[coinmaster]

 The HiFiMAN HE-1000 is expected to be priced at $2999.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

 

[agooh]

Is it better than stax 009 ? if so then still the price is high even for the best headphones in the world .

 

[negura]

  Is it better than stax 009 ? if so then still the price is high even for the best headphones in the world .

 
The price points it straight at the market price of the 009s (that market where over 90.38% of Stax 009 Head-Fi purchases are made).
 
I am personally glad the gold colour got dropped and it's a brushed finish now.

 

[Moosi]

Side note from Jude's pictures. It is BLACK HE-560 . EDIT: wish it was black, can't see the rosewood from this one .

 

[Canadian411]

Beautiful headphone really appreciate the design, unfortunately I cannot afford $2999 price tag but looks amazing !
Good work Hifiman !!!

 

[musicman59]

As you can read in Jude's post I had the privilage to visit Head-Fi headquarters yesterday afternoon and take a listen to the HE-1000. I think I can sumarize my expereince with them in one word... "SUBLIMED" 

.
The looks to me is kind of a modernized retro design that IMO is very cool. I was very surprise about the weight. They are probably the lightest planar I have ever tried. The construction is very solid and the are very comfortable when on. 
The HE-1000 is very impressive. The midrange and high frequencies are at the level or very very close to my SR-009 but when makes a big difference is its bass. Oh boy! I have never heard a bass so deep, with so much volume, impact and speed before. The bass of the SR-009 is not even close but what is nice is that it does not take anything away from the rest of the frequencies. It really complements the total sound perfectly creating a very nice balanced, organic and textured sound. I really loved it!
 
Have you experience the sound pressure on your chest when you are listening to a big speaker system and it pressurize the listening room properly? Well, that is kind of what I felt in my head when the low frequencies in the Firebird finale arrived... wow!
 
After listening to Firebird I continued listening to recording very familiar to me and with all of them the HE-1000 did an splendid job to the point that suddenly I found myself taping my feet. The HE-1000 are very detailed like an electrostatic but very musical at the same time, the perfect combination! 
 
Last Saturday I listened to the Abyss driven by the new Moon Neo 430HA amplifier (very nice sounding amp) and compared by memory to what I listen at Jude's office I would go with the HE-1000 with no hesitation at all.
 
It uses the same 3.5mm mono plugs like the PM-1/2 so we already have all kinds of aftermarket cables available for whoever is interested. At 90 db efficiency and 30-40 ohms they are more efficient than the HE-6 so for instance people using speaker amplifiers of 50 w/ch @ 8 ohms it will put out 8 watts/ch on the HE-6 and 10 watts/ch @ 40 ohms or 13.33 watts/ch @ 30 ohms. 
 
The only disadvantage of getting the HE-1000 is that you will see yourself in the For Sale forum selling a bunch of your current headphones because they just became instantly obsolete.

 
I fell in love with the sound of the HE-1000 and even at the targeted price of $2,999 (see Jude's post) to me is a most have specially taking in consideration it will not require a specialized amplifier like my SR-009. I can't wait for Hifiman to open the pre-order to place mine!
 
Great job Dr. Bian!!

 

[amigastar]

Like i already said i will wait for a cheaper hp from Hifiman with this nano diaphragm tech which i hope will come out sooner or later.

 

[kugino]

I suppose I could sell my hd800, th900, and he-6 to get these. hmm...worth it?

 

[money4me247]

lol i'm already getting prepared to sell all my current headphones & most of my other gear for the HE-1000 (...and this was based on the nyc mini-meet prototype).
 
you know if most people total up their audiophile purchases, the costs probably hit about the $3k mark & honestly, the he1000 outperformed all current flagships that I've gotten the chance to try, so it is really a no brainer if you are sitting on multiple flagships right now for specific niches. (imo of course).

 

[prot]

Beautiful headphone really appreciate the design, unfortunately I cannot afford $2999 price tag but looks amazing !
Good work Hifiman !!!

Gotta agree, the new version looks *much* better than the first protos. Those were so awfully bling, only a gangsta rapper couldve worn them as a match for his 1kg gold necklace .. really glad that stuff stayed in vegas. Well at least they do look 3k now ... hopefully the build quality is also 3k.
Whether they are worth 3k I guess it's for each one to decide. For me the only HPs worth +1k are the 009. I'll have to compare those two.

Unfortunatelly looks like the mega hype we had up to now was also just a dim prototype... and the real stuff will start now ... ppl will fell off their chairs, jaws will not only drop but outright break/dislocate, the bass punch will move your fillings and so on.
Let the hype games begin!

Anyway, thx Jude for a very informative and useful update.

 

[sizwej]

What a load of rubbish.

Fang Bian did not start this thread.

All he did was reserve the right to price the phones when the development was finalised and they were officially released.

This thread is all speculation, innuendo and blatant guesswork.

Take it for what it is, but don't make Fang or Hifiman as being devious about the future price of the phones.

Get a grip, dudes......

 

[preproman]

I won't be selling my current Flagships, not until I do a few side by side comparisons to see if the HK-1000 can hold up in an in home environment with a tweaked out rig.  
 
What about the "body" meaning is it more on the thin side or does it have the body of my modded HE-6?  

 

[FastAndClean]

Try this track on them
 

 

[negura]

  I won't be selling my current Flagships, not until I do a few side by side comparisons to see if the HK-1000 can hold up in an in home environment with a tweaked out rig.  
 
What about the "body" meaning is it more on the thin side or does it have the body of my modded HE-6?  

 
Exactly - some of the hype will wear off. It always does. Since I already have SR-009s for classical/acoustic music, I am very interested if the HE1k has the type of body that can rock. Also one has to watch out for the quality control / new release issues. It's not exactly unheard of.

 

[buson160man]

How does it compare with the abyss headphone?