Reviews by Trinkle
My unit arrived. Listened today for a few hours and listening as I am writing. I may not be able to point to every point but will write things that stood out to me so far.
Ran on Topping G5.
Comfort.
Even the HE-1 would be useless if it were not comfortable. I understand it can be very comfortable for smaller heads but it is not for those with big or say long heads. I am 6 feet 2 inches, I do not have a wide head but moderately tall one. Even at its max size it puts pressure on the center of the head. Unlike the Sennheiser phones which try to put pressure on two points. I got pretty angry with such a flaw. But then I realized I could reduce the pressure by putting two small tissue papers on the sides to distribute the pressure and I also think as I wore it for a while it kind of loosened or I got used to it. The other thing is the PU leather kinda feel sticky if you have a shiny bald spot
, but with time or say with the use of tissue paper I learned to handle the pressure, but given I did not feel this with HD 660S , 560S, 800S , HE-1 , HE100SE but with this one, says not a lot of thought was given to the comfort. Clamp force may feel a bit high but still felt less than the un-stretched 660S, so that is okay.
Axel Grell mentioned comfort pads will be available sometime in the future.
Soundstage.
It is quite big but not as big as HD800S, or HE1000SE. Listening side by side with HD 660S it felt bigger, I think its bigger than HE-1 too but not as deep as HE-1. Although the soundstage is not as big as HD800S, if you draw your imaginary instruments and singers with HD 800S their positions will seem weird and not make sense, some too close , some too far away but with the OAE-1 it kind of makes sense. But it is smaller than HD 800S and has less airy feeling than it. Even though soundstage felt big I did not mix up its sound with reality, which I did once in a while with HD 800S. I think soundstage and imaging only does not confuse you, the sound has to be detailed enough to make you think the sound may be coming from outside. The sound is surely not as detailed .... more on this later. Once I felt a particular sound was coming from my side a little bit in the back, but the sound itself did not match sounds in the real world much so won't say it was an aha moment. For me even though soundstage imaging is way better than what the price may suggest, it is not anything drastically different as we might expect from the positioning of the drivers. But then again it is probably the third biggest soundstage I have heard next to HE1000Se, and HD 800S.
Bass.
This made me a believer in Axel Grell's theory. Although I noticed bass in multiple tracks, when I heard the drum in Frozen by Madonna in the long instrumental part, I felt the bass hit my face, forehead and neck. I felt the vibration just like Axel said we would !!!!
Starts at 3:10 https://tidal.com/browse/track/1669855?u
I am very sensitive to bloated bass, this did not seem to be bloated or muddy.
Detail retrieval and clarity
If you listen slightly carefully you will feel it has more air and clarity than HD 660S, but its not like when you move to HD 800S and you feel "my whole music listening was a lie" and "how could I bear the 660S" no its not like that but still its clearer.
But still it lags behind 660S, (also HD800S and HE-1 ) in some areas. For example in the song "The way we were" where Barbra Streisand hums in the beginning, all 660S, HD800S HE-1, they all sound so sweet and full (660S is like warm bread, HD 800S is like butter on bread, HE-1 is like honey on bread and butter). But with OAE-1 her humming seems uneven as if some portions of the frequencies are subdued.
https://tidal.com/browse/track/1317337?u
In multiple songs some voices seem somewhat subdued but not muffled. As if weak and some parts missing, but not veiled by something. May be I need to eq that part.
The headphone handles excessive volume really well, so I assume it will respond to EQ well too.
The beep, beeps at the start of the song sweet surrender by Sarah McLachlan also had this issue, they seemed more broken than HD 800S or HE1000SE , speaking from memory here btw https://tidal.com/browse/track/225534413?u
With Cello music you often can feel the bow slide on the strings with the HD 800S, not so much with this one, so some smoothness is missing in that region. But hey remember its $350.
I did not feel any treble spike though.
Portability and Usage
The case is super portable , and solid enough to protect the headphone. Can easily slide in my backpack.
Summary
It is a very good headphone for $350 but cannot compete with the big boys like HD 800S and HE1000SE except for the bass. It is an unfair comparison but somehow we unfairly set our expectations too high given Axel Grell's legacy. If this did beat out HD 800S and HE1000SE in every aspect, Sennheiser and Hifiman would go bankrupt lol. But it surely beats out the pricier HD 660S in my book and it surely beats every headphone I have heard out there in terms of bass. It proves that the concept works as this is probably the maximum amount of soundstage anyone achieved with a 40 mm driver that is not even a ring driver emitting planar waves. It also proves that you can produce clean bass and make your body feel it which none of the headphones I tried 660S, HD 800S, HE100SE or HE-1 did for me. But I felt this with only one song as I mentioned.
Will I keep it ?
Overall I like the sound better than the headphone I am currently using 660S, it sounds clearer and bigger, it has this unique bass which I might miss if I return it. I can fix the comfort issue with tissue paper or some leather and glue and official comfort pads will be available in the future. I need to stop myself from itching till i get the next Sennheiser headphone (hopefully God willing). I believe given it has an Axel Grell signature it will have a good resale value. So I guess I will keep it.
Although I do not feel everything was perfect I think the two concepts regarding the orientation and bass have been proven at least to me.
Ran on Topping G5.
Comfort.
Even the HE-1 would be useless if it were not comfortable. I understand it can be very comfortable for smaller heads but it is not for those with big or say long heads. I am 6 feet 2 inches, I do not have a wide head but moderately tall one. Even at its max size it puts pressure on the center of the head. Unlike the Sennheiser phones which try to put pressure on two points. I got pretty angry with such a flaw. But then I realized I could reduce the pressure by putting two small tissue papers on the sides to distribute the pressure and I also think as I wore it for a while it kind of loosened or I got used to it. The other thing is the PU leather kinda feel sticky if you have a shiny bald spot
, but with time or say with the use of tissue paper I learned to handle the pressure, but given I did not feel this with HD 660S , 560S, 800S , HE-1 , HE100SE but with this one, says not a lot of thought was given to the comfort. Clamp force may feel a bit high but still felt less than the un-stretched 660S, so that is okay.Axel Grell mentioned comfort pads will be available sometime in the future.
Soundstage.
It is quite big but not as big as HD800S, or HE1000SE. Listening side by side with HD 660S it felt bigger, I think its bigger than HE-1 too but not as deep as HE-1. Although the soundstage is not as big as HD800S, if you draw your imaginary instruments and singers with HD 800S their positions will seem weird and not make sense, some too close , some too far away but with the OAE-1 it kind of makes sense. But it is smaller than HD 800S and has less airy feeling than it. Even though soundstage felt big I did not mix up its sound with reality, which I did once in a while with HD 800S. I think soundstage and imaging only does not confuse you, the sound has to be detailed enough to make you think the sound may be coming from outside. The sound is surely not as detailed .... more on this later. Once I felt a particular sound was coming from my side a little bit in the back, but the sound itself did not match sounds in the real world much so won't say it was an aha moment. For me even though soundstage imaging is way better than what the price may suggest, it is not anything drastically different as we might expect from the positioning of the drivers. But then again it is probably the third biggest soundstage I have heard next to HE1000Se, and HD 800S.
Bass.
This made me a believer in Axel Grell's theory. Although I noticed bass in multiple tracks, when I heard the drum in Frozen by Madonna in the long instrumental part, I felt the bass hit my face, forehead and neck. I felt the vibration just like Axel said we would !!!!
Starts at 3:10 https://tidal.com/browse/track/1669855?u
I am very sensitive to bloated bass, this did not seem to be bloated or muddy.
Detail retrieval and clarity
If you listen slightly carefully you will feel it has more air and clarity than HD 660S, but its not like when you move to HD 800S and you feel "my whole music listening was a lie" and "how could I bear the 660S" no its not like that but still its clearer.
But still it lags behind 660S, (also HD800S and HE-1 ) in some areas. For example in the song "The way we were" where Barbra Streisand hums in the beginning, all 660S, HD800S HE-1, they all sound so sweet and full (660S is like warm bread, HD 800S is like butter on bread, HE-1 is like honey on bread and butter). But with OAE-1 her humming seems uneven as if some portions of the frequencies are subdued.
https://tidal.com/browse/track/1317337?u
In multiple songs some voices seem somewhat subdued but not muffled. As if weak and some parts missing, but not veiled by something. May be I need to eq that part.
The headphone handles excessive volume really well, so I assume it will respond to EQ well too.
The beep, beeps at the start of the song sweet surrender by Sarah McLachlan also had this issue, they seemed more broken than HD 800S or HE1000SE , speaking from memory here btw https://tidal.com/browse/track/225534413?u
With Cello music you often can feel the bow slide on the strings with the HD 800S, not so much with this one, so some smoothness is missing in that region. But hey remember its $350.
I did not feel any treble spike though.
Portability and Usage
The case is super portable , and solid enough to protect the headphone. Can easily slide in my backpack.
Summary
It is a very good headphone for $350 but cannot compete with the big boys like HD 800S and HE1000SE except for the bass. It is an unfair comparison but somehow we unfairly set our expectations too high given Axel Grell's legacy. If this did beat out HD 800S and HE1000SE in every aspect, Sennheiser and Hifiman would go bankrupt lol. But it surely beats out the pricier HD 660S in my book and it surely beats every headphone I have heard out there in terms of bass. It proves that the concept works as this is probably the maximum amount of soundstage anyone achieved with a 40 mm driver that is not even a ring driver emitting planar waves. It also proves that you can produce clean bass and make your body feel it which none of the headphones I tried 660S, HD 800S, HE100SE or HE-1 did for me. But I felt this with only one song as I mentioned.
Will I keep it ?
Overall I like the sound better than the headphone I am currently using 660S, it sounds clearer and bigger, it has this unique bass which I might miss if I return it. I can fix the comfort issue with tissue paper or some leather and glue and official comfort pads will be available in the future. I need to stop myself from itching till i get the next Sennheiser headphone (hopefully God willing). I believe given it has an Axel Grell signature it will have a good resale value. So I guess I will keep it.
Although I do not feel everything was perfect I think the two concepts regarding the orientation and bass have been proven at least to me.
I had been using the HD800S for a few years and had to part with it and wanted a definite upgrade. (I gave it to someone, I did not get rid of it because I did not like it or anything, even with all the flaws it had, I loved it.) My review will mostly be a comparison against it.
After reading tons of reviews online I concluded, HE1000SE would be a definite improvement over it.
First off, yes you hear more details than the HD 800S in many areas, specifically in the music, and different parts of the music are more distinctly separated that allows you to hear the details more. There is better layering too, for example the song "Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan the beeping sounds present themselves at different distances with different tones in a more pronounced way with the HE1000SE. The sound of the bug flying in the song "Viva Forever" by Spice Girls, takes a three dimensional semi circular path for the HE1000Se, instead of a tracing a semi circle in two dimensions like with the HD 800S.
Sounds have more scale and body to them. In an orchestra the sounds seem to be emanating from larger objects, with the much talked about scale and height attributed to the large HiFiman cans. The bass is much clearer than the HD 800S.
For thin recordings like "Empty Garden" by Elton John, the song does not fall apart like with the HD800S.
You do feel the three dimensional soundstage, much well defined than the HD800S. It is less wide than the HD 800S, which makes orchestras less enjoyable for some recordings.
Human voices seems to be pushed further, and a bit muffled amidst all the details. When I hear songs with HD 800S the voices seem to be closer than instruments in most songs, giving me a feeling of the presence of the singer, his/her emotions. This is absent in the HE1000SE, the life that I felt in music with the HD 800S is all but gone.
I personally like instruments that work in the similar range as the human voice like cello/duduk and am definitely not a basshead. Thus for me, although I appreciate all the extra detail and nice spatial separation, I do not feel any more emotion listening to the HE1000SE than the HD 660S (sometimes I prefer the 660S).
I tried to find the reason and looked at the graphs, I guess the graphs agree with what I felt, the HD800S had more energy and also smoother in the vocal range (at least for two samples of HD 800S).
It is not for me or people like me who like to concentrate on the vocals, listen to cello/duduk, or appreciate the width of orchestras. The HD 800S became bothersome in 1 out of 20 songs but it excelled with 19 other songs for me. But I feel something is missing with all songs with the HE1000SE. It is being returned. I guess I will have to wait for a while to have a definite upgrade over the HD800S in the "affordable" price range. Hope it comes sooner than later.
Edit : Chain : TidalHiFi -> Topping G5 -> HE1000SE
After reading tons of reviews online I concluded, HE1000SE would be a definite improvement over it.
First off, yes you hear more details than the HD 800S in many areas, specifically in the music, and different parts of the music are more distinctly separated that allows you to hear the details more. There is better layering too, for example the song "Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan the beeping sounds present themselves at different distances with different tones in a more pronounced way with the HE1000SE. The sound of the bug flying in the song "Viva Forever" by Spice Girls, takes a three dimensional semi circular path for the HE1000Se, instead of a tracing a semi circle in two dimensions like with the HD 800S.
Sounds have more scale and body to them. In an orchestra the sounds seem to be emanating from larger objects, with the much talked about scale and height attributed to the large HiFiman cans. The bass is much clearer than the HD 800S.
For thin recordings like "Empty Garden" by Elton John, the song does not fall apart like with the HD800S.
You do feel the three dimensional soundstage, much well defined than the HD800S. It is less wide than the HD 800S, which makes orchestras less enjoyable for some recordings.
Human voices seems to be pushed further, and a bit muffled amidst all the details. When I hear songs with HD 800S the voices seem to be closer than instruments in most songs, giving me a feeling of the presence of the singer, his/her emotions. This is absent in the HE1000SE, the life that I felt in music with the HD 800S is all but gone.
I personally like instruments that work in the similar range as the human voice like cello/duduk and am definitely not a basshead. Thus for me, although I appreciate all the extra detail and nice spatial separation, I do not feel any more emotion listening to the HE1000SE than the HD 660S (sometimes I prefer the 660S).
I tried to find the reason and looked at the graphs, I guess the graphs agree with what I felt, the HD800S had more energy and also smoother in the vocal range (at least for two samples of HD 800S).
It is not for me or people like me who like to concentrate on the vocals, listen to cello/duduk, or appreciate the width of orchestras. The HD 800S became bothersome in 1 out of 20 songs but it excelled with 19 other songs for me. But I feel something is missing with all songs with the HE1000SE. It is being returned. I guess I will have to wait for a while to have a definite upgrade over the HD800S in the "affordable" price range. Hope it comes sooner than later.
Edit : Chain : TidalHiFi -> Topping G5 -> HE1000SE
Attachments
Blejzeros
Dude you don't know what you're doing or talking about, your chain is the most important thing when it comes to headphones a specially at this level.
I have to agree with smodtactical 100%,, that is why you don't reveal your whole chain, too many weaknesses. Don't take it a wrong way I was just really curious why you didn't like the headphone now I know.
I have to agree with smodtactical 100%,, that is why you don't reveal your whole chain, too many weaknesses. Don't take it a wrong way I was just really curious why you didn't like the headphone now I know.
Trinkle
@smodtactical I have experienced differences with chain too, but when the chain was the bottleneck, but the graph from Crinacle does show that the vocal range is better/emphasized/smoother on the HD 800S, and I did mention the HE1000SE was better in other aspects, its just that I give more importance to the vocal range. And yes I noticed that part of the graph after I listened.
@Blejzeros Tidal is a streaming service and the dac/amp takes the whole digital to analog conversion away from whatever tidal is running on. It doesnt matter if tidal is running on my mobile phone or my computer or whatever, it just sends digital signal and the whole conversion and powering happens on the G5, you may not like the G5, but it is totally irrelevant where Tidal is runninng on . Now one thing that might be a bit relevant. I connected to the G5 using USB C cable and ran Tidal master recordings, in exclusive mode.
@Blejzeros Tidal is a streaming service and the dac/amp takes the whole digital to analog conversion away from whatever tidal is running on. It doesnt matter if tidal is running on my mobile phone or my computer or whatever, it just sends digital signal and the whole conversion and powering happens on the G5, you may not like the G5, but it is totally irrelevant where Tidal is runninng on . Now one thing that might be a bit relevant. I connected to the G5 using USB C cable and ran Tidal master recordings, in exclusive mode.
smodtactical
What other chains? And why not mention this in your review when you wrote it ?
