[Bwright]

I was at CES 2015, and man, these sounded great. Wonderful air, imaging and presence - more like a quality floorstanding loudspeaker. The headphone was incredibly comfortable, and the design and finish were top notch. And in terms of sound quality, the headphones were a bit better than the Stax models I've heard, although I walked away thinking the amp needs a little more work - but just a little. I could tell these headphones would beautifully convey (and betray) the source. Overall, I haven't heard anything better.
 
Fang and I also had a brief chance to talk - he was a tremendously nice guy as well. In summary, I'll buy them when they arrive on the market.

 

[Stax-i-nox]

Great...do you think it will be necessary to have to pair them with the dedicated amp?  Or can one just buy the headphones and use it on other headphone amps...I would imagine they will prob sound the best with their own amp. 

 

[Jalo]

I was at CES 2015, and man, these sounded great. Wonderful air, imaging and presence - more like a quality floorstanding loudspeaker. The headphone was incredibly comfortable, and the design and finish were top notch. And in terms of sound quality, the headphones were a bit better than the Stax models I've heard, although I walked away thinking the amp needs a little more work - but just a little. I could tell these headphones would beautifully convey (and betray) the source. Overall, I haven't heard anything better.

Fang and I also had a brief chance to talk - he was a tremendously nice guy as well. In summary, I'll buy them when they arrive on the market.

Welcome to headfier on your first post and thanks for the input.

 

[Herueyes]

   
 
Awww man you gotta be kidding me... Don't tell me you got those x-ray specs as well??
 
What pic(s) are you looking at?? I only posted 1 pic...

  There were 6 of us eating dinner at the
table and two of us are clearly not visible 
 
immtbiker is talking to Fang's friend off camera.
 
bozebuttons (sitting next to immtbiker) is directly across from Fang
 
AomegaX is seated next to Fang
 
and yours truly(off camera as well) is seated next to AomegaX and across from Fang's friend...
 
I just held up my iphone (above my head) and snapped a quick pic no flash and no focus
 
Can you see the notepad Fang has out with the notes he's jotting down?
 
This was truly an adhoc brainstorming feedback session that got better as time passed.
 
Fang so appreciated the ideas and feedback that he paid for dinner... 
 
Hats off to bozebuttons he really knows his Schiit!!! He should be a consultant to all Hi-Fi Manufacturers
 
One always hears about how things get done sometimes how an idea gets kicked around or jotted down on 
 
a napkin over dinner... It all sounds nice or looks good in the movies but to see it actually happening and to 
 
be a part of that creative process made it so much more than a mini-Meet. And to think that I almost didn't go 'cause of the
 
crappy weather. After dinner we were all about to go our separate ways and Fang asked us to take another listen with some portable gear and
 
listen we did!!!! I live in Manhattan and didn't get home till close to 10pm. A GREAT time was had by all and I hope Fang delivers the goods...
 
 
P.S. I should probably post this elsewhere but...
 
The EF-6 and EF-1000 look related but are different not just cause of the 1000's outboard power supply, speaker posts, etc - 
 
What I'm getting at is that... Methinks I saw a tube stage....
 

 
 
 
Peace... 

 
 

  No, I don't have an x-ray vision, and the pics that I meant was actually the one you posted above at the table, and even though it's not the clearest picture I can see some frowns on their faces, either they are tired or not very satisfied
 
Regarding the tube stage, it has been said from the very beginning that EF-1000 is going to be a hybrid (part valve/tube and part solid state)
 
Though very interesting is that Fang Bian is actually listening to people directly  as if he really wants the headphones to be the the best thing ever since sliced bread.

 
 
Hey now let's not get into revisionist history -
 
1st you said "there's some dissatisfaction in their eyes"  <-- SERIOUSLY?? IN their "EYES"

 
Now you're saying you "can see some frowns on their faces..." <-- WHAT?? ON their "FACES"
 
Hey here's a Capital One question for you & your x-ray specs... "What's in their Wallets?"
 
Peace... 

 

[Jalo]

[COLOR=222222]
Hi all,
 
You may have seen all the buzz about our new upcoming HE1000 flagship planar magnetic phones and EF1000 Class A amplifier. Yes, they really are that good and my plan is to make them even better before we release them this spring. 
 
Best,
Fang
[/COLOR]

Fang, first of all, thank you for bringing such a wonderful product to our community. I notice that Hifiman is one of the exhibitor for this year Camjam In March in CA. If you could can you tell us whether by then you will have the improved He1000?

 

[mulder01]

Sounds like this thing isn't gonna be out for a while if they're still looking to make changes

 

[Bwright]

  Great...do you think it will be necessary to have to pair them with the dedicated amp?  Or can one just buy the headphones and use it on other headphone amps...I would imagine they will prob sound the best with their own amp. 

The dedicated headphone jack/power arrangement is the one limiting factor. If I recall correctly, it similar to the Stax plug setup, but didn't pay much attention as I was more focused on hearing them. The headphones imparted a great three dimensional image, but I did feel they could really bloom with a stronger amp.
 
But please don't get me wrong - as it is, they will still give Stax and everything else a serious run for the money. I'm just noticing one thing that, with a minor adjustment, could push them into the stratosphere.
 
I have the HE-500 and VTL IT-85 with Gold Lion KT-77s. As much as I love this combination for its musicality, the HE-1000 definitely surpasses the HE-500 in soundstage and delicacy. 

 

[Lorspeaker]

i am curious...for dynamic drivers there are sizes...50mm...70mm..
would designers of planars start putting sizes on their drivers too,
say 50mm x 80mm or something like square area?  12 sq inch ??
 
from the fotos, this new hifiman is stretching its size down the face, floorstandersize..
other designers might take the cue n start covering more of the face

 

[mulder01]

  The dedicated headphone jack/power arrangement is the one limiting factor. If I recall correctly, it similar to the Stax plug setup, but didn't pay much attention as I was more focused on hearing them. The headphones imparted a great three dimensional image, but I did feel they could really bloom with a stronger amp.
 
But please don't get me wrong - as it is, they will still give Stax and everything else a serious run for the money. I'm just noticing one thing that, with a minor adjustment, could push them into the stratosphere.
 
I have the HE-500 and VTL IT-85 with Gold Lion KT-77s. As much as I love this combination for its musicality, the HE-1000 definitely surpasses the HE-500 in soundstage and delicacy. 

Wait, it's not a standard balanced 4 pin plug on the end of those cans?  
 
And the amp which is as big as a small car doesn't have enough power??
 
 

  i am curious...for dynamic drivers there are sizes...50mm...70mm..
would designers of planars start putting sizes on their drivers too,
say 50mm x 80mm or something like square area?  12 sq inch ??
 
from the fotos, this new hifiman is stretching its size down the face, floorstandersize..
other designers might take the cue n start covering more of the face

Abyss planar drivers are 66mm if that means anything to you

 

[bozebuttons]

  Wait, it's not a standard balanced 4 pin plug on the end of those cans?  
 
And the amp which is as big as a small car doesn't have enough power??
 
 
Abyss planar drivers are 66mm if that means anything to you

Standard 4pin & 1/4 connectors on the amp,plenty of power.

 

[XVampireX]

   
 
 
 
Hey now let's not get into revisionist history -
 
1st you said "there's some dissatisfaction in their eyes"  <-- SERIOUSLY?? IN their "EYES"

 
Now you're saying you "can see some frowns on their faces..." <-- WHAT?? ON their "FACES"
 
Hey here's a Capital One question for you & your x-ray specs... "What's in their Wallets?"
 
Peace... 

 
In their eyes and on their faces is pretty much a figure of speech, but it looks like it wasn't a blissful talking.
I'm pretty sure in their wallets there isn't much money, but probably they can make it with a check or credit card. People with money don't hold it in their pockets.
 
Anyhow what's with all that X-ray speech?
 

  Sounds like this thing isn't gonna be out for a while if they're still looking to make changes
 

 
I'm hoping these changes won't come in the form of revisions when the phone will already be out on the market and the early adopters (me) will be screwed over.
I just don't understand why would a company keep revising their headphones, they should release one model as perfectly as they can, then when they do some more R&D release the new changes in form of a new headphone.
 
I know what you're gonna say, so what's up with the downstream changes so people will be able to keep up? Well, there will always be a "newer" and "better" products, you can get feedback from the preceding product to make the new one even better, also in the current state of headphone, there isn't too much more to improve we've reached a very very good state and the current flagships are doing an excellent job for music reproduction. We're still waiting for that one headphone that can do a jack of all trades and master of all.

 

[Ali-Pacha]

Global form factor of the amp reminds me another tiny one :
 
 
 

 
Ali

 

[chowmein83]

  Great...do you think it will be necessary to have to pair them with the dedicated amp?  Or can one just buy the headphones and use it on other headphone amps...I would imagine they will prob sound the best with their own amp. 

 
When I heard it at CES, I thought the HE-1000 went great with the EF-1000 amp. However, I'm willing to bet that I would probably like the HE-1000 more with another amp. The reason I say this is because I've heard the HE-400i (which I own) out of my own setup and out of both the EF-1000 and EF-6, and I have to say I like my own setup better. (Though this totally may be a sound signature preference kind of thing.)

 

[Bwright]

I agree, and that's actually what I meant by "stronger amp" in my earlier comment. It was more related to sound qualities that I personally favor. The CES HE-1000 set-up in the Venetian was excellent, but was missing a few small elements that I enjoy in an amp. Just a touch more warmth and end-to-end resonance, without losing that incredible detail and air. A dedicated source with the same qualities, like a dCS Puccini SACD player, or a Brinkmann Bardo turntable (with the RoNt 2 tube power supply) would help solve this as well. And walking out of the VAC suite a few minutes earlier may have had something to do with it. Greatest tube amps I've ever heard, and probably colored my impressions thereafter.

 

[SilentFrequency]

If the he-1000 played great from portable amps that would be far the best IMO