Synopsis of HiFiMan HE1000 Headphone Impressions from CS

Sorrodje means the Bob Guccione Penthouse Magazine diffused / soft focus photography effect as opposed to the super in-focus larger depth of field style of most of today's Internet porn.

 

@Lojay : some new impressions to share ? Coud you give the HE1000 some more listening ?

@Ohggourami : so, it seems I didn't told you Bullshit about the lack of raw energy. We share some thought privately with NEgura and that's what we shared :

mmmh. OK

It was my feeling during the first days from my improper rig but the fatiguing midrand sligh forwardness that can beacome fatiguing at higher listening volume is much less noticeable with the HE-9.

things Improved a lot with the HE-9. So I think you should give a listen to the HE1000 on a well estabilshed headphone amp in order you can evaluate if you current amp does well with the HE1000.

I've personaly the intuition that this HE1000 is really responsive to amp and I'd really like to have GSX mkII in my neighbourhood. I heard it once and I found it's one of the hardest hitting amp I've ever met. Lean and cold with the HD800 but with a soft/sightly warm headphone like the HE1000 , I bet that the result could be extremely good. Negura and I think more and more than this HE1000 remind us something of the Stax SR007 : fast, slightly warm, beautiful melliflous sound, needs hard hitting/analytical gear to sound best. Unfortunately I didn't listen the SR007 enough so it's only intuition and maybe bullshits. I really look forward n3rdling impressions

 

Day 7 : A week later.

Rig : PC (linux based) > Xmos USB/SPDIF interface > Totaldac A1 > AudioGD HE-9 balanced output > HD800 (stock , copper balanced cable) , HE1000 ( Stock , Balanced cable)

Music listened : http://www.lastfm.fr/user/sorrodje/charts?rangetype=week&subtype=artists
Very few critical listening : track used > hotel California Live (Marv' favorite mastering provided by frenchbat), "Get Lucky" from Daft Punk, Bach Sonatas & partitas by Perlman , Marcus Miller "Renaissance" , BT "Suddenly" (These Hopefull machines album) , Shingo Nakamura ( Days album , " wonder" track , Cecil Mc Lorin Salvant ( woman child album ) . Some Infected Mushroo (radio shmatio, Horus the chorus from "I'm the Supervisor" ) but thus far I've more listen to music as I do usually. I'll begin more "technical" listens in the next days.

My opinion is not completely settled yet but I think the HE1000 offer something "new" amongst current flagships. Something the best "jack of all trades" ever . Easy to listen, not so hard to drive ( I don't speak about full potential though) , eats every music with ease, forgiving yet resolving. it always sound marvelous, mellifluous yet relatively uncolored .. Take the best portable heaphone ever ( you know what i mean .. those wishy washy headphones) that everyone can like , open it , push the quality to the max and You have the HE1000. I can't think to another flagship that offers this. It really sticks to the times ( en Français, il colle à l'air du temps , il correspond à la mode) . it's a fashionable headphone (il correspond à la mode)

Bass are really mental. Maybe best quality ever. Need more comparison with the Abyss. Maybe 1 or 2 db too much bass for my tastes but most people will love that. More neutral bass than Abyss, less impact though. Absolutely great bass transients. "oceanic" .. hefty yet crystal clear and fast. Definitely the highlight of the HE1000 but people who want visceral bass will be disappointed. Impact is not really there. No direct comparison with the Abyss or HE-6 though but The HD800 offers more mid bass impact.

Mids : Definitely a very Slight forwardness in the 1/2khz (?) that can make vocals sometimes shouty at higher volumes. That been said, I've nothing to complain about these mids. Euphony lovers or mid heads will be disapointed. those mids are neutral and bodied ( more thant HD800 for example) . I like this I still think from Memory that SR009 mids are better but needs more direct comparison. IMO If HE1000 mids are not the best, there not far but I'm definitely not a mids head. High mids are lacking . Dunno yet if it's relative to my tastes or if this slight darkish tone is the inherent nature of the headphone. My vote go for the second option but thus far, I need more investigation and comparison without something else than the HD800.

Treble : Very very slight orthowall ? ( 9 khz ? 7khz finallly but not ortho wall related) that causes a slight zinginess in the treble. Sometimes it a bit bothersome. The lack of highmids/ low treble makes this Headphone unobnoxious but contribute to the lack of bite/attack and impact. IMO and I know I'm minority but for treble, HD800 rules. I was very surprised to prefer my (well paired) HD800 treble to the Stax SR009 one. Yes the SR009 is silky smooth and yes HD800 the treble is forward and somewhat "hard" but it' has a very bodied, consistant nature no other can approach imo. Maybe I'm alone in the world to hear things like that. I'm fine with that . That been said , the HE1000 avoids any graininess/harshness and the Treble peak is well controlled. This planar don't try to fight dynamics or stats on their own territory. That been said. I don't feel the need to fix it . Brain burn in is enough for me and I forget the slight zinginess after a few minutes of listening. In term of FR , I still think High mids and treble are the relatively "weak" point of this headphone. Nothing to complain really but nothing to rave about. People who love laid back headphones or who come from Audeze would probably disagree with me. My tastes go more to HD800 and stats usually.

The whole FR sounds really clean and natural to my ears. Maybe more "natural" than really neutral. I would have said that headphone has been made to reproduce speaker sound . I feel it's an "olive welti" targeted headphone. Very very very good job. I thought the HE1000 is really all what the K812 desperately failed to be.

Transients : impressive. especially in the Bass. The HD800 can't really compete here. Needs more evaluation against Abyss and Stax. It contributes greatly to the Ultra clean sound of the HE1000. HD800 sounds a bit slow comparatively . i'm looking forward to comparison with SR009. From memory I'd say SR009 Transients are faster and more addictive for people who are after this. But the HE1000 transients sounds a bit more natural and seems to hit a sweet spot. SR009= too fast to be true, HD800 : too slow to be clean enough, HE1000 = perfect.

Resolution. IMO, it's a resolving headphone. More than any other planars I heard. period. Honestly I don't hear any lack of resolution when I switch from HD800 to HE1000 . I spent time with the Intro of the live recording of Hotel California, with some of the music I know very well and maybe , maybe , the HD800 tends to exctract a bit more of the sound of silence ( natural, reverbs ) but I'm probably biased. Need more evaluation and more critical listening at Higher volume that average. I'm not so much a resolution addict though and my current gear is not "resolution" oriented.

Transparency : The HE1000 is surprisingly transparent despite its forgiving nature. Different recordings sound different. I mean REALLY. that's a very important point in my book. I think I ever hear the AudioGD HE-9 I've on loan . Find the best amp should be a worthy investment. Huge improvement over all planars I heard to date.... But I think the HE1000 is a transparent yet too forgiving headphone. I can hear the different quality in recordings but all will sound good to great. with the HD800 I hear that recordings are bad or good or Stellar... And it really sounds bad, good or stellar... Hope that makes sense for you . the HE1000 is defnitely not sirupy but tends to round the corners. consequently, IMO, he failed to render perfectly stellar recordings. With 30% of my music library, the HE1000 is more enjoayble and the HD800 hard to listen to, for another 30% , HE1000 is still more enjoyable but the HD800 doesn't bother me too much , for 20%, HE1000 and HD800 are on par ( depends on mood or taste) but for the last 20% , HD800 rules. I think I can't explain it more clearly. I wouldn't say that both headphones really disappear. I hear a small bump in bass area with the HE1000 and a treble emphasis with my Stock HD800. both are transparent enough and very litlle colored but I still hear their inherent coloration. For neutrality and associated transparency, I still think the SR009 rules. HE1000 and HD800 are two honest seconds in my book. I still think the HD800 is the headphone that can sound the most differently depending of the recording but I don't know enough the SR009 to have a reaaly valuable opinion on it.

In term of soundstage. it's wide , deep and brings a good feeling of height . BTW, considering the attack is lacking, I think Instruments are not delineated enough. So Imaging is not perfect (Abyss and HD800 rules for imaging IMO) . Everything is a bit too integrated. Needs more comparison with Abyss and SR009 to confirm that point. I struggle to catch how the HE1000 precisely works in term of soundstage. It's a bit strange. BTW soundstage competes with HD800's one... the HE1000 is really open and airy ... Dunno, maybe I hear a vey slight lack of focus compared to the HD800 ... still evaluating the whole point of soundstage.

So.. i'm done and my HD800 is for sale? Nope . With the HE1000 I'm not sucked in the Music. My brain is not connected. the Sound lacks Ballz , impact, bite , excitement. everything is too beautiful to be true. Rimshots sound soft.. A pearl drum set does sound like Sonor one. Jack de Johnette sounds like he was smaller and lost his telluric sound, Kenny garret's alto sax sound became smooth, an acoustic folk guitar sounds more like a classical guitar... eveything is a bit softened. Moreover, I want my Stellar recordings to sound Stellar. For me, the HE1000 fails to provide me enough excitement and my HD800 kills the Hifiman in the Articulation/attack area. Most classical music I listened with the two headphones sound a bit boring with HE1000 although it can transcends me with the HD800. Maybe it's only a matter of taste but Negura's impressions mostly match mine on this point although he's not really a HD800 fan. If I use the same analogy than above ( the 30/20/20/20 % of my library) , I can only add that when the Day is over , my daughter is in his bed , my wife in his book or work , I go to my desktop , switch on the amp (my dac is always ON) , I almost always go the best 40% of my library and I want to be wowed each time the music begin. I want my music fix ! and my HD800 does it for me. Not yet the HE1000. Just my opinion and YMMV.

Seems those feelings are almost stabilized thus far. Will see if next days will change something.

 

@Negura: Yep, its seams Lojay, you and I have consistent impressions. I see some Head-fiers ( not Beta testers though) who related exactly the same feelings too. So, I think we're lurking around the truth. I hope some Pirates here will give impressions with some more aggressive hard hitting gear ( Cavalli liquid gold, GSX mkII , Mjolnir came in my mind ) , maybe it would push the HE1000 to its best. That Been said, Your EC amps are probably close to the top.


I forgot some other miscellaneous impressions:

- People with small head will struggle. I settled the HE1000 one notch above the minimum and I've a big head... I'm usually around 7 9 (checked at home) clicks on my HD800...
- I'd really like to have deeper pads. Not for comfort but soundwise , I'm convinced more distance between the driver would help to fix the silght mid forwardness and I presum it would add more focus & a bit more impact.
- I tried to pulled a bit the cups for my ear and it seems the sound does not change drastically the HE1000 does not depend completely on the seal. a partial seal like with the Abyss seems to add bass ( loudness effect) .. not huge difference but significant.
- I tried to put the cups like the K1000 and to angle the cups in different directions too. not very conclusive yet.
- Jack connectors are really a huge improvement over old screwed ones.......
- NDA agreement so no impressions about the build. I'll share that privately with Jeff if that can help.

I think I'm done for now.

 

WOW : n3rdling nailed it here ^

During the last days, I struggled to qualify the soundstage... it's wide, deep and conveys some height... but I was stil unimpressed and I didn't understand why. Listened to a lot of orchestral stuff (Haydn symphonies, Strauss "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and Soundtracks today ( Hans Zimmer"s Dark night rises and Gladiator) I just understood one or two hours ago .. focus is missing. Pin Point imaging is somewhat ..ghostly ? it"s hard to know exactly where the sounds come from.. so I did a search and found N3rdling impressions... he nailed it !! I think it's still relative to the lack of attack and delineation and contributes to the lack of involvement. It's like the soundstage was a fake . As N3rdling said : a flat rectangle bended towards me.

 

Very early impressions. From GOv2 > Magni 2. Magneplanar 3.6.

Will try with "real" gear when I get home.

 

Very amp and source dependent.

From GOv2 > Magni 2

Super relaxed sound where everything sounds beautiful, annoyingly so. Ethereal and STAX like, but with more bass. Not quite STAX 009 speed, but close. Again, think Magneplanar. Bass is soft, but also well delineated. Rounded, but clean. The bass to Lose Yourself To Dance is supposed to f'ing slam, even at low volumes. This doesn't do it. Everything is colored so all classical sounds lush and romantic. Not bright. Despite low-end gear, I hear good plankton potential.

Yggdrasil > EC ZDs:

ZDs has disadvantage of high output Z, probably 16-20 ohms. Now we are talking. This sounds really good. No more of this soft relaxed stuff anymore. Like a clearer faster HD600 with deeper higher quality bass, maybe a touch more treble than HD600. Putting EC Studio together - this will be a better test of bass and everything else. Very good plankton - exceeds HD600/650 at low level information retrieval, even in mids and highs.

Stay tuned...

 

Yggdrasil > EC Studio:

Lesson: don't use inappropriate, insufficient, or crappy gear with HE-1000

Good slam now. Not as much bass heft as Abyss, but faster bass. Bass seems more even, less pronounced (more accurate) than Abyss. Doesn't have speed and separation of 009, but close. I don't think STAX diehards will see this as a 009 successor, but maybe as a headphone to compliment it. Those who know me know that I don't care for the 009's ethereal presentation and unnatural artificial sounding note separation. To each his own.

Soundstage layering and separation not as good as Abyss, but this was always one of Abyss's better qualities. Seems to be on par with HD600, maybe slightly wider. Good imaging precision. Quite open sounding. Not the best, but the good thing is certainly not as diffuse unfocused sounding as from the GOv2>Magni setup.

Tonally, compared to HD600, a few db less in upper mids. Some excess lower treble energy. On track #3 on Daft Punk RAM with Moroder's spoken words, I can hear a sibilants above what is typical or normal. Sometimes there is some hardness and glare. I think my original description of splashy still applies. I do find this treble peak a bit fatiguing after some time with brighter recordings (MSFL Pixies, DCC Dio, SACD Spandau Ballet, etc). With classical, it's not a problem at all - the brightness enhances many classical recordings. FWIW, A 2-ply sheet of TP cured this. Will listen to Fang's advice and give it some time to see if treble gets more laid back and if resolution increases. I will have other headphones I am very familiar with as a control to see how and if HE-1000 changes.

May be too early to say. Might be the best overall headphone I have heard despite minor issues.

See measurement thread on how TP was applied. I felt bass heft was well above average and met expectations for a $3000 headphone. I didn't have an issue with softness or lack of focus on good amps (Rag or Studio).

 

I'm with you with the height

En Français :

Ce que je veux dire que c'est que le léger manque d'attaque, d'impact et de relief , contribue à mon sens à un léger flou dans le ressenti du positionnement des instruments dans l'espace .. C'est beaucoup plus évident quand le nombre d'instruments augmente et là où avec le HD800 chaque instrument semble avoir un positionnement très précis, ça l'est moins avec le HE1000.

Mais peut-être que comme le suggèrent Purr1n, mon ampli n'est pas digne du HE-1000...

In english.

What I mean is that the slight lack of attack, impact and relief, in my opinion contributes to a slight blur in the perceived positioning of the instruments in space .. It's much more evident when the number of instruments increases and where the HD800 each instrument seems to have very accurate positioning, it is less so with HE1000.

But perhaps as suggested Purr1n my loaned amp ( it's not mine after all. I can safely say if it's craptastic... but I' don't think so ) is not worthy of HE-1000 aka "inappropriate, insufficient, or crappy" ....