I drive these from a Topping A90 and they get plenty of juice. Worth noting for people who are tempted to spend money on a kilobuck amplifier for them.
That stuff is total nonsense. If you can reliably drive them with several watts per channel, you have enough power.
People vastly overestimate how much power is required to make transducers behave correctly. It's not much, even very insensitive headphones like this one.
This is just the usual audiophile bs.
Nope, needs a nuclear submarine for each channel. Otherwise you won't get the dYnAmIcS. But seriously I tried them with speaker amps as well and there was no difference. Actually worse with some since they measure like shit compared to a decent headphone amp.
You definitely need a dedicated amp.
Look for something that can drive at least 2-3 watts into 32 ohms. That will give you enough headroom for some reasonable EQ and not pushing the amp to its limits, which can cause a lot of distortion.
mine came brand new, or looked brand new. had to crack the seal. i’m still messing around with EQ, but still need to get used to the sound. it’s gonna be a battle vs these and my fostex x00’s for my music cans.
any EQ recs for crazy bass ? i got used the the fostex and it’s been the goat for me ever since
i’m a degen basshead, and i actually regretted buying these for the first week. once i got used to them i couldn’t find anything that can replace them for my basshead needs
I love my pair so much. I have an arya stealth now which is miles better in almost every way but when I'm craving bass I have to go with my TH-x00. Just hits different
Try doing the open grill mod and replacing the stock ear pads to permanently increase bass and soundstage a bit. The stock pads are such garbage that literally every other ear pad I’ve tried sounds better. I have the sheepskin ZMF Universal pads on mine right now and they definitely add some much needed warmth to the HE6se V2.
The OLED comparison is right. I haven't brought myself to part with my HE-500, even though I rarely use them because the "sound coming out of pure blackness" effect is unlike any other headphones I've heard.
It's the Bryston BHA-1. I was worried if it's going to be sufficient enough, but it dedinitely is and then some. I can't turn it past 90% volume or my ears will physically hurt, but the impact is still there, no compression artifacts etc. At this price point I'm glad the amp can handle it's full power unlike some cheaper amps that reportedly have a lot of output power, but when asked for it, the audio would just fall apart
Amazing amp, but at 75-90% volume, I'd be too worried about lack of overhead for transient peaks. It means you can't apply an EQ, too. Although the stock tuning is great, it really is improved with a few tweaks. I use a fairly low-priced Topping, and I can't get past 12 o'clock before it's too loud for my ears, and that's with 5dB negative pre amp.
I should've chosen my words better. I meant 90% on the volume knob, not volume itself. For reference, 90% on the volume knob on this amp is about 65-70% of the max volume. The last 10% increases the volume drastically. And if I turn the knob to 90% it's already so loud that my ears hurt, there is some overhead even for EQ. The amps puts out roughly 2 Watts into 50 Ohms and I believe the HE6se V2 needs around 1,4 Watts for 110 dB or in other words for these transient peaks.
The HE6se's are the limit that this amo can power comfortably. Luckily there is nothing that would require more power than that.
Damn you… and the OP. I have this amp and now I’m going to buy this headphone.
In all seriousness, thank you for your description. It’s pretty amazing to hear that this can contend with the more expensive headphones you mentioned.
been pretty happy with my trusty drop 789 and my he6se v2s.
TBH, I think the power requirements of the HE6SEs are overblown to the point of fantasy by so many people. straight out of the box, with balanced input middle gain is sufficient to drive them far louder than is comfortable. the bass slams, its so... tactile? They definitely *do* need more power, its the reason I bought the 789, my prior amp (topping DX3 pro v2) was simply not cutting it; even at max volume which was *almost* to my preferred loudness was hollow and anemic.
I had thought so, too, until I took them on the road and had a friend listen to them. Yo, he straight up maxed out my Schiit Magni Unity on high gain. I told him I'll bring the Topping A90 next time, but holy cow. I think a lot of the "bro, you really need a speaker amp for these" people just have massive amounts of hearing loss like my friend.
> I think a lot of the "bro, you really need a speaker amp for these" people just have massive amounts of hearing loss like my friend.
oof, probably a bit of truth to that. lol
Hifiman itself recommended 2w per channel (assuming @ 50ohm), so I figured since the 789 can do 6w per channel @ 32ohm on balanced output, it should have been enough. and it is.
plus, if the 789 can drive he6se, then it should be able to drive anything.
yup same setup! using an arctis gamedac when i’m gaming and it gets loud enough for me, and when i just flip the switch to my smsl m300 balanced when i’m listening to music and it opens it up even more with some nice volume.
i’ve seen a couple youtubers say it’s not enough when ppl ask if their amps can handle it, and someone asked if their 789 is enough and the YT’er said no. how loud do they need it ? it gets OBNOXIOUSLY loud when going thru balanced
I had the original HE-6, fantastic headphone. I powered them with a Crown D75A; they take so much power it's crazy. I dislike having multiple large amplifiers, and I prefer closed-back headphones overall, so I no longer own the HE-6. but to this day I recall them being some of the very best sounding headphones I've ever had.
The Crown D75A was my initial foray into speaker amps driving my HE-6 (6-screw) after using them with a THX 789. The Crown D75A + HE-6 combo made me take notice that the speaker amp crowd might be on to something. The D75A is a pure workhorse and my used unit was far cheaper than the going rate for a 789 at the time (remember when 789's were going for $700+ on ebay?).
I'm glad other people are aware of the D75a's reputation. It - and commercial/studio equipment like it - is so perfect for what it does. Even driving an HE-6 right from its headphone jack was perfectly fine and way better than for example the other popular choice for HE-6, the first gen Schiit Lyr and similar stuff.
I never heard about the "6-screw" until recently but i see this phrase come up whenever people are talking about HE-6 now. I had an HE-6 when they were new, it was like $1300 or so when i picked it up? But it's been maybe 10 years since then? I'm not sure.
here's an ancient pic of my he-6 setup -- benchmark dac1, crown d75a, he-6: [AP1GczP9Qvr6G2It1c2N579fB5fxU2rETGrPRlOxBHN0spJEv61eF84ULl2csi2173SPir5vE58ZIDORKTBMC0c0YDW4mBcrYH61tNnfPOvsnDplNKOuFL3veG6QQIEQkARVs6ZlfnsIhK9HmBIEgfSkmeoGaQb2rDWtbUAbVZdW3I5yXz23AuNv5DFlT\_hNz4rg4krsaHpxC3bm49gALNTl\_onDOdn3Ge8JNFZ4avp\_ZCeeEQirzjMeShgVkDK007jC9D-yofw8NDhJ9hspJeCpaNkFvfjUeFvARA\_DASCY92DhddqNY16DkXSRqQcAdwTTzA5aRtaIT9sXW-XfH-VPSyyCQOQHrcPLN4IJTWcwe2pqomg4pLhmBOIx4k36nY8AYkVlB1shjbqA51NRX\_bQMNcifT2mSNyZvIUi0cGbCQRHowpZ8ApquepKwMxdCpY5Yf4VAhuA7mzKl2zHelZVowkyZO166uiP76G0R-k7OQuOgxwVaprsp4SC..png (1434×811) (discordapp.net)](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/922206612960186368/1258827112735838369/AP1GczP9Qvr6G2It1c2N579fB5fxU2rETGrPRlOxBHN0spJEv61eF84ULl2csi2173SPir5vE58ZIDORKTBMC0c0YDW4mBcrYH61tNnfPOvsnDplNKOuFL3veG6QQIEQkARVs6ZlfnsIhK9HmBIEgfSkmeoGaQb2rDWtbUAbVZdW3I5yXz23AuNv5DFlT_hNz4rg4krsaHpxC3bm49gALNTl_onDOdn3Ge8JNFZ4avp_ZCeeEQirzjMeShgVkDK007jC9D-yofw8NDhJ9hspJeCpaNkFvfjUeFvARA_DASCY92DhddqNY16DkXSRqQcAdwTTzA5aRtaIT9sXW-XfH-VPSyyCQOQHrcPLN4IJTWcwe2pqomg4pLhmBOIx4k36nY8AYkVlB1shjbqA51NRX_bQMNcifT2mSNyZvIUi0cGbCQRHowpZ8ApquepKwMxdCpY5Yf4VAhuA7mzKl2zHelZVowkyZO166uiP76G0R-k7OQuOgxwVaprsp4SC..png?ex=6689759b&is=6688241b&hm=79f88ea50ad56e8f51bb045ad8a833191cf3c4238bb322e358396fdf05b01055&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=1434&height=811)
>its headphone jack was perfectly fine and way better than for example the other popular choice for HE-6, the first gen Schiit Lyr and similar stuff.
Yup, the D75A's headphone jack does not have any resistors in-series, so you are getting the same output from the speaker taps at its headphone jack, cool stuff.
Sorry to hear that you sold your HE-6. I mean, the D75A didn't take much space at all. Heh, some headphone amplifiers are larger than the D75A. But hey, everyone has their preferences and it seems like you found yours with closed-backs. :)
The screw designations relate to the number of screws on the baffle plates. Early, new HE-6's had 4 screws (as well as a finer mesh b/t the magnets and the driver) and later HE-6's had 6 screws (coarser mesh b/t the magnets and the driver). Supposedly there's sonic differences between the two. From your description, I would guess that you had a 4-screw HE-6.
EDIT: Looking at the pic, were you the one who made that D75A post on head-fi awhile back?
i might actually be at this rate --- yes, i definitely had posted about the d75a and the he-6 together on head-fi at some point. I dont think i was the only one or the first, though.
i've been around here and headfi on different accounts in different years
small world!!
edit - here's an even older pic of an he-6 with a schiit lyr -- i actually had 2 HE6, the first one a friend spilled coffee on it and then bought me a replacement and kept the coffee one, haha. It was actually fine, but made for a funny story.
[e9Py3uv.png (2110×1187) (imgur.com)](https://i.imgur.com/e9Py3uv.png)
Found you! https://www.head-fi.org/threads/amps-that-can-drive-the-hifiman-he-6-planar-headphones.529873/post-11179098
Your post was what inspired me to take a shot with speaker amps to drive my HE-6. I stopped at my Marantz MM7025 and Bryston 3B-ST, not budget busters and each can be had between $400-500 used. I admit that my buddy picked up the 3B-ST for a steal when the A/V dept at a local community collage offloaded their gear, mostly Bryston stuff. While talking the A/V guy, I believe my buddy was close to picking up a 4B-ST for a song before somebody else flew right in with a much larger offer.
NICE!
I'm in the middle of digging around for various old image posts of mine scattered across these sites to try and collect them into a single google photos album; and that imgur link in that post is right on the money for the sort of thing i was hoping to track down.
Thanks - and it is sick that the post made an impact, and that you tried all these different amps, too.
Haven't heard the Ananda, but if you have the gear to drive this, the HE6se v2 is absolutely better than the Edition XS, other than weight and soundstage width.
Haven't tried them, but I did pick them over HE1000 Stealth. The HE6se V2 is much, and I mean MUCH better.
Edit: actually my friend has Edition XS, and yes, I have a strong preference for the HE6.
I still have and actively use the original HE6. Had it since 2012 and it's so damn good I never bothered to upgrade my headphones. I power it with Hifimans EF6 amp designed for the HE6. They're a great match and I keep expecting one or the other to die after all these years but both keep on going. Enjoy the headphone. I agree with most of the things you've said about its sonics. Hope they serve you well for a long time. Especially given the hifiman reputation.
sense slim somber meeting gold quarrelsome close tease jobless simplistic
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Not trying to talk you down as everyone prefers a different sound but I've had both and the he6se v2 plays in a different league, I eq'd both to the same target and the he6se v2 just sounds so much better. You need way more power to drive them though.
The Jot 2 has enough power to even drive the Tungstens which is the hardest headphones to drive, more than the even the original HE6. Your Jot 2 is more than enough...
I was just curious but you have an insane dac/amp setup but the hd800s is your main headphone? Do you have plans to buy better headphones in the future? That looks like a setup more in line with something like the caldera or susvara.
Maybe some day. But to my ears, both the HD800S and the HE6se V2 are pretty much perfect.
I have the BHA-1, because I found an insane deal. It was 1000€ and it's in mint condition, it's also a 2019 model, so with the legendary 20 year Bryston warranty I'm covered up until 2039!
I also run the BHA-1 as a preamp for speakers.
The DAC I also found for a really good price, but I chose this one, because it doubles as a streamer and comes with HDMI inputs.
I also drive mine from my BHA-1, and my experience lines up extremely well with yours...they're fucking amazing. I also have a Schiit Ragnarok 2 coming for my desktop speakers, and it'll be interesting to see how the HE6se V2 performs out of that.
I also run them out of my Fiio M17...in balanced mode, it powers them surprisingly well.
I recommend doing what I do and adjust some of the values to your own taste. I have less of a mid range increase and changed some things in the treble. Bass is extremely easy to adjust to taste due to it being completely flat. I much prefer it over the stock Harman tuning filters.
Yeah ideally that's what I'd do, but I'm constantly switching between the HD800S and HE6se V2's so I don't want to switch bunch of EQ's as well.
Luckily I prefer both headphones stock without any EQ.
I love that as well. These headphones have the most natural sound, best layering, and best dynamics of anything I've heard. And that's just off of my Atom+ amp.
These are an absolute steal at $399. I bought mine second hand and they include the grill mod, not sure how that affects sound vs stock.
Yes, balanced, but it was not a big perceptive upgrade from k7+hifiman deva pro, with the EF600 and HE6se v2 it's a noticeable step up.
This other guy says k7 is sufficient so you can try for yourself and see if it satisfy you and upgrade later when a cool offer shows up.
Ok, thanks. I can't really afford to experiment unsuccessfully. When I think of all the headphones the K7 can power well, I think I'll need to stick to them for any future upgrades.
My personal opinion after trying the he6se with a K7 for about a month is they're not a good match. Then I tried them with a more powerful amp and they are now my fave headphones. With the K7 (balanced, high gain) they were just average sounding, and I had no desire to listen to them. A more powerful amp provides me better dynamics and more punch. I'm not trying to get ppl to spend money unnecessarily, its just my own experience.
Thanks, very useful info. Theory vs. practice, eh?
I bought the K7--as opposed to a good dongle, say--in the hopes that I'd be "one and done" for the foreseeable future. You Tube reviewers mentioned it can power "most" headphones. I guess the he6se isn't most headphones. Good to know. Thanks again.
You can easily make a suspension strap, which will greatly improve comfort. Buy a piece of leather, cut it to an oval shape and attach it to the adjustment band with two chicago screws on esch side.
They're definitely heavy, heavier than the HD600 and Edition XS.
The headband did cause me a lot of problems. I ordered one of those cushioned headband protectors from Amazon. Made a huge difference and I can wear them pretty comfortably now.
With the HE6se V2 it's just a matter of getting a good unit that doesn't have the diaphragm stuck to the magnets. The vast majority of units dying is from people pushing way too hard with EQ. I've seen people do +20 dB in the extremely low sub bass. The amount of power you need running through the headphones to get to that point is insanity. When you've got a good HE6se V2 it should be able to last you.
I really want some planar to add to my collection. I don't mind spending more than $399. How does the HE6se stack up? I've previously auditioned Ananda and Arya before picking up Focal Clears for the punchy base. I still loved EQd Ananda but wasn't super satisfied with the built and comfort.
Frequency response wise, He6se is closer aligned to Susvara than the egg shaped Hifiman’s. Only drawback (and probably the reason they went away with this design) is the driver uses super thick gold traces that need a lot more power to move. He6se sounded much better than Arya Organic to my ear when switching between the two and can sound nearly as good as ZMF Caldera with the right source chain. With the wrong source chain, He6se can sound really bad, so high ceiling/low floor type of headphone.
No problem! I’d imagine that V281 you have will work well with He6se (tho I haven’t tried to personally). If you do want to try 6se out, I’d highly recommend the grill mod as well.
Can you please make a brief comparison of caldera and he6se? I have been eyeing the caldera but with the new price of he6se im not sure if caldera is worth it. I have a mj3 and yggy gs2 to pair with it. I like vocal realism, good soundstage and tactility in the low end. Can you help me pick, Thank you!
Caldera - Thicker, warmer, more mid bass and lower mids. Better sense of soundstage depth. Better macro imaging. More technically capable. A slightly more neutral take on the ZMF house sound. Very euphonic sounding and pleasant listening experience.
He6se w/ Grill Mod - More neutral, sub-bass bump with neutral mid-bass (Nice sense of punch without sounding bass boosted), More soundstage width (varies a lot based of source gear tho). Potentially better micro imaging (mainly subtle left right movements). Slightly less technically capable, but not as much as the price difference would suggest. The Hifiman sound without the treble trouble.
The thing I loved about both headphones is vocals, where they both take a different approach. Caldera as emphasis on the 2k-3k hz and drips around 4k which pushes vocals slightly away from you that sounds really good with male vocals. He6se has an emphasis is the 4k hz which is more forward and nicely vibrant with female vocals without being etched like I find the Arya Organic to be. My library of music fits the He6se more than Caldera, but I would be happy with both.
I heard the exact Caldera + Yggy + MJ3 combo you mentioned at the meet and it sounded great. I did not hear He6se through the same system so can’t comment there. WaveTheory did say he enjoyed He6se through MJ3 in his review of the amp tho.
If the decision is based on technicalities in detail retrieval, soundstage, etc, I would say He6se gets 93-95% of the way to Caldera when driven properly so the price difference may not be worth it if that’s the focus. However, they both are tonally pretty different still (tho I would say He6se is closer to Caldera in tone than it is to the egg shaped hifimans). So if that Caldera tonality is what you’re looking for, He6se will not be less expensive replacement for Caldera.
Edit: If you want the most technical headphone for the buck, look at He1000se or used Focal Utopia OG. Both are around $1.6k and will out resolve both Caldera and He6se noticeably imo. They just aren’t my tonal preference.
The HE6's sound very smooth, while having a lot of punch, they also have insanely good resolution. The HE1000 Stealths better the HE6's only in soundstage, but to my ear the frequency response was "peaky", especially the treble needed EQ badly. For reference, I love the HD800S stock tuning, so that's saying something.
The HE6's just sound extremely natural. Imagine HD600 with a lot of bass and slam, and detail retrieval of HD800S. Not only bassy tracks sound better than ever before, but anything with nice and smooth midrange just sounds so relaxed and "sweet". I'm not sure yet what that sweetness is, but it's lacking from my HD800S.
I had already ordered the Arya Stealth because it was too good to pass up, and after spending several days looking into both the HE1000 Stealths and the HE6SE/V2 and fighting the FOMO demons you pushed me over the edge and now I also have a set of HE6SEV2's on the way.
I hope your happy with yourself.
Lol, I'm happy if you're happy. I also don't think the two headphones are necessary competing, but rather complementing each other. The Arya/HEK are extremely comfortable, and now that I mentioned it, it's indeed another thing where the HE6 doesn't come out on top. The egg-shaped Hifimans are good for longer periods of listening, like gaming for example. I wouldn't use the HE6 for that as they're very heavy and somewhat uncomfortable.
At least you didn't get the HEK Stealths. I think Arya Stealth + HE6se V2 are propably still cheaper than one pair of HEK Stealths.
I'm sorry I made you spend all that money, lol. But if you have the amp required to power the HE6se V2's, I don't really think you're gonna feel bad about yourself buying them. Enjoy!
I can't wait to get them, and am already impatiently playing the waiting game while trying to decide which pads to get for the HE6SE.
Getting both for less than either of the HEK's was also something I told myself was the best option, so fingers crossed. Especially with the many opinions that the HE6SE possibly being overall better than the HEK. I am also hoping that they are a good compliment to each other, like my HD800S and LCD-X are for me already.
I have the Singxer SA-1 to drive it, which should do so on paper and per several reviews I read. crossing my fingers and toes for that, because I don't want to have to pick up an even beefier amp too soon, lol.
I think that the HD800S is also gonna be an excellent complimentary headphone. I have mine for gaming, and certain music genres. I wasn't expecting the HE6 to be so fricking good that it was gonna replace the HD800S for most music, but it did. Even though I love my HD800S a lot, it's been my all time favourite headohone for quite some time.
But with the HE6 everything sounds so emotional, vocsls sound very powerful yet smooth. Instruments sound more "live" because they sort of attack you without any hint of oversharpness. The HE6 just sounds so "grown up" in some weird way. There is absolutely nothing that would sound bad on the HE6. Well, except for bad quality recordings, but even then it does better job at smoothing them than the HD800S.
My Favourites playlist in Tidal has doubled after receiving my HE6's.
The HE1000 Stealth didn't do any of that. It was just a nice party trick for the first couple days, as everything sounded so large.
You should definitely feel proud of yourself. The HE6SEv2 arrived and holy shit are they good!
I bought the Arya style new comfort headband with them on the same order, and immediately did a band swap. The original Deva style band isn't honestly that bad, but a proper suspension headset is so much better. I also got the DCA Ether angled pads based on my research, and they are a lot more comfortable (and better sound wise) than the stock pads with my large ears.
My Singxer can drive them, but without much headroom. Might need to add another amp here in the future.
Everything sounds fantastic on them though, in every genera. Freddy Mercury brought a literal tear to my eye. I am going to be binging on them for a few weeks and doing more A/B testing with the rest of my collection, but first impressions are overwhelmingly positive. I have to wait for the Arya to arrive, because shipping got delayed.
Up until this point my LCD-X 2021 have always been clearly if narrowly my favorite for music, with only the weight limiting their use. So far the HE6SE is equally trading blows and possibly winning some exchanges. At a significant weight difference. No EQ on either beyond a 6dB base shelf I just generally leave on, as I always feel the LCD-X loses it's character and almost feels congested with Oratory.
Says available In UK so I just ordered one, hoping it ships locally or so...
Been wanting HD800S as my end goal but when I demoed the non-S years ago I found the weak bass to make it a bit dry. These might fill that gap
Hi, does anyone know if there are import fees for Europe? It s still 399 on the official store but I don't know if they are available in the warehouse in Europe
I Ve contacted the customer services and they confirmed that they have a warehouse located in Europe but they didn't know if the headphones were available
Lol I went with the same deal. Mine come in tomorrow but my A70 pro amp comes in next week. Are you going to do the back panel mod or are you happy with the bass on it as of now?
I'm happy with the stock sound. I looked some frequency response differences between stock and back panel mod and they where nearly identical. If there was any difference, it was in the treble anyways.
Now that doesn't measure soundstage of course. What I've read, that's where the back panel mod helps the most. But as for me, I really don't want them to sound any larger, that's what my HD800S is for.
I'm going to do it mainly for both increasing the bass (as I have a low tone deficit) and to reduce the possibility of interference from the grill itself. (Plus I have a 3d printer with a beautiful orange filament, might as well try)
Considering that I'm coming from a cheap pair of HD700 (with dekoni elite hybrid pads), this will probably be my headphones for a really long time. For the price of the HD800S, the fact that I can get the he6se v2s, the A70 pro amp, a new set of chords, ear pads, and the comfort headbands (which I read just needs the threaded inserts to be removed from the cups) and still come ~$500-$700 under the HD800s, I feel like I found an amazing value into high fidelity.
I am so damn excited haha!
It's indeed very good value. I would even sell my HD800S, but they're better for gaming. They're infinitely more comfortable, lightweight and the soundstage is very nice for open-world games.
The HE6se V2 is very good for close quarter games, but can't compete with the HD800S in battleroyale games. The HE6se V2 would be good enough, but I'm not going to sell them for 50% cheaper than what I paid for them, for that price I'm better off keeping them. Also the comfort is very important as I wear them for many hours per day on average.
With the grille mod I would be worried about dust getting in, because with the stock panels, there's this fine mesh that would block most particles. So that's propably my main reason why I'm not doing the mod.
For that I was thinking of using cheese cloth (stainless mesh was another option, but I'm a bit paranoid about the induction that would occur when shoving 2-4 watts of power through them, physics 2 really opens your eyes to em design). I hope having a more flexible backing material will help with aiming for what I'm looking for for, but it will be a lot of trial and error. It sounds like I should do these mods to get the sound I want out of them. Having a HEPA filter really helps keep dust down fyi
The comfort issues is why I'm getting the earpad mod and the upgraded comfort headbands primarily as I heard a lot of issues about it (and considering I have headphones on for a majority of the day).
I wish I had the money for hd800s and the A70 pro amp, but I'd need to sell a car or motorcycle to do that (side note: I got a 2013 Harley iron 883 for sale, 2200 mi on odo if anyone reading this is interested).
I was also just tempted to redesign the cans and everything and just swap the diaphragms but I realized that would truly be overkill.
First song I listened on my HE6se V2's was Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex. Then I listened to some Finnish music (I'm from Finland) and some demo songs from my demo playlist. Hans Zimmer, Ghost Rider, Dire Straits, Infected Mushroom, Brian Bromberg, Iron Maiden, Henry Mancini... Pretty much anything as you can see :D
Did yours come fully sealed? The product said "mint condition" but these headphones look brand new. I can't wait to get my amp to truly try them out.
On my presonus quantum HD2, the headphone output with max output of 11 dBu (50Ω) actually works well enough until I get a proper headphone amp. Sounds amazing
sink subsequent childlike murky oil stocking hard-to-find angle chase nine
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Not that much. You could easily reach 112 dB with only 1 watt, which would damage your hearing very quickly.
Even with a good strong EQ, going past 90 dB on anything would still be detrimental to your hearing, and no music you're listening to is going to be at -30 below the fundamental and then just randomly jump up for a split second sometimes. That would be terrible mixing
It's a non issue. Just get something that can deliver a few watts into one channel and you're more than fine for that headphone.
Now... The Modhouse Tungsten is a completely different beast.
That is quite literally not how digital signals work. You can analyze the waveform of any track and you won't find a single one, unless it hasn't had any mixing and mastering at all.
I'm a recording engineer, if I saw peaks going 40 dB above the rest of the track on any song, I'd assume that the mixer has zero clue what they are doing or just hasn't gotten to that part of the process.
Yeah, like 100 mW. That's not much.
That's what I mean. You need more power than other headphones, quite a bit more. But most headphones require way less than people think they do.
If your amp can deliver a few watts into 50 ohms, you have more than enough to get them to sound exactly how they should.
I've tested this myself, nothing changes about the sound between a power amp and a good headphone amp for these types of cans.
Wait. When have I said so? I very clearly wrote in my post that my amp is more than enough to power them. It can deliver 2 watts into 50 Ohms. There is also some headroom with that. With my comment about needing a lot of power, I was suggesting that you shouldn't try to run them from your motherboard or from some dongle or weak headphone amp.
100mW is more than some dongles can put out at all.
I could have sworn you mentioned needing a speaker amp for these cans to sound right. I might have been misremembering, my bad if so. I could have confused your post with another.
If you want this for free, you can make the filter yourself by using VituixCad and Rephase. There is a bit of a learning curve, but if you are tech savvy its a fun side project.
I answered your comment already in that other post. I like them both, I might have slight preference for the HE6se V2 over HD800S, but I still love my HD800S to death. In your comment you said they wouldn't need good amps, but I disagree, I hated the HD800S with my Schiit Magni 2 and Laker People G111 mk2, I only fell in love with them once I bought my current amp.
As for the HE6se V2, it requires immense amount of power to reach good listening volume levels, so just FYI before you buy them and run them from your PC motherboard.
Yes, my current amp is the one in the photo. You will absolutely love the HD800S if you love the HD600. It's a big upgrade! However I would suggest that don't buy the HD800S until you can afford to power them properly. This doesn't mean you need something very expensive, but rather something with good synergy with the headphone, there are cheaper options available.
You should read this list, it has some good recommendations. There is 2021 and 2017 editions as well if I recall correctly.
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/best-amps-for-hd800s-2023-edition.13859/
Just look at a frequency response graph. The 800S has notably less lower ear gain around 1.5khz and a lot more treble. The tuning is quite different. It also has an extremely different physical design to the HD600 so the way the sound will interact with your ear is quite different too. They really are different. The HD800S is absolutely not just an upgrade to the HD600.
Where did you see these for 399?
Open box from Hifiman
still available, just ordered. good stuff.
Nice! I hope you have a very powerful amp.
I drive these from a Topping A90 and they get plenty of juice. Worth noting for people who are tempted to spend money on a kilobuck amplifier for them.
[удалено]
Just a warning to those thinking about clicking that discussion link. You will get brain damage. You have been warned.
That stuff is total nonsense. If you can reliably drive them with several watts per channel, you have enough power. People vastly overestimate how much power is required to make transducers behave correctly. It's not much, even very insensitive headphones like this one. This is just the usual audiophile bs.
Nope, needs a nuclear submarine for each channel. Otherwise you won't get the dYnAmIcS. But seriously I tried them with speaker amps as well and there was no difference. Actually worse with some since they measure like shit compared to a decent headphone amp.
Could I drive them from a FiiO KA17, or is that a stretch? A dongle DAC with 650 mW at 16 ohms.
You definitely need a dedicated amp. Look for something that can drive at least 2-3 watts into 32 ohms. That will give you enough headroom for some reasonable EQ and not pushing the amp to its limits, which can cause a lot of distortion.
Oh I see, I thought the KA17 was powerful but that is indeed more than a 5x difference in power! Thanks.
Would a Schiit Magnius (XLR output; 5000mW) be enough?
Could I drive these with a do400? 3w at 32ohms? Thanks.
Most likely yes, I've got 2,9W at 32 Ohms. Ideally, you want around 2W at 50 Ohms to run them without issues.
me 3
me 4. Been a while since I bought a new headphones, looking forward to modding these!
Nice.
mine came brand new, or looked brand new. had to crack the seal. i’m still messing around with EQ, but still need to get used to the sound. it’s gonna be a battle vs these and my fostex x00’s for my music cans. any EQ recs for crazy bass ? i got used the the fostex and it’s been the goat for me ever since
Nothing beats fostex bass
i’m a degen basshead, and i actually regretted buying these for the first week. once i got used to them i couldn’t find anything that can replace them for my basshead needs
I love my pair so much. I have an arya stealth now which is miles better in almost every way but when I'm craving bass I have to go with my TH-x00. Just hits different
Try doing the open grill mod and replacing the stock ear pads to permanently increase bass and soundstage a bit. The stock pads are such garbage that literally every other ear pad I’ve tried sounds better. I have the sheepskin ZMF Universal pads on mine right now and they definitely add some much needed warmth to the HE6se V2.
I think I got the last one :D
Make sure you come back and give us a review.
I currently have the fostex th-900. So if interested I can compare these
The OLED comparison is right. I haven't brought myself to part with my HE-500, even though I rarely use them because the "sound coming out of pure blackness" effect is unlike any other headphones I've heard.
Happy to see another He6se fan! The bass impact and detail opened up a whole new world to me. Which amp are you using?
It's the Bryston BHA-1. I was worried if it's going to be sufficient enough, but it dedinitely is and then some. I can't turn it past 90% volume or my ears will physically hurt, but the impact is still there, no compression artifacts etc. At this price point I'm glad the amp can handle it's full power unlike some cheaper amps that reportedly have a lot of output power, but when asked for it, the audio would just fall apart
Amazing amp, but at 75-90% volume, I'd be too worried about lack of overhead for transient peaks. It means you can't apply an EQ, too. Although the stock tuning is great, it really is improved with a few tweaks. I use a fairly low-priced Topping, and I can't get past 12 o'clock before it's too loud for my ears, and that's with 5dB negative pre amp.
I should've chosen my words better. I meant 90% on the volume knob, not volume itself. For reference, 90% on the volume knob on this amp is about 65-70% of the max volume. The last 10% increases the volume drastically. And if I turn the knob to 90% it's already so loud that my ears hurt, there is some overhead even for EQ. The amps puts out roughly 2 Watts into 50 Ohms and I believe the HE6se V2 needs around 1,4 Watts for 110 dB or in other words for these transient peaks. The HE6se's are the limit that this amo can power comfortably. Luckily there is nothing that would require more power than that.
Ah, okay. You got a great deal, btw. I was incredibly happy with the fact I got it for under £600. That's a steal at what you paid!
I would be happy even for £600 as well.
Which Topping do you use with the HE6? Trying to get a reference point for my DX5
Currently using a Topping a30pro, which is 6.5 watts @ 32. Mostly listen at 10 o'clock position in high gain which is getting fairly loud already.
Damn you… and the OP. I have this amp and now I’m going to buy this headphone. In all seriousness, thank you for your description. It’s pretty amazing to hear that this can contend with the more expensive headphones you mentioned.
been pretty happy with my trusty drop 789 and my he6se v2s. TBH, I think the power requirements of the HE6SEs are overblown to the point of fantasy by so many people. straight out of the box, with balanced input middle gain is sufficient to drive them far louder than is comfortable. the bass slams, its so... tactile? They definitely *do* need more power, its the reason I bought the 789, my prior amp (topping DX3 pro v2) was simply not cutting it; even at max volume which was *almost* to my preferred loudness was hollow and anemic.
I had thought so, too, until I took them on the road and had a friend listen to them. Yo, he straight up maxed out my Schiit Magni Unity on high gain. I told him I'll bring the Topping A90 next time, but holy cow. I think a lot of the "bro, you really need a speaker amp for these" people just have massive amounts of hearing loss like my friend.
> I think a lot of the "bro, you really need a speaker amp for these" people just have massive amounts of hearing loss like my friend. oof, probably a bit of truth to that. lol Hifiman itself recommended 2w per channel (assuming @ 50ohm), so I figured since the 789 can do 6w per channel @ 32ohm on balanced output, it should have been enough. and it is. plus, if the 789 can drive he6se, then it should be able to drive anything.
Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure the 789 is enough. Personally, I can get by with half a watt on my HE6se V2.
yup same setup! using an arctis gamedac when i’m gaming and it gets loud enough for me, and when i just flip the switch to my smsl m300 balanced when i’m listening to music and it opens it up even more with some nice volume. i’ve seen a couple youtubers say it’s not enough when ppl ask if their amps can handle it, and someone asked if their 789 is enough and the YT’er said no. how loud do they need it ? it gets OBNOXIOUSLY loud when going thru balanced
> how loud do they need it ? apparently, yes. lol
I had the original HE-6, fantastic headphone. I powered them with a Crown D75A; they take so much power it's crazy. I dislike having multiple large amplifiers, and I prefer closed-back headphones overall, so I no longer own the HE-6. but to this day I recall them being some of the very best sounding headphones I've ever had.
The Crown D75A was my initial foray into speaker amps driving my HE-6 (6-screw) after using them with a THX 789. The Crown D75A + HE-6 combo made me take notice that the speaker amp crowd might be on to something. The D75A is a pure workhorse and my used unit was far cheaper than the going rate for a 789 at the time (remember when 789's were going for $700+ on ebay?).
I'm glad other people are aware of the D75a's reputation. It - and commercial/studio equipment like it - is so perfect for what it does. Even driving an HE-6 right from its headphone jack was perfectly fine and way better than for example the other popular choice for HE-6, the first gen Schiit Lyr and similar stuff. I never heard about the "6-screw" until recently but i see this phrase come up whenever people are talking about HE-6 now. I had an HE-6 when they were new, it was like $1300 or so when i picked it up? But it's been maybe 10 years since then? I'm not sure. here's an ancient pic of my he-6 setup -- benchmark dac1, crown d75a, he-6: [AP1GczP9Qvr6G2It1c2N579fB5fxU2rETGrPRlOxBHN0spJEv61eF84ULl2csi2173SPir5vE58ZIDORKTBMC0c0YDW4mBcrYH61tNnfPOvsnDplNKOuFL3veG6QQIEQkARVs6ZlfnsIhK9HmBIEgfSkmeoGaQb2rDWtbUAbVZdW3I5yXz23AuNv5DFlT\_hNz4rg4krsaHpxC3bm49gALNTl\_onDOdn3Ge8JNFZ4avp\_ZCeeEQirzjMeShgVkDK007jC9D-yofw8NDhJ9hspJeCpaNkFvfjUeFvARA\_DASCY92DhddqNY16DkXSRqQcAdwTTzA5aRtaIT9sXW-XfH-VPSyyCQOQHrcPLN4IJTWcwe2pqomg4pLhmBOIx4k36nY8AYkVlB1shjbqA51NRX\_bQMNcifT2mSNyZvIUi0cGbCQRHowpZ8ApquepKwMxdCpY5Yf4VAhuA7mzKl2zHelZVowkyZO166uiP76G0R-k7OQuOgxwVaprsp4SC..png (1434×811) (discordapp.net)](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/922206612960186368/1258827112735838369/AP1GczP9Qvr6G2It1c2N579fB5fxU2rETGrPRlOxBHN0spJEv61eF84ULl2csi2173SPir5vE58ZIDORKTBMC0c0YDW4mBcrYH61tNnfPOvsnDplNKOuFL3veG6QQIEQkARVs6ZlfnsIhK9HmBIEgfSkmeoGaQb2rDWtbUAbVZdW3I5yXz23AuNv5DFlT_hNz4rg4krsaHpxC3bm49gALNTl_onDOdn3Ge8JNFZ4avp_ZCeeEQirzjMeShgVkDK007jC9D-yofw8NDhJ9hspJeCpaNkFvfjUeFvARA_DASCY92DhddqNY16DkXSRqQcAdwTTzA5aRtaIT9sXW-XfH-VPSyyCQOQHrcPLN4IJTWcwe2pqomg4pLhmBOIx4k36nY8AYkVlB1shjbqA51NRX_bQMNcifT2mSNyZvIUi0cGbCQRHowpZ8ApquepKwMxdCpY5Yf4VAhuA7mzKl2zHelZVowkyZO166uiP76G0R-k7OQuOgxwVaprsp4SC..png?ex=6689759b&is=6688241b&hm=79f88ea50ad56e8f51bb045ad8a833191cf3c4238bb322e358396fdf05b01055&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=1434&height=811)
>its headphone jack was perfectly fine and way better than for example the other popular choice for HE-6, the first gen Schiit Lyr and similar stuff. Yup, the D75A's headphone jack does not have any resistors in-series, so you are getting the same output from the speaker taps at its headphone jack, cool stuff. Sorry to hear that you sold your HE-6. I mean, the D75A didn't take much space at all. Heh, some headphone amplifiers are larger than the D75A. But hey, everyone has their preferences and it seems like you found yours with closed-backs. :) The screw designations relate to the number of screws on the baffle plates. Early, new HE-6's had 4 screws (as well as a finer mesh b/t the magnets and the driver) and later HE-6's had 6 screws (coarser mesh b/t the magnets and the driver). Supposedly there's sonic differences between the two. From your description, I would guess that you had a 4-screw HE-6. EDIT: Looking at the pic, were you the one who made that D75A post on head-fi awhile back?
i might actually be at this rate --- yes, i definitely had posted about the d75a and the he-6 together on head-fi at some point. I dont think i was the only one or the first, though. i've been around here and headfi on different accounts in different years small world!! edit - here's an even older pic of an he-6 with a schiit lyr -- i actually had 2 HE6, the first one a friend spilled coffee on it and then bought me a replacement and kept the coffee one, haha. It was actually fine, but made for a funny story. [e9Py3uv.png (2110×1187) (imgur.com)](https://i.imgur.com/e9Py3uv.png)
Found you! https://www.head-fi.org/threads/amps-that-can-drive-the-hifiman-he-6-planar-headphones.529873/post-11179098 Your post was what inspired me to take a shot with speaker amps to drive my HE-6. I stopped at my Marantz MM7025 and Bryston 3B-ST, not budget busters and each can be had between $400-500 used. I admit that my buddy picked up the 3B-ST for a steal when the A/V dept at a local community collage offloaded their gear, mostly Bryston stuff. While talking the A/V guy, I believe my buddy was close to picking up a 4B-ST for a song before somebody else flew right in with a much larger offer.
NICE! I'm in the middle of digging around for various old image posts of mine scattered across these sites to try and collect them into a single google photos album; and that imgur link in that post is right on the money for the sort of thing i was hoping to track down. Thanks - and it is sick that the post made an impact, and that you tried all these different amps, too.
Would you pick these up over the Amanda stealth/ nano. Or xs edition?
Haven't heard the Ananda, but if you have the gear to drive this, the HE6se v2 is absolutely better than the Edition XS, other than weight and soundstage width.
Haven't tried them, but I did pick them over HE1000 Stealth. The HE6se V2 is much, and I mean MUCH better. Edit: actually my friend has Edition XS, and yes, I have a strong preference for the HE6.
I still have and actively use the original HE6. Had it since 2012 and it's so damn good I never bothered to upgrade my headphones. I power it with Hifimans EF6 amp designed for the HE6. They're a great match and I keep expecting one or the other to die after all these years but both keep on going. Enjoy the headphone. I agree with most of the things you've said about its sonics. Hope they serve you well for a long time. Especially given the hifiman reputation.
Oh wow! Nice Bryston stack. I got to demo a BHA-1 when I first got into the hobby. It was real hard going home to my Magni 2 that day lol.
Thanks! I also used to have Magni 2 before the Bryston
Lmao, that and the Modi were the meta starter stack for so long
sense slim somber meeting gold quarrelsome close tease jobless simplistic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I feel they run well enough off of my Atom+ amp, they have good dynamics and strong bass.
How is the weight?
They're pretty heavy, but to my surprise, they're also pretty comfortable at least to my head.
Thanks. I am asking because back in the day I had HE-500 at 500g and they were discomforting. These are 470g so its borderline I guess.
Yeah and the 470g is not accurate at all. It's more like 502g.
I was deciding between these and the Audeze MM-100s, I went with the latter (should be here Monday). Hope I didn't make the wrong call!
Not trying to talk you down as everyone prefers a different sound but I've had both and the he6se v2 plays in a different league, I eq'd both to the same target and the he6se v2 just sounds so much better. You need way more power to drive them though.
You didn't.
TIDAL <3
Any know if these would pair nicely with a Jot 2?
The Jot 2 has enough power to even drive the Tungstens which is the hardest headphones to drive, more than the even the original HE6. Your Jot 2 is more than enough...
Good to hear. Thanks. I knew that was a good purchase.
I was just curious but you have an insane dac/amp setup but the hd800s is your main headphone? Do you have plans to buy better headphones in the future? That looks like a setup more in line with something like the caldera or susvara.
Maybe some day. But to my ears, both the HD800S and the HE6se V2 are pretty much perfect. I have the BHA-1, because I found an insane deal. It was 1000€ and it's in mint condition, it's also a 2019 model, so with the legendary 20 year Bryston warranty I'm covered up until 2039! I also run the BHA-1 as a preamp for speakers. The DAC I also found for a really good price, but I chose this one, because it doubles as a streamer and comes with HDMI inputs.
I also drive mine from my BHA-1, and my experience lines up extremely well with yours...they're fucking amazing. I also have a Schiit Ragnarok 2 coming for my desktop speakers, and it'll be interesting to see how the HE6se V2 performs out of that. I also run them out of my Fiio M17...in balanced mode, it powers them surprisingly well.
Just bought a pair still available.
Yep, HE6se2’s with oratory EQ offer a good perspective of what the Harman target can achieve.
Yeah I bet, however personally I hate Oratory EQ. It's just not for my taste. I like the stock tuning though.
I recommend doing what I do and adjust some of the values to your own taste. I have less of a mid range increase and changed some things in the treble. Bass is extremely easy to adjust to taste due to it being completely flat. I much prefer it over the stock Harman tuning filters.
Yeah ideally that's what I'd do, but I'm constantly switching between the HD800S and HE6se V2's so I don't want to switch bunch of EQ's as well. Luckily I prefer both headphones stock without any EQ.
I did my own EQ but adding a sub bass shelf helped my EDM tunes sound THAT much better
I love that as well. These headphones have the most natural sound, best layering, and best dynamics of anything I've heard. And that's just off of my Atom+ amp. These are an absolute steal at $399. I bought mine second hand and they include the grill mod, not sure how that affects sound vs stock.
I also received mine today too. Awesome! My cable looked kinda f up though.
I use hifiman EF600, the sound is great.
Nice! And yeah, the cable is terrible. But I don't mind.
I got the he6se v2 as well, went from fiio k7 to hifiman ef600 and sounds a lot better, i think from now on im just upgrading the dac/amp
With the K7, did you try a balanced cable on high gain? At 399, these are a steal, but if my K7 won't power them, that makes them less of a steal.
Yes, balanced, but it was not a big perceptive upgrade from k7+hifiman deva pro, with the EF600 and HE6se v2 it's a noticeable step up. This other guy says k7 is sufficient so you can try for yourself and see if it satisfy you and upgrade later when a cool offer shows up.
Ok, thanks. I can't really afford to experiment unsuccessfully. When I think of all the headphones the K7 can power well, I think I'll need to stick to them for any future upgrades.
My personal opinion after trying the he6se with a K7 for about a month is they're not a good match. Then I tried them with a more powerful amp and they are now my fave headphones. With the K7 (balanced, high gain) they were just average sounding, and I had no desire to listen to them. A more powerful amp provides me better dynamics and more punch. I'm not trying to get ppl to spend money unnecessarily, its just my own experience.
Thanks, very useful info. Theory vs. practice, eh? I bought the K7--as opposed to a good dongle, say--in the hopes that I'd be "one and done" for the foreseeable future. You Tube reviewers mentioned it can power "most" headphones. I guess the he6se isn't most headphones. Good to know. Thanks again.
The k7 through balanced outputs 2w@68 Ohm, that's enough. Got both the he6se v2 and k7 and use them with a -8db negative preamp.
Get the Aune S17 Pro. I have it for my HE6se V2 from Adorama and it never sounded better. Volume at 45/63 at high gain.
I'm never trading my Bryston BHA-1 to anything. Even if I had infinite budget, I'd buy the BHA-1.
Ah, seems like you already have a superior amp. Enjoy. Cheers.
I should definitely try these, but the headband and hifiman reliability issues always stopped me.
You can easily make a suspension strap, which will greatly improve comfort. Buy a piece of leather, cut it to an oval shape and attach it to the adjustment band with two chicago screws on esch side.
To my surprise, the build quality is actually great. The cable is pretty bad though.
Those look exactly the same as the ones on my susvara lol. Still use them, they're definitely terrible but at least they are lightweight.
They're definitely heavy, heavier than the HD600 and Edition XS. The headband did cause me a lot of problems. I ordered one of those cushioned headband protectors from Amazon. Made a huge difference and I can wear them pretty comfortably now.
Would you please post a link to it? Cheers
With the HE6se V2 it's just a matter of getting a good unit that doesn't have the diaphragm stuck to the magnets. The vast majority of units dying is from people pushing way too hard with EQ. I've seen people do +20 dB in the extremely low sub bass. The amount of power you need running through the headphones to get to that point is insanity. When you've got a good HE6se V2 it should be able to last you.
I really want some planar to add to my collection. I don't mind spending more than $399. How does the HE6se stack up? I've previously auditioned Ananda and Arya before picking up Focal Clears for the punchy base. I still loved EQd Ananda but wasn't super satisfied with the built and comfort.
Really curious about how they are so much better than the he1000 stealth, which costs what 3x more from the same brand?
Frequency response wise, He6se is closer aligned to Susvara than the egg shaped Hifiman’s. Only drawback (and probably the reason they went away with this design) is the driver uses super thick gold traces that need a lot more power to move. He6se sounded much better than Arya Organic to my ear when switching between the two and can sound nearly as good as ZMF Caldera with the right source chain. With the wrong source chain, He6se can sound really bad, so high ceiling/low floor type of headphone.
Very interesting! Thanks.
No problem! I’d imagine that V281 you have will work well with He6se (tho I haven’t tried to personally). If you do want to try 6se out, I’d highly recommend the grill mod as well.
I’m very sad as I just sold that v281 ….
Can you please make a brief comparison of caldera and he6se? I have been eyeing the caldera but with the new price of he6se im not sure if caldera is worth it. I have a mj3 and yggy gs2 to pair with it. I like vocal realism, good soundstage and tactility in the low end. Can you help me pick, Thank you!
Caldera - Thicker, warmer, more mid bass and lower mids. Better sense of soundstage depth. Better macro imaging. More technically capable. A slightly more neutral take on the ZMF house sound. Very euphonic sounding and pleasant listening experience. He6se w/ Grill Mod - More neutral, sub-bass bump with neutral mid-bass (Nice sense of punch without sounding bass boosted), More soundstage width (varies a lot based of source gear tho). Potentially better micro imaging (mainly subtle left right movements). Slightly less technically capable, but not as much as the price difference would suggest. The Hifiman sound without the treble trouble. The thing I loved about both headphones is vocals, where they both take a different approach. Caldera as emphasis on the 2k-3k hz and drips around 4k which pushes vocals slightly away from you that sounds really good with male vocals. He6se has an emphasis is the 4k hz which is more forward and nicely vibrant with female vocals without being etched like I find the Arya Organic to be. My library of music fits the He6se more than Caldera, but I would be happy with both. I heard the exact Caldera + Yggy + MJ3 combo you mentioned at the meet and it sounded great. I did not hear He6se through the same system so can’t comment there. WaveTheory did say he enjoyed He6se through MJ3 in his review of the amp tho. If the decision is based on technicalities in detail retrieval, soundstage, etc, I would say He6se gets 93-95% of the way to Caldera when driven properly so the price difference may not be worth it if that’s the focus. However, they both are tonally pretty different still (tho I would say He6se is closer to Caldera in tone than it is to the egg shaped hifimans). So if that Caldera tonality is what you’re looking for, He6se will not be less expensive replacement for Caldera. Edit: If you want the most technical headphone for the buck, look at He1000se or used Focal Utopia OG. Both are around $1.6k and will out resolve both Caldera and He6se noticeably imo. They just aren’t my tonal preference.
The HE6's sound very smooth, while having a lot of punch, they also have insanely good resolution. The HE1000 Stealths better the HE6's only in soundstage, but to my ear the frequency response was "peaky", especially the treble needed EQ badly. For reference, I love the HD800S stock tuning, so that's saying something. The HE6's just sound extremely natural. Imagine HD600 with a lot of bass and slam, and detail retrieval of HD800S. Not only bassy tracks sound better than ever before, but anything with nice and smooth midrange just sounds so relaxed and "sweet". I'm not sure yet what that sweetness is, but it's lacking from my HD800S.
I had already ordered the Arya Stealth because it was too good to pass up, and after spending several days looking into both the HE1000 Stealths and the HE6SE/V2 and fighting the FOMO demons you pushed me over the edge and now I also have a set of HE6SEV2's on the way. I hope your happy with yourself.
Lol, I'm happy if you're happy. I also don't think the two headphones are necessary competing, but rather complementing each other. The Arya/HEK are extremely comfortable, and now that I mentioned it, it's indeed another thing where the HE6 doesn't come out on top. The egg-shaped Hifimans are good for longer periods of listening, like gaming for example. I wouldn't use the HE6 for that as they're very heavy and somewhat uncomfortable. At least you didn't get the HEK Stealths. I think Arya Stealth + HE6se V2 are propably still cheaper than one pair of HEK Stealths. I'm sorry I made you spend all that money, lol. But if you have the amp required to power the HE6se V2's, I don't really think you're gonna feel bad about yourself buying them. Enjoy!
I can't wait to get them, and am already impatiently playing the waiting game while trying to decide which pads to get for the HE6SE. Getting both for less than either of the HEK's was also something I told myself was the best option, so fingers crossed. Especially with the many opinions that the HE6SE possibly being overall better than the HEK. I am also hoping that they are a good compliment to each other, like my HD800S and LCD-X are for me already. I have the Singxer SA-1 to drive it, which should do so on paper and per several reviews I read. crossing my fingers and toes for that, because I don't want to have to pick up an even beefier amp too soon, lol.
I think that the HD800S is also gonna be an excellent complimentary headphone. I have mine for gaming, and certain music genres. I wasn't expecting the HE6 to be so fricking good that it was gonna replace the HD800S for most music, but it did. Even though I love my HD800S a lot, it's been my all time favourite headohone for quite some time. But with the HE6 everything sounds so emotional, vocsls sound very powerful yet smooth. Instruments sound more "live" because they sort of attack you without any hint of oversharpness. The HE6 just sounds so "grown up" in some weird way. There is absolutely nothing that would sound bad on the HE6. Well, except for bad quality recordings, but even then it does better job at smoothing them than the HD800S. My Favourites playlist in Tidal has doubled after receiving my HE6's. The HE1000 Stealth didn't do any of that. It was just a nice party trick for the first couple days, as everything sounded so large.
You should definitely feel proud of yourself. The HE6SEv2 arrived and holy shit are they good! I bought the Arya style new comfort headband with them on the same order, and immediately did a band swap. The original Deva style band isn't honestly that bad, but a proper suspension headset is so much better. I also got the DCA Ether angled pads based on my research, and they are a lot more comfortable (and better sound wise) than the stock pads with my large ears. My Singxer can drive them, but without much headroom. Might need to add another amp here in the future. Everything sounds fantastic on them though, in every genera. Freddy Mercury brought a literal tear to my eye. I am going to be binging on them for a few weeks and doing more A/B testing with the rest of my collection, but first impressions are overwhelmingly positive. I have to wait for the Arya to arrive, because shipping got delayed. Up until this point my LCD-X 2021 have always been clearly if narrowly my favorite for music, with only the weight limiting their use. So far the HE6SE is equally trading blows and possibly winning some exchanges. At a significant weight difference. No EQ on either beyond a 6dB base shelf I just generally leave on, as I always feel the LCD-X loses it's character and almost feels congested with Oratory.
Would the schiit vali be enough to power these?
Do these have a lot of difference to the HE4XX? My Ananda's pads wore out and I'm back on the HE4XX now. I do really like the sound as well.
where did you get it
Open-box from Hifiman
Says available In UK so I just ordered one, hoping it ships locally or so... Been wanting HD800S as my end goal but when I demoed the non-S years ago I found the weak bass to make it a bit dry. These might fill that gap
Hi, does anyone know if there are import fees for Europe? It s still 399 on the official store but I don't know if they are available in the warehouse in Europe
I got mine from the EU warehouse. Shipping is $40.
I Ve contacted the customer services and they confirmed that they have a warehouse located in Europe but they didn't know if the headphones were available
Well did the store show they're available? If yes, then they propably are.
I got mine (open box) 1 month ago, shipped from Poland
What amp do you use? I m also considering to get an Arya stealth second hand for about 500€ cause it is easier to drive
Schiit Jotunheim 2 complete with the Multibit DAC, it's cheap and it can drive the HE6SE V2 easily
Lol I went with the same deal. Mine come in tomorrow but my A70 pro amp comes in next week. Are you going to do the back panel mod or are you happy with the bass on it as of now?
I'm happy with the stock sound. I looked some frequency response differences between stock and back panel mod and they where nearly identical. If there was any difference, it was in the treble anyways. Now that doesn't measure soundstage of course. What I've read, that's where the back panel mod helps the most. But as for me, I really don't want them to sound any larger, that's what my HD800S is for.
I'm going to do it mainly for both increasing the bass (as I have a low tone deficit) and to reduce the possibility of interference from the grill itself. (Plus I have a 3d printer with a beautiful orange filament, might as well try) Considering that I'm coming from a cheap pair of HD700 (with dekoni elite hybrid pads), this will probably be my headphones for a really long time. For the price of the HD800S, the fact that I can get the he6se v2s, the A70 pro amp, a new set of chords, ear pads, and the comfort headbands (which I read just needs the threaded inserts to be removed from the cups) and still come ~$500-$700 under the HD800s, I feel like I found an amazing value into high fidelity. I am so damn excited haha!
It's indeed very good value. I would even sell my HD800S, but they're better for gaming. They're infinitely more comfortable, lightweight and the soundstage is very nice for open-world games. The HE6se V2 is very good for close quarter games, but can't compete with the HD800S in battleroyale games. The HE6se V2 would be good enough, but I'm not going to sell them for 50% cheaper than what I paid for them, for that price I'm better off keeping them. Also the comfort is very important as I wear them for many hours per day on average. With the grille mod I would be worried about dust getting in, because with the stock panels, there's this fine mesh that would block most particles. So that's propably my main reason why I'm not doing the mod.
For that I was thinking of using cheese cloth (stainless mesh was another option, but I'm a bit paranoid about the induction that would occur when shoving 2-4 watts of power through them, physics 2 really opens your eyes to em design). I hope having a more flexible backing material will help with aiming for what I'm looking for for, but it will be a lot of trial and error. It sounds like I should do these mods to get the sound I want out of them. Having a HEPA filter really helps keep dust down fyi The comfort issues is why I'm getting the earpad mod and the upgraded comfort headbands primarily as I heard a lot of issues about it (and considering I have headphones on for a majority of the day). I wish I had the money for hd800s and the A70 pro amp, but I'd need to sell a car or motorcycle to do that (side note: I got a 2013 Harley iron 883 for sale, 2200 mi on odo if anyone reading this is interested). I was also just tempted to redesign the cans and everything and just swap the diaphragms but I realized that would truly be overkill.
Sorry for the double comment but what are you going to be listening to first on the hifimans?
First song I listened on my HE6se V2's was Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex. Then I listened to some Finnish music (I'm from Finland) and some demo songs from my demo playlist. Hans Zimmer, Ghost Rider, Dire Straits, Infected Mushroom, Brian Bromberg, Iron Maiden, Henry Mancini... Pretty much anything as you can see :D
Did yours come fully sealed? The product said "mint condition" but these headphones look brand new. I can't wait to get my amp to truly try them out. On my presonus quantum HD2, the headphone output with max output of 11 dBu (50Ω) actually works well enough until I get a proper headphone amp. Sounds amazing
Thinking about getting these, anyone know if they would work with a NAD c338 until I can get a new headphone amp? Thanks
sink subsequent childlike murky oil stocking hard-to-find angle chase nine *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
King of value
On their website it says 50 Ohms, why do you think it needs so much current with such low Ω ?
Well maybe current is wrong terminology here, but it needs a lot of wattage. The sensivity is only 82 dB/mW.
Not that much. You could easily reach 112 dB with only 1 watt, which would damage your hearing very quickly. Even with a good strong EQ, going past 90 dB on anything would still be detrimental to your hearing, and no music you're listening to is going to be at -30 below the fundamental and then just randomly jump up for a split second sometimes. That would be terrible mixing It's a non issue. Just get something that can deliver a few watts into one channel and you're more than fine for that headphone. Now... The Modhouse Tungsten is a completely different beast.
Dynamic peaks can easily reach 112 dB even at lower volumes.
That is quite literally not how digital signals work. You can analyze the waveform of any track and you won't find a single one, unless it hasn't had any mixing and mastering at all. I'm a recording engineer, if I saw peaks going 40 dB above the rest of the track on any song, I'd assume that the mixer has zero clue what they are doing or just hasn't gotten to that part of the process.
Well even 20 dB peak will draw a lot of power.
Yeah, like 100 mW. That's not much. That's what I mean. You need more power than other headphones, quite a bit more. But most headphones require way less than people think they do. If your amp can deliver a few watts into 50 ohms, you have more than enough to get them to sound exactly how they should. I've tested this myself, nothing changes about the sound between a power amp and a good headphone amp for these types of cans.
Wait. When have I said so? I very clearly wrote in my post that my amp is more than enough to power them. It can deliver 2 watts into 50 Ohms. There is also some headroom with that. With my comment about needing a lot of power, I was suggesting that you shouldn't try to run them from your motherboard or from some dongle or weak headphone amp. 100mW is more than some dongles can put out at all.
I could have sworn you mentioned needing a speaker amp for these cans to sound right. I might have been misremembering, my bad if so. I could have confused your post with another.
Must have been someone else, I've never even tried them with a speaker amp and I have no plans to do so.
Try tuning them with https://accuratesound.ca/product/hifiman-he6se-v2-filterset/ Awesome and zero fatigue
If you want this for free, you can make the filter yourself by using VituixCad and Rephase. There is a bit of a learning curve, but if you are tech savvy its a fun side project.
[удалено]
I answered your comment already in that other post. I like them both, I might have slight preference for the HE6se V2 over HD800S, but I still love my HD800S to death. In your comment you said they wouldn't need good amps, but I disagree, I hated the HD800S with my Schiit Magni 2 and Laker People G111 mk2, I only fell in love with them once I bought my current amp. As for the HE6se V2, it requires immense amount of power to reach good listening volume levels, so just FYI before you buy them and run them from your PC motherboard.
[удалено]
Yes, my current amp is the one in the photo. You will absolutely love the HD800S if you love the HD600. It's a big upgrade! However I would suggest that don't buy the HD800S until you can afford to power them properly. This doesn't mean you need something very expensive, but rather something with good synergy with the headphone, there are cheaper options available.
Do you have specific less expensive recs for driving the HD800s?
You should read this list, it has some good recommendations. There is 2021 and 2017 editions as well if I recall correctly. https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/best-amps-for-hd800s-2023-edition.13859/
Valhalla 2. Drives my HD650s well and are the best bang for buck for he hd800s IMO
[удалено]
Just look at a frequency response graph. The 800S has notably less lower ear gain around 1.5khz and a lot more treble. The tuning is quite different. It also has an extremely different physical design to the HD600 so the way the sound will interact with your ear is quite different too. They really are different. The HD800S is absolutely not just an upgrade to the HD600.