[musicman59]

  BREAKING NEWS
 
Reports of an overnight 500% increase in HE1000 sales as temperatures dipped below freezing for the first time this winter, no slow-down in sight, experts are unable to explain this steep shift, more details soon.

Sure Dr. Fang is praying for a harsh winter..... 

 

[moshen]

  For me, it is HE1000 for pure enjoyment and SR009 (driven by BHSE and Esoteric K-01) for critical listening and enjoyment. For well-recorded albums the SR-009 still sounds best to my ears but HE1000 sounds quite good even with recordings which are a tad worse.

What kind of genres do you mostly listen to? Or are there particular ones you think sound better on the SR-009 or vice versa?

 

[isquirrel]

I am rocking my HE-1000's they must take forever to burn in, or something else is going on, but in the past few days I am enjoying listening to them so much more. Don't find them lacking in any department for my ears anyway

 

[jamato8]

  I am rocking my HE-1000's they must take forever to burn in, or something else is going on, but in the past few days I am enjoying listening to them so much more. Don't find them lacking in any department for my ears anyway

There are a number of things I believe that do have to form/burn in. I can hear tiny ticks occasionally even on clean recordings from DSD that are on the original tape. That is detail. Spacious, energetic and realistic is my impression so far. 

 

[mowglycdb]

Has someone reported distortion ?  My left driver will give distortion with certain sounds, no distortion on a T1 or LCD-3 for the same sounds.

 

[moedawg140]

Has someone reported distortion ?  My left driver will give distortion with certain sounds, no distortion on a T1 or LCD-3 for the same sounds.

Does the distortion happen with all of the sources and DAC/amps/DAPs you have tried? Also, at what volume does the distortion start, or does the distortion emit at any volume?

 

[mowglycdb]

Tried with two different sources.
 
I did a frequency test too and the problem is in the following ranges.
 
310 - 350 hz
 
570 - 590 hz
 
The volume doesn't matter that much.

 

[moedawg140]

Thank you for the information. Based on the information provided, I would contact HIFIMAN and have them replace your HE1000.

 

[rsbrsvp]

Is the midrange on the HEK recessed, forward- or just right?
 
If it is recessed- is it as much as the TH900?
 
I would appreciate some descriptions of the HEK midrange please..

 

[miceblue]

Is the midrange on the HEK recessed, forward- or just right?

If it is recessed- is it as much as the TH900?

I would appreciate some descriptions of the HEK midrange please..

To me the midrange is laid-back overall, more specifically the mid-midrange/upper-midrange frequencies.
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

 

[money4me247]

To me the midrange is laid-back overall, more specifically the mid-midrange/upper-midrange frequencies.
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

I would agree that the lower mids will measure be a bit prominent than upper mids, but that specific upper midrange dip is quite typical of high-end headphones. for example the hd800 has an extremely similar relative upper-mid dip in that region in their FR curve. hifiman headphones all exhibit that tuning choice as well with the HE-6 and HE-560 measuring a relative dip as well. None of those headphones really give a laid-back mid-range presentation and none of those headphones I would characterize as having a mid-recession. I don't think that specific FR tuning really correlates to that laid-back sensation if we are talking about the same sonic attribute.
 
The HD600 would be the headphone that I consider to give the most laid-back overall presentation and they measure without a dip in that uppermid region. Really I think it is the treble energy, upper bass, and overall 'speed' of the headphones that contributes the most to that type of presentation imo. The HD600 lacks a bit in treble energy and speed relative to some alternative options which gives it that characteristic laid-back relaxing sound. also its tapering bass presentation with a stronger focus on the upper bass (despite not being bass-boosted) also helps contribute to that sensation. The HE-1000 is quite different from what I traditionally consider to be a laid-back presentation, but I can see how some people may consider it 'laid-back' compared to more high-treble energy/sharper/brighter options such as the HD800, HE-6, or AKG K812.
 
really all other high-end generally-neutral-orientated headphones will have some sort declining dip starting from 1kHz (upper mid to treble region) as well including AKG 812, Beyer T1, Audeze LCD2/3/X, HE-6, HE-560, Oppo PM-1.

 

[miceblue]

The HE-500 and HE-560 both sounded laid-back in that midrange/upper-midrange region, but the HE-560 sounded brighter in the upper-mids. I hear a similar thing but to a much lesser extent with the HD800's midrange/upper-midrange region, but it sounds much brighter than both the HE-500 and HE-560.

I can't say much about the HE-6, K812, nor HD600 on the other hand. I like the HD650's midrange as a whole since the upper-mids seem laid-back to me, and those frequencies tend to sound fatiguing to my ears. The midrange/lower-midrange range for the HD650 never really seemed laid back to me though like the aforementioned headphones.

If you play around with an EQ, you can get a better sense of what I'm talking about.

 

[rsbrsvp]

To me the midrange is laid-back overall, more specifically the mid-midrange/upper-midrange frequencies.
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

Does "laid back" mean recessed- or U-shaped or does it mean relaxed sounding?
 
 
My issue here is I do not want a recessed midrange headphone.  I dislike the U- shaped headphone sound very much.

 

[miceblue]

Recessed is usually a more severe case of laid-back. "Laid-back" in of itself doesn't mean U-shaped at all, so "relaxing" is probably a better term to associate it with. The HE1000 doesn't have a U-shaped response if that's what you're wondering about.

 

[LouisArmstrong]

 
What kind of genres do you mostly listen to? Or are there particular ones you think sound better on the SR-009 or vice versa?

I listen mostly to vocal audiophile or pop recordings on my headphones. I almost never listen to classical or jazz on my headphones / IEMs, as a soundstage is required for those music (sorry to say, but I find all discussions on "soundstage" of headphones amusing if not totally obsolete - there is no soundstage to speak of when compared with my speaker system). Recording quality varies a lot in the pop genre.