roach7
100+ Head-Fier
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Sorry for the double post but I think this is the more appropriate forum, thank you for your opinion!
Abyss Diana V2 vs Hifiman HE1000se POLL
- Thread starter roach7
- Start date
TheMiddleSky
Headphoneus Supremus
If I have to pick one, and only allowed to own one headphone then my choice is Diana V2.
No, it's not clearly superior or better, but: Diana V2 is drier, more neutral, closer to flat, less coloured, more revealing of song's recording.
HE1000SE is a nice headphone for jazz and female voice. What make them great is due to "special coloration" in midrange and treble area that beautiful to listen to, but a bit further away from neutrality when compare to Diana.
If I only allowed to own 1 pc of headphone, something closer to neutral is my pick. If I allowed to choose 2 headphones, then something with "special coloration" is a great complementary.
No, it's not clearly superior or better, but: Diana V2 is drier, more neutral, closer to flat, less coloured, more revealing of song's recording.
HE1000SE is a nice headphone for jazz and female voice. What make them great is due to "special coloration" in midrange and treble area that beautiful to listen to, but a bit further away from neutrality when compare to Diana.
If I only allowed to own 1 pc of headphone, something closer to neutral is my pick. If I allowed to choose 2 headphones, then something with "special coloration" is a great complementary.
roach7
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thanks for sharing !!
TDinCali
500+ Head-Fier
Just to play devils advocate. I have a love/meh relationship with my Diana V2's. Depending on which amp/dac combo I'm using and what I'm listening to I will either love it or leave it. It wouldn't be my one and only but it would be up there. I can't speak to the HE1000SE but there are days when using my Arya with certain amps and certain songs that I really love it, even better than the V2 in those moments.
If I was trying to pick my one and only, I would think carefully about how you're pairing it and what you listen to. This is obviously all subjective so at the end of the day, it only matters if you love the combo. Learn from my mistakes...find a way to listen to as many HP and combinations as you can before committing. Just my 2 cents...my opinion carries no more weight than anyone else's.
If I was trying to pick my one and only, I would think carefully about how you're pairing it and what you listen to. This is obviously all subjective so at the end of the day, it only matters if you love the combo. Learn from my mistakes...find a way to listen to as many HP and combinations as you can before committing. Just my 2 cents...my opinion carries no more weight than anyone else's.
roach7
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Well said, thanks!
I see you have both the 1266-tc and the Diana v2; I thought the 1266-tc trumps the Diana in all aspects? That was going to be my next upgrade from the Diana...
TDinCali
500+ Head-Fier
The 1266 TC are definitely “better” from a technical perspective. They are faster, slam harder and more open - no doubt. But they are also a sit down on the couch and listen HP. I can’t even listen to them in another room because I would need to move an entire rack of equipment with it. With the Diana’s it’s a lot easier to pick up one of my mobile amps and go. An added benefit is that my wife doesn’t crack up laughing every time she walks into the room when I’m wearing the 1266. 
FullBright1
Headphoneus Supremus
The Hifiman dilemma is.....>how do we keep making them EVEN more airy and bright and clinical.< each new RE-version.
At this point in time , in my opinion, Fang and worker bees can stop trying to push that envelope regarding their upper Tier, once they created the 1000se, tho the Susvara is one more step in that same sonic design Stratosphere.
What is next? Susvara SE? HE1000SE V2. Sundara SE? HE7 ?
And ABYSS ..... They can also stop trying to get any more resolving tonality.
Do we really need to see the Atomic structure of songs
All their gear is sonically maxxed out. What is next? "Son of Diana"? "1277 Phi Delta"
They just need to make them lighter and more comfy, and sit back and count the money.
And they need to create that cash cow. = The $1499 version that is light and has really good ear-pads that you dont have to purchase separately for $400.
And a good cable would be a good idea to include in an actual box/case that has a 'A" on it
At least Audeze figured that part out.
So, the OP's question is why do i keep my Diana V2 till i sell it, instead of holding unto the 1000SE for life.
Well, lets look through the looking glass and what do we see...
We see that they sound nothing alike. The feel nothing alike, they are nothing alike.... and they each present music as a totally different experience, in a very good way.
The HE1000se, offers some of the best of "Hifiman sound", and the gear feels nice on your head, and it has real soundstage.
Legit soundstage. Not quite as large as the HEK1 , but still nice and big.
It's also kinda bright, its clean, its clinical, it has decent low end, and its lovely sonic presentation is quite surrounding and revealing.
Utter sonic Intimacy is perhaps not 100% available, but high end treble is definitely all around.
The Diana V2, is small, seems innocent, yet has a razor sharp sound that is smoothed slightly, as compared to all the other Abyss gear.
I own the "coffee" color'd DV2, and they are lovely.......as i do get a bit bored with BLACK headphones and BLACK amplifiers and BLACK Dacs.
The DV2 is an awesome machine that divides asunder the textures and the finer points, using sound.
It sacrifices a wide soundstage to unleash intimate information overload upon you and into you.
You dont just hear the fingers on the guitar strings as you listen to the DV2, you hear the age of the bronze that was used to make the strings in the factory.
The DV2 delivers the music up close and natural, stripped bear of anything but your Dac and Amp, and for some this is going to be revelation overload.
Like all Abyss, the DV2 is not trying to show you music, its trying to lay it bare all the way down to its atomic number.
Its great in this regard, and that is why i would keep it, till that day comes calling.
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At this point in time , in my opinion, Fang and worker bees can stop trying to push that envelope regarding their upper Tier, once they created the 1000se, tho the Susvara is one more step in that same sonic design Stratosphere.
What is next? Susvara SE? HE1000SE V2. Sundara SE? HE7 ?
And ABYSS ..... They can also stop trying to get any more resolving tonality.
Do we really need to see the Atomic structure of songs
All their gear is sonically maxxed out. What is next? "Son of Diana"? "1277 Phi Delta"
They just need to make them lighter and more comfy, and sit back and count the money.
And they need to create that cash cow. = The $1499 version that is light and has really good ear-pads that you dont have to purchase separately for $400.
And a good cable would be a good idea to include in an actual box/case that has a 'A" on it
At least Audeze figured that part out.
So, the OP's question is why do i keep my Diana V2 till i sell it, instead of holding unto the 1000SE for life.
Well, lets look through the looking glass and what do we see...
We see that they sound nothing alike. The feel nothing alike, they are nothing alike.... and they each present music as a totally different experience, in a very good way.
The HE1000se, offers some of the best of "Hifiman sound", and the gear feels nice on your head, and it has real soundstage.
Legit soundstage. Not quite as large as the HEK1 , but still nice and big.
It's also kinda bright, its clean, its clinical, it has decent low end, and its lovely sonic presentation is quite surrounding and revealing.
Utter sonic Intimacy is perhaps not 100% available, but high end treble is definitely all around.
The Diana V2, is small, seems innocent, yet has a razor sharp sound that is smoothed slightly, as compared to all the other Abyss gear.
I own the "coffee" color'd DV2, and they are lovely.......as i do get a bit bored with BLACK headphones and BLACK amplifiers and BLACK Dacs.
The DV2 is an awesome machine that divides asunder the textures and the finer points, using sound.
It sacrifices a wide soundstage to unleash intimate information overload upon you and into you.
You dont just hear the fingers on the guitar strings as you listen to the DV2, you hear the age of the bronze that was used to make the strings in the factory.
The DV2 delivers the music up close and natural, stripped bear of anything but your Dac and Amp, and for some this is going to be revelation overload.
Like all Abyss, the DV2 is not trying to show you music, its trying to lay it bare all the way down to its atomic number.
Its great in this regard, and that is why i would keep it, till that day comes calling.
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paradoxper
Headphoneus Supremus
Atomic structure of songs. 
Yes please!!! 
Yes please!!!
FullBright1
Headphoneus Supremus
Atomic structure of songs.
The DV2 is good stuff, but its like a sonic dose of electron microscope.
Not everyone is made for it.
paradoxper
Headphoneus Supremus
I shall await the JPS Labs Abyss Dalton Closed, then.
FullBright1
Headphoneus Supremus
Roger that....
And you know... I was recently watching a UTBE video that shows the Daddy of Abyss and the 2 joint Heirs of Abyss talking about (bragging about) their unique product.
One of the Sons, probably the younger, is all about creating it all "new" as in design and application. He's all about new horizons.
He is seated on the Dad's left hand at the table as expected as he has the fire in his bones......
The other son, the firm alter of dedication, is more lock step with Dad, and seated at Dad's right hand at the table, and of course he wants to just stay within the lines (confines) and keep the same linear business direction locked down tight and right.
Therefore, If younger son takes command of The Abyss, then you'll see that $1499 cash cow and even more goodies landing down the road of Abyss.
(fingers crossed).
And so, why not listen to the Diana V2.
Do you have any headphones?
Check this out, and then you can HEAR what microscopes on your ears can do for (only) $3000-USD (new).
If while listening, you smell the Cellist's bow rosin and can faintly taste the figured maple wood of her $$$ Instrument, then you know you just heard the DV2 pass by......
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paradoxper
Headphoneus Supremus
They're ultimately capped by the availability and there-in limitations of their four CNC. Maybe they can quadruple again but I wouldn't expect such a > 2k product. I, in fact, anticipate the Abyss Closed to reach in the $3k range. We can dream...
I have the Abyss TC which is by far my favorite headphone of the very many I've owned.
GU1DO
1000+ Head-Fier
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I owned the Phi not the V2 and that was long time ago, from memory i sold the Phi with less than a month , i was expecting same punch and slam of the 1266 but the phi was severely lacking in that area , it was very analytical and more in that Atomic structure of songs , the HEKse was more mature product to my ears and others , it had more meat to the bone beside that it is very very easy to drive ,, as a portable headphone the HEKse any day of the week , as full desktop headphone , i would subjectively say also the HEKse because it is way more enjoyable and i would never bother with the Diana and just skip to the big 1266.
, the HEKse was more mature product to my ears and others , it had more meat to the bone beside that it is very very easy to drive ,, as a portable headphone the HEKse any day of the week , as full desktop headphone , i would subjectively say also the HEKse because it is way more enjoyable and i would never bother with the Diana and just skip to the big 1266.
FullBright1
Headphoneus Supremus
Comparing the Diana V2 sound to any of the HE's from the 1000 - Susvara, is going to get lost in translation.
Its like comparing blue with gold because they are both "colors".
its like comparing English with Italian because they are both "languages".
Its like comparing a Grado with an Abyss because both companies are founded by a Father who has 2 sons that work the craft.
The V2 Diana is a very good sound that sounds completely different than the Hifiman HEKSE.
The only thing they have in common is that they are both headphones that use Planar Tech.
THey dont even power the same as the DV2 needs some power to sing correctly and the HEKSE doesn't.
The good thing about Abyss, Adeze, Dan Clark Audio, and Hifiman, is that their "house sound" is totally different from the other 3.
If you get an Audeze, a V2 Diana, and one of the HE1000's, you are set, as each will give your music a brand new look.
You could spend many days in a row totally lost in your music just swapping out these three sonic viewpoints, and you'd never be bored.
Its like comparing blue with gold because they are both "colors".
its like comparing English with Italian because they are both "languages".
Its like comparing a Grado with an Abyss because both companies are founded by a Father who has 2 sons that work the craft.
The V2 Diana is a very good sound that sounds completely different than the Hifiman HEKSE.
The only thing they have in common is that they are both headphones that use Planar Tech.
THey dont even power the same as the DV2 needs some power to sing correctly and the HEKSE doesn't.
The good thing about Abyss, Adeze, Dan Clark Audio, and Hifiman, is that their "house sound" is totally different from the other 3.
If you get an Audeze, a V2 Diana, and one of the HE1000's, you are set, as each will give your music a brand new look.
You could spend many days in a row totally lost in your music just swapping out these three sonic viewpoints, and you'd never be bored.
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M0X3
New Head-Fier
What amps would you recommend for both headphones?
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