than others have voiced here.

The comparison to HE90 voicing is really baffling to me, as I never cared for that headphone much due to its' overly warm signature. To me the HE1000 leans a smidge on the warm side in the mids, making it more enjoyable than an HD800, but not to the point that it feels colored or inaccurate.

I'm on the road, will chime in with more in a few days.

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Though speaker taps? by the way what is the impedance of these things?

 

Like most planars they are very low. I think 30ohms which like most planars makes them ideal for SS. The gsx-mk2 should be amazing with the he-1k's, still I am interested in what these will sound like with the zero ohm output peak/volcano and allnic hpa-5000 tube offerings.

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Like most planars they are very low. I think 30ohms which like most planars makes them ideal for SS. The gsx-mk2 should be amazing with the he-1k's, still I am interested in what these will sound like with the zero ohm output peak/volcano and allnic hpa-5000 tube offerings.

 

The Susy Dynahi is even better at driving the HE1000 than the GS-X MKII but then again the GS-X MKII is already quite stellar at driving the HEK.

 

I have now listened to them quite a good amount from the GS-XmkII, (two more different pairs compared to the one that he and I originally reported on), and I am still coming to a few different conclusions than others have voiced here.

The comparison to HE90 voicing is really baffling to me, as I never cared for that headphone much due to its' overly warm signature. To me the HE1000 leans a smidge on the warm side in the mids, making it more enjoyable than an HD800, but not to the point that it feels colored or inaccurate.

I'm on the road, will chime in with more in a few days.

Well the HE90 is warm but not overly warmth out of the HEV90 IMO.  This can also depending what tubes are in the amp.  However, they do sound quite a bit better and more accurate out of the DIY T2, IMO.  I have another friend here who actually share my thoughts about the voicing.  Note that I'm not saying that the HEK is exactly like the HE90 but it is definitely more in that direction than the SR009 IMO.  I hope you will be able to share your take on them again soon.  Yes, the GS-X MKII is quite good at driving the HEK.     

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  • 4 weeks later...

Had this headphone for a few days now. It's nice but could us a bit of refinement in the build quality. Compared to the he-500 I owned though miles better. I like these more than allot of other flagships/ highend headphones: HD800, Ether, Lcd-x, 2.2, 3c and f, oo7mk2(sz3), airbow sr-sc-11, th-900, etc. but still feel like those phones keep up. At the $2600 I paid for it I consider it a good deal. A great deal would start at $2299, hopefully by xmas hfm can get it down to that price and maybe add a beefier, better looking headband and thicker ear pads...imo 

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Had this headphone for a few days now. It's nice but could us a bit of refinement in the build quality. Compared to the he-500 I owned though miles better. I like these more than allot of other flagships/ highend headphones: HD800, Ether, Lcd-x, 2.2, 3c and f, oo7mk2(sz3), airbow sr-sc-11, th-900, etc. but still feel like those phones keep up. At the $2600 I paid for it I consider it a good deal. A great deal would start at $2299, hopefully by xmas hfm can get it down to that price and maybe add a beefier, better looking headband and thicker ear pads...imo

Hello jibzilla. A friendly reminder - this isn't Head-Fi.

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The EF6 and EF100 are better suited to the HE-1000 than my ZDT which is still too soft sounding with HE-6 and HE-1000.

 

I've kept my posts short on this topic so that I wouldn't get reminded that this isn't head-fi.  

 

To add to this conversation, I LOVE THE HE-1000 and think they're much better sounding than I recall with some other high dollars phones (like the Abyss and my old SR-009 which I can't compare directly).  I have been listening to speakers more these days, but when I want to listen with headphones the HE-1000 have been my go-to phones for the past month.  

 

I can't say that I'd get rid of my HD-800 to buy these, nor my HE-60, which have amazing out of head imaging and transparency.  And I can't say that they work as well on all of my amps (neither do the HD-800 and HE-60).  But when paired with the right gear they do impress.  I'm still evaluating them and don't want to say more (I have to do more comparisons with my other planar magnetics, and I'm always too exhausted to mess around with this).

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Yeah and I thought one of the rules on here was not to bring that up? Notice my handle is Jib, not Jibzilla?

He probably got triggered by all the headphone name dropping.

 

At least that's what caught my eye first, and I've listened to a Shunyata nordost power-cabled airbow k5000 inserted into my bum so I know what I'm talking about

Edited by nopants
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He probably got triggered by all the headphone name dropping.

 

At least that's what caught my eye first, and I've listened to a Shunyata nordost power-cabled airbow k5000 inserted into my bum so I know what I'm talking about

 

I joined this place cause I thought it was going to be an easy going "bar" atmosphere. So far you guys seem more rule intensive than that one place I'm not suppose to bring up but that 99% are from. What the fuck is going on here? False advertising.

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What?  We certainly don't advertise this place as easy-going anything.  Go back and read your welcome PM.

 

Well that's how the welcome pm came off to me. Maybe you did not mean to come off that way but that's how it came off to me. I will re read it.

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I joined this place cause I thought it was going to be an easy going "bar" atmosphere. So far you guys seem more rule intensive than that one place I'm not suppose to bring up but that 99% are from. What the fuck is going on here? False advertising.

this ain't cheers but if you're buying i'll pretend to be interested

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Well that's how the welcome pm came off to me. Maybe you did not mean to come off that way but that's how it came off to me. I will re read it.

Maybe I should re-read the welcome PM, it's been through a lot of editing -- and by committee -- so who knows what it looks like now.  Does it mention the 13-step hazing...?

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