iSK HF-2010 Professional Quality, Studio Monitoring/Street/Home A/V - Headphones

larry piencenaves

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: Built like a tank, Plenty of details, good soundstage, easy to modify the sound signature
Cons: Shy midrange, grainy, boomy bass, sibilance
First of all its sounded relatively v-shaped, soundstage is wide, imaging is fine. But the midrange is recessed and grainy. bass are not solid but treble is decent but quite sibilant and harsh at some songs, the detail retrieval is decent however the resolution is just ok.

To resolve this personal issues I did some modifications. I suggest you try to mod the ISK-hf2010 if youre not satisfied with its default sound signature.

Build quality on this cans though is great, its built like a tank, you can abuse this one and dont care at all, materials used are quite sturdy but lacks appeal and aesthetics.The wires are quite long, feels cheap but still tough. pads are quite itchy at first so it needs more time to break in. pads on the headband are decent, you wont feel any pressure. The head size in this headphones are quite small, I have a small head but im using it on scale 7 (max 8) or maybe its just me, also the headband adjustment doesnt lock tightly so at some point you need to adjust it back again.
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Lebot
Lebot
What mods have you done?

komiez

New Head-Fier
Pros: Absolutely fantastic soundstage, feels like a treated studio with great monitors.
Tight glued sound. Mids are natural and perfect distance, vocals sounds really nice, trumpets, everything. Enought and tight low and mid bass, good flow! High's are great, not too sharp, a very Focal SM / Adam high end sound.
I absolutely love them and I won't be buying any other headphones after these. Save your money and do something better with them. ISK HF2010 are the best "budget" headphone I've ever listened to.
A DT880 clone for $40 bucks.
Cons: Can't find anything ... I'm honest.
SO! Been producing a lot and I am very sensitive and careful of choosing my audio equipment, always striving for good sound. In my home studio I have the Focal Alpha 60's which have a good punchy bass (if treated with isolation pads like the isoacoustics), great mids and great hf's.
Still a student somehow and saving up for a better computer, I wanted some boost to my relatively untreated room and AKG K240s lacking in the bass region-they are better with the sound card amp but still, need more boost.

To me, the HF2010 sound more like a closed headphone with some "extras" from an open headphone.
I was amazed by the sound quality, everything is there perfectly glued together. The bass is there, tight and with a nice punch and boom, just like if you'd be on a concert watching Axwell Ingrosso or the mau5. Sound wise, it's like you're in a sound proof / treated room or a studio - well treated - and you're in the middle of it.
Listening to EDM it has a nice punch with great lows and great highs. Listening through high volumes, the hi's are there to almost the level that they are too much but at the limit where it's too much.
I would almost compare them to the Genelec M-series (M030 and M040). Nice punch, mid is cool but could be a little boosted, and the hf are there almost too high but still OK.
A mix between Adam A7X or A8X or the M-series would be a good description. Yes guys, the HF2010 sound is fantastic.
They absolutely sound like an expensive pair of cans, but they're not. Bought them via AliExpress for 40 bucks, a no brainer just for trying out the sound.

The good thing I like, is that they are very transparent, just like 1clearhead said. I know some tracks that I always have as reference tracks, and with the ISK's they sounded Fab!
I'd wish for one thing tho, more emphasis in the low mids, some male vocals sounded a little bit "behind" and could be increased, the HF's female vocals and strings and other HF stuff sounds terrific, but the Lows/bass plus the HF's together mashes the mids and low mids a little bit, why I thought they sounded a little bit like Adam's, very punchy (not muddy) but, a little boomy.

Metal and rock is greeat, listening to Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield (love Boogie Nights) and yes, the vocal is there and they're great. Iron Maiden, likewise, everything is there. Run to the hills was a little bit thin tho, although it was long time ago since I listened to them.
Well, when I put on some 80's music especially Depeche Mode with a lot of bass, vocals and synths is there and wow, again, back to the treated room. But not tonight was a phenomenal translation in the ISK's. Loved it. Changing genre to EDM and house music, Dirty South's Find a way, terrific sound! What a boost in the bass, low bass, airy vocal, now they feel like an open can but with a LOT of bass!! City of dreams, great track with a lot of elements, it's great. Listening to Walking Alone and the Piano rendition, damn, what a feeling.
Well, how's Avicii or Alesso? Hey brother was terrific. Alesso's Years takes me to an open Tomorrowland stage and an airy party, but still keeping the image great and it's tight and glued.
Angels and Airwaves The adventure, sounds good, nothing special but good. Sweet Disposition by Temper track, sounds great too.
Changing to a little 80's again and Electrich Youth's album Innerworld which I have been listening to a lot, the vocals are fantastic (female vocals), bass is there with a good punch and the air is there too but still with a studio feel. Last genre, classical music: Overall great! The roomy feeling is there, I'd love to have a more cleaner sound like my AKG K240's which sounds like a pair of open cans compared to the ISK's have better clarity and soundstage, but the ISK's are not that far behind actually. All Hans Zimmer tracks sound awesome and...I really can't complain. The Dark Knight theme is great and the horns are majestic.

Overall, they sound like a much more expensive pair of headphones, mostly they are great on many genres and types of tracks! I have listened a lot to the soundtrack of Drive, Kavinsky and Electric youth - A real hero, the track has such an amazing bass and wamth and still have this open feeling to them, a nice soundstage, like a room reverb mixed with a plate reverb haha, or something like that. They are perfectly glued and if you'd do a blind test you'd think they are like a DT880Pro or something. To me they totally beat the DT770, DT770 sounded muffled to me like a cheap pair of bad monitors or the KRK Rokit 5's or Adam 4-5 series, the sound is stuck somewhere.
Ofc the Beyers are good but, I just think for the price you get an AMAZING pair of headphones, which translates well which is good if you're a producer and only produce by your headphones.
Some frequencies became more present and you hear every detail if you just listen carefully.

Oh snap! I just realized that my "quick review" was a bit longer haha! Anyways, I really like to get value for the price and with the ISK's I got everything and a little bit more.
You could definitely mix and produce some top lists track, because everything is there for you. Now it's just up to you. Learn them and use them and enjoy the great price.
Shipment was about 2-3 weeks, box was 90% solid hehe but you got a nice package and it's really great they're in aluminium too. I will listen to some TImecop and The Midnight and evaluate some more tracks with male vocals, but overall, great pair of cans and super recommended!

Now I'd like to find, just a pair of these but which are even MORE open ! Perhaps the Takstar's or some other headphones?
Maybe people here would rate the Pro 80's and HP2011 as the best Closest one, I'd rate these like some of the best semi-open ones. And let's find the best open ones.
These ones are definitely great for mixing and have the feeling of sitting in the well treated room with some air but overall tightness. But would be nice to have a reference pair of headphones which are open (like the Q701, K7XX, K712 etc). Really tempted in getting a Q701 or the K7XX massdrop and buy a Schiit amp to them since I don't rely on my K240's anymore, or I'd need to amp the crap out of them.

Good hunting guys!

ps. They'll benefit more with a real amp that's for sure and could be what I am missing from them - OR it's just that they need to open themselves up a little bit more, this was just after 1 day!

NymPHONOmaniac

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Extremely detailed, wide airy sohndstage, excellent instrument separation, wonderful neutral soundsignature with little bass push. ULTIMATE VALUE (kick ass hard of any Superlux models!)
Cons: None really for this price (34-50$). Perhaps the plastic part of earcup...but they are still beautifull tough! 3m cable....
It make just 3 days I have the ISK HF-2010 in hands and my excitation about them make me so hysterical that I feel I must write something FAST, very FAST!
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SPECS:
Technical Parameters:
How it works: Semi-open
Wearing styles: wearing ear style package
Transducer means: Dynamic
Speaker diameter: 53mm
Impedance: 60ohm
Sensitivity: 93dB ± 3dB
Frequency response: 15Hz-28kHz
Maximum power: 600mW
Power Rating: 200mW
Cable length: about 3 meters (straight line)
Plug: 3.5mm + 6.3mm
Net weight: about 337 grams (including cable)

I buy it here:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ori...32799731302.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.Rts44m

and it arrive very fast and was the lowest price, good seller I think, no affiliation here, spend my little money in something GREAT for once! Cause even if Superlux Headphone aren't bad at all (got 4 models) they do not compete with the BIG sophisticated dynamic drive hide in the ISK. Yep, it feel from another league in every aspect (sound, sound, sound and construction).
20170918_225606.jpg
So, construction is great with ISK, they look classy headphone, more pricier, elegant and if you are not too sensible of public aspect, quite portable! They are not enormous but quite big, made of metal, plastic and with very comfy soft headpad. Have a black metal mesh and metal ISK logo on it. They do not look 40$ headphone at all.

SOUND:

LOW:
These have great punch for open headphone, it decay alot tough but do not bloat other frequencies, it's a warm punchy bass, not a thick agressive and heavy one, but it is very dynamic and dig low. Proof is that it's one of rare open headphone I have wich sound good with electronic music.

MID:
Vocal are brighter than rest of soundsignature and have good presence, separation of this frequencies range as the rest is exceptional, even if in some recording they do not sound mid centered, wide soundstage make the mid very audible and textured.

HIGH:
The ISK is detailed and musical headphone, not really serious monitor, way more fun than this! Treble extension is smooth and wide, microdetails can pop up in 3D feel wich make a plus for the incredible fun factor they got.

CONCLUSION:
A must have. Sound quality for this price range is out of this world and very very mature and serious for a musical soundsignature with little bass push, soundstage is super wide airy and immersive, instrument separation feel natural, nothing sound harsh or too much, even with this level of details wich is a tour-de-force for real! Sincerly, it's a small fast review but I just want here to help these ultimate gem get more love, still, if you dig here on headfi you will find other people going crazy about these value, this type of driver isnt suppose to cost so low, period (this sentence is not intended for ISK team, please, keep the price THAT LOW!!!).


WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!
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wyki

Head-Fier
Pros: Audiophile or near audiophile on a budget
Also sold as Freeboss HF-2010
 
These headphones surely have one of the highest quality to price ratios on the market today. Whether they are right for you will depend on three things: your taste in music, your budget, and the equipment you plan to use them with. If you love classical music, and you are not poor, then I recommend buying the originals: the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Premium 600 OHM Headphones together with a good headphone amp such asMagni 2 Uber Headphone Amplifier and Modi 2 Uber Digital/Analog Converter. Note that the DT 880 comes in three versions; each has a different impedance. The lower impedance ones work without a strong amplifier. The high impedance ones have purer sound. You'll be wasting your money not to buy the 600 ohm version and a good amplifier.

But are those venerable headphones really better, to real human ears, than the HF 2010? Listening as I type these lines to the bassoon in Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, I'm honestly not sure how anything could be much better. Moreover, because the HF 2010 they have a 60 Ohm impedance (that's one tenth of the best Beyers), you can run them well on a much simpler amp/ digital audio converter combo, such as Signstek HIFI USB to Coaxial S/PDIF Converter Decoder Convert Digital to Analogue Signal Mini USB DAC PCM 2704 Chipset with USB Cable.

If you have a little money and good music is important to you, you will not be wasting your resources to go for something like the DT 880 600 Ohm, the Sennheiser HD 800 S Reference Headphone System(very, very expensive), or the Hifiman HE400S Full-Size Planar Headphone. I don't have any of those, but I do still have wonderful vintage headphones, the Sennheiser HD 530 and HD 560. (If you ever see one at auction, don't pass it up.) They require a strong amplifier. They don't have powerful bass or super-high definition; that's where thirty years of engineering has beaten them. But the purity of timbre is breathtaking.

If instead of having "a little" money, you have little money, then good taste is everything, and these HF 2010s are extremely satisfying. They are very well built, and they actually sound much better with my laptop and small amp/DAC combination than my "better" headphones (which require a powerful amplifier). The engineers have done a superb job, at least for the music I listen to. Be grateful for diversity. (I also considered a Superlux HD668B Dynamic Semi-Open Headphones. Since I didn't buy it and haven't heard it, I can't compare. I chose these because some said the Superlux could be piercing, though other listeners did not experience that. At any rate, the HF 2010 is very well balanced.) Do be sure to give the headphones a few days' use to break in. When I first tried them, the bass sounded exaggerated and unfocused, but that has changed (or my expectations have!).
 
At the end of the day, I have to say that if more expensive headphones really sound a lot better, perhaps I need to improve my ears -- and that's after years of listening to refined old Sennheisers.  An embarrassingly good deal.
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