[Shmuel]

That's great to hear--appreciate your input.
Looks like I'll be saved by up

 

[speedracer1]

I hooked up the HE-1000 to my Hugo Chord at CanJam earlier today. Simply Wow!!!!!! I loved them so much, I listened to them three separate times. Even hooked up to an iPod touch , listening to a broad range of recorded music, ranging from 256 k to lossless, it sounded unbelievable. I will definitely be buying these headphones when they release. What an unbelievable combo! The chord ran these headphones without any issue.

At what volume level (color) did you have the Cord Hugo set too for normal listening .  What was the lowest volume and highest levels?
 
Thank you,
-Speed

 

[Tiltman]

Just started turning white.

 

[Tiltman]

Keep in mind, i was listening louder than normal. Chord has no issues running the HE-1000 headphones.

 

[reeltime]

I hooked up the HE-1000 to my Hugo Chord at CanJam earlier today. Simply Wow!!!!!! I loved them so much, I listened to them three separate times. Even hooked up to an iPod touch , listening to a broad range of recorded music, ranging from 256 k to lossless, it sounded unbelievable. I will definitely be buying these headphones when they release. What an unbelievable combo! The chord ran these headphones without any issue.

I've heard others say they were more impressed with other setups.  I was floored by the HE-1000.  Can't wait to purchase.

 

[speedracer1]

Just started turning white.

Tiltman,
 
Thank you for your very prompt reply.  I can appreciate your at the Can Jam event (wish I was their as well) and the HE-1000 is an open headphone so any background noise is clearly not idea circumstances for listening.  I just checked my Cord Hugo and white is the very highest last two volume setting .  I have serious concerns that the HE-1000 and the Cord Hugo are really going to pair well together. What makes you feel confident the Hugo can adequately drive these phones?
 
Sincerely,
-Speed 

 

[speedracer1]

 
I've heard others say they were more impressed with other setups.  I was floored by the HE-1000.  Can't wait to purchase.

Reeltime,
 
What was the amp that you used to determine how well the HE-1000's sounded?  What combinations were better and worse? 
 
Thank you and sincerely,
-Speed

 

[Tiltman]

I actually went back and forth between white and just below. Remember, the chord volume can raise well past the white. I have never even maxed out the white on my Chord Hugo. Even with my HD-800s. I am sure with a more powerful amp, these headphones will shine even more however for portable purposes this combo sounded awesome! I am sold! If i could purchase the headphones today, i would have. How will i wait another month!

 

[reeltime]

 
What was the amp that you used to determine how well the HE-1000's sounded?  What combinations were better and worse? 
 

 
The only combination I heard was the HE-1000 with the HifiMan EF-6, their flagship amp.  There was a pair floating around between vendors, and the guy next to me arranged to have them paired with his personal setup, but I didn't get to hear it.  
 
I did spend time with both the balanced and unbalanced wirings, and the balanced stood out with clearer upper midrange and imaging.  Not helpful to me, because my amp is the unbalanced WA5-LE.  I'm imagining WA-5 owners will benefit with K1000 wiring, if it can be done.  Either way the headphone made an impression on me, and I will be laying out the $3k (after unloading my HD800s).

 

[goldendarko]

I wonder how many other people are doing the same thing, unloading their gear to afford these, I've already sold my HE-560's and working on selling my Fiio X5/E12 right now too. Hope to hear if this pairs well with the Ragnarok as that's my desktop amp, which paired quite nicely with the HE-560.

 

[speedracer1]

I actually went back and forth between white and just below. Remember, the chord volume can raise well past the white. I have never even maxed out the white on my Chord Hugo. Even with my HD-800s. I am sure with a more powerful amp, these headphones will shine even more however for portable purposes this combo sounded awesome! I am sold! If i could purchase the headphones today, i would have. How will i wait another month!

I wish I was in attendance for Can Jam event. I was just out in Ca. on Tuesday but needed to return to the East Coast.  I'm thinking of replacing my Fostex TH-900's cans with the HE-1000's.  The synergies between the Hugo and the Fostex are really very good and I can easily drive them with the Cord Hugo from mid-level volumes but I've always felt the Fostex cans were a little too bass heavy for me. I like more of a reference sound signature. I just purchased the JH Layla's and they are "amazing".  The very best reference IEM's I've every heard hands down.  My Shure SE-846's are amazing but not nearly as good.  Now its time to upgrade my full size cans.
 
-Speed.

 

[speedracer1]

   
The only combination I heard was the HE-1000 with the HifiMan EF-6, their flagship amp.  There was a pair floating around between vendors, and the guy next to me arranged to have them paired with his personal setup, but I didn't get to hear it.  
 
I did spend time with both the balanced and unbalanced wirings, and the balanced stood out with clearer upper midrange and imaging.  Not helpful to me, because my amp is the unbalanced WA5-LE.  I'm imagining WA-5 owners will benefit with K1000 wiring, if it can be done.  Either way the headphone made an impression on me, and I will be laying out the $3k (after unloading my HD800s).
 

Reeltime,
 
Thank you for your prompt reply.
 
Sincerely,
-Speed

 

[speedracer1]

Background:
I wanted to attend the HIFIMAN event held on the 19^th of March at Stereo Exchange in NYC but I was heading out of town that day so I contacted the folks at Stereo Exchange and Dr. Fang Bian was kind enough to allow me to take a listen to the pre-released HE-1000’s the day before the event.   To make the most of my visit I packed my Cord Hugo, Fostex TH-900 cans and my trusty little AK240.  I was very excited to have an opportunity to finally listen to these bad-boys and potentially consider them to replace my 900’s. 
As I arrived a full day before the scheduled event, not everything was completely set-up and this was completely understandable.  What I was able to do was to listen to the HE-1000 attached to the EF-1000 amp.  According to Dr. Bian, this amp is a custom purpose built hybrid amp.  Essentially it’s a “one-off” for a pair of speakers.  He mentioned the name of the speakers but the name escapes me at the moment. 
Yes the amp is “very powerful” as others on this thread have already indicated and it weighs approximately 60 pounds!  The amp cost Dr. Bian over $10,000 to build and each component was “hand selected” as best in class technology and the entire amp is hand built.  I listened to the EF-1000 and HE-1000 combination thru my AK240 connect via optical cable to the Hugo and from the Hugo thru the stereo RCA outputs connected to the EF-1000. 
As far as the sound it’s as musicman59 describes it in a single word “sublimed”.  My adjectives are “really ridiculously amazing”.  The combination of the amp and headphones are transparent, clear, musically accurate, excellent soundstage and imaging and overall physically engaging.  A true toe tapping euphoria! That said, I was not able to make an honest assessment of just the HE-1000 as I’m familiar with my source amp (the Cord Hugo not the EF-1000) and I simply couldn’t isolate just the HE-1000.  Again, I was there a full day before the event and the necessary cables were not available at the time.   
I have a few brief comments and thoughts to share with the HF Community:

1. According to Fang, “the Cord Hugo will NOT sufficiently drive the HE-1000”.  This is really very unfortunate for me and 10,000 other Cord Hugo customers who continue on their quest for the very best sound in headphones and either can’t or don’t have the money to spend on electrostatic headphones and electrostatic amps.  This simply knocks out a huge market segment for HiFIMAN!
2. According to Fang,”the new 901S will drive the HE-1000” as there will be a specific “amp card” available for the 901S.  Yes more powerful than the Cord Hugo amp.  Again great for anyone looking to buy a new DAC player and more HIFIMAN stuff.
3. The EF-1000 is a long way off from production ready.  I asked Dr. Bian how long and it looks like its months or more out.  He didn’t exactly say.  The issue is taking a custom, one-off, purpose built amp like the EF-1000 and designing and re-designing it using components that may not be in the current amp but are required to work in a production ready version is a large under-taking.  Many things can change including the “sound signature”.   That said, I have no question that Dr. Bian and his team can do it at “some point and at some price” but this is where things are at the moment. 
4. I hope for those fortunate enough to purchase the HE-1000 in the near future the build quality and product failure rates are very low.  And most importantly the “sound signature” that I’ve heard and come to expect in the HE-1000 is consistent from headphone to headphone. 
5. Let’s face it, $3k is a lot of cabbage to spend on headphones and if I’m going to shell it out I’m making a big investment in the company not just the headphones!   I’m relying on their customer service and their reputation, build quality and so on….
6. HIFIMAN is known for building affordable, good sounding products for a wide audience of people.  Quality materials and quality control on some of the products I’ve wanted to purchase has not been to my standards and that was the reasons I purchased the AK240 over the 901.  These headphones are “hi-end” and don’t appeal to the larger wide audience. Therefore the HE-1000 are outside what the consumer has typically seen from the company.  This will without question place force changes within the company to cater to the very demanding high-end marketplace.   

 
I hope my views were helpful and thank you for reading.
Sincerely your friend in HF,
-Speed

 

[Tiltman]

I wish I was in attendance for Can Jam event. I was just out in Ca. on Tuesday but needed to return to the East Coast.  I'm thinking of replacing my Fostex TH-900's cans with the HE-1000's.  The synergies between the Hugo and the Fostex are really very good and I can easily drive them with the Cord Hugo from mid-level volumes but I've always felt the Fostex cans were a little too bass heavy for me. I like more of a reference sound signature. I just purchased the JH Layla's and they are "amazing".  The very best reference IEM's I've every heard hands down.  My Shure SE-846's are amazing but not nearly as good.  Now its time to upgrade my full size cans.

-Speed.

I actually was thinking about getting the fostex Th-900 headphone. I was able to audition them with an upgraded cable at the Moon Audio exhibit. I really liked how they sounded. A lot less fatiguing than my Edition 8's. Soundstage was also better. Then I listened to the. HE 1000's. The rest is history..

 

[speedracer1]

I actually was thinking about getting the fostex Th-900 headphone. I was able to audition them with an upgraded cable at the Moon Audio exhibit. I really liked how they sounded. A lot less fatiguing than my Edition 8's. Sound stage was also better. Then I listened to the. HE 1000's. The rest is history..

Lol I completely understand. I purchased all my gear at Moon Audio late last year and I have the Fostex 900's with the Moon audio sliver dragon cable too.  It's a very good set-up especially paired with the Cord Hugo.  I was just hoping the HE-1000 was the next step for me.  The compatibility between the Cord Hugo and the HE-1000 is critical and like a marriage. What I mean is it must work on multiple levels.  
 
-Speed