[Skylab]

I'm deducting 10 points.

LOL! As well you should

Dear Skylab,


   One more question if you don't mind,  If i can not find a good portable balanced input source , can I just use the balanced out of the


SR71B to drive the HE6 effectively , is there any difference is the sound quality without the balanced input?

You can use single ended inputs onnthe SR71B, yes, but I have not tried that yet. I only get a small amount of time per day to spend on this sort of thing...worked 11 hours today, so far, so not much audio time :mad:

 

[DaSouth]

Kiatchai
 
The 3 foot Black Dragon Headphone cable adapter from 4 pin female XLR to Protector/SR71B Plug that I got from Moon Audio cost $80 plus shipping.  I don't know if Ray plans to offer adapter cables for the SR-71B.  Knowing that I would need one, I asked him for a source several weeks back and his reply was "Moon Audio is the man who has my balanced connectors & he is the one who did mine."  I'm sure there must be other sources, I just figured that if it was good enough for Ray it would certainly be good enough for me.

 

[dlrkdnjs]

Can it be possible for my grado HP1 being used from the speaker out of my integrated amp?
HE-6 sounds great from my Sonic frontiers sfc-1(40wpc speaker out, bare wire) and I wonder if
I can hook up the hp1 directly to my integrated amp if only careful with the volume control.  thanks.

 

[XXII]

Quote:

Can it be possible for my grado HP1 being used from the speaker out of my integrated amp?
HE-6 sounds great from my Sonic frontiers sfc-1(40wpc speaker out, bare wire) and I wonder if
I can hook up the hp1 directly to my integrated amp if only careful with the volume control.  thanks.

 
Here are the instructions that are included with the HP1 on how to connect them to a speaker amp:
 

 

 

[kiertijai]

Dear Skylab,
   Thanks for your effort.  I forgot the time difference please have some rest.
   We all appreciate your work and I will give you 40+ points for that.
   I hope we will hear from you soon.
Dear DaSouth,
   Thanks for the info.
   I will order the adapter cable from Drew today.

 

[dlrkdnjs]

Thanks for the useful infomation. But what I want to know is if I can connect the bare wires of the hp1 directly to the speaker out of the integrated amp(40wpc, tube).
 
Quote:

Quote:

Can it be possible for my grado HP1 being used from the speaker out of my integrated amp?
HE-6 sounds great from my Sonic frontiers sfc-1(40wpc speaker out, bare wire) and I wonder if
I can hook up the hp1 directly to my integrated amp if only careful with the volume control.  thanks.

 
Here are the instructions that are included with the HP1 on how to connect them to a speaker amp:
 

 

 

[csholtmeier]

Just took delivery of my HE-6's this morning. Only have the Macbook Pro here at work, will have to wait unitl I'm home to put them on the big rig.
 
Have to max out the volume on the laptop, but the sound they do put out is very balanced.

 

[Mad Dude]

My HE-6 arrived yesterday

 
After a few hours of listening, I must say I'm very impressed. The treble is just awesome!
Regarding amping, the Roc SA has enough power to drive the HE-6 to ear-blasting volume levels. However now I DO see the point of the High-Gain switch on the amp. According to the audio-gd website, the amp puts out 9W into 60 Ω (I assume this is both channels combined, so 4.5W per channel). Turning up the volume pot to 12 o'clock is really loud, even on very "quiet" recordings. But anyway, I'm amazed how great the HE-6 sounds at low volume levels. This is something my previous headphone, the HD600, lacked completely.
I have yet to try the HE-6 with a speaker amp, but honestly I don't think having 50WpC instead of 4.5WpC would be a big improvement.
 
I often thought that the Roc SA sounded really warm with the HD600 (which is supposed to be a quite neutral headphone), but it's a lot different with the HE-6. I don't have another headphone amp to compare (unfortunately), but I certainly would not describe the sound was warm or dark. Instead it is neutral with just a tad of warmth. I'm really glad I didn't buy the LCD-2 instead, I would not want more bass or a darker sound. At least for now...
 
 
A question to other HE-6 owners, not related to the headphone itself: Was the value of the HE-6 declared correctly on your invoice? I received a letter from DHL today which says that there was a problem at customs due to missing documents, which I now have to send to DHL ASAP. I'm guessing this is because on my invoice, the value was declared as 1 USD instead of 999 USD. Probably the package was opened at customs, and they got suspicious seeing that a huge, heavy pair of headphones is only worth $1...
I have requested Head-Direct to send me the correct documents immediately. If they dont, I will probably have to pay a fine for importing incorrectly declared ware.
 
I often got incorrectly declared ware from china (inexpensive stuff from ebay), but for a reputable company such as Head-Direct, I think this is very dubious behaviour. It certainly does not strengthen my confidence in them. 

 

[Kiatchai]

   I finally acquired one pair of Sony MDR R10 after reading the review of David Mahler "The 20 best headphones". Its serial number
is 1083 and is a bass heavy version built in 2002.  The R10 was recabled with apuresound V3 to 1/4" Neutrik jack.   I  had a chance to
compare that to the HE6 recabled with balanced Warren Audio new cable, with LCD2 recabled with balanced silver clad Zeuscu29 cable,
and Sennheiser HD800 recabled with balanced gold clad Zeus cu29cable. I  also have the speaker adapter cable custom made from Kimber Kable
to be used with HE6 to the speaker post of the ZDT.  All these I have used the ZDT as an amplifier and Oppo 83 SE NE as the source via the front analog out to
the ZDT connected by Audioquest sky 72 DBS.  (We will also have a group meeting which we will also have the chance to listen to  the Ultrasone ED10
"the Grinch that stole Christmas named by Skylab" and hope to be able to report on that soon).  
    From the first impression that I have with the R10 I agree that it deserves to be the King of the headphone although I never heard the
HE90 and ED10 yet. (Any one knows how can I get the HE90/HEV90 combo?). The bass from R10 is fast, accurate, deep and fun.  The bass
quantity,impact and soundstage of the LCD2 is one of the best but it cannot handle very fast bass from rock and roll music like Rush well enough to my taste.
The bass of HE6 is also very good and has good dynamic so it can handle the very fast bass  as well as the R10 but the quantity may be less than
LCD2.  The HD800 bass even with the gold clad cable is very good but not comparable to the aforementioned three however it can handle very fast bass well.
    R10 has the best mid probably better than the HE6 that I really like. The midrange of the LCD2 is also very good but may too rich or  congested
to some taste or kind of  music.    The midrange of the HD800  is also very good with very airy 3D feeling with very good soundstage and imaging. 
    The treble is again the minor drawback of the LCD2 even I used the silver clad cable with the LCD2  while the treble of the HD800 , HE6, R10
are excellent but the musicality of the treble goes to the R10 and HE6. 
    I think I will rank R10 first, HE6 second and a close third for LCD2 and fourth HD800.  For the kind of music:
R10 is very good for all kind of music, you cannot be wrong when you use the R10.  I like LCD 2 with rock and metal  although rock and metal
with very fast pace the LCD2 may not be that accurate comparing with the HE6 and R10.   HD800 for classical music and  HE6 is also very good for that.  
Acoustic, audiophile, celtic, classical crossover I would use the HE6 and HD800.  For vocal recording I will go with the LCD2 , HE6.  I don't listen
to Jazz much but I think I will use the HD800; for Diana Krall, Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson I will definitely use the LCD2.

 

[Shahrose]

Just got them. Initial impressions (may change after some time):
*The HD800s I used were silver-recabled.

[size=small]Good:[/size]
-Excellent bass, in every parameter. Quantity is greater than the HD800, but a bit lower than the 600.
-Open, airy and delicate sound, especially treble (something I've noticed on the HE-5, LCD-2 and now the HE-6)
-Good dynamics (almost as good as the HD800).
-Good transient response and attack.
-Comfort is surprisingly good considering the ~500g weight (I'm sensitive to heavy cans...the LCD-2 were uncomfortable for sessions longer than 30 min)

[size=small]Bad:[/size]
-Too much treble around 8-14KHz, sounds bright and sibilant despite the treble quality.
-Not as transparent and revealing as the HD800.
-Midrange could use a bit more presence.
-Soundstage is flat and small, a far cry from the likes of the HD800. It's slightly smaller than the HD600's SS as well.
-The focus and placement of vocals isn't as good as the HD800.
-Build quality is a bit disappointing for a $1200 headphone.
-Difficult to drive well.


Overall, these are an improvement over the HE-5s, but the sibilant treble is somewhat bothersome. The treble might change with burn-in (if orthos burn-in at all), but it would have to be a more-than-subtle change to make me like it.

 

[.Sup]

Thanks for the impressions Shahrose, I'm pretty sure bass quantity will increase after time. Enjoy your new piece of equipment

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Thanks for the impressions Shahrose, I'm pretty sure bass quantity will increase after time. Enjoy your new piece of equipment

That's something I don't really want, since the bass quantity is more than adequate as it is. I think you're right about it increasing a bit over time, but mainly because of the earpad deformation (I've noticed this with all cans with velour pads).

 

[grokit]

Shahrose, I would think a comparison with a speaker amp is in order, I don't hear the treble peakiness the way you do. In fact I would think that most of your "Bad" column would go away with more current. Isn't the GS1 rated at one watt? That is below even Head-Direct's revised recommendation for powering the HE-6 IIRC.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Shahrose, I would think a comparison with a speaker amp is in order, I don't hear the treble peakiness the way you do. In fact I would think that most of your "Bad" column would go away with more current. Isn't the GS1 rated at one watt? That is below even Head-Direct's revised recommendation for powering the HE-6 IIRC.

I may do that, but I don't think I'm underamping. Bass is tight and very extended, dynamics are great, no sign of congestion or smearing, and the volume is ear-piercing even at 11 o' clock.
I felt the same way about the HE-5 with my M^3+Sigma-11 (and several other amps), so I know it's just the sound signature that's bothering me.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Just got them. Initial impressions (may change after some time):

[size=small]Good:[/size]
-Excellent bass, in every parameter. Quantity is greater than the HD800, but a bit lower than the 600.
-Open, airy and delicate sound, especially treble (something I've noticed on the HE-5, LCD-2 and now the HE-6)
-Good dynamics (similar to the HD800).
-Excellent transient response, attack and natural decay.
-Comfort is surprisingly good considering the ~500g weight (I'm sensitive to heavy cans...the LCD-2 were uncomfortable for sessions longer than 30 min)

[size=small]Bad:[/size]
-Too much treble around 8-14KHz, sounds bright and sibilant despite the treble quality.
-Not as transparent and revealing as the HD800.
-Midrange could use a bit more presence.
-Soundstage is flat and small, a far cry from the likes of the HD800. It's slightly smaller than the HD600's SS as well.
-The focus and placement of vocals isn't as good as the HD800.
-Build quality is a bit disappointing for a $1200 headphone.
-Difficult to drive well.


Overall, these are an improvement over the HE-5s, but the sibilant treble is quite bothersome. The treble might change with burn-in (if orthos burn-in at all), but it would have to be a more-than-subtle change to make me like it.

 
Quote:

Quote:

Shahrose, I would think a comparison with a speaker amp is in order, I don't hear the treble peakiness the way you do. In fact I would think that most of your "Bad" column would go away with more current. Isn't the GS1 rated at one watt? That is below even Head-Direct's revised recommendation for powering the HE-6 IIRC.

I may do that, but I don't think I'm underamping. Bass is tight and very extended, dynamics are great, no sign of congestion or smearing, and the volume is ear-piercing even at 11 o' clock.
I felt the same way about the HE-5 with my M^3+Sigma-11 (and several other amps), so I know it's just the sound signature that's bothering me.

 

Then why on earth did you say, "Difficult to drive well" in your "Bad" column 

 ?
 
Anyways volume isn't the issue with driving the HE-6 IMO, current is. YMMV.