Quote:
Yep he was...you can click on the arrow next to his Head-fi user name Nankai.
HE-6 Loaner Program
- Thread starter Nankai
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Quote:
Yep he was...you can click on the arrow next to his Head-fi user name Nankai.
I think Fang makes some valid points. Another words, it's on
!
Skylab
Reviewerus Prolificus
Fascinating headphone the HE-6. Of all my amps, only the Leben can drive it. But with the Leben, it's astonishing. Amazingly transparent, full range, detailed and nuanced.
But make no mistake - they need serious speaker-amp watts. The WA6 actually came the closest to being able to drive the HE-6 of all my existing "regular" headphone amps" - but still it was not truly enough. All the rest of my home amps were woefully inadequate. But it was so good with the Leben, that I went ahead and told Fang I want to buy a pair
More details later. These are NOT headphones you just buy and use with any old amp, that's for sure. It's a system-type commitment.
But make no mistake - they need serious speaker-amp watts. The WA6 actually came the closest to being able to drive the HE-6 of all my existing "regular" headphone amps" - but still it was not truly enough. All the rest of my home amps were woefully inadequate. But it was so good with the Leben, that I went ahead and told Fang I want to buy a pair
More details later. These are NOT headphones you just buy and use with any old amp, that's for sure. It's a system-type commitment.
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Quote:
Fascinating headphone the HE-6. Of all my amps, only the Leben can drive it. But with the Leben, it's astonishing. Amazingly transparent, full range, detailed and nuanced.
But make no mistake - they need serious speaker-amp watts. The WA6 actually came the closest to being able to drive the HE-6 of all my existing "regular" headphone amps" - but still it was not truly enough. All the rest of my home amps were woefully inadequate. But it was so good with the Leben, that I went ahead and told Fang I want to buy a pair
More details later. These are NOT headphones you just buy and use with any old amp, that's for sure. It's a system-type commitment.
Did you try it with the Sunfire. Is it better than the LCD2 or is the LCD2 a better buy. That was a quick commitment to buy. I thought they sounded very good with the NAD 316BEE which is not an expensive SS amp. Will see how it does with the Outlaw 2150RR when I get the loaner. I was wondering if the Mini Torri which is what 8 watts will do the trick. I guess will have to wait on that for a little bit. The NAD Baka had was 275.00
Skylab
Reviewerus Prolificus
Yes, unfortunately my Decware mini-torii will not arrive in time to test with this loaner pair. I did not try with my Sunfire, nor do I plan to. The Sunfire can for sure drive them - it can drive ANYTHING. But it's not practical for me to use the Sunfire with the HE-6 given where my amps are located, and I am not moving them
Comparisons to the LCD-2 will have to wait. Listening to them on their own for now.
Comparisons to the LCD-2 will have to wait. Listening to them on their own for now.
baka1969
Chaser of Ghosts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab
" Fascinating headphone the HE-6. Of all my amps, only the Leben can drive it. But with the Leben, it's astonishing. Amazingly transparent, full range, detailed and nuanced.
But make no mistake - they need serious speaker-amp watts. The WA6 actually came the closest to being able to drive the HE-6 of all my existing "regular" headphone amps" - but still it was not truly enough. All the rest of my home amps were woefully inadequate. But it was so good with the Leben, that I went ahead and told Fang I want to buy a pair
More details later. These are NOT headphones you just buy and use with any old amp, that's for sure. It's a system-type commitment."
As Frank mentioned it doesn't take a great deal of cash to drive the HE-6 nicely. It just takes a great deal of power to do so. It does take a commitment and does make the HE-6 less versatile than other headphones. The HE-6 does deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the HD800, T1 and yes, even the LCD-2 however.
I've mentioned that I feel the LCD-2 is a much improved HD650 sonically. If I had to peg a headphone comparison. The HD800 is a much improved K-70x. The HE-6 (to a lesser degree the HE-5LE) slots between both the HD650 and the K-70x and greatly improves upon the strengths of both.
Originally Posted by Skylab
" Fascinating headphone the HE-6. Of all my amps, only the Leben can drive it. But with the Leben, it's astonishing. Amazingly transparent, full range, detailed and nuanced.
But make no mistake - they need serious speaker-amp watts. The WA6 actually came the closest to being able to drive the HE-6 of all my existing "regular" headphone amps" - but still it was not truly enough. All the rest of my home amps were woefully inadequate. But it was so good with the Leben, that I went ahead and told Fang I want to buy a pair
More details later. These are NOT headphones you just buy and use with any old amp, that's for sure. It's a system-type commitment."
As Frank mentioned it doesn't take a great deal of cash to drive the HE-6 nicely. It just takes a great deal of power to do so. It does take a commitment and does make the HE-6 less versatile than other headphones. The HE-6 does deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the HD800, T1 and yes, even the LCD-2 however.
I've mentioned that I feel the LCD-2 is a much improved HD650 sonically. If I had to peg a headphone comparison. The HD800 is a much improved K-70x. The HE-6 (to a lesser degree the HE-5LE) slots between both the HD650 and the K-70x and greatly improves upon the strengths of both.
kostalex
Headphoneus Supremus
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baka1969
Chaser of Ghosts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kostalex
" I want these badly! Are there any comparisons to Stax?"
I did listen to the O2 and Orpheus at the NJ meet and the HE-6 was with me there also. Without a direct comparison I'll say I walked away from the O2 wondering what all the fuss was about. The caveat being it wasn't music I was that familiar with and I listened to the O2 for only a few minute. The Orpheus was listened to on the same setup as the O2 and was a different monster. It sounded heavenly. I'm not sure it was $8800 heavenly, but it was terrific all the same. I listened to the Orpheus for about 10 min.
I didn't get an impression on how either would exactly compare but if forced I would say, from the hip, the HE-6 was better (and more neutral) than the O2 and the Orpheus was better than the HE-6. You'll need a grain of salt with that impression though. .
Originally Posted by kostalex
" I want these badly! Are there any comparisons to Stax?"
I did listen to the O2 and Orpheus at the NJ meet and the HE-6 was with me there also. Without a direct comparison I'll say I walked away from the O2 wondering what all the fuss was about. The caveat being it wasn't music I was that familiar with and I listened to the O2 for only a few minute. The Orpheus was listened to on the same setup as the O2 and was a different monster. It sounded heavenly. I'm not sure it was $8800 heavenly, but it was terrific all the same. I listened to the Orpheus for about 10 min.
I didn't get an impression on how either would exactly compare but if forced I would say, from the hip, the HE-6 was better (and more neutral) than the O2 and the Orpheus was better than the HE-6. You'll need a grain of salt with that impression though. .
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I felt the same way about the O2. I did not care for them. The orpheus was indeed much better sounding than the O2. The HE6 IMO was much better than the Stax and also on inexpensive amplification sounded very good. I wonder how the HE6 would sound with the very inexpensive Dayton T amp which puts out 15W per channel and is very small which if you can find an amp that small might make the HE6 a very viavle option. Something Fang should consider in developing a small SS desktop to drive the 6 might make it a better can for usage.
frenshprince
100+ Head-Fier
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Hi there,
I've read there that speaker amps are a nice match with the HE-6.
But I'm confused... How do you plug the heapdhones to the speaker out connection ???
I've read there that speaker amps are a nice match with the HE-6.
But I'm confused... How do you plug the heapdhones to the speaker out connection ???
kwkarth
Electronics guys... we have our plusses and minuses. With advent of digital everything, we're being phased out
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Quote:
Fascinating headphone the HE-6. Of all my amps, only the Leben can drive it. But with the Leben, it's astonishing. Amazingly transparent, full range, detailed and nuanced.
But make no mistake - they need serious speaker-amp watts. The WA6 actually came the closest to being able to drive the HE-6 of all my existing "regular" headphone amps" - but still it was not truly enough. All the rest of my home amps were woefully inadequate. But it was so good with the Leben, that I went ahead and told Fang I want to buy a pair
More details later. These are NOT headphones you just buy and use with any old amp, that's for sure. It's a system-type commitment.
Good report Rob!!
Skylab
Reviewerus Prolificus
Well, I spent a late night listening last night - was up well past my normal bedtime
The HE-6 are an interesting headphone, as I've said. There are some ways in which they are spectacular. And there are some ways in which I wish they were different.
All my comments refer to the HE-6 via the Leben CS300X, which drives them effortlessly - and that's no easy task! I hauled my high end digital rig - AVA tube/hybrid DAC with Assemblage jitter filter and Wadia i170 up to the Leben.
The HE-6 have an astoundingly open and transparent sound. In the midrange, the sound is so open and transparent that it's a little startling at first. VERY impressive They are as grainless and pure sounding as I have ever heard a headphone sound. And they absolutely excel at detail retrieval - it is possible to hear micro-details in the music via the HE-6 that are not as easily heard via even my other high-end cans. Some of this is due, I think, to what is a slightly elevated treble response. The HE-6 have such a pure, grainless, and effortless treble that the fact that there is a lot of treble energy isn't as bothersome as it would be otherwise, and it at least seems to me not to be very peaky, but rather a broadly elevated treble. I think, though, that there is more treble energy than is really natural. Sometimes this was thrilling, other times I found myself wishing that the response was a little warmer, and, IMO, truer to real life in that regard. It's a paradox, because in some respects the HE-6 sound more natural than anything I have heard (due I believe to their astonishing transparency and I think dynamics/transient response), but their spectral response is upward-tilting, and to a slightly greater degree than I think is ideal, within the context of an ultra-high-end headphone. While the Leben is a tube amp, it's not really lush or tubey sounding in and of itself, being really very neutral. But my digital front end is if anything just slightly warm. So it's not the case that my system was "cooling off" the HE-6.
The HE-6 have VERY deep bass, and the bass pitch and definition is truly excellent, but at lower listening levels, the bass is definitely in the camp of slightly overdamped. I think it probably extends truly to below 20 Hz, but I wished for a little more bass weight at the levels I typically listen at (80dBA peaks). Turning the volume up to get more bass (listening louder than I typically do) DID in fact seem to bring out the bass, to the point where it was plenty satisfying, and I didn't feel that it was overdamped. And I still was not bothered by the treble. However, I don't like to listen that loud (peaks about 90dBA). But for people who do, and have the amp to get it done, the HE-6 sound even better at louder levels. At my typical listening levels, I preferred the Audeze LCD-2's tonal balance over the HE-6, and in general, I enjoyed listening to the LCD-2 more in some ways when comparing them directly.
But then I would put the HE-6 on, and there was all this glorious detail and transparency, and the sound was thrilling. In spite of their spectral balance, the HE-6 never seem bright in absolute terms, and I was never bothered by excessive sibilance. Again, I chalk this up to the purity and the smoothness of the treble overall. I'd love to have them retain their championship-level performance in that regard, and still have just a touch more bass weight, and just a touch of additional warmth. While I think the HE-6 are very impressive, and enough so that I want to own a pair, I am certain that I will spend more time listening to the LCD-2, as the spectral response suites me better. But I am equally certain that there will be lots of people who will prefer the spectral response of the HE-6, and for those people, the HE-6 will truly be the holy grail of headphones.
Oh, and then there is the soundstaging. Again, thrilling is what kept coming to mind. The soundstage is huge, and exceptionally well defined, but not huge in a way that seems artificially in any way. It's really impressive in it's imaging capabilities.
If you can afford the HE-6, I would rush to hear them any way you can IF:
1. You either found the LCD-2 to be too soft in the treble, feel the Senn HD800 has about the right basic tonal balance but wish is was smoother and had more transparency and less grain, or feel the Beyer T1 needs more treble extension and more transparency
2. You have a high-quality speaker amp you can dedicate for use with the HE-6, or a headphone amp with much, much more power than is typical
The HE-6 is the detail and transparency king. The view into the music they provide is absolutely thrilling. But there are some considerations in terms of partnering equipment and in terms of their tonal balance that need to be made with some care. For me, their performance overall is so enthralling that I am buying a pair. But given the amping requirements and the kind of sound they offer, some careful consideration is required, as it always should be when spending considerable money is part of the equation.
As such, I'd really like to thank Fang for putting this loaner program together. It's an invaluable service.
The HE-6 are an interesting headphone, as I've said. There are some ways in which they are spectacular. And there are some ways in which I wish they were different.
All my comments refer to the HE-6 via the Leben CS300X, which drives them effortlessly - and that's no easy task! I hauled my high end digital rig - AVA tube/hybrid DAC with Assemblage jitter filter and Wadia i170 up to the Leben.
The HE-6 have an astoundingly open and transparent sound. In the midrange, the sound is so open and transparent that it's a little startling at first. VERY impressive They are as grainless and pure sounding as I have ever heard a headphone sound. And they absolutely excel at detail retrieval - it is possible to hear micro-details in the music via the HE-6 that are not as easily heard via even my other high-end cans. Some of this is due, I think, to what is a slightly elevated treble response. The HE-6 have such a pure, grainless, and effortless treble that the fact that there is a lot of treble energy isn't as bothersome as it would be otherwise, and it at least seems to me not to be very peaky, but rather a broadly elevated treble. I think, though, that there is more treble energy than is really natural. Sometimes this was thrilling, other times I found myself wishing that the response was a little warmer, and, IMO, truer to real life in that regard. It's a paradox, because in some respects the HE-6 sound more natural than anything I have heard (due I believe to their astonishing transparency and I think dynamics/transient response), but their spectral response is upward-tilting, and to a slightly greater degree than I think is ideal, within the context of an ultra-high-end headphone. While the Leben is a tube amp, it's not really lush or tubey sounding in and of itself, being really very neutral. But my digital front end is if anything just slightly warm. So it's not the case that my system was "cooling off" the HE-6.
The HE-6 have VERY deep bass, and the bass pitch and definition is truly excellent, but at lower listening levels, the bass is definitely in the camp of slightly overdamped. I think it probably extends truly to below 20 Hz, but I wished for a little more bass weight at the levels I typically listen at (80dBA peaks). Turning the volume up to get more bass (listening louder than I typically do) DID in fact seem to bring out the bass, to the point where it was plenty satisfying, and I didn't feel that it was overdamped. And I still was not bothered by the treble. However, I don't like to listen that loud (peaks about 90dBA). But for people who do, and have the amp to get it done, the HE-6 sound even better at louder levels. At my typical listening levels, I preferred the Audeze LCD-2's tonal balance over the HE-6, and in general, I enjoyed listening to the LCD-2 more in some ways when comparing them directly.
But then I would put the HE-6 on, and there was all this glorious detail and transparency, and the sound was thrilling. In spite of their spectral balance, the HE-6 never seem bright in absolute terms, and I was never bothered by excessive sibilance. Again, I chalk this up to the purity and the smoothness of the treble overall. I'd love to have them retain their championship-level performance in that regard, and still have just a touch more bass weight, and just a touch of additional warmth. While I think the HE-6 are very impressive, and enough so that I want to own a pair, I am certain that I will spend more time listening to the LCD-2, as the spectral response suites me better. But I am equally certain that there will be lots of people who will prefer the spectral response of the HE-6, and for those people, the HE-6 will truly be the holy grail of headphones.
Oh, and then there is the soundstaging. Again, thrilling is what kept coming to mind. The soundstage is huge, and exceptionally well defined, but not huge in a way that seems artificially in any way. It's really impressive in it's imaging capabilities.
If you can afford the HE-6, I would rush to hear them any way you can IF:
1. You either found the LCD-2 to be too soft in the treble, feel the Senn HD800 has about the right basic tonal balance but wish is was smoother and had more transparency and less grain, or feel the Beyer T1 needs more treble extension and more transparency
2. You have a high-quality speaker amp you can dedicate for use with the HE-6, or a headphone amp with much, much more power than is typical
The HE-6 is the detail and transparency king. The view into the music they provide is absolutely thrilling. But there are some considerations in terms of partnering equipment and in terms of their tonal balance that need to be made with some care. For me, their performance overall is so enthralling that I am buying a pair. But given the amping requirements and the kind of sound they offer, some careful consideration is required, as it always should be when spending considerable money is part of the equation.
As such, I'd really like to thank Fang for putting this loaner program together. It's an invaluable service.
kwkarth
Electronics guys... we have our plusses and minuses. With advent of digital everything, we're being phased out
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Well done Rob. Very informative and to the point. Thank you man!!
Skylab
Reviewerus Prolificus
Thanks KW!
It sure is a very exciting time in the world of high-end headphones!
It sure is a very exciting time in the world of high-end headphones!
DannyB
500+ Head-Fier
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"How do you plug the heapdhones to the speaker out connection ???"
There is an adaptor cable of which one end goes to your speaker terminals (two small wires that attach directly to the terminals of each of the two channels) and the other is a 4 pin XLR female to which you plug in the headphone's male 4 pin XLR. This is commonly used with AKG K1000s also.
Check down about half way down the page for a picture of one on Moon Audio's site.
It is labled AKG K1000 extension cable.
http://www.moon-audio.com/Moon_Audio_Headphone_Cable.htm
There is an adaptor cable of which one end goes to your speaker terminals (two small wires that attach directly to the terminals of each of the two channels) and the other is a 4 pin XLR female to which you plug in the headphone's male 4 pin XLR. This is commonly used with AKG K1000s also.
Check down about half way down the page for a picture of one on Moon Audio's site.
It is labled AKG K1000 extension cable.
http://www.moon-audio.com/Moon_Audio_Headphone_Cable.htm
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