[Weilli]

  Forgive me, this Weilli guy only posted 5 posts since 2006, and all his posts are about HE1000 V2. Please post some actual photos of your system, don't forget the cans, or it didn't happen

Please remind/forgive me if I violated the rules of this forum for not posting my full systems.
I switched to loudspeaker systems since 2006 after I had just registered in Head-fi.
That's why I didn't post anything even not read any of the post.
I was no longer satisfied with the performance of headphones which for me lacked of something I couldn't describe them precisely.
I didn't prejudice against headphones until I heard the sound of HE-1000.
For me, this is the first equipment I have never been suspicious of any aspect.
I was fully satisfied with it since I've packed up all my loudspeaker systems due to my family.
 
I would start to post something just because after replacing to V2 there are something different from V1.
You would observe what I am not satisfied within my last 5 posts. lol
My system hasn't settled down just because I only used a CD player to drive HE1000 V1 less than a month and then switched to V2.
In some way, I posted these articles out of seeking help...such as problem for cables or others.

 

[Toolman]

Forgive me, this Weilli guy only posted 5 posts since 2006, and all his posts are about HE1000 V2. Please post some actual photos of your system, don't forget the cans, or it didn't happen

What are you trying to imply and why does it matter to you if he posted photos of his full system?

Is that a norm now that we need to show proof before we are allowed to post impression of our gears?

Why don't you just skipped over his posts if you don't think what he said are true instead of showing your sense of entitlement over here?

 

[Weilli]

What are you trying to imply and why does it matter to you if he posted photos of his full system?

Is that a norm now that we need to show proof before we are allowed to post impression of our gears?

Why don't you just skipped over his posts if you don't think what he said are true instead of showing your sense of entitlement over here?

In order to show my respects to all seniors, I hereby show my full system for Hifiman HE1000 V2, and it's truly simple! 

An universal player connects to HE1000 V2 via RCA analog outputs.

 

[JaZZ]

  A bit more dynamic and a BIT more forward does make it better in my books. I prefer the improved dynamics of the V2 as they have really come alive. I've used them almost exclusively for a week and it's hard to put them down right now. 

 
Despite the Utopia waiting for a further session?

 

[Weilli]

   
A bit more dynamic and a BIT more forward does make it better in my books. I prefer the improved dynamics of the V2 as they have really come alive. I've used them almost exclusively for a week and it's hard to put them down right now. 

Moreover, there are more musical expression such as vibrato, vocal emotion, exciting during unison ...etc. for V2.
V1 was too calm comparing to V2.

 

[XERO1]

  In order to show my respects to all seniors, I hereby show my full system for Hifiman HE1000 V2, and it's truly simple! 

An universal player connects to HE1000 V2 via RCA analog outputs.
 

 
I'm confused.

 
Are you saying that you have somehow plugged your HE1000's directly into the RCA outputs of you CD player?! 

 
If so, did you make a custom cable for this, and how do you control the volume?
 
Could you please elaborate on how your setup works?  Thanks.

 

[brandnewgame]

   
I'm confused.

 
Are you saying that you have somehow plugged your HE1000's directly into the RCA outputs of you CD player?! 

 
If so, did you make a custom cable for this, and how do you control the volume?
 
Could you please elaborate on how your setup works?  Thanks.

RCA adaptor to pre-amp out would work.

 

[HeadAmpTeam]

  Yep, their quality control is a nightmare.  I bought the He-6 a long time ago.  The drivers kept dying me.  The last time they quit on me I said, "to hell with these" and I never sent them back for replacement.  But hey, the same has happened to me with the Audezes.  I am kind of tired of all these "start-up" garage headphone companies.  It's better to stick with the Beyerdynamic, Grados, Sennheisers, and AKGs of the world...and maybe focal, since they have been around for many years.

 
For what it's worth, the rate of defects we see across a wide range of HIFIMAN products has gone down over the years.  Newer products like the HE1000, HE560, and HE400s have had very few defects/returns, as compared to earlier products from the HE500, HE400 era.  And on the more recent products, most issues have been with the cables as opposed to the headphones themselves.

 

[HeadAmpTeam]

HE1000 V2 is now in stock at HeadAmp for those interested in trying the new model. Don't have a demo unit on hand yet, so no impressions to post.
 
http://www.headamp.com/order/hifiman-he-1000-v2/

 

[Weilli]

What I'm using now is Y-adaptor 1 x 3.5mm female to 2x RCA male made by QED. 

It will reveal the most details from the source/DAC and no issues of separation in soundstage.
 
I'm planning to make 2 cables of 1 x male RCA to 1 x male 2.5mm mono, which will induce the least interference with each other theoretically.
Y adaptor 1 x 4-pin XLR female to 2 x RCA male will do a good job as well. It is advised to make these Y-adaptor as short as it can if you want DIY.

 

[XERO1]

  What I'm using now is Y-adaptor 1 x 3.5mm female to 2x RCA male made by QED. 

It will reveal the most details from the source/DAC and no issues of separation in soundstage.
 
I'm planning to make 2 cables of 1 x male RCA to 1 x male 2.5mm mono, which will induce the least interference with each other theoretically.
Y adaptor 1 x 4-pin XLR female to 2 x RCA male will do a good job as well. It is advised to make these Y-adaptor as short as it can if you want DIY.

​
 
No offense, but you are doing the HE1000's and yourself a HUGE disservice by not using any kind of amp.

 
The HE1000 is only 90dB efficient and absolutely requires a decently powerful amp to sound anywhere near its best.
 
And it doesn't have to be anything too expensive. 
 
I would recommend either the Schiit Magni 2 ($99) or the Magni 2 Uber ($149) to start with.  Or you could start with something really good and go with the Jotunheim ($399).
 
http://schiit.com/products/magni-2
http://schiit.com/products/jotunheim
 
Trust me, even the $99 Magni 2 will make a HUGE improvement over what you are currently using.

 

 

[JaZZ]

  What I'm using now is Y-adaptor 1 x 3.5mm female to 2x RCA male made by QED. 

It will reveal the most details from the source/DAC and no issues of separation in soundstage.
 
I'm planning to make 2 cables of 1 x male RCA to 1 x male 2.5mm mono, which will induce the least interference with each other theoretically.
Y adaptor 1 x 4-pin XLR female to 2 x RCA male will do a good job as well. It is advised to make these Y-adaptor as short as it can if you want DIY.

 
I used this sort of «direct connection» some years ago with a DAC with very low output impedance and with a HD 650. How is your player's output impedance? It can't be very high, or you would'nt get decent volume levels with a 34 ohm headphone, but it certainly will be higher than that of most headphone amps. Even though planar dynamics have decently flat impedance responses, in most cases they're not absolutely flat, so there could be some resonances that are slightly accentuated by this configuration. You didn't mention how you regulate the volume. Line outputs usually have a fixed signal level. With my mentioned system I used a 500 ohm potentiometer with additional parallel resistors.
 

No offense, but you are doing the HE1000's and yourself a HUGE disservice by not using any kind of amp.

 
The HE1000 is only 90dB efficient and absolutely requires a decently powerful amp to sound anywhere near its best.
 
And it doesn't have to be anything too expensive. 
 
I would recommend either the Schiit Magni 2 ($99) or the Magni 2 Uber ($149) to start with.  Or if you want to start with something amazingly good, I'd go with the Jotunheim ($399).
 
http://schiit.com/products/magni-2
http://schiit.com/products/jotunheim
 
Trust me, even the $99 Magni 2 will make a HUGE improvement over what you are currently using.

 
I'm not sure if you're right. My corresponding experiments have shown a very clean and transparent sound with the direct connection, with unmatched transient speed compared to any attached amp. Its greatest downside was the transparency created that way in that it showed the «digital» characteristic of my then DAC clearer than through the forgiving and warming headphone amps.
 
However, this configration with its high currents may risk an overstrain of the line-out stages and a defect in the long run.

 

[Weilli]

  ​
 
No offense, but you are doing the HE1000's and yourself a HUGE disservice by not using any kind of amp.

 
The HE1000 is only 90dB efficient and absolutely requires a decently powerful amp to sound anywhere near its best.
 
And it doesn't have to be anything too expensive. 
 
I would recommend either the Schiit Magni 2 ($99) or the Magni 2 Uber ($149) to start with.  Or you could start with something really good and go with the Jotunheim ($399).
 
http://schiit.com/products/magni-2
http://schiit.com/products/jotunheim
 
Trust me, even the $99 Magni 2 will make a HUGE improvement over what you are currently using.

 

 
The volume of sound is good for me, or a bit louder than I used to be.
I don't know why, but I was always not satisfied with transient/details by using headphone amplifier at their prices.   
Theoretically, it might be not perfectly impedance matching for every source/DAC with HE1000, but the sound quality for me is the best solution and investment.
As to £4,500 for a amp such as ATH AT-HA5050H, I prefer to invest a better CD player/DAC such as MBL, Burmester and etc.
V1 was no problem for me by listening in this way, and V2 is getting better now. V2 + new stock cable need much more time to run-in.

 

[Weilli]

   
I used this sort of «direct connection» some years ago with a DAC with very low output impedance and with a HD 650. How is your player's output impedance? It can't be very high, or you would'nt get decent volume levels with a 34 ohm headphone, but it certainly will be higher than that of most headphone amps. Even though planar dynamics have decently flat impedance responses, in most cases they're not absolutely flat, so there could be some resonances that are slightly accentuated by this configuration. You didn't mention how you regulate the volume. Line outputs usually have a fixed signal level. With my mentioned system I used a 500 ohm potentiometer with additional parallel resistors.
 
 
I'm not sure if you're right. My corresponding experiments have shown a very clean and transparent sound with the direct connection, with unmatched transient speed compared to any attached amp. Its greatest downside was the transparency created that way in that it showed the «digital» characteristic of my then DAC clearer than through the forgiving and warming headphone amps.
 
However, this configration with its high currents may risk an overstrain of the line-out stages and a defect in the long run.

 
The sensitivity of HE1000 90dB with output power of DAC/CD player itself happens to match the perfect volume for me.
I used to try this way in another headphones, however they need a potentiometer as you mentioned to attenuate their volume to the perfect level.
If a DAC were designed for direct driving at 34ohm, the transparency, transient response and details would be perfect.
 
As for impedance responses, I think planar dynamics is flat enough (almost constant at 34ohm) to directly drive than moving coil ones such as HD650 (300~500ohm), HD800 (300~700ohm).
The balance or tonality would be affected if DAC/CD player couldn't handle with such high variance.
Innerfidelity offered good measurements for these headphones.

 

[JaZZ]

 

   
I used this sort of «direct connection» some years ago with a DAC with very low output impedance and with a HD 650. How is your player's output impedance? It can't be very high, or you would'nt get decent volume levels with a 34 ohm headphone, but it certainly will be higher than that of most headphone amps. Even though planar dynamics have decently flat impedance responses, in most cases they're not absolutely flat, so there could be some resonances that are slightly accentuated by this configuration. You didn't mention how you regulate the volume. Line outputs usually have a fixed signal level. With my mentioned system I used a 500 ohm potentiometer with additional parallel resistors.
 
I'm not sure if you're right. My corresponding experiments have shown a very clean and transparent sound with the direct connection, with unmatched transient speed compared to any attached amp. Its greatest downside was the transparency created that way in that it showed the «digital» characteristic of my then DAC clearer than through the forgiving and warming headphone amps.
 
However, this configration with its high currents may risk an overstrain of the line-out stages and a defect in the long run.

 
The sensitivity of HE1000 90dB with output power of DAC/CD player itself happens to match the perfect volume for me.
I used to try this way in another headphones, however they need a potentiometer as you mentioned to attenuate their volume to the perfect level.
If a DAC were designed for direct driving at 34ohm, the transparency, transient response and details would be perfect.
 
As for impedance responses, I think planar dynamics is flat enough (almost constant at 34ohm) to directly drive than moving coil ones such as HD650 (300~500ohm), HD800 (300~700ohm).
The balance or tonality would be affected if DAC/CD player couldn't handle with such high variance.
Innerfidelity offered good measurements for these headphones.

 
To be honest, I couldn't live with a fix volume for all my recordings – which in fact vary a lot, despite being normalized manually. It sounds as if the output impedance of your player is really high, maybe around 250 ohms, which I consider critical in terms of strain for the output stage. The current flow is at least 500 times higher than it's designed for. It may very well withstand the strain, but there's no guarantee. In my case one channel died after two or three years.
 
Your philosophy of renouncing a headphone amp (which I share) is better served with a solution from the Chord line-up (Mojo, Hugo, Hugo TT, DAVE) offering exactly that: high-power line-out stages meant to drive headphones. The volume control happens in the digital domain and is absolutely lossless down to very low listening levels.