[nick2x]

Guys, so far HIFIMAN HE1000 v2 are leading (actually both HIFIMANs are leading, closely followed by HD800S), but they are a little too bright to my taste. How do I make them warmer? Just reduce the high frequencies?

So far HIFIMAN HE1000 v2, HIFIMAN Ananda & Sennheiser HD800S are far ahead from the rest imho. Price/sound quality ratio is by far the best from HIFIMAN Ananda.
Hopefully, I will be able to finish testing & make a decision in a couple of days.

Considering how well HIFIMAN perform, maybe I should try their another model as well, for example, HIFIMAN Arya.

Hi there, I am new at the headphone game myself so take my contribution with a grain of salt. I've been doing some trials lately with the Utopias and the HE1000SE and I found one to have amazing mids, crisp, good bass articulation and a narrow or smallish spherical soundstage. The other has an amazing open soundstage, great dynamics and air, slighlty agressive highs, but it seems to me more difuse or i don't know...has a less realistic timber? Neither is perfect but i love both and can't decide on which to keep. After long deliberations I decided to keep the HE1000SE because of their large staging. Before closing the book on my decision and waving goodbye to the Utopia, I restarted the tests on a completely different chain using a laptop, the Holo Spring 3, a Topping headphone amp. In this setup the Utopia's won hands down. The highs became unbeareable for my ears and the stage overly exagerated on the HEKSE to the point where all instruments were so far apart that it sounded like the players were sitting 50 feet apart. However, the Utopia were just perfect in this setup. The R2R DAC presentation made their stage seem bigger, and the more articulated signature was just beautiful. My takeaway was that I prefer an AK4499 based DAC for the HE1000 and an R2R for the Utopias. I feel that the AKM chipsets are a bit more midcentric and also tone down the highs, depending on the filters you use as well...
I tried digital equalizers but I did something wrong and i just ended up introducing distortion so I'll keep reading on how to use these. Hope some of this can be useful.

 

[PoorBastard]

Just surprised that you have managed to audition so many phones in a short period of time.
Most phones need some head time to hear them right and let brain adjust (infamous brain burn in), flipping between in a quick succession only let contrast one against the other.
What you call too bright now, will be norm to you in a day or two.

I agree. Fortunately, I have HE1000 at home (ordered them with free return) so I will be able to listen to them for some time and see if I get used to the highs.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Hi there, I am new at the headphone game myself so take my contribution with a grain of salt. I've been doing some trials lately with the Utopias and the HE1000SE and I found one to have amazing mids, crisp, good bass articulation and a narrow or smallish spherical soundstage. The other has an amazing open soundstage, great dynamics and air, slighlty agressive highs, but it seems to me more difuse or i don't know...has a less realistic timber? Neither is perfect but i love both and can't decide on which to keep. After long deliberations I decided to keep the HE1000SE because of their large staging. Before closing the book on my decision and waving goodbye to the Utopia, I restarted the tests on a completely different chain using a laptop, the Holo Spring 3, a Topping headphone amp. In this setup the Utopia's won hands down. The highs became unbeareable for my ears and the stage overly exagerated on the HEKSE to the point where all instruments were so far apart that it sounded like the players were sitting 50 feet apart. However, the Utopia were just perfect in this setup. The R2R DAC presentation made their stage seem bigger, and the more articulated signature was just beautiful. My takeaway was that I prefer an AK4499 based DAC for the HE1000 and an R2R for the Utopias. I feel that the AKM chipsets are a bit more midcentric and also tone down the highs, depending on the filters you use as well...
I tried digital equalizers but I did something wrong and i just ended up introducing distortion so I'll keep reading on how to use these. Hope some of this can be useful.

Great feedback, just to keep in mind that while there are similarities, HEKV2 and HEKSE do not sound the same.
Some people downgraded to V2 for the same reason you mentioned. You can check some comments in this reddit thread.

 

[PoorBastard]

As for ZMF - I can't find them anywhere, my audiophile friends don't have them, physical stores (where I can test-drive, like B&H) don't have them, and I can't find them online with free return
One of my friends wants to try HIFIMAN Arya Stealth though, he'll order them and I'll visit him to try/compare them with HE1000 & other headphones I have at home.

 

[nick2x]

Great feedback, just to keep in mind that while there are similarities, HEKV2 and HEKSE do not sound the same.
Some people downgraded to V2 for the same reason you mentioned. You can check some comments in this reddit thread.

Thank you for an interesting read.

 

[bagwell359]

This isn't about what we like. Given his interests in music the 800S doesn't seem like a good choice.

New HEK v2 going for $2K pre tax/ship so no plus the bass impact is a bit short.

Between the Arya v3 and ZMF Auteur the price is right and they cover more genres than the 800S. Plus neither needs as much amp to sing as the 800's need.

An alternate is get the HFM HE-6 SE v2 from Adorama and the upcoming Lyr3 or Jot 2. You'll have $ left over and 2 amps and a can that nearly noses into the same class as the Arya and Auteur. The SE v2 might make it on your amp so only get the amp if needed and have lots of $ left over.

 

[PoorBastard]

This isn't about what we like. Given his interests in music the 800S doesn't seem like a good choice.

New HEK v2 going for $2K pre tax/ship so no plus the bass impact is a bit short.

Between the Arya v3 and ZMF Auteur the price is right and they cover more genres than the 800S. Plus neither needs as much amp to sing as the 800's need.

An alternate is get the HFM HE-6 SE v2 from Adorama and the upcoming Lyr3 or Jot 2. You'll have $ left over and 2 amps and a can that nearly noses into the same class as the Arya and Auteur. The SE v2 might make it on your amp so only get the amp if needed and have lots of $ left over.

Well, after a couple of days of testing (my friend has HD800S so I was able to test them thoroughly) they are very close to the HIFIMANs, stepping on their heels, so we'll see. They are also the "most forgiving" among the leaders, or not sure of the right word, I mean It's very rare that the music sounds annoying in them, unlike in HE1000, which can be annoying with their too much treble & high mids...

 

[bagwell359]

Well, after a couple of days of testing (my friend has HD800S so I was able to test them thoroughly) they are very close to the HIFIMANs, stepping on their heels, so we'll see. They are also the "most forgiving" among the leaders, or not sure of the right word, I mean It's very rare that the music sounds annoying in them, unlike in HE1000, which can be annoying with their too much treble & high mids...

Are u talking the v2 or SE? The SE is bright. The Arya is a bit closer to that than the v2.

If the bass of the 800S works for you, you might be all set.

 

[PoorBastard]

Are u talking the v2 or SE? The SE is bright. The Arya is a bit closer to that than the v2.
If the bass of the 800S works for you, you might be all set.

I'm talking about the v2. They are the brightest on my list (to my ear) Other than this, they are exceptional headphones.
The bass in 800S is a little disappointing, but not that bad to exclude the otherwise great headphones. And I think it's easy to increase the sub-bass in the EQ (I tried it and I think it turned out not bad).

 

[bagwell359]

I'm talking about the v2. They are the brightest on my list (to my ear) Other than this, they are exceptional headphones.
The bass in 800S is a little disappointing, but not that bad to exclude the otherwise great headphones. And I think it's easy to increase the sub-bass in the EQ (I tried it and I think it turned out not bad).

You can get a bit more out of the bass of the 800 - 3 db type thing - won't do a crazy 8 db.

U use an EQ? Parametric or fixed? With a parametric cutting down the treble of the v2 w/o losing details won't be hard.

I find the Arya brighter than the v2.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

By looking at your requirements and having access to most phones you have tried, I'd say LCD-X 2021 should fit the bill almost perfectly.
Why did you discount it?

 

[Luckyleo]

I know most people here will think I'm nuts, but I have the new Grado GS3000x and o my. $1999 They are GREAT for Rock, Jazz, and Classical. YMMV

Leo

 

[PoorBastard]

You can get a bit more out of the bass of the 800 - 3 db type thing - won't do a crazy 8 db.

U use an EQ? Parametric or fixed? With a parametric cutting down the treble of the v2 w/o losing details won't be hard.

I find the Arya brighter than the v2.

Yeah, I think 2-4 db sub-bass increase can be good for HD800S.
I use standard EQ with frequency bands (in Foobar).
The problem is I also often listen to music on my KRK speakers, so if I go the EQ way, I will have to turn it on & off when I switch between speakers & headphones
If the Arya are brighter than the v2, then.. damn

 

[PoorBastard]

By looking at your requirements and having access to most phones you have tried, I'd say LCD-X 2021 should fit the bill almost perfectly.
Why did you discount it?

I didn't discount it, it's on my list, but after a couple of days of testing, it's behind HIFIMANs & HD800S to my taste.

 

[bagwell359]

Yeah, I think 2-4 db sub-bass increase can be good for HD800S.
I use standard EQ with frequency bands (in Foobar).
The problem is I also often listen to music on my KRK speakers, so if I go the EQ way, I will have to turn it on & off when I switch between speakers & headphones
If the Arya are brighter than the v2, then.. damn

Well according to my ears but then I don't think the v2 is that bright - so who knows.

HFM treble cannot be fixed by fixed band EQ - too much good gets lost.

My conundrum is I can afford the closeout on the v2, Arya 3, Auteur, and maybe a d8000 - but I want to hold out for a Susvara ... could have worse problems...