[gahung]

To whom is the second person pronoun in this question vaguely referencing?

Not you. To OP . I know you don't

 

[TominJapan]

I have actually stated in other posts that that is precisely what I have planned. I can import the STAX SRS-2170 system from Japan for under $400. That's something I could rather easily afford. My friend is in Australia, so that's a no-go. I'm the type of person who just buys what I want anyway, so it's not a big deal. If I like the HD 800 enough, I would also get an all-black ColorWare paint job! If I like the SR-207, I wouldn't sell it until after getting the SR-009, SR-007, etc. and making sure that I like them more in every way. And even then, I could keep it around as a backup. I kind of get the feeling that after getting both the SR-207 and HD 800, I would keep both of them, since they would most likely complement each other.

I was never really interested in the HE-560.

IF I have time I'll drop by at the Biccamera Shinjuku store, they have a astax SR-207 and HD-800 with a Luxman amp to play with. I need a new headphone..My HD540 is too lean for my Yulong DAC DA8 for orchestral music (otherwise well it's the perfect headphone...just a hint too leam IMHO).... $380 for a Stax2170 is kind of tempting... Hifiman, not my cup of tea....

 

[up late]

Not you. To OP . I know you don't

glad you cleared that up man

 

[gahung]

Yeah I am sorry about the confusion. In my option, one need to spend time on a lot of nice phones to learn what a good sound is. For those who own mid to high end gears they have idea what is wide(deep, narrow) soundstage, what is bright(dark,neutral) sound, and etc. Without it it's like people who drive a minivan test drive a BMW and a Farrari for an hour saying they can't say which one is better( of course they can't). That's why I don't trust people writing review based on a short demo in a meet or something. No offense to any body here, I don't own TOTL phones(kind of) but think that people should have a baseline when doing review even though I respect them and think people have the right to speak for themselves.

 

[Canadian411]

but what if someone else who's compared these cans has a totally different view. don't you owe it to yourself to hear the he1000?

 


Yape you have a good reason too, but whatever I read from this site/forum is already exaggerated.
I bought all my headphones based on the reviews and most of time it's not up to what I've expected.

For example, TH900, to me this headphone was over-valued, altho I really like the bass it was way over-priced at $2000 when it first came out. Well, I paid almost that price . LCD2 was another hype, etc... But I loved both headphones.

I agree that I need to do a/b ing of my own but will wait until price will settle for the true value.

 

[up late]

there's always hype for new releases here -especially totl cans. the he1000 is no exception. that's why an audition is essential so you can make an informed decision about whether it's worth spending your money on.

 

[DreamKing]

I was never aware of people writing reviews based on a meet or maybe this is a first but I appreciate your impressions. I feel like your opening post would be more accepted if it didn't try to render the overly positive impressions as just misguided opinions and yours as being the voice of reason, though.

 

[coinmaster]

  People are making final decisions based on a single listening session where the reviewer had very limited time with the headphones, did not have their music of choice, and had no familiarity with the upstream gear?
 
I suppose, but I wouldn't rush to a conclusion based solely on that.

Normally I'd agree with this statement. I most certainly agree with it in the way that, perhaps you will like its sound signature over what you have now. It really is a nice upgrade over the HE6.
I think "very limited time" is an overstatment. I was in that room for hours before the heavy traffic hit.
I got some really juicy and informative comparisons. Comparing the HD800 to the HE1000 within 1-2 seconds of each other on plenty of different songs. I may not have spent "quality time" with them which is impossible at such an event but I did do enough to say that my opinions are accurate.
The thing that I can't say is an arguable fact is that it is "the next thing" in headphone technology. They aren't bad for sure, but I don't think this nano-tech will be the new standard, I really could not hear any improvements in technical capability with the HE1000 over the HD800, in fact to me the HD800 was still slightly technically superior overall, which should not be my conclusion if the HE1000 was truly as great as it was supposed to be.
The MPH1000 was the only thing I considered "superior" to the HD800 because it sounded just like an HD800 but "more". I'm conserving my opinions on those headphones though because I only listened to them for about 5 minutes.

 

[money4me247]

  Honestly for me it's a good news if the HE1000 is not an HD800 bis. I heard the HD800 on several setups WA5, BA, 2A3MKIV and for me it was always too sharp. It lacking body and didn't have enough cohesive presentation as each instruments seems to play on his place.

I agree with this too. Personally, the HD800 is not my cup of tea. so for me, I know that a reviewer whose primarily set-up is the hd800 & o2+odac, their preferences will be different than mine & it's hard to say if their experiences will match mine. always glad to read differing POVs tho
 

  People are making final decisions based on a single listening session where the reviewer had very limited time with the headphones, did not have their music of choice, and had no familiarity with the upstream gear?
 
I suppose, but I wouldn't rush to a conclusion based solely on that.
 

THIS! +x10000. always try it yourself. it's hard to know what the reviewer's personal preferences are, so may not match you. i have found a few solid reviewers with very similar tastes as mine & common reference point in gear & I know what they are referring to when using audiophile terms. other than that for ppl that I am unfamiliar with or haven't read much of their previous impressions on other stuff, it is hard to have a common reference point to draw any real conclusion for myself. like how beagle see if this reviewer's impressions of the mph1000 matches up with his own & then further extrapolate what kind of sound signature the review enjoys as a baseline for his comments and what sonic details the review is focusing on or missing.
 

 

but what if someone else who's compared these cans has a totally different view. don't you owe it to yourself to hear the he1000?

 
Yape you have a good reason too, but whatever I read from this site/forum is already exaggerated.
I bought all my headphones based on the reviews and most of time it's not up to what I've expected.

For example, TH900, to me this headphone was over-valued, altho I really like the bass it was way over-priced at $2000 when it first came out. Well, I paid almost that price 

. LCD2 was another hype, etc... But I loved both headphones.
I agree that I need to do a/b ing of my own but will wait until price will settle for the true value. 

 
This x1000 as well. The thing is that a lot of times people here are talking about subtle differences not worth mentioning except in a forum full of dedicated enthusiasts that get very passionate about this sort of thing, so when you read posts, you think there is a night-and-day different or a huge variation, but honestly not so much. there are many nice mid-fi headphones that perform almost at a summit-fi level and the variations between the summit-fi level headphones are much smaller than you except beyond the actual differences in sound signature.
 
always need to listen for yourself & not over-rely on impressions made here. unless you find reviewers that think the same way you do about a variety of different headphones & have similar tastes so you guys have a shared reference point of experiences that makes it easy to understand exactly what & how much difference is being talked about.

 

[coinmaster]

It should be noted that I don't "like' the HD800 either. They are just a safe option for me while I try to find what I DO like which is quite difficult when I have to drive 2.5 hours every time I go for a demo

.
I think the HD800 are a nice option to fall back on if you don't know what to do, because of their neutrality.

 

[4N6]

Coinmaster,

Thanks for the comparison. Having the McIntosh headphone amp, I was interested to hear your impressions of the Mac headphone. I greatly appreciate the sound of the HD800 but have always found it a bit uninvolving. I will try harder to find a pair of MHP-1000's to audition as this seems to be a great match for my listening tastes.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Not you. To OP . I know you don't

 
He and I discussed his system in earlier posts in the thread.
 

$380 for a Stax2170 is kind of tempting...

 
Bear in mind that when you take shipping and either a voltage transformer or compatible power supply with negative polarity into account, the total cost is around $500. Still a steal compared to the $790 US retail price, and especially compared to many headphones costing far more that don't match the performance of electrostats.
 

  It should be noted that I don't "like' the HD800 either. They are just a safe option for me while I try to find what I DO like which is quite difficult when I have to drive 2.5 hours every time I go for a demo

.
I think the HD800 are a nice option to fall back on if you don't know what to do, because of their neutrality.

 
I did not realize this. hehe! Perhaps you should try out whatever STAX you can and see if you like it more.

 

[coinmaster]

 
 
I did not realize this. hehe! Perhaps you should try out whatever STAX you can and see if you like it more.

Well, I think I can already say that I do like the MPH1000 and the LCD-XC more than the HD800. When I said I didn't "like" the HD800 I didn't mean I didn't like them at all. The main factor for me is the "lack of soul" issue which is supposedly fixable depending on what you hook it up to.
Both the LCD-XC and the MPH1000 sound similar to the HD8000 but with a little extra "something". Not at all claiming they are outright superior in every way or anything but like I said earlier, the HD800s biggest flaw is it lacks its own personality due to being so flawlessly neutral. I mean, I still stand by the fact that if you want "realism" the HD800 is the way to go. I've never heard other headphones come close to the "your there" sound of the HD800.
A lesson hard learned from me is that good sound doesn't mean good enjoyment. Everyone is different though, "realism" to someone may bring that enjoyment, and realism may be different for different people.

 

[Hun7er]

IMHO the HD800 is not realistic.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

@icebear - it was a hunch based on the order of posts. maybe it didn't occur to gahung to check liu junyuan's profile - it does happen. anyways gahung might come back and tell us who the question was for.

Given the one thing I have posted on this thread prior to the post inquiring to whom it was directed (and hitherto clarified by the other as not referencing me), your post is absolutely absurd.