[rgs9200m]

Has anyone tried a Hugo amping it?

 

[Cotnijoe]

  Has anyone tried a Hugo amping it?

 
According to Money4me:
 
I also had the opportunity to try the HE-1000 with the Chord Hugo. The Chord Hugo definitely does NOT adequately power the HE-1000 in direct comparison to the nicer headphone amplifiers. Its amplifier section was actually not very competitive in my mind. Perhaps it would work as a standalone dac in your setup, but I do have to admit that I personally was not very impressed with Chord Hugo. Also, got to try the Vega as well. From my personal testing, I do feel that the amplifier makes more of a significant difference in sound quality than dacs. Actually opposite of what I was expecting as I went in looking for a dac upgrade and left wanting an amplifier upgrade. hahah. Would like further testing to confirm though.

 

[money4me247]

  Has anyone tried a Hugo amping it?

yes, I've tried it.
 
totally personal subjective opinion so ymmv
 
It's not adequate. You can get better performance from a wide variety of other equipment (imo). Though I wasn't able to do a direct head-to-head against my home set-up, I felt that my mid-tier amps were better. Was able to do a direct comparison against the Taurus and MHA100, both which sounded much better. Even the deckhard or random new type-writer Hifiman amp seemed better to me. With just the Hugo driving it, the HE-1k sounded a bit thin to me without that resolution of the textural detail I was used to. I actually wasn't that impressed with its dac section either. Did not feel like it provided the improvement that would justify its price tag. (edit: I was actually hoping to sell all my other gear & just get the Hugo as an all-in-one solution to streamline everything, so quite disappointed with my demoing experience. Do note only one extensive audition session. I do feel like you may not always get an accurate sense from just demoing conditions)
 
I actually went in looking for a dac upgrade, but left feeling that an amplifier upgrade would 'scale' the sound quality significantly more for the HE-1000.
 

Spoiler: personal disclaimer:

[size=1em]Now I am actually more in the camp that believes in audio transparency (aka if two solid state amplifiers designed to be neutral and meet all the technical criteria required to cleanly reproduce sound should sound identical)... Hence, looking for dacs over amps to blow $$$ on. However, my demoing experience made me question how many amplifiers actually are [/size][size=1em]audibly transparent or if there are some other factor/considerations that gave me the impression that it was the amplifier that scaled the sound quality much higher than the dac. the relative differences from swapping between high-end dacs were basically insignificant imo (though do note was not as large of a dac selection to try). All lossless testing.[/size]
 
[size=1em]I've also heard quite significant variations between entry-level dacs, to a much more significant degree than entry-level amplifiers. So a bit confusing why it seems to have swapped for me at the higher price point.[/size]
 
[size=1em]Would recommend trying your own personal testing as different people's experiences can vary greatly.[/size]

 

[kulsirin]

Hi all
what about matching bakoon hpa 01 with He1000.

 

[boinger]

I just received my HEK's and been listening to them for 2 days now. 
 
I will post a more detailed review later if people care to hear more details about it.
 
I agree with a lot of what has already been posted. But my take on them is a slightly different. Yes the HD800 you "can" say has more detail this is due to the high's being more pronounced. But the Hd800's cannot even come close to competing on the bass. 
 
The He-6 definitely have more attack more punch and a lot more treble detail. But imo my He-6 emphasize treble a little to much I find them a bit bright with some music. 
 
As you can see I am repeating a lot of what has been said but i won't bother to repeat it. 
 
 
 
 
This is where I will defer, the HEK's simply disappear when I have them on. You cannot say they aren't detailed or lack punch and attack because I feel they do have all that. It's just that you don't notice any particular thing in the music. Somehow everything just disappears and you quite enjoy whatever it is you are listening to. The fact is I can say if you want to analyze and say is x better than y with these headphones. Then yes you can always pick out departments in which other headphones will exceed these. 
 
What I think has not been said is that I feel these headphones do everything really well not in a Jack of all trades master of none sense, but more that I don't think these headphones are trying to make you notice the treble or the bass. To me it just seems everything is as it should be and I don't notice the headphone anymore. I will say that the HEK's sound more like a speaker than any other headphones I have heard. These headphones seem like an BMW M3 sedan to me. It is great in everything but not #1 in a specific department. 
 
Anyways if anyone likes what I had to say I would be happy to put up a more in depth review. 
 
 
Equipment that I currently am testing these on:
 
HIFIMAN EF-6
Schiit Mjolnir
Wyred 4 Sound Dac 2
Oppo ha-1
WooAudio WA5
HD800
HE6
HE1000
 
Headphones I have heard in the past but opted for HE-6 and HD800 instead - Audeze LCD X / Audeze LCD 3 

 

[money4me247]

@boinger, what is your favorite amplifier for the he-1k & how do you think the oppo ha-1 ranks? I was considering picking up the ha-1. thanks!
 
great impressions btw

 

[ddanois]

  Has anyone tried a Hugo amping it?

I tried it with my Hugo/AK240 yesterday and I found the pairing "relaxing" and "decent". I did find that the volume needed to be turned up to approximately 80% to produce the fullness of sound that the MHA100 produces at 45%.
 
I find the DAC of the Hugo to be good but my perceptions have been altered since using the Directstream DAC. 
 
Hugo = Good for traveling with IEMs or Closed Headphones but not used at home.
 
This hobby/passion is about finding the sound production that moves you the most so try as many combos as possible.
 
Good luck in the journey!

 

[drbluenewmexico]

  HEY GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I just finished an extended listening session with these with the newly released, David Berning designed, MicroZOTL. The sound of the HE-1000s is absolutely MAGICAL with this amp.  I didn't know what to expect from this little amp.  It completely blew away my "best case" scenario for how it would match up with and drive the HE 1000s.  These headphones now (to my ears, various qualifiers, yada yada) approach sonic perfection.  THIS is the headphone I heard at Axpona.  Probably even better than that.  I'm still in shock, but in a GOOD, euphoric way!  Now I'm just going to be struggling to do justice to this astoundingly synergistic combination in my review, which is now going to be a lot more fun to write.

Saidentary, glad you found the MicroZotl2 synergistic with the HE-1000s!, as does doctorjazz (personal communication).  I haven't heard the HE1000s, but find that
 400is quite wonderful with the MicroZotl2, but my favorites are the ATH W1000s, which have a higher impedance. Overall the Microzotl reveals the strengths and limitatins
of everything in the sound chain that reaches your ears, so that really good interconnects, a NOS high end DAC, etc, good power supply with black background filtering,
etc all add up to make whatever headphones you are listening through sing through the MICROZOTL2. IM happy to hear the HE1000s contribute to that
supreme audio experience you crave, recognize and enjoy!.

 

[rgs9200m]

Yeah, I actually just use the Hugo when I want any portability myself, as there's nothing like a good big iron headphone amp, tubes or otherwise. I was just curious.

 

[bmichels]

Where is it possible to purchase David Berning's MicroZOTL 2  ?  I don't see the MicroZOTL2 on his own site : http://davidberning.com/products
 
only the original  microzotl ?

 

[saidentary]

  Where is it possible to purchase David Berning's MicroZOTL 2  ?  I don't see the MicroZOTL2 on his own site : http://davidberning.com/products
 
only the original  microzotl ?

www.urbanhifi.com The synergy with the HE 1000s is absolutely magical. It reveals the transcendent greatness of these headphones in a new way, at least to my ears.

 

[saidentary]

 
Saidentary, glad you found the MicroZotl2 synergistic with the HE-1000s!, as does doctorjazz (personal communication).  I haven't heard the HE1000s, but find that
 400is quite wonderful with the MicroZotl2, but my favorites are the ATH W1000s, which have a higher impedance. Overall the Microzotl reveals the strengths and limitatins
of everything in the sound chain that reaches your ears, so that really good interconnects, a NOS high end DAC, etc, good power supply with black background filtering,
etc all add up to make whatever headphones you are listening through sing through the MICROZOTL2. IM happy to hear the HE1000s contribute to that
supreme audio experience you crave, recognize and enjoy!.

If I may be so bold as to make a recommendation:  You MUST* hear the HE-1000s.  I know I'll get flamed for saying it, but I honestly don't care: That combination is OTHERWORLDLY!
 
*OK, it's not like you MUST, as in a law or something, but I think you'll want to at least try it out.  Just sayin'.

 

[bmichels]

The little 1 watt of the MicroZotl2 is enough to drive the HE1000 to it's full potential !! ?

Anyway, I may order 1 MicroZotl2 to try since I really like " small tube amps" ( I already owe a TU-05 and a TUR-06 from Analog square paper)

 

[onlychild]

Bmichels, how do u like the TU-05 and TUR-06 with the HE1K? Favorite?

Thx

 

[Angelbelow]

  I just received my HEK's and been listening to them for 2 days now. 
 
I will post a more detailed review later if people care to hear more details about it.
 
I agree with a lot of what has already been posted. But my take on them is a slightly different. Yes the HD800 you "can" say has more detail this is due to the high's being more pronounced. But the Hd800's cannot even come close to competing on the bass. 
 
The He-6 definitely have more attack more punch and a lot more treble detail. But imo my He-6 emphasize treble a little to much I find them a bit bright with some music. 
 
As you can see I am repeating a lot of what has been said but i won't bother to repeat it. 
 
 
 
 
This is where I will defer, the HEK's simply disappear when I have them on. You cannot say they aren't detailed or lack punch and attack because I feel they do have all that. It's just that you don't notice any particular thing in the music. Somehow everything just disappears and you quite enjoy whatever it is you are listening to. The fact is I can say if you want to analyze and say is x better than y with these headphones. Then yes you can always pick out departments in which other headphones will exceed these. 
 
What I think has not been said is that I feel these headphones do everything really well not in a Jack of all trades master of none sense, but more that I don't think these headphones are trying to make you notice the treble or the bass. To me it just seems everything is as it should be and I don't notice the headphone anymore. I will say that the HEK's sound more like a speaker than any other headphones I have heard. These headphones seem like an BMW M3 sedan to me. It is great in everything but not #1 in a specific department. 
 
Anyways if anyone likes what I had to say I would be happy to put up a more in depth review. 
 
 
Equipment that I currently am testing these on:
 
HIFIMAN EF-6
Schiit Mjolnir
Wyred 4 Sound Dac 2
Oppo ha-1
WooAudio WA5
HD800
HE6
HE1000
 
Headphones I have heard in the past but opted for HE-6 and HD800 instead - Audeze LCD X / Audeze LCD 3 

 
 
Would love to hear more thoughts on the HE1000 and the WA5 pairing (which I have). That is a potential option for me but currently I am leaning towards getting the HE6s.