The Soundmagic HP-1000 is the new flagship over-ear headphone from Soundmagic which I will be reviewing here. I come from a background that mostly consists of closed backs, so I am very excited to review this one.

As a hobbyist I try to keep improving my use of sound jargon in order to correctly and accurately describe the headphone I am reviewing, criticism is always welcome. I am no professional by any means, and other than hearing frequency sweeps do not own any measuring equipment to fortify my arguments with, nevertheless I consider myself an experienced listener. I do think measurements are an useful extra tool in order to confirm perceptions, or expose some inherent technical flaw. However, I also believe that headphones are more than just measurements, which is where I can bring an experienced viewpoint that can inform you on whether a headphone has as special quality or is a must buy for everyone. I will be comparing it mostly to Soundmagic's famous predecessor, the HP151, but will draw comparison to other headphones as well.

I clocked in around my usual 50 hours with this headphone, listening to a variety of music genres, watching movies and playing games. My music preferences range from Trip Hop such as Bonobo or Emancipator, to movie soundtracks such as Blade Runner 2049 or The Dark Knight and ambient track such as what Moby or DJ Shadow can provide. If you are curious of my tastes in headphones you can further check out my profile page where you can see other reviews of headphones or the gear that I own. As an extra here is my current Spotify playlist 2020:

MY SPOTIFY PLAYLIST



What exactly is Soundstage?

Soundmagic is discovering their headphone house sound. Namely soundstage in closed back headphones that start to rival their open backs. This headphone totally aims at layering all the elements without overruling one or the other, aims at sound positioning and aims at soundstage. Does it deliver?

Let's first start with soundstage. But how exactly can we define soundstage anyways? Defining this term further I find is necessary with these headphones as only then can the signature be understood. If you are interested bear with my rambling otherwise just skip right on ahead to the page "how does the HP1000 achieve this soundstage" underneath.

On Head-fi I have seen soundstage being defined in terms of XYZ depth. As I try to continue to grow in this hobby I am more conflicted about it defining it. I think the X width I can be pretty sure about. For example, a warm signature can sound closer or more intimate on the X-axis than a cold one, as the body of sounds can sound closer and weightier when warmer. But a warm signature also might not, depending on which frequencies are lowered or raised by the headphone. For example a warm headphone with raised bass and lower mids can still have certain peaks in the upper mids or higher frequencies which could help emphasise soundstage. Inevitably a warm or cold signature could have an effect on the X-axis perception of the soundstage but it doesn't totally define it either. Consequently, I think the X width is largely dependant on the center image which is dependant on the way the left and right sides are balanced out. The better balanced the left/right drivers are, the better center image and less wonky positioning on the X-plane sounds have. Then there is the Y-axis, or height, I think is more dependant on the size of the driver. In-ear earphones will for example never reach the Y-axis height of a full sized over ear headphone that is larger than 50mm. The sheer size of the driver is more likely to make the image of a sound image bigger but that is also timbre dependant. That's why some large headphones don't have any soundstage whatsoever.

But what exactly causes this image to be sensed coming from infront, so from the Z-axis? Is it that the drivers are angled? Is it the transient speed of the driver? Is it that the headphones are open? Is it that the Timbre of the frequency response creates this sensation that a sound is coming from further away? Is it that from memory we recognise sounds being either far or closer depending on the frequencies we receive? My current vision on this has to do with a combination to all those questions, with each affecting the other if one is more or less present. Though, I also think it mostly depends on the frequency response tuning and how the detailed and correct timbre then operates within the shell of the headphone. So when multiple instruments play at the same time and some I can hear further away than one and another, a mental Z-depth is formed. The greater the Z-depth, the deeper the soundstage. A great Z-depth doesn't need the soundstage to be high on the Y axis, but alongside a wide X-axis it will become a lot easier to segregate instruments in a soundtrack. But if on top of that there is also a high Y-axis to the image, then it begins to image sounds holographic. Though in order to be completely holographic sounding, the layering needs to be excellent, which I think happens through high transient attack and a good timbre.

But then there is the aspect of "in your head" vs "out your head" soundstage.
Keeping the aforementioned aspects in mind, the "in your head" soundstage is dominantly present on closed backs, and "out your head" soundstage on semi-open to open headphones. Though, "out of your head" doesn't instantly imply a big soundstage. The Fostex X00 Purpleheart is the perfect example of how an out of head soundstage can sound so close and intimate, it's like sitting with a chair right in-front of the band that is playing. But when sitting in the back of a concert hall, which frequencies arive at which intensity? If a headphone get's that timbre just right, it could just imitate the feeling of being in the back of such a concert hall. Though will the concert hall feel like a closed hall or an open air one? That also depends on the design of the drivers, with open ended headphones mostly being the ones achieving the open air feeling, though that could be the bias that originates from the less warm sensation open headphones create around your ears: They feel cooler so airier? Or it could be because open headphones have less ringing within the chamber of the headphone thus create a cleaner overall sound. But I digress, smaller drivers also tend to sound more as if the sounds originate from within the listeners head, bigger drivers tend to minimise this effect but most closed headphones never truly sound outside of your head until they reach a semi open design. The Soundmagic HP-151 was my first closed over ear headphone that gave me the feeling the sound originated out of my head, which is a big reason why I found it to be quite a bit better than the famous Beyerdynamic DT-770, which sounded inside my head. The Sennheiser HD25 does render it outside my head as well but to a much lesser degree and has a much smaller soundstage at that.

Unlike speakers however, headphones only truly allow us to listen to the left and right side independently with each ear. But depending on the mastering of the recording, by mixing both channels correctly the sensation of depth can still be perceived if the timbre of the headphone portrays a sound exactly like how it would sound from far away. But on certain recordings which have some sounds only originating in either the left or right channel at a time can end up sounding more flat than speakers because of how our brain creates the perception of depth and localisation through the difference of volume being perceived in both ears and through said timbre. So not only are the frequency response and the design of the headphone important, but also which recording that is being played is. In the case of the angled 53mm drivers of the HP1000, with the right recording, I feel it has a very broad, very tall and very deep "out of your head" holographic soundstage. It succeeds the HP-151 in every way and is a worthy successor in that regard.

How does the HP1000 achieve it's big soundstage?

The HP1000 achieves this is in various ways. First of all it's a cold analytical headphone, but it's not peaky enough anywhere on the spectrum for it to be invasive, harsh or bright. This cold sensation is only ever so slightly present however. Listening to a frequency response sweep reveals this as well. The lower mids are linearly present from the 200hz-500hz area but slowly roll off to the 1khz mark and soon drop right after. This creates the warm side that balances out the upper mids and enables the sense of space by not giving the sound elements too much body. The upper mids are coloured in such a way that there is a scoop in the middle of the 1khz-2khz area. This scoop makes the sound less fatiguing, but results in some instruments and vocals especially males sounding further away than you might be used to on other headphones. There are also these slight peaks in between the 2khz-4khz area. These peaks create the slightly cold and very revealing nature of the headphone. But these peaks don't particularly stand out to me during normal listening so they don't overshadow detail and don't sound fatiguing on normal volumes. There is this sense of smoothness that is welcoming though it is not as smooth as the E-MU Teak of course. The separation of layers that I thought was only common on planar magnetic or open headphones is definitely here. And let me stress again that the cold sensation leans more to neutral than to actually sounding too cold or too coloured.

I believe the way the mids are tuned here is what sets the stage, no pun intended, for this enormous soundstage. That in combination with the way the bass never interferes and the way the the highs never sound too bright or harsh enables the listener to hone in on the many nuances hiding in soundtracks or soundscapes that headphones around lower price ranges never dream of even imaging. The amazing soundstage enables the amount of air and space that the many layers can breathe in, and so it can flawlessly image them all at once which is truly astonishing for a closed back. It is then a very transparent clean experience. This can only be truly appreciated if your only activity is actually paying attention to the music or soundscape that it's playing. In other words, the HP-1000 signature asks for you to be actively listening to it. Furthermore, the body of the instruments might seem too distant and muffled at first, but after the 10 hour burn in mark I noticed the headphone became smoother, got a better timbre and thus became more neutral. So I absolutely recommend you take a good amount of time letting both the headphone and you settle in with the signature. It's a masterful signature then at that.


Diving deeper, from Bass to Mids to Highs

Sub-bass (20hz-80hz) and upper Bass (80hz-200hz)

While the HP151 is a more in your face U sound signature which can be quite energetic and sometimes overwhelming in it's brightness, the HP-1000 is more of a w sound signature where each part of the frequency response is balanced and which approaches neutrality, with a coloured upper mid-range as mentioned before, that emphasises soundstage and texture and is thus leaning on the slight cold and analytical side. Unlike the HP151 there is no raised sub-bass. The sub-bass is actually slightly rolled off after the 40HZ mark. At the lower volumes it is a very clean and controlled sub-bass. But there is a nice texture and tightness to it with a hint of physical rumble. The bass is speedier and has better decay than the more boomy HP-151. It's great for tracking bass lines of bass guitars though at times I felt it could use just a bit more volume in busy passage ways. This might have to do with the fact that I come from a background of headphones with quite prominent sub-bass. The upper bass is also quite linear and manages to kick hard enough to allow for the tracking of drum kicks or impacts. There is a great sense of body and tightness from the upper bass and I can describe it as quite ideal for bass guitar or weight to strings or instruments. The best part is that there is no hint of bass bleeding or interfering with the rest of the spectrum, which can be quite prominent on other closed back headphones.


Lower mids (200hz-1khz) and higher mids (1khz-4khz)

As mostly described earlier, the mids are coloured to enable the soundstage to be so large. They can be quite detailed and very revealing. I hear elements I never heard before from my other headphones in my collection. In comparison to the E-MU Teak for example, I found the HP-1000 to be more revealing but not necessarily more detailed. The Teak is still more detailed but is more forgiving and more laidback which means it's not as analytical as the HP-1000. There were many background noises, effects or voices that became clear to me on the HP-1000. Switching back to the Teak I ended up noticing them too but in a more relaxed fashion which makes you less likely to hone in on the texture of those layers. The HP-1000 presents all these details so evenly that you can start to dissect them better from one and another. Little nuances in singer's voices such as sighing or breathing can be noticed faster, or secondary singers in the background stand out easier. Piano keys really feel like they are being pushed in and have great texture. Electric guitars have plenty of body and bite and can sound actually quite upfront if the track calls for it. Acoustic guitars are imaged very natural and little nuances of chord switching or string pulling are all sonically portrayed here. Trumpets sound very crunchy, have a nice bite and thus sound beautiful. Though it is important to keep in mind that the spaciousness can also negatively effect the sound and can get rid of an intimacy that some might always prefer while listening to their recordings. Especially with vocals, which can almost seem a bit hollow at first, especially males as mentioned before. The vocals can be very detailed though, it's just that the vocals are now placed in a further away space that they were not before unlike some other headphones. But vocal textures are impressive even if they are distanced away. I do enjoy vocals on these but they won't win the most natural award here. This has to do with the analytical side of this headphone.

In busy passage ways such as orchestra I also noticed that all the instruments were more separated than most dynamic offerings can do. The speed and decay is quick. It was easy to localise each instrument when many of them fired at once, but each axis of the soundstage is so wide that you really need to actively listen to the soundtrack in order to accurately localise each element in your mind. This again is due to the less intimate and far sounding nature of the headphone, and requires one's full attention. Though the beauty of this large soundstage is that some sounds truly feel like you are in the back of a big concert hall. There can be this nice howling decay to instruments or sounds that create this feeling of great depth. Though it's not too artificially big by any means, recordings that are intended to sound smaller are still in a realistic space.

I read in the other reviews that they found the timbre to be a bit off. I can not agree with that statement though I understand where they come from. This is not a headphone with warm mids, and if one is used to the scooped upper mids most headphones have these HP1000's can come off as quite cold or coloured. And as in comparison to the HP151, the HP1000 have much more dimensionality and detail to the mids. I found the HP151, while having ok timbre, sounding less detailed and more peaky in comparison. Though still good for it's price range, the midrange of the HP-151 ended sounding one dimensional in comparison.


Highs, Presence (4khz-7khz) and Brilliance (7khz-20khz)

The highs on these are also very detailed. The timbre is well done, I get a very natural sensation from instruments their energy and body. This means that there are no peaks in the highs that annoy or interfere with the rest of the spectrum or that would cause harshness or sibilance. I wouldn't call the highs bright but they are extended enough for a certain crowd whom are used to rolled off highs to find them bright. They do roll off slowly after around the 13khz mark. I normally don't mention recordings in my reviews as everyone listens to different music, but "Take Five" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet is so excellently portrayed here with the snares sounding impactful, natural and highly detailed. Actually all the instruments sound spot on but that's another topic. There is a sense of volume and depth to the highs that most other closed backs portray as artificial, thin and brittle. The highs while being articulate don't miss a hint of body. Sometimes the body is a bit exaggerated, probably by the raised 5khz area. But this never is too intruding to my ears. Rarely I missed the air of an open headphone but sometimes in order to feel less grainy the highs could use just a bit more openness to breathe in. Open headphones simply will have highs that sing a bit more due to being cleaner and a tad smoother. I found the E-MU Teak for example, which is semi-open, to sound smoother and also cleaner in the highs. But the Teak is in another price bracket so there is that. Finally, there might be a peak in the presence region that slightly sticks out on some recordings as I do hear a tad bit too much sparkle from for example tracks containing a tambourine jamming through them. But this is mostly remedied by improving your source, amp and playing an uncompressed format. This is also nitpicking in what I would call great highs from a closed back, especially for the price range.


Final Conclusions

The HP-1000 is a full sized closed back that can effortlessly image a multitude of sounds at once and does so with a phenomenal soundstage, great timbre and high amount of detail.
The HP-1000 are quite versatile but perform best with certain genres such as those containing many layers as with orchestra, movie soundtracks, Trip Hop or classical. It also excels at acoustic or at Jazz because of the correct timbre for those instruments: it makes Jazz sound like it's being played live. Rock sound excellent too, it can have a nice bite to the guitars but can sound a tad distant compared to ideal. Bass heavy soundtracks can sound good with tight kicks and a hint of physical rumble but I don't expect bass-heads to be completely satisfied here. Movies sound of course spacious and can be quite engaging because of this. For gaming these headphones do a great job at positioning but perhaps lack a bit of impact to accurately track shots coming from certain directions, probably due to the 1.5khz scoop. During video editing I could notice anomalies in the sound easier than I would with other closed backs. Soundmagic delivers on its promises which advertised an expensive soundstage and an audiophile signature, and for the price probably overdelivers on those statements. The sound revealed textures of sounds to me that my more expensive headphones not necessarily do, which is amazing for the price these go for. Being so versatile in their sound, these are now my go to main closed over ear headphone.



Build quality is also amazing for it's price. The cups are much better coated and scratch resistant than the HP151. The achilles heel of the HP151 has also been remedied: The yokes are now made entirely of very thick metal. The headband is made of sheepskin leather and the pleather pads are much more comfortable and durable because of the perforated air holes in them and the better pleather material that is used. The clamp force is tight enough for them to easily seal on the head, but can be worn for hours on end due to the weight being so evenly distributed. You get a beautiful flat headphone case, which is cleverly designed to save space in your luggage as the headphone lays flat on it's cups in it. The thick 1.2m proprietary cable itself is also very nice. It smoothly is inserted in the headphone but doesn't seat with a click despite sitting firmly. I prefer this design, as when the cable accidentally gets yanked the cable unplugs itself instead of pulling on the headphone. The downside is that only through Soundmagic will you be able to order a new cable. You do get a free 3.0m extension cable however. Lastly, if you have trouble with any of your drivers inside the HP1000, Soundmagic is willing to help you under your warranty if you can clearly communicate what your issue with the sound with one of the drivers is. In the end not everyone can appreciate this style of signature as it's not an easy listen, with no frequency in particular sounding with an upfront nature anywhere in the spectrum. But for those that take their time, deep dive in the signature while sitting back and relaxing to the soundscape are in for a magical ride.

The best of both worlds: End-game headphone entertainment for a fraction of the TOTL (Top of the line) price.

I will draw a lot of comparisons to the Fostex X00-Purpleheart that I also have owned for 4 years now as that headphone is hypothesized to contain the same driver as the E-MU Teak, but with a different wooden-cup enclosure. Next to the actual wood resonating differences the Teak cup has a differently cut interior which apparently contributes to the bigger difference in sound compared to the other wooden cup variants. For smoother writing and reading purposes I will refer to the Fostex X00-Purpleheart as PH and the E-MU Teak as Teak. There are also many anecdotal reports on that headphone, which some I found to be now extremely contradicting to my own opinion as I now can compare them to the Teak.

First, a bit about my listening experience. So far I clocked in over 50 hours with the Teak's by listening over a wide range of activities such as all sorts of music genres, gaming and movies. I will thus update this review in a few months to see if my opinion adjusted. I do not think my opinion of this headphone will change much as I have so much experience with the PH and having such a reference point makes comparisons on quality easier. However, even if I consider myself an experienced listener I am no professional by any means. My music preferences range from Trip Hop such as Bonobo or Emancipator, to movie soundtracks such as Blade Runner 2049 or The Dark Knight and ambient track such as what Moby or DJ Shadow can provide. If you are curious of my tastes in headphones you can further check out my profile page where you can see other reviews of headphones and the gear that I own. As an extra here is my current Spotify playlist 2020:

My Spotify Playlist


Now about my general impressions of the Teak compared to the PH.
It didn't take me long to notice the qualities the Teak, the first hour of listening I noticed it had many qualities the PH didn't. But for some qualities the reverse was also true. That's right, the PH still has a flavour the Teak doesn't always achieve. This is the crux in the world of audio: when one aims to get as close to reference as possible you lose out on potential intimacy music can transcend, or when one tries to colour the music with some extra spices on top you can lose out on details the artists likes you to hone in on. Like putting too much salt in a soup that actually contains many flavours, details of the taste get lost because of the prominent salty taste. Same applies to music. There has to be this fine balance and that is the challenge headphone engineers face when designing a headphone. The PH is the latter example of colouring the music, it does so by raising the upper sub-bass region of 60-100hz, the lower mids from 200-1000hz and the lower highs from 5khz-8khz in comparison to the rest of the frequency response. This creates a flavour that can favour some tracks and mask details in others. It is also a flavour that makes sounds feel much closer, which is good for intimate vocals or single instruments but not for complex tracks with a multitude of instruments asking for a spacious representation. Being in the front row of an orchestra can get overwhelming from time to time after all. The center image of the PH is a bit fuzzy and it's soundstage is not very deep but is more divided over a wide horizontal plane, it is a sound stage that feels outside of your head though. The tracks where the PH is still very enjoyable are instrumental Trip Hop tracks and tracks with vocals and single instruments. The close location of the vocals and the general warm signature of the PH can be immensely entertaining.


But enough of the PH's frequency response.
Where does the Teak stand in comparison to an even tuning?
The Teak has a lot less of these intrusive peaks. In fact I feel the Teak only has it's entire bass range lifted up a bit in comparison to the rest of the spectrum, but I prefer this presentation as I think bass simply needs that bit of extra volume in order to be felt as bass. More on that Teak's bass later. Back to the fine balance the Teak provides that the PH doesn't. While the PH can win on some tracks concerning intimacy, it loses out on pretty much everything else. I prefer the Teak's most of the time, and the times that it doesn't it's presentation is still technically superior. The bass is tighter and faster, the mids are cleaner and more detailed, the highs extend better and are more detailed, the layering and imaging are better and the soundstage a lot bigger. Now this does not render the PH useless. Again, definition and enjoyment don't always go hand in hand. The resonating Purpleheart wood creates a flavour of intimacy and energy. But you don't just eat your dessert as a main dinner. Eating a kilogram of dessert would get overwhelming fast. You enjoy a broad meal before having the ice cream with the cherry on top. The Teaks are that finely served favourite meal of yours, with the PH serving as that dessert like the ice cream with the cherry on top, or chocolate cream if you'd prefer that, but as an extra and not a necessity. So the Teak is like the staple of food that you absolutely love, the PH being that occasional sugar fest of a dessert. This means that I don't just find the Teak a technically superior headphone, it's also mostly tonally more enjoyable. I would rate the Teak a league above the PH, maybe even two. The PH is fun and great, but the Teak is excellent and timeless. For those of you who'd heard both of the HE-400 and HE-500 before, it's the same story as the comparison between those were.


Now let me try to dissect the Teak's actual frequency response from bass to mids to highs.
First things first, about that bass. The Teak has both the huge body of a subwoofer and the tightness and control to be able to detect minor differences in fast sub-bass fluctuations. The control the Teak has is entirely missing in the PH which sounds loose in comparison. This was one of the bigger surprises to me, as the PH was claimed by many to be excellent in it's sub-bass department. It is only really excellent when it comes to feeling the sub-bass and even then it get's too loose to be able to track it in busy passage ways some soundtracks can have.
It's the difference between sitting in a car with a subwoofer and the windows closed, or hearing a car with that subwoofer pass by next to you on the street. Sitting in the car would provide a great physical sensation to the bass. You can feel the vibrating energy around you. The accuracy of the subtle notes that for example a bass guitar can have are mostly lost to the actual physical sensation of the bass being overwhelming. Being outside would provide a better tracking perspective, you know there is sub-bass emitting from the car but you would not have the sensation of being engulfed in it. There is less distraction and the notes can be perceived. Of course this is a symbolic analogy that I needed to portray in order to compare the headphones further. The Teak has both this physical sensation and due to it's tightness tracking is easy which makes the bass absolutely masterful and the best I have heard to date. It's the perfect balance between body and control. On the other hand, the PH has the tendency to sound slightly boomy and interferes with the rest of the spectrum in comparison, making the PH bass kicks and thumbs less rounded and thus less impactful than the Teaks by a decent amount. While the teaks feel they can reach deeper into the bass, I believe their extension is quite similar and such a feeling is more explained due to the aforementioned factors. And the best part of all, and this is a pitfall for many other headphones, the Teak's bass never bleed into the rest of the spectrum and in turn resolve more than headphones a category below.

The Midrange on the Teaks I can describe as being smooth, clean, full bodied and impactful with a natural timbre and soundstage, though being slightly on the warm side. The mids their layering and imaging are again above the PH. The lower midrange is a bit more distant than the PH which creates a more sense of spaciousness to the soundstage. This distance does not hinder the detail in any way. The lower midrange is in fact cleaner and more detailed with nuances to fluctuations being easier noticeable because of the smoother and more neutral response. Layering in turn is also vastly improved. The upper midrange is more forward and smooth, allowing more detail to be perceived with for example the textures of instruments such as the fingers of a guitarist changing chords or the impact of a piano note leading again to a more natural and detailed response, providing much better timber to both the impact and transition of notes. The sense of spaciousness make the Teak portray some vocals sounding further away than the PH. Female vocals sound a bit more distant than males due to a bit more recessed higher mid-range. Some would consider this undesireable to their enjoyment, but the vocals to me never seemed too distant for me to feel disconnected from them. Again I noticed many more subtle nuances and layers to the mids in a track that I was not able to perceive very well on the PH. In complex soundtracks with multiple instruments playing with bass vibrating in the background the Teak never fails to impress, it doesn't miss a note it's a very fast headphone.

The highs on the Teaks are also truly special. Being very articulate and fast, they decay and blend in very nicely with the whole soundstage. I am usually quite critical with highs on a headphone. I find most headphones sounding a bit thin and artificial despite them having a good range. This artificial edginess on those headphones always intrudes the rest of the spectrum. Here the Teak's highs are smooth with a hint of tightness giving them a good texture without sounding too edgy, sibilant or fatiguing. There is a very slight graininess to the highs when comparing them to the most open headphones, but when considering these are semi-open they are already way above that class. This is also because they are very extended and drop until after round 16khz, which gives this sense of airiness and thickness to the highs that can be perceived as bright to people who come from headphones that always rolled off the highs after the 10khz mark. This extra extension is worth it to my ears, music soundtracks such as blade runner have a tremendous soundstage and a few times I got fooled that I was actually listening to one of the better open headphones.


And this is where I find myself concluding the Teaks are a truly timeless headphone. They near a reference-like neutral frequency response in a presentation that is still entertaining because they contain a massive bass body and response due to their woody semi-open nature, while not sacrificing anything of the mids or highs in the process. The best of both worlds if you will, while simultaneously oozing details on the whole frequency spectrum. A lot of headphones sacrifice something somewhere. The high-fi headphones I tried either lack bass quantity because of their open nature, bass extension because their focus is on the mids and highs or they are simply too bright. The Teak being a highly resolving headphone with a slight emphasis on it's bass has a combination of a presentation that I never heard before. The build quality is also made to last with a beautiful lacquer finish on Teak cups and a silver coloured metal chasis. The stock pads are comfortable to my ears and the headphone feels light on my head. All in all, this headphone is now my all time favourite and earns a perfect score in my book. I hope you enjoyed the review and I can only recommend you get this headphone if you appreciate this hobby.

*Update: After having tried multiple wooden cups supplied by E-MU, I have now replaced the Teak wood with the Zebra wood, which has better upper mids, intimate vocals and can sound a bit more detailed (but less warm) at the cost of soundstage.

I have owned my HE-400 for over 3 years now. I have gone through a love hate relationship with them as they simply are not the jack of all trades headphone I was looking for. However, over the years I began to appreciate their outstanding qualities they do posses. These cans go incredibly good with trip hop, hip hop, instrumental and orchestra. Vocal based music is a hit or a miss. Males can end up sounding quite a bit deeper but sometimes missing that organic warmth due to the rise of the 1k region and scooped mids after which make vocals sound nasal. Same applies to women vocals, but that is caused by the peaky highs. Again this depends on the track and how it was mastered. Bright songs tend to be too peaky and the highs on this headphones do not pair well with that, warm mastered songs have no problems. However, movie soundtracks, movies themself, games, instrumentals and complex passages are fantastic. American music sounds fantastic too think of hip hop, rap or pop songs. Their imaging and soundstage are good for gaming too. These headphones have lightning fast transient response, and have a tremendous way of imaging the sound in this almost holographic fashion. They tend to still give me that surprise or waw moment even after all these years. They do sound better when around the 90db mark and not lower, but listen with care people. Also, make sure your room has no fridge or such in the background as any background sound messes with this headphone's clarity. They leak massive amount of sound so it's a headphone for private listening. All in all, these are definite keepers. They are so good for their price range that I decided to buy a second pair in case they become too rare over time. This headphone is a clear step above dynamic headphone offerings under 500$. Their achilles heel is that the stock frequency response is not for all tracks which is also why I will buy a HE-500 alongside these, comparisons will be made in the interest of time. If you are looking at Planar's look at the HE-6, HE-500 or these. The double sided magnet design give them a more organic and speaker like presentation that not even the newer planers from Hifiman can match.

I received the Purpleheart August last year and have not been able to put them down since. They have become my daily driver, I can only say positive things about them. These headphones are incredibly balanced and have a W sound signature, meaning each part of the spectrum is presented but coloured in a way to sound as musical as possible. There is something very engaging about the Purpleheart's presentation. Despite me now owning the E-MU Teak and thinking it is a techncially superior headphone, the Purpleheart's have this intimate and almost speaker like presentation. It's sound is thick yet non fatiguing and feels just ow so musical. But it's not a neutral headphone by any means. I think searching for a neutral headphone within the X00 or E-MU series is not optimal. These headphones are for you to enjoy your music or sound, not for you to track or mix with. For neutral I'd go for the legendary HE-500 or the HD-600 or DT-880 instead.

But first things first. About that bass. Knocking on their wood makes them knock back hard hitting bass, knock knock anybody home? I wouldn't have any less bass than this, which is why I chose the Purpleheart wood. I still wouldn't describe these as bass monsters, but as a well balanced headphone with and incredible bass body and definition. Though, these bio-dynamic drivers in combination with the elegant Purpleheart wood can smack your ears when called upon excuse moi française. And this is not the type of bass I was expecting either. I thought they would just vibrate on my head without too much definition. Quite the opposite turned out to be true. The bass while huge bodied, has very fine control and extension, not bleeding in or interfering with either the mids or highs. Some say they sound boomy at times but I don't get that impression at all, I don't channel them that way. Sound is very much alive and live sounding because of the body present here.


The mids have this special flavor to them, the wood is resonating a bit here to create a very unique tonality that is hard to put down. While the upper mids lack some attack, this is actually a good thing since the headphone becomes less fatiguing. The definition and form of the mids is there and make their presence known even between the exciting treble and big bass. The timbre is on point, there is this warm liquid feeling to the mids that creates a warm organic sound. The texture of sounds are detailed and well rounded creating this sense of realism and accuracy.



These cans can scream at the higher frequencies and with enough speed and definition as well. Other Head-Fi users mention that these headphones are harsh. I disagree, they might have prominent and forward highs but they never sound edgy or fatiguing to me. The HE-400(original) would fit that description to me. The highs extend incredibly well, and really sync in well with the other parts of the spectrum. The soundstage is increased because of this. All genres can be paired well with these cans but excel at RNB, Hip/Trip Hop, Electronic and Rock in my opinion. Timbre is excellent, instruments and both female and male vocals sound natural.

The isolation is enough to filter out most pronounced disturbances within a normal living room. You can even use them outside or in a train, but some detail is lost in the music due to their semi open nature. Indoors though, you feel the airyness that comes with this nature. They won't be as holographic or transient as a HE-400/i, HE-500 or LCD-2/3 PLANAR series, but they sure get close enough. Again best of worlds ladies and gents.
I would just let this beauty sit indoors and use a HD-25 aluminium outside. They pair well with each other.

The headphones stock pads are very good in my opinion but in the main TH-X00 threads on Head-fi you have people recommending otherwise. The stock pads are very comfortable to me and are very well padded. They seal my ears good but your experience may differ. Third party pads are relatively cheap so no worries there. The sound signature is not fatiguing to me and I can listen to them all day, preferably on lower volumes then of course.



So these headphones are incredibly euphonic with their speaker-like presentation, have a strong magnesium alloy construction with beautiful purple wooden cups and a nice long braided cable(3m), are comfortable and not ultra expensive. Even if you like a bit less bass I am having a hard time believing there isn't an X00 version out there for you, or an E-MU Teak/ebony/rosewood for that matter. I will be comparing the E-MU Teak to this headphone when I receive in a few weeks. This is the only indoor headphone you will ever need for any sound entertainment. Enjoy!

*Soundmagic replaced this Headphone for the HP151 and also has a higher end model HP-1000 now available

These headphones sound so magical, that you don't want anything to be wrong with them. There is an Achilles heel, but with some care it can be remedied. You have to be careful how to handle them as the yokes holding the cups are a bit fragile. Soundmagic has replaced this specific model with the HP-151 which has a stronger build but same sound applies so this review also applies to the HP-151. On the comfort side of things, the HP-150's are comfortable but do get a bit hot to wear after an hour or two. But let me jump into the sound quality directly.

Let me first start with the entire frequency spectrum. This is a u shaped headphone nearing neutral. The sub-bass is pushed up a bit and the highs are as well, this creates a fun yet reference sound signature similar to the famous DT-770, but with a bigger soundstage and better mids than those. The soundstage on these are probably best in class and only semi-open headphones will provide a bigger stage. The stage is quite wide, deep and has a good height. The imaging of individual layers are precise and so each element in a soundtrack can be pinpointed with ease. This makes this headphone good for busy genres such as with orchestra and classical music, but it plays well with many other genres.

Now on to dissecting the frequency response from bass to mids to highs. The bass on these are good. They go very deep and rumble at the lowest frequencies. The body is quite big even though it lacks control and speed. The bass also kicks and has a bit of a raised area around the 100hz mark to track kicks in a soundtrack. They are pretty good for tracking and I would call these headphones good for tracking in the studio. The drop in the higher bass from 100-200hz makes this headphone have a bit less body than what I'd consider ideal, which in turn makes the headphone a bit clinical.

The mids do have an impact though lack warmth and body. They are detailed and the headphone is good at layering the details seperate from the bass, though high end headphones will still do better in both detail and layering. The texture is also good. The slightly recessed higher mids make the headphone less fatigueing. I perceive the mids to be a bit dry which I think is good for tracking or being analytical in nature.

The highs are a bit peaky and can be sibilant. The peak around the 8khz mark is good for tracking impacts and makes it also good for tracking. They do extend nicely but can get overly bright on bright tracks. This brightness can give a very exciting and energetic presentation and I actually like that character of this headphone. Furthermore, the highs are a bit thin on impact but have a good decay and so blend nicely with the rest of the spectrum. The recessed lower highs give this aforementioned lack of body though this creates the big soundstage as well

Overall I would recommend these over the DT-770, as these are more neutral and have a more precise and bigger soundstage for the same price. These headphones are a good all rounder headphone though definitely are on the bright exciting side so keep that in mind.

I bought the HD25 Aluminium 3 months ago and so far this headphone has done nothing but impress me.
For the qualities it delivers I find it's still a highly overlooked headphone due to the predecessor still being sold.
I can easily say that these are far better than the HD25-1-II's and are probably the best portable on ear headphones in the market today.
This can has a dominant bass presence that definitely will attract bassheads but the mids and highs are perfectly balanced alongside that bass.
This headphone is of audiophile quality back to back.
It hits all the check-boxes of what a headphone should do good and is as good as a tool as it's entertaining.

These are a hyperdetailed set of cans.
The control and speed is amazing and came very unexpected to me, as I heard the HD25-1-II's before, and they did not give me those qualities. When tones
switch quickly, or when there are many sounds running through each other, this headphone is faster than my DT770 32 ohm which tends to sound slow in comparison.

The soundstage is good. Excellent depth but limited XY width and height due to their on ear nature, so don't expect the spaciousness that over-ear headphones bring.
I did notice a significant increase in soundstage when switching from my Ipod 5.5 to my LG V40. The LG V40 opened up this can to such a degree that most of the time I forget I am wearing an on-ear headphone. It got rid of the congestion that was happening with the Ipod 5.5 pairing.
There is a very nice and precise center image.
Though while the HD-25 are precise, they still don't excell at orchestra or classical because of the limited XY width and height.
They are thus extremely engaging with superior imaging, positioning and seperation.
And the best part of all, they sound like they got an "out of head" soundstage which I would wager is best in class for an on ear.
However looking for an expensive soundstage should definitely opt for the Soundmagic HP1000 instead, but that is a full sized over ear headphone.
These sound great out of portable DAC's, but scale well with better equipment.

The HUGE bass presence never bleeds into the mids or the highs, and after burn in the bass becomes more controlled. Sub-bass is very present, bass lines can easily be tracked due to the speedy nature of this can. From 25hz and up the Sub-bass is perfectly present. I own the HE-400 so am used to quality bass, these don't disappoint. It's the respectful kind of bass, with that huge present body and a nice hint of physical vibration. Next to the detail the Sub-bass is the biggest improvement over the HD25-1-II's.
The kicks are the star of the show though. These kick really hard, and are so perfect for DJ-ing and Hip Hop/Rap. On poorly mastered recordings or bad pairings(some Ipods/Iphones) they can get out of hand but that is not entirely the fault of the headphone. At higher volumes ofcourse the bass gets a bit muddy but it's never out of hand.
Again, the bass to me never distracts from the rest of the spectrum but it's definitely the main characteristic and most present part of the spectrum. It's ideal for outside playback or while being in busy crowds.
The 100-300hz range add a lot of weight and body to the sound, but can get a tad bit overblown(too present) with certain recordings.
On some recordings it really shows of the bass body. Bass-Head would love this can for sure.


The mids have an immense control, not missing a hint of detail. There are a lot of subtle nuances to be heard. Vocals are always positioned perfect within the track.
Nothing and no one get's left behind. The mids are very organic, smooth, textured and weighty though. The slightly recessed higher mids in the 4khz region create this warmness though not too much detail is lost.
My only compliant is that female vocals could use just a tad bit more energy to them. The mids have excellent dynamics and Timbre so I would not call these headphones a V-shaped headphone. It's a balanced headphone with emphasized bass. This headphone with good pairing (with the LG V40 for example)
is a really balanced headphone.

The highs are excellent, well controlled and never fatiguing. The highs don't roll off too quickly and so the extension is perfect to my ears. They have a nice bite to them and are very energetic.
They are also very articulate so they decay quick with a lot of transient response.
They have a slightly dark signature due to the toned down 4-6khz region.
This toned down recession is mostly positive to my ears as I dislike harsh sound.
But there is the classic HD25 spike around the 8-10khz area that adds load of excitement and a tad of brightness to the sound. Perfect for EDM and electronic music.
On higher volumes this spike can create some slight sibilance with emphasis on slight and might give the impression this can is bright. Though i noticed the sibilance is more source dependant than it being the fault of the headphone.
It's really not bright, to my ears this is headphone leans to the warm and laidback side of the spectrum with a treble spike on top.
I'd actually call this headphone really balanced next to the massively present 100-300hz region.
While neutral recordings sound slightly warm, very bright recordings still sound slightly bright.
The highs while not recessed might not be upfront enough for some. If you're a hardcore treble head then I would look elsewhere, like at the DT770 or preferably the HP150.
I thought these sounded warmer at first, due to my IPod 5.5 having slightly rolled off highs but they sound pretty neutral to me now that I pair them with the Toppings D30 and LG V40


The isolation is just dangerously good. You won't hear anything except for the sound being beamed in your ear canals. They isolate better than the DT770.
Ladies will be ignored and meteorites will fall down from the skies without a notice. While riding my bike or being in windy areas, I did not notice the wind affecting
the sound enough to be bothered by it. In a loud train while you can still hear the music clearly, the train rumble isn't entirely cast outside by the isolation. So on
flights noise cancelling headphones are still the better option, even though these will do more than just fine.

The comfort is good but not excellent; At the first the clamping was a bit too much, but give it a few days and it becomes perfect. It remains an on ear headphone however, so it won't massage your ears like full-sized over-ear velour headphones do. You'll have to experiment where the headphones sit best on your ears, but they seal really easily and the sound does not change much when changing position. The good news here is that you don't have to play around too much with the headphones positioning on the ears. They always seal easily.
Fatigue sets in after an hour and a half for me. Quick breaks easily remedy this fatigue. The present bass will tire your ears on higher volumes. Thankfully these produce excellent detail on low volumes and the superior isolation allows no disturbance to listening experience.

Build quality is nothing short of excellent. This is a tank. Aluminium cups and aluminium buttons on the pivot points. I believe the headband is reinforced with a metal wire running through it, but I can not confirm this. I absolutely love the look of the silver aluminium. The cable, while remove-able, is a bit on the long side for a portable, but are easily braided to fit your portable needs. The build quality feels sturdier than it's predecessor, which was a tank to begin with.

Man I can keep going on how good these headphones are. They have officially become my favorite portable headphones. They are a warm headphone with as much excitement added as possible before fatigue sets in.
I am walking around the city with these headphones tied to a rockboxed Ipod 5.5 Wolfson WM8758 / LG V40(Recommend the Note above all) and FIIO E11, playing my favorite albums in FLAC format.
I don't have the most experienced ears in comparison to other Head-fi'ers , but I am a young grasshopper, no pun intended, that can confirm these are an excellent step up from the HD25-1-II's and are a serious contender for the best headphones around 250$. I also own the Soundmagic HP150 and these are easily tied to those when it comes to detail retrieval. They have excellent dynamics and speed that the older HD25 models simply did not have. It is a shame people skip on these because the older HD25 is cheaper. They are worth the extra price you pay. These are easily one of the best portable headphones out there today.

Recommended for: Portable walk around, DJ, Electronic music production, exercising and vacation headphone.
Recommend Genres: Acoustic, Electronic music (EDM, techno, etc), Pop, Trip-Hop, RnB, Hip-Hop, Rap
I wouldn't recommend these for: Solely for Gaming or watching Movies.

This EQ setting turns these into an Energetic treble can, but makes it lose it's organic and detailed nature slightly.
I use this EQ while running or making Gains in the gym, good for energetic motivation.

*Ask away in the comment section!

If I had to visualize the sound signature of the HTF-600, I would describe them to be the bridge from a melancholic place connecting to a cheerful heaven.
These cans extract the soul and love out of every soundtrack out there.

Let me start of by saying that these are not perfect headphones because they don't excel at everything.
These are 30$ dynamic drivers, 50MM drivers at that. They don't have the control that higher end mid-fi
and high-fi cans have. They won't hit all the notes that are available, a lot are drown out.
But what they do have, is an excellent presentation that can engage the listener just as good if not better
than those higher end headphones from 400$ and up.
There is something about the signature of the HTF-600 that makes me come back to it. No matter
how big my headphone inventory gets I still listen to the HTF-600 if I just want a break from all my analytical gear.

The instrument separation is average, the sound is presented as a whole and not in individual parts like other
headphones with good sound separation tend to do. But I can still pick out the individual layers well enough, even though
the bass sometimes trump the mids. This can is excellent at tracking a drummer; "Something to believe in - Citizen Cope" is a good track
to test that with.
I never felt like the HTF600 sounded bloated or messy. It has a very clean and open presentation.

The bass area is where these cans shine. I paired them up with a Fiio E11(excellent match) and with bass boost set to +2 and giving it a V-shaped
EQ-curve, these will impress any bass-head whom desires earth shaking bass on their head. Don't get the wrong idea, these ALWAYS sound great, but improve upon amping.
These cans are very open to EQ-ing(Rock EQ)
I impressed over 30 friends with the Fiio E11+ipod touch Gen 4+HTF-600@V-shape EQ combo. A good example track is "After thoughts- Oddisee". The sub-bass is just wonderful. It does
lack the speed and control of let's say a HE-400. There is a long decay. But you can always track the bassline
and the boosted frequency around the 100hz-200hz makes these thump hard, but never distract the mids/highs.

HOWEVER, proceed with caution using the E11 or any bass boost amp with the HTF-600 outdoors.
The vent holes prevent good isolation and thus you will turn these headphones up to dangerous sound levels. Not only being bad for
your ears, but for the drivers as well. You can easily blow the drivers as they are not designed to driven to such high levels with bass boost
on. I learned my lesson the hard way, I am on my third pair. The driver diaphragm isn't reinforced with any material unlike the DT-770, HP-150
or FA-003TI, so be careful and you should be fine.

The mids on these are very smooth and colored but not very detailed. Ambient noises are hard to pick apart, and little nuances are not present until you amp
this baby up and pair it with a good dac.
Also there is the non fatiguing sound, which makes me assume the frequency around 2khz-4khz is slightly down lifted.
I can not provide a direct frequency response curve for these cans, I have searched around the web but without success. Yet somehow I perceive
the HTF-600's mids to be quite forward. The mids remind me a lot of the HE-400, where the lower mids are upfront and upper mids are recessed.

The highs are just pure euphoric bliss. As another reviewer stated, these are a gift from the heavens. These are tuned to near perfection if you just want to enjoy your music.
They are never fatiguing, and to my ears they bring all my nostalgic feelings I associated with old songs right back to my soul. The highs have a nice bite to them when the trumpets
are blazing. The detail is certainly there, but the highs are certainly rolled off after the 10khz mark. But I never feel like these sound dull because of that. If had to handpick a song and link
the feeling of that song to this can, it would be "Akira - Illusion". Trip hop and RNB/Hip hop goes perfect with this can. Washed out and bonobo sound very dreamy and just blissful.
But these cans can really play anything with pride.

The build quality is pretty good. These cans look really awesome. They are very lightweight and supremely comfortable, and made of durable plastic. The cable is very long but you can braid it by following a YouTube tutorial on the subject. There are velour pads(DT250), MalVeauX has a good explanation on what it does to the sound signature. I have the pads but eventually preferred the pleather pads because they sound more organic. You can easily toss them around and throw them in your bag but I don't recommend sitting on them. Comfort is below average with the pleather pads; after an hour you need to take a quick break from them. This can be remedied by applying the velour pads mentioned earlier. In cold weather these tend to make cracking noise when walking, which can be quite disturbing to the music listening experience (though it's not all that pronounced, just slightly annoying) The driver-cups seem to be plated with a metal piece, as they get cold just like metal does.
I hope Panasonic uses these EXACT same drivers and make it an all metal construction. I'd drop 200$ on those if they did.

Lastly, the sound-stage is pretty good thanks to it's semi open nature. The sound is always happening next to my ears, and you don't get an inside your head feeling.
The imaging is far from realistic, and a lot of sounds are free floating most of the time. The sound-stage is extremely engaging and open sounding. Nice height and width, but average depth.
They remind me of a baby HE-400 in this category.

For 30$, I recommend buying at least 5 of these. Give these as gifts to all your family-members and friends when it is their birthday. Keep a spare or two and lock it away for 50 years and pass it
on to your grandchildren. They will then pass it on to their grandchildren and this will then become a family tradition. Because 500 years or so from now, these cans will inspire someone very
important and thus will safe this planet from eternal doom.



(the bass of these cans hit hard, they knock hard and have great sub bass)