Hifiman HE-6SE

My HE6SE v2 is coming after Chinese new year but this thread got me scared.

Here is THX AAA 887 spec:
BALANCED OUTPUT
Output Power (per channel) 16 ohms: 8800mW <1% THD
32 ohms: 6000mW <1% THD
300 ohms: 700mW <1% THD
600 ohms: 350mW <1% THD

Cn this amp power HE6SE v2? The chain Soekris 2541 balanced -> THX AAA 887

 

The question isn't whether it will power them ok based on the numbers, the question should be whether it will sound good. And unless you iike the sound of the 887 with full size headphones, it will not very clinical, I can't think of many worse combos than the cold tone of the HE6SE with the sterile tone of the 887. I won't say it will sound terrible because you may like this sound signature, but be prepared for something very cold/analytical/sterile. It won't be warm or full bodied in tone.

 

I would rather listen to the HE6SE out of an iPod at low volume than the 887 if that says anything. Synergy is more important than numbers.

 

At some point, I remember, you posted that THX 887, or it was about the Drop THX amp, is great with IEM but you did not need to even try it with full size headphones to know it would sound horrible. I do not even know what to make of it.

Anyway, THX AAA 887 with LPS, in the chain with Soekris 2541 and Pi2AES was an improvement over the Seokris XLR out, which by itself I find more than adequate, in terms of bass control and richness of the sound with easy to drive planars like LCD-X 2021, as well as horrible to drive AKG K240DF. AKG was from the SE out, but HD560 Ovation I was another example from balanced out.
That means that as long as there is enough power I am looking forward to hearing this setup with HE6SE v2. Of course I would not know until I try it.

 

I've tried it briefly, really not a fan at all. It didn't take long to figure that out. But if you like the sound, then by all means you should try it out. It seems to be powerful enough if you like it's tone.

 

I think maybe Soekris 2541 may have something to do with the fact that the whole setup does not sound sterile to me.

 

If anyone has or is thinking of getting the HE6se V2, I have found the stock headband to be really uncomfortable. It's crazy to me that a headphone this good could have a headband that bad, but it's one of the reasons it goes on sale for such a good price. You can drastically improve the headband comfort with kindergarten level arts and crafts skills. All you need is a piece of scrap leather (amazon, ebay, local arts and crafts store) and a pair of scissors. Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but all-day comfortable and certainly cost-effective.

 

So the suspension strap fits when you tie it on like that? I made a suspension leather headband just like that, except I glued it to the rounded edges of the headband, and it wasn't long enough to fit once the headphones were on. Maybe by attaching it lower though, you've made it work. I'll see if I can find pictures on my phone of what I did..

 

Yes, I just tied off the leather ends at the expansion joint where the metal meets the plastic.

 

Thanks, I was afraid I would have to spend a lot more but found GFA 535 for $140 (CAD $200) at Canuck Audio Mart will try it when I get back to Canada. For the arrival of HE6SE v2 tomorrow I picked AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 for $75 as a speaker amp, I will use HE adapter, was a little bit afraid to connect directly to $75 speaker amp.

 

I am not exactly a new audiophile, unfortunately I am pretty old audiophile but this is my first two hours with HE6SEv2 and ..holly smoke!
First it is very clear what all the experienced people said about power and HE6SE is true and I was able to hear it it on one amp, without even trying the speaker amp. With Soekris gain set to 0 and the THX AAA 887 on 2 the volume level is more than adequate at 3 but the low end is not very appealing, well extended for sure but the texture control is lousy. Everything changes at THX gain level 3, in full power, and HE6SE listening level is at 9. But in terms of bass extension and control I have I have never heard anything like that.
I was listening to the Emerson String quartet recording of The Art Of Fugue Contr 4. On every setup so far, and I tried it in probably three dozen combinations, the cello presentation of the main theme turns into a boomy, distorted mess.
I thought that recording was complete shit but no, the clean, deep bass is there and HEKSE is able to deliver it like no other system, even my pair of SVS SB1000 subs? Yes.

So, happy I finally got there, lots of experimenting for sure with speaker amps but THX AAA power on BALANCED OUTPUT is no fake news, and I would say the quality of amplification exceeded my expectations.
Output Power (per channel)
16 ohms: 8800mW <1% THD
32 ohms: 6000mW <1% THD
300 ohms: 700mW <1% THD
600 ohms: 350mW <1% THD

And let's give full credit to the most universal headphone mod of 21 century: @urbanjanitor incredible headband. I put it on every HPs I could find. With this headband I was able to keep LCD-X 2021 on my head for close to two hours, my absolute record.

 

Revisit Nuforce HA-200. You know it very well and two of those can keep the entire room overheated

 

Just ordered the HE6SE v2 and now I need an amp to go with them! Will be ordering Focus pads soon. Can anyone help with amp choices?

Currently looking at:
Monoprice Monolith Liquid Platinum
Schitt Jotunheim 2
Singxer SA-1

Anyone have an opinion on the amps above paired with the HE6SE v2? Any other amps I should consider? Trying to keep it around or under the $700 USD mark.

For reference I currently have a Schiit Eitr --> Modi Multibit --> Jotunheim 1 --> balanced to HD6XX which I enjoy, but I really missed the ortho sound.

I'm not sure if I want to change the DAC at this stage, maybe if I get the Jotunheim 2 I'll try the ESS card.

About 10 years ago I used to own the OG HE6 with an XLR to speaker tap adapter to a large Yahama stereo amp, which was really awesome, but I don't have the space for that anymore, needs to be able to fit on my desk in front of my keyboard.

I greatly apprecate everyone's input! Thanks.

 

I'm not good at comparing or describing the difference, but I have Liquid Platinum with Vo... (don't know how to spell it) with some USSR 6h23p tubes and a speaker amp driving my HE6SE v1, so I did a little comparison.

On LP, HE6SE sounded bloated, slow-ish and a little closed-in, the upper-bass boost is quite obvious even I just switched from Nighthawk with velour pads. Because I have this fixed impression that HE6SE can't be nicely driven on LP, I didn't like it a lot. It sounded like a pair of OK-ish dynamic headphones, and I just didn't really find anything special. Why not just use HD650 on LP? But I bet it's just me having no patient exploring more, since I've read some good feedbacks on LP with HE6SE.

On the speaker amp, Weiliang A60+, which I'm mainly using with HE6SE, the headphones sound cleaner, faster, a bit more open and most importantly, the sub-bass really shines. Adding these up, and that's what I was expecting from a good pairing of planar magnetic headphones. But yes... the amp is big... so...

 

After doing a lot of reading on this site and others, I have ordered a Jotunheim 2 with the ESS dac card so I can compare the dac with the Modi Multibit I have.

It'll probably take a while to get to me in Australia but I'm looking forward to it! Might need to upgrade to a bifrost 2 in the future!

 

When you get a new laptop, of a tablet, the packaging may include some useful mod material.
I found that I like the sound of HE6SE v2 without grills a lot more but was a bit afraid to leave the cups open, and the custom grill for $30 were not protecting against dust. But unpacking my wife LG Gram I found very thin viscose like material covering the keyboard. New look of my HE6SE with grills removed:



I cannot hear any difference between this and removed grill and the grill rings fit have less play than with original grills.
And being a bit paranoid I cut two pieces of thick and still and thick foam to cover the driver when I an not listening. The lock very nicely between the cup and the headband yoke.

 

OK, so curiosity got the better of me and has turned into a bit of a fun journey. I needed a pair of headphones I could travel with for longer term trips but wanted to keep costs as low as possible whilst maximizing sound quality. I had owned the HE6seV1 and enjoyed them, so I'd been curious about the V2 since their release.

With the V2 now being available for $450USD, new, from Adorama, I decided to just give them a go. First pair died within half an hour on one side. I've gotten the replacement pair in, and hope it will fair better.

The problem with the HE6 of course, is that it's hard to drive. I've had the best experience with these types of headphones with speaker amps. Problem is, speaker amps are pretty big usually, and not the best thing to put in a backpack and travel with. So I had an idea, what was the cheapest, transportable, HE6 capable set up I could manage.

I did a bit of research, and there was some chatter about TPA3255 based class D amps being good, cheap, and small. Well, good is a relative term I suppose but stick with me here. You can pick one up from Aliexpress from AIYIMA for 50USD, or on amazon for 70USD. I went with amazon due to the fast shipping. Model name is A07.

I had a topping D10S, which I paid 90CAD for, on hand, so I decided to use that. Yeah I know, topping etc...blah, but it's cheap and it works well. And in keeping with the theme of the cheapest transportable set up I could manage, it fit the bill. I also have an iFi Zen Dac Signature V2 coming which I will try out, but that takes it out of the more affordable realm as its 300USD I believe new.

The AIYIMA A07 is advertised at 300W per channel. Yeah, no. Maybe like 65W into 4 ohms with the stock power supply. You can eek out more power from the unit with a high performance power supply, but again, that would add cost by about 100 bucks, and Still, it is powerful enough with the stock supply for my needs. It has higher gain (which is helpful if you want to do any eq'ing, due to the negative gain offset to do any boosting) than the cheaper headphone amps, and is cheap as chips.

So I decided to try an amazon chifi special 30CAD dollar cable to replace the stock IV tube cable. It feels nice, has a nice fake furutech plug, and works well. Only drawback is its only 4.9ft.

The binding posts are absolute garbage on the A07, and won't fit bigger banan plugs, and definitely wont fit spades. I ended up just taking my spades off my spades to 4pin XLR adapter, and using the bare wire. That is working well.

I did a bit of research on pads, and people seemed to be recommending the Dan Clark Ether Angled Leather pads, so I bought a pair of those to try out. Highly recommended. They seem to bring everything into focus a bit better, and don't make things too bright or sharp, or boost the bass which I was worried about as they are non perforated. Definitely recommend these over the stock pads.

I also bought a Hifiman "enhanced comfort" headband which has yet to arrive. The stock headband isn't terrible, but can be improved upon. Problem is the "enhanced comfort" headband won't just swap out. I'll have to do some Jerry rigging, but I have a plan and will report back if it works.

Now, if you don't need the transportable backpack fitting nature I needed, then for the amp I'd probably recommend a thrift shop receiver but yeah, that depends on your individual needs.

Anyhow the pricing worked out as below. Of course, if you can find stuff used, or on sale, then even better.

HE6seV2=$450USD
Aiyima A07=$70USD
Topping D10s (sub your fave $100 DAC)=$100USD
Dan Clark Ether Angled Pads=$90USD
Amazon hifiman Cable=$25USD
Speaker Taps to XLR Adapter=$50-70USD?
Enhanced Comfort headband (optional)=$75USD

Total=$785USD, or $860USD if the headband works out and you want more comfort.

Thats a seriously good sounding set up for the money. Is there better? Well yes. Of course there is. For my needs though, and having to fit it in a backpack to take it on a plane, I'm stoked with how its sounding so far for the money.



$30CAD cable

 

Okay, if you love the HE6SE but you wish it didn't have the Hifiman dip or just generally wish it sounded more like a Sennheiser HD6X0, go get some silver Beyerdynamic DT 990 pads. Do it now. It's been a looong time since I had an HD600, but this sounds like what I would want from an HD600. It's got the accurate timbre and clear vocals of the Sennheisers combined with realistic treble. But, it's actually got sub-bass, no mid-bass bleed, way more detail and less shouty upper mids.

Something that always bugs me about the Sennheisers after listening to planar headphones is that they sound so grainy, and something that always bugs me about planars after listening to Sennheisers is that they sound so textureless. I think a lot of that over-smoothed sound comes from the 2 KHz dip which is most severe on Hifiman but seems to be a pretty common planar feature. To my ears these pads fill in that dip, but without getting as grainy as the Sennheisers. Annie Lennox's Bare is a great recording for hearing this. A lot of the songs include a lot of brush work on drums. On most headphones, the brushed drums sound either grating or like smooth undifferentiated noise. This setup strikes a really nice balance and just sounds right to my ear.

It could be that I'm still in the honeymoon period, but man is this a great experience so far.

 

I'm happy to say it wasn't just a honeymoon period thing. Everytime I go back to this setup, it always sounds right. I did some back to back comparing with this, the LCD2 (latest pad revision), HE4XX and HD58X. The 58X was the only other one that didn't sound wrong in the typical headphone way, but the treble smoothness and bass clarity on the HE6SE are in a whole different league.

 

If you ever get a chance to grab a screamin' deal on an OG iFi Pro iCAN, grab it. The flexibility is amazing for many different headphones, but Man does it ever pair nicely with these headphones! Great power and bass boost/3D sound effects are an amazing combination.