Thanks for a terrific review--thorough, comprehensive, hitting just about every point that matters for these very expensive headphones. The v1 to v2 comparison would seem to be essential reading for current v1 owners & prospective v2 buyers.
 
These headphones are out of my $ range probably also outside my sound preferencesl. Still, I found this review to be very interesting.

thanks @Pharmaboy . Sadly I think the long-form review may be dead though.

Why would you say that?
 
New long-form reviews go up on HF all the time. I even wrote one myself 1-2 months ago.
 
I hope you're wrong about that. I learn so much from longer, more detailed reviews like yours here.

Sorry, that;s just me coming down from effort of producing the thing.  I think we're currently in TLDR phase on the internet, even in text based forums like Head-Fi.  Anything more than a few sentences requires more focus than many people are willing spend.  I guess its a question of audience.

Great review! I received my v2 via their upgrade program today and just started to listen to a few tracks. Unfortunately I had to send in my v1 so I can't do a back to back comparison. The reason I decided to upgrade is that I found I wasn't enjoying the v1 as much as my HD800 and Stax 009 but I can say that about most of my other headphones. You hit the nail on the head when you characterized v2 as polite or as I like to say, non-offensive. I can already tell the v2 is similar to the v1 from what I can recall. Like the v1, they are enjoyable to listen to but  in the same vein, it lacks some punch, it's very smooth (maybe too smooth YMMV).

Was anxious to read this review since there has not been any other reviews done that I can find. The review is long but not sure how informative it really is. The main complaint is price which is odd since the HEK V2 is in Audeze LCD-4 and Focal Utopia territory being HiFiMan's TOTL can as are the two other models mentioned. The Audezes and the Focals are priced a grand higher with both headphones having their issues as stated by Tyll at Inner Fidelity even though the Utopias are on his "Wall of Fame" while the Mr.Speakers Ether Flow has replaced the HEK V1 even though Tyll praises these cans to the hilt and admits that the Flows are colored. 
 
Tyll knocks the LCD-4's because of a serious lack of treble and complains about the Utopia's restricted soundstage and bottom end so go figure. To this audiophile, the HEK V2 seems like a bargain. Admittedly, I have never heard the V1 but it seems strange to me that HiFiMan would introduce a new model so quickly, thus pissing off a number of V1 owners, without discernable improvements in the nature of the sound. 

Many thanks for this in-depth review and especially the comparison between V2 and V1. Very, very helpful! I am still very happy with the Sound of my V1. I love its laid-back nature for longer listening sessions.

@Dr. Roberts  - Thanks for the comments, I think we are pretty much on the same page about the sound & value of these.  These are great sounding headphones, one of my current favorites actually.  My 'don't buy' recommendation boils down to the fact that you can buy a HEKv1 for much less than the cost of a v2 at the moment and get 99.5% of the same sound quality.   While you correctly point out that the v2 gives you good value against the Audezes and Focals, the v1 gives you EXCELLENT value against those cans.  So why buy the v2 when v1 is available?  I agree about the new model being introduced so quickly, HiFiMan kind of shot themselves in the foot with this.  Why buy v2 at full price when v3 might be lurking around the corner?

@xxx1313, congrats on the v1s and thanks for the comments.