Introducing the HIFIMAN HE-R9!
May 17, 2024 at 7:46 PM Post #347 of 356
I sang the praises of the R9s with EQ one some types of music, but honestly they haven’t had much time in rotation recently.
I hear ya. I feel like its one of those headphones that you forget about until you get a new amp or dac and start to cycle though all your headphones to see how all the old stuff sounds on the new equipment. Then you get to the R9s and are like "hey, these are pretty good" and you listen to them for a few days or a week before they fall off the radar again.
 
May 18, 2024 at 10:29 PM Post #348 of 356
I have been rotating the r9s and r10d for last few weeks - listening to mainly blues rock across quite a few sources - like many comments I have found they sound very good on some tracks but not on others
R9s seem to perform better to my ears balanced and have very good synergy with my questyle qp2r and pono player but did not seem to pair well with shanling m6 or non balanced on dethonray dtr1
Using a dac from iPhone bloated and almost un listenable
Line out of a few Astell kern daps through burson soloist amp good also
In general very easy to listen to for extended periods but definitely source and track dependant
R10d definitely more refined sound but so it should be for price difference
If you have a cowon plenue with jet effects you can get some great sound if you have the time to play around with eq
At current price well worth having in a rotation
 
May 19, 2024 at 9:29 AM Post #350 of 356
I recently acquired a Denon AHD5000 with Lawton wooden Cups. On a cursory comparison, HE R9 seems to have more bass & they are bit warmer than the Denons
Resolution wise, the Denons score more than the HE R9... Somehow the wooden cups of the Denons (though large but not as large as the HE R9s) seem to tone down the echo effect which is present in the large cups of HE R9
In the mids/vocals section, I like the HE R9 sound better.... it's just a bit forward & doesn't present signature of the V shaped frequency of the Denons
Without this comparison, I'd be completely pleased with the HE R9 but now it seems the bass/overall signature could use some damping
Some day, would love to try the both of these on a Tube amp
R 10D or the ES Labs R10 or the ZMF Atrium Closed could be an upgrade
 
May 19, 2024 at 7:39 PM Post #352 of 356
I recently acquired a Denon AHD5000 with Lawton wooden Cups. On a cursory comparison, HE R9 seems to have more bass & they are bit warmer than the Denons
Resolution wise, the Denons score more than the HE R9... Somehow the wooden cups of the Denons (though large but not as large as the HE R9s) seem to tone down the echo effect which is present in the large cups of HE R9
In the mids/vocals section, I like the HE R9 sound better.... it's just a bit forward & doesn't present signature of the V shaped frequency of the Denons
Without this comparison, I'd be completely pleased with the HE R9 but now it seems the bass/overall signature could use some damping
Some day, would love to try the both of these on a Tube amp
R 10D or the ES Labs R10 or the ZMF Atrium Closed could be an upgrade

Which ear pad did you end up using on your Lawton D5000? I find Lawton mod change sound a lot depending on earpad used.

But I agree with you that Lawton put a lot of damping in the wood cup so might explain why R9 seem like it does not have as much damping.

Though from what you said it seems nice at last the vocal and mids are more forward on R9.

I struggle forever to push vocal forward on my Lawton TH900 using other means.
 
May 19, 2024 at 11:22 PM Post #353 of 356
Which ear pad did you end up using on your Lawton D5000? I find Lawton mod change sound a lot depending on earpad used.

But I agree with you that Lawton put a lot of damping in the wood cup so might explain why R9 seem like it does not have as much damping.

Though from what you said it seems nice at last the vocal and mids are more forward on R9.

I struggle forever to push vocal forward on my Lawton TH900 using other means.
Not sure which Earpad brand it is but it's not the stock one... Previous owner had already installed it & I didn't check the details

It has a larger cavity when compared to the stock earpads & they are softer too...

Despite the differences, I believe, both R9 & the Lawton D5000 play rock very well... especially the older recordings

Just that R9 will play even Tenor Saxophone better than the Lawton D5000

I listened to the stock TH900 couple of years ago & I thought it was a super fast HP...

If Fostex/Lawton are able to bring the vocals forward in the TH900s, it could be a major step in the right direction
 
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May 20, 2024 at 1:31 AM Post #354 of 356
Not sure which Earpad brand it is but it's not the stock one... Previous owner had already installed it & I didn't check the details

It has a larger cavity when compared to the stock earpads & they are softer too...

Despite the differences, I believe, both R9 & the Lawton D5000 play rock very well... especially the older recordings

Just that R9 will play even Tenor Saxophone better than the Lawton D5000

I listened to the stock TH900 couple of years ago & I thought it was a super fast HP...

If Fostex/Lawton are able to bring the vocals forward in the TH900s, it could be a major step in the right direction

lol gotcha, but yeah for Denon/Fostex headphones, usually earpad with bigger holes will result in recessed mids, though better layering. And if the ear pad is thick it will also make vocal recessed.

That being said if you're enjoying the headphone then I'd not worry about it lol.

Otherwise it sounds like R9 is pretty good value compared to the Lawton D5000.
 
May 23, 2024 at 9:58 PM Post #356 of 356
Will Deva/Deva Pro pad clips it’s the R9? They look pretty similar.
 

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