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Handmade electrostatic headphones HEAUDIO EH-1.3 test sale
Pics will be available soon.
Customers need to wait for 2 month after payment.
Specifications
Type : Electrostatic open-air type headphone
Frequency Range : 10-50000Hz
Capacitance, including cable : 140pF
Sensitivity : 100dB/100V r.m.s.
Earpad : Leather
Bias voltage : 600 V / DC
Seriously, why did they ditch the 1.2 prototype? That looks miles prettier than this... thing... I am sorry to be disrespectful, but the 1.3 just look homemade.
Maybe when I listen to them I will change my mind. But why the change of design... unless copyright infringement or something...
Seriously, why did they ditch the 1.2 prototype? That looks miles prettier than this... thing... I am sorry to be disrespectful, but the 1.3 just look homemade.
Maybe when I listen to them I will change my mind. But why the change of design... unless copyright infringement or something...
the manufacturers thought the headphone looked too similar to the HE90 but it was their own design and not a clone. they did not want to have the product viewed as an HE90 knock off, so they changed the appearance. i agree the 1.2 version looks better.
the manufacturers thought the headphone looked too similar to the HE90 but it was their own design and not a clone. they did not want to have the product viewed as an HE90 knock off, so they changed the appearance. i agree the 1.2 version looks better.
Well why not? The company is already called "HE" Audio. They might as well go all the way. And considering the HE90 is a gorgeous headphone that is no longer made...... I don't see what the problem is.
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Headphones → Denon AH-D5000 (modded)
Amp/DAC → Meier Audio Corda Opera :::
Transport → ESI Juli@ ::: Vista → Foobar 0.9.5 → EAC extracted PCM → ASIO 2.0 → SSRC@96/Ultra → ESI Juli@ → S/PDIF :::
Power → Virtual Dynamics Master LE 2.0 Power Cord(Amp/DAC) ::: Cobalt Cable Ultimate Power Cord(PC) ::: API PowerWedge I
Interconnects → Virtual Dynamics Master LE 2.0 Digital IC ::: Cobalt Cable Ultimate Digital Coax :::::::::::::::::: Cobalt Cable Ultimate Audio Interconnect Pair ::: ALO 6" iPod LOD ::: Qables 15" Silvercab iPod LOD
Portable Source → iPod Classic (6g) 80gig, with Agent18 Hardshell Acrylic Case:::
Accessories → Audio Technica AT-HPS500 Headphone Stand ::: Woo Audio Silver Headphone Stand
Damn, dem phones are ugly. I thought they'd only get better than the prototype, better design/aesthetics/materials, not a step back!
Even the case foam looks like it's home-made, cut out with a jigsaw or something. I hope the "beauty is only skin deep" holds true. I hope whatever wood that it's made of will hold up over time. I'd be pissed if it warped, thus wreaking havoc on the strators.
Mine won't ship for a couple more weeks, but so far in the appearance department it looks a bit disappointing.
First of all they are damn ugly but you can blame that notion of mine on my Scandinavian heritage. The 1.2 looks much better and might even sound better.
I'm definitely with you on this one. Hideous compared to HE1.2 - we are firmly in Unipolar 2000 territory here.. I guess this is what they meant by making them look 'different' from HE90.
I'm definitely with you on this one. Hideous compared to HE1.2 - we are firmly in Unipolar 2000 territory here.. I guess this is what they meant by making them look 'different' from HE90.
We really shouldn't have called them the HE90 clone all the time or we would still have the 1.2... A note to future manufacturers of electrostatic headphones. Before you begin, find a Beyer ET-1000 and rip it apart. It is the only "first try" headphone that both looks and sounds great and masters the supra aural fit.
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Main rig: APL 3910 32bit -> DIY thin silver wire IC's -> BHSE on order, a DIY Blue Hawaii and ES-1 under construction, B22 -> See profile
Computer rig: Computer S/PDIF output -> AudioZone DAC1 -> DIY IC's -> Stax SRM-717 -> See profile
okay. i'll throw out some initial impressions. but bear in mind a few things. i was told that the headphones need 50-100 hours of break in (mine have about 8). i have little experience with electrostatic headphones. i have listened to the HE60, HE90, and O2 as well as various other stax headphones on a few occasions but always at meets. i have a general idea about what they do and how they sound, but i have never owned a pair myself. also, i am using what is probably considered not an ideal setup. i have a prototype solid state amp, the quality of which i am unclear of and which also has no burn in. the amp is set for 240 volts, so i am using a 500W voltage converter with the amp and the voltage converter has a european plug, so connected to that is a euro to u.s. adapter. add to that new RCA cables (nordost heimdalls) and a silver power cord (aural thrills), both of which have little break in and may be too clinical for this setup as well.
as for the construction, the EH-1.3 is very light and b/c it is almost all wood, i would be scared to drop it from any height. but the build quality actually seems fairly decent. as mentioned, the cups and outer frame are solid wood and the head band, top and lower portions, as well as the earpads are genuine leather. the ribbon cable is very flexible and of good length. i could not imagine it breaking or fraying. the cable is terminated with a quality silver neutrik (or neutrik looking) 5 pin plug. the only point of concern with the cable is where it connects to the left and right cups. i think a sharp pull here would not be a good idea. also included is an adapter, which i assume allows the headphone to operate on stax amps or amps with a stax plug. but since i am using a he audio amp, i connect the headphones directly to it without the adapter. the carrying case is very nice looking and sturdy - all hard plastic and metal. as for looks of the headphone, i agree that the 1.2 version, modelled closely on the HE90, looks nicer. but i'll get used to this look. although the headphone is very light and feels less than substantial, it has as nice snug fit on the head as there is some clamping force to the headphones and the cups swivel for additional fit. the headphone is very comfortable too. could easily wear it for a few hours straight.
as for sound, my initial impressions are the following. the bass is very good. not only quality but quantity. there is depth to the bass and it has good force. i would say it is easily on par with the HD650, but not as good as the L3000, which is the best bass i have heard from a headphone. no other headphone has the slam of the L3000. my general complaint with most lower end stax models (at least what i have heard) is they tend to sound a bit thin and slightly unmusical. the EH-1.3 has very good rhythm and a quick pace. it has some body to it as well but definitely not the rich, layered texture of the 650, which is something i find unique to that headphone.
the sound is forward. almost like a grado. you seem to be in the first row or close to it. the soundstage is average. not bad but not spacious. no where on K501/701 level. however, the left to right presentation is very good. very wide, like an HP1. it can place an instrument or sound effect a few feet to one side or throw it some several feet away. imagine sitting in the first few rows of a stage where the stage is long (left to right) but not deep. that is what the presentation seems to be like. there is also height. just the overall depth seems limited.
the instrument separation is also as good or better than any of my dynamic headphones (balanced or single ended). voices have great articulation. you can hear clearly the syllables of the words being pronounced and sung. closely related is detail. the detail is very good but strangely not always sharp. on some tracks, there seems to be a somewhat echo feel to voices. there is also a bit of brightness to everything, esp of some female vocals where the highs go high. this is possibly due to the newness of the headphone and amp and nordost (speed of light) cables and silver power cord. may experiment with some copper at a later point.
percussion and cymbals and electronics (and voices) sound very good on this headphone. as mentioned, the bass is surprisingly very good. the headphone also seems very fast. violin is so quick on this thing. not a note is missed. it has great attack one would say. but i'm so sure how good the decay is. the headphone does not want to slow down. on acoustic guitar and piano there is little resonance after the chord or key is struck. acoustic sounds better on my grados and piano may be a weak point. i actually purchased the EH-1.3 for classical. the violin pieces and works for solo voice i listened to sounded very good, but i'm not sure they sounded any better than my balanced K701 - my main classical phone at the moment. i somehow had it in my mind that stats were ideally suited for that genre. but my initial impression is that the EH-1.3 may turn out to be an electrostatic rock headphone - and a very good one i might add.
that's it for now.
Good impressions. Have you heard the Stax SR-404?
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SB3 → north star m192 → b22/Stax SRD7-pro → Koss ESP/950 or Stax Omega II mk I
Moderator: Headphoneus Supremus: The first to organize an International Head-Fi Meet (2006)
Originally Posted by IPodPJ
Well why not? The company is already called "HE" Audio. They might as well go all the way. And considering the HE90 is a gorgeous headphone that is no longer made...... I don't see what the problem is.
The "He" in HeAudio is called that because the maker of these headphones is Mr. He, actually pronounced Mr. "Heh".
As far as soundstage is concerned, the 1.2's have the biggest soundstage of any headphone I have ever listened to (JP118101 might attest to this). They go from the floor to the ceiling and from the back of your head to the tip of your nose. I believe, and hope that the forward presentation of the 1.3's will change once the headphones have some time on them.
The whole reason for the design change is our fault, because we (those who saw and tried them at meets) all were calling them "HE-90 clones" which concerned Mr. He and caused the design change. If these don't warm up and take on the same sound characteristics of the 1.2's maybe he (He) will re-release the 1.2's. I was told that these were a project in the works since 2002 and there were 4 different prototypes, with the 1.2's yielding the best results and Mr. He had only limited use of a HE-90 (there were little in China).
I put 12 hours on them yesterday (4 on and 8 off) and the sound is changing drastically for the better.
I am bringing the 1.2's to "Mayberrry on Acid" in 2 weeks and neilvg should have his 1.3's any day now, and hopefully he will burn them in and we can do a serious comparison that will be posted in the meet impressions.
I am using them through my Woo Audio GES and am probably hearing a different sound that vcoheda is, for the moment.
Maybe David can come to my house this week and we can see if there's a difference.
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-My house was built for lovin'...not a theater of war.
-Realize it's harder to find your own voice, then to follow one, already in the air.
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Music is my recreational drug...I need a dose, everyday!
They might as well go all the way. And considering the HE90 is a gorgeous headphone that is no longer made...... I don't see what the problem is.
A note to future manufacturers of electrostatic headphones. Before you begin, find a Beyer ET-1000 and rip it apart. It is the only "first try" headphone that both looks and sounds great and masters the supra aural fit.
