[Hifiearspeakers]

Not having heard the HEDD, I would think this would be a positive attribute. It's the headphones with a drooping middle that often give a false impression of depth and space. A bit of forwardness in that area can make it seem more 'upfront' which at least gives you the midrange, and you can set your volume level based on the phone's presentation of that. Better than a distant, sucked-out effect, where you have to turn up the volume, then the bass and treble can be too present.

If you like or prefer a more present midrange, then you’ll love these. To my ears, it’s very present here. In fact, I’d take a little less energy around 1K for my preferences. But it’s a lesser of evils compared to etchy treble peaks.

In fact, one of the strong points of the HEDDphone is how large and present the center image is portrayed. Seriously, as wide as the HEDDphone sounds, it would sound even wider if the center image didn’t take up so much space!

One more random observation, the bass seems to have gotten a little stronger over the last few days compared to right out of the box.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Not having heard the HEDD, I would think this would be a positive attribute. It's the headphones with a drooping middle that often give a false impression of depth and space. A bit of forwardness in that area can make it seem more 'upfront' which at least gives you the midrange, and you can set your volume level based on the phone's presentation of that. Better than a distant, sucked-out effect, where you have to turn up the volume, then the bass and treble can be too present.

Very well said and so true in my experience as well.

 

[theBlackKey]

@Hifiearspeakers Sir, I know that someone may ask you about the comparison between HeDD and HE1000se. In short, I love the sound of he1000se and planning to purchase one. I have not had a chance to listen to HEDD phone so I want to ask you what is your opinion of Hedd vs he1000se. I am not looking for perfect technicalities headphone but rather a musical headphone, I own the HE edition X v2, and it still is one of my favorite and daily driver.

 

[Khronos]

@Hifiearspeakers Sir, I know that someone may ask you about the comparison between HeDD and HE1000se. In short, I love the sound of he1000se and planning to purchase one. I have not had a chance to listen to HEDD phone so I want to ask you what is your opinion of Hedd vs he1000se. I am not looking for perfect technicalities headphone but rather a musical headphone, I own the HE edition X v2, and it still is one of my favorite and daily driver.

For a musical headphone, get a ZMF. They are the R2R of headphones. Not the best in all technicalities and Numbers, though Creamy Spacious, with delicious Timbre and bespoke looks.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

@Hifiearspeakers Sir, I know that someone may ask you about the comparison between HeDD and HE1000se. In short, I love the sound of he1000se and planning to purchase one. I have not had a chance to listen to HEDD phone so I want to ask you what is your opinion of Hedd vs he1000se. I am not looking for perfect technicalities headphone but rather a musical headphone, I own the HE edition X v2, and it still is one of my favorite and daily driver.

Both the HEDDphone and the HEKse are very technically good headphones. They both also have their strengths and weaknesses. I really like both of them. The problem with the HEKse is that it costs over $1500 more than the HEDDphone but is only equal to it in technical capability, in my opinion. If they were the same price, I’d call it a coin toss.

In terms of pure musicality, I’d say you own the most musical headphone by Hifiman in the HEX V2.

 

[JLoud]

I agree that the HEX is the most musical. Or at least my favorite Hifiman. So much so I just bought it a second time. I sold my first pair to fund another purchase and regretted it ever since. Picked up another pair on sale and really enjoy it.

 

[powerincarnate]

I wonder how this headphone sounds compared to their speakers. For example, I have their Hedd type 5 speaker. I use it connected to my RME ADI 2 Dac; so that when I want headphones, I just push the button and sound goes out the headphone, if I want speaker, I push it again and goes out the speaker. For a long time I have been wanting to get an open back heddphone, at various times I was close to pull the trigger on Hifiman Arya (but poor build quality of hifiman scared me); Focal Clear (I kinda wanted a more open soundstage; but build quality was excellent); a few lest than $1000 like Sendy Aivas; and was salivating over Meze empyrean, but got turned off by the price. This headphone (no pun intended) now got me intrigued a bit with the only downside being the weight. Not that any particular reviewer would sway me, but I'm waiting for a few more professional reviewers to take a listen, for example, Josh Valour, Z, max settings.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Stevie Ray Vaughan sounds so good with the HEDDphones, I think some people will listen to his music even if they’re not even fans. “Tin Pan Alley” has never sounded better to me.

 

[Nik74]

So passing through Spiritland in Mayfair today I had the opportunity to have a quickie with the Heddphone and a very brief side to side with the 800S.
Listened to Pagan Poetry and Unravel by Bjork and Song of Los by Apparat, no acoustic instruments or anything orchestral as I was not in the mood.
Both me and The owner had a laugh when I saw them on my head in the mirror, they are humongous!! But: I didn’t even think of their weight as they are very comfortable. Very relieved that this is no issue for me- headband neither.

In terms of sound, wow, I enjoyed them more than at canjam and the two things that really stood out for me was the treble which extends but is incredibly smooth and natural- the 800S directly after almost sounded as if it was a bit more edgy with a hint of grain- and the soundstage which is really expansive, to my ears 800S expansive but more fleshed out.
I had three intense goosebump moments in 10 mins and needed to make some effort to not get completely lost in the music in front of the owner of the shop! i ll be buying these very soon, if I can first hear them on my set up.
I want to say they live up to the hype but it would be careless without putting them through their paces yet.
Exciting times ahead

 

[Quickanddirty]

Awesome how we both agree. I also tried it on the Quad PA One + amp and was extremely impressed with this pairing. The dynamics, imaging, detail, etc. were fantastic, but I did think the lows were perhaps somewhat 'syrupy'. This could change however with burn-in or tube rolling. In fact all of my best amp pairings with the HEDDphone were with transformer-coupled tube amps (AKA SET or OT amps). The tubes add a welcome touch of warmth / saturation and generally have a low current that controls the low-z requirements of the HEDDphone very well.

Which brings me to your question about designing an amp specifically for the HEDDphone. Yup I had the boutique headphone manufacturer @2359glenn who is well known on Head-Fi for his OTL tube amps build a custom amp upon request. He also makes beautiful SET / transformer coupled amps that support the EL3N tubes, and the few people who are lucky enough to have one consider them better than the OTL tube amps, including the opinion of Glenn, the amp designer as well. Here is one of his GEL3N SET amps:

​

While the above should do quite nicely, I had mine customized for a 32-ohm output which should fit nicely with the 42 ohm HEDDphone impedance, along with many other of my headphones, and is said to also work with hi-z cans too such as HD-600's 300 ohms. Along with the premium Lundahl transformer and both 4-pin balanced and SE headphone outputs of the above, mine also has an 8-ohm speaker output which I could also tweak to experiment with headphones, a single rectifier tube that is interchangeable with 'plug-in Hexfred' diode for the option to give more of a tube / solid-state hybrid sound; power tubes compatible with the highly renowned EL12 and KT88 and many more tube types that I can run as 2 or 4x depending on preference, 1x 6SN7 slot which also allows many other interchangeable types, along with 1 or 2 stage function switch which bypasses the driver tubes for a more clean / dynamic sound option, and even a cathode resistor bias switch that was recently concocted to allow better operating points with tubes it wasn't implicitly designed for, and upgraded internal capacitors for optimal performance.

I'm hoping to have the amp in hand in around a month, but I'll have to use it with my current selection of open / closed dynamic headphones until I can afford the HEDDphone. Needless to say, it may be a while until I can post impressions of its' pairing with the HEDDphone. If you're interested you're more than welcome to post on this thread, but take note the above is a 1-man show who works as a labor of love part time, and the waiting list for one of his amps is around 6 months.

That headamp projekt simply sounds impressive - thanks for the details. I definitely think you're on the right path as (for me) the heddphone really requires that tube warmth and saturation. When I first tried the prototype on the ADI 2 PRO, I had to EQ down the whole treble region, but I guess the final version was tamed down quite a bit.

Still I'm amazed about the synergy when tubes are integrated. Compared to my Sendy Aiva, a small planar that shines much more when feeding my Questyle just digitally (and to my concern sounds worse when my Lector is the source), the heddphone in contrast to this sounds too thin and closed in when just being fed digital (although the Qeststyle works with an AKM 4490) and opens up extremely and finds back his organic authority together with the Lector, that was packed with ECC81's first, while I now changed them for ECC801s from Siemens.

Wouldn't change anything now and still got the option to go balanced.

Anyway, excited to hear a quick update from you when mission is completed. Quite sure this is gonna be an absolute killer combo!

 

[knopi]

...two things that really stood out for me was the treble which extends but is incredibly smooth and natural- the 800S directly after almost sounded as if it was a bit more edgy with a hint of grain- and the soundstage which is really expansive, to my ears 800S expansive but more fleshed out.

Thats why HD800/S is not my taste and most dynamic headphone as well Clear etc., details soundstage technical qualities is not everything, actually most quality planars is smoother and more natural sounding.

 

[buke9]

This is one headphone that I’m most looking forward to at CanJam NYC as somehow I missed them at SoCal this year.

 

[BIG POPPA]

Heddphones are special, the pricepoint they are a steal. Thats what I think about them with the Seattle meet yesterday.

 

[johnjen]

As a follow up to the Seattle Meet (see event pics for more), everyone was impressed with the HEDDphones and their ability to deliver a very desirable acoustic experience.
We ran them on tubes, SS, portable to desktop amps and compared them to Senn's, Focal's, Empyrean's, Meze's and it did not fail to impress.

The moniker, 'game changer' certainly seems to fit them well.
And while they do have a few teething problems, this is nothing new to a new entry into the headphone world, especially from a company that is tackling these challenges for the 1st time.

And there is evidence of yet additional refinements which should elevate their capabilities even further.

All in all, they impress me as having lots of the same desirable sonic characteristics, that have been further refined in my 800-Jmods, that I do so treasure.

And for those waiting, patiently, for theirs, I do believe the wait will be worth it.

JJ

 

[joseph69]

And there is evidence of yet additional refinements which should elevate their capabilities even further.

Are you referring to the extended headband, or something else?