Hifiman Edition X

[Jozurr]

  As mentioned earlier, it would be silly to price it anything above $1500 and lost out to the likes of other phones above that range. At that price it'll bring them a lot of sales as there arent many phones competing against it. Once they go head on head against the LCDs and the EtherC etc, it'll surely reduce their volume. 

 
Also, I think schiit has pricing down to a science and hifiman should take clues. Not only their products are usually better SQ wise, they're usually lower priced too. The recent example of Bifrost MB is a good example, which is now one of the lowest priced new R2R dacs in the market. Also, GMB is said to have 90% the SQ of Yggy and is priced at 40% of the YGGY ($1200 vs $2400). Pricing HEX at 50% of the HE-1K is pretty doable. 

 

[conquerator2]

That's comparing apples to oranges ( DACs/AMPs vs headphones)
Hifiman has the EF2, EF5, EF100, etc. All under 500$.

 

[StandUp713]

I wonder if the HIFiman Edition X is aimed at the Audeze LCD-X market with the color, lower impedance and name. Or is just coincidental.

 

[Rdrcr]

These look great and, IMHO better than the HE1000's.
 
Lets hope they sound great too.
 
Mike

 

[prot]

So I guess people wanted a comparison so I here was mine HE1K vs HEX. I listened and was really impressed with how good the HEX sounded. I could easily detect the HEX's ability to pick up details in songs and create a similar soundstage to the HE1K. The other thing I liked was the tight punchy bass that was neither too overpowering or too underwhelming. I actually thought the balance of bass on the HEX was superior to the HE1K. I felt this headphone was the best at the Hifiman booth. I really liked the HE1K but I actually felt that I could listen do a wider variety of music with the HEX. The rep mentioned that there was no price as of yet she at first mentioned around $2k then said probably around $1,500.

Overall I feel for my music types (rock and roll, hip hop, and electronic) this was a real win. The HEX was more enjoyable with the music I listen to while the HE1K I think would be more suited for people who love classical, jazz, and more contemporary rock.

That sounds very interesting .. the inconsistent and kinda loose/tame bass was my big issue with the he1k. If they truly corrected that, I'll pay $1500

 

[velvetx]

You should give them a listen speaking to the reps and kind of my impressions is that HE1K was more of a reference headphone while the HEX is more of a funner everyday headphone. I enjoyed the sound much better than the HE1K but then again my taste in music is more rock and roll.

 

[prot]

You should give them a listen speaking to the reps and kind of my impressions is that HE1K was more of a reference headphone while the HEX is more of a funner everyday headphone. I enjoyed the sound much better than the HE1K but then again my taste in music is more rock and roll.

I'm all for fun .. especially if the price is reasonable
And I dont know who's refernce he1k was but definitely not mine. Imo, their bass was way too unbalanced .. and quite lousy for $3K.

 

[DecentLevi]

Wow, so I'm not the only one who noticed some fluke bass issue with the HEK. After my first listen through a DAP, I mentioned to Jude I noticed something like a phasing issue with the bass, but yeah in all the times I tested it, seems there was some sort of loose bass. If this thing has tighter bass and maybe a bit more treble then it sure could be a winner. I would especially like to hear it compared to the HE-6 as I was still thinking to get that one day.

 

[velvetx]

I'm all for fun .. especially if the price is reasonable

And I dont know who's refernce he1k was but definitely not mine. Imo, their bass was way too unbalanced .. and quite lousy for $3K.

 
I was just talking about the sound signature it was just more neutral sounding (people seem to be referring that to more of a reference sound).  Trust me it wouldn't be mine either but I have to say it definitely sounded good.

 

[prot]

I was just talking about the sound signature it was just more neutral sounding (people seem to be referring that to more of a reference sound).  Trust me it wouldn't be mine either but I have to say it definitely sounded good.

I usually like neutral. And I thought that the he1k sound signature was quite pleasant and almost perfect for my taste. But considering the price, the subbass/bass issues are simply not acceptable for me.
If the X version corrected at least some of the bass issues and will be available for a reasonable price ($1500 or less for me) I'll find it hard to resist

 

[FredrikT92]

The question is, will it be a HE-6 "killer"?

 

[Stillhart]

  The question is, will it be a HE-6 "killer"?

 
Aren't there already several planars on the market around the same price, that sound really good but don't need a Liquid Gold to sound good?  

 
Don't get me wrong, the HE-6 sounds great, but between the Ethers, Audeze's, Dharma, etc, there is plenty of competition in the HE-6's price point and none of them have special amping requirements.
 
From what I heard of the Edition X (brief listen in a noisy show environment), it shared much of the same tonality as the HEK.  At $1799, it's going to sell quite a lot I think.

 

[negura]

   
Aren't there already several planars on the market around the same price, that sound really good but don't need a Liquid Gold to sound good?  

 
Don't get me wrong, the HE-6 sounds great, but between the Ethers, Audeze's, Dharma, etc, there is plenty of competition in the HE-6's price point and none of them have special amping requirements.
 
From what I heard of the Edition X (brief listen in a noisy show environment), it shared much of the same tonality as the HEK.  At $1799, it's going to sell quite a lot I think.

 
Except for the production Dharma which I have not heard (but I did hear the pre-production and I did like them), none of those mentioned come even close to the SQ of modded HE-6s imo. And that includes the HEK.
 
My wishful thinking is the HEX isn't sounding as limp/dead/soft as the HEK (on any gear comparatively), but I have my reservations. I look forward hearing them. HEK fans are going to not like me saying this. Please don't bother - I have heard 7-8 pairs of HEK to date on a multitude of gear. Just one sounded slightly better than the rest. This is of course: imo.
 
I do agree about the amping requirement for the HE-6s, as it takes the cherry, but many other headphones have a certain amping requirement to excel (HD-800s, LCD-3Fs, Abyss etc). Or in the other words you can't just expect to have them really sing on just anything. And some headphones that do are just mediocre anyway.

 

[Stillhart]

   
Except for the production Dharma which I have not heard (but I did hear the pre-production), none of those mentioned come even close to the SQ of modded HE-6s imo. And that includes the HEK.
 
My wishful thinking is the HEX isn't sounding as limp/dead/soft as the HEK (on any gear comparatively), but I have my reservations. I look forward hearing them. HEK fans are going to not like me saying this. Please don't bother - I have heard 7-8 pairs of HEK to date on a multitude of gear. Just one sounded slightly better than the rest. This is of course: imo.
 
I do agree about the amping requirement for the HE-6s, as it takes the cherry, but many other headphones have a certain amping requirement to excel (HD-800s, LCD-3Fs, Abyss etc). Or in the others words you can't just expect to have them really sing on just anything. And some headphones that do are just mediocre anyway.

 
So if you think the HEK sounds that bad, why would you think a trickle down version at half the price would come close to the HE-6?  Seems like you're pretty happy with the HE-6, based on the comment above.  What would it take to be an "HE-6 killer" if nothing on the market comes even close?

 

[FredrikT92]

The "problem" I have with HEK is that it lacks the drum/bass impact and visceralness that HE-6 provides. 
It also has a slight too distant sound, in my opinion. 
 
If the HEX can provide this, it might be the real deal for me. 
I'm very found of finding the best performance/price ratio. My HE-6 sure sounds better then my LCD-3F with a First Watt F6. 
LCD-3F sounds terrific with F6 aswell, is it the best amp for them? I have no idea.