[Happy Camper]

They look somewhat like the Orpheus.

 

[wuwhere]

I don't look at this hobby like keeping up with the Joneses at all. Once you travel that path you are doomed to become a paranoid head-fier.

 

[icebear]

This hobby has jumped the shark for me....

I can no longer keep up. And the price tags keep climbing. Maybe someone will sell me their HE-6 for cheap after everyone upgrades to this.

If you don't like any of your current headphones, chances are pretty good that you also won't like the next "big thing".
So just don't waste anymore money on new equipement and start listening to music instead

.

 

[ThurstonX]

Subbed for the comedy gold.
 
I think it's only shark jumping if they're worse than the HE-560s 

 
Also, I hope that model is a midget.  

 they're big!
 
Connectors look like straight up plugins... yo.  I see no evidence of a nut... except for the person who came up with that color combo.  Blonde wood on brush aluminum or whatever?  puh-leaze.  NFS (No Fashion Sense).

 

[mochill]

interested

 

[lookingforIEMs]

Hmmmm orpheus competitor?

 

[Timestretch]

   
Well, everything under 2000USD will soon to be considered mid-fi or even low-fi... I loved headphone hobby for the simple fact that people could get a taste of so-called 'high-end' for reasonable amount of money (well, more or less reasonable in comparison to average salary AND in comparison to normal pricing in speaker world) + share their experience on forums containing very little elitism. People could reach the high-fidelity experience at home, without disturbing others and without having to worry about surrounding environment.
 
But with prices increasing rapidly and constantly, many people (including myself) will be unable to keep up and have the same high-fidelity experience in the future. For me, owning several flagship headphones (one or two of them simultaneously each time) was and always is a mixed experience - love the fidelity because listening to music is my favourite thing to spend my free time on... but hate the fact I have so much money put into something that can easily stop working and is not something my life truly depends on.
 
Well, I quite answered this for myself... My life does not depend on high-end audiophile gear so I will just move on, I guess. That said, I am questioning myself whether it will indeed be possible to get a good sound without spending multi(tens of)thousand dollars in the future. What if the SQ variability will be much more significant? Maybe you won't be able to get anything but rather crappy sound for 1000USD or so in the future, relatively speaking.

Well, the HE500 still sounds great and you can get a used pair for less than $500. HE6 is still just as beautiful as it ever has been, and you can probably get them used for like $800 or less now. I think I saw an HD800 for under $1000, too.  An LCD2 used is like $500, and the LCD3 that is honestly only slightly or incrementally better/different is double that. The respected and loved HD650 is easy to find at only $300. That stuff won't change. We won't enter a post-apocalyptic market where Apple Earbuds are $1000 and old beat up HD280s are $6K and everyone says, "They don't make 'em like they used to!"
  
I believe that sound only gets so good. Each step up is a smaller step, and it will never be as good as a real artist singing and playing music live directly in your own room. Or even if it ever does literally match that, it won't ever get BETTER than REAL. You can already spend about $1000, close your eyes, and feel like you are in a concert hall. Or if you're super familiar with concert hall sound and not easily fooled, have a drink or two before putting on the headphones, close your eyes, and then you'll be as good as convinced. No matter what cost the HE-1000 are, the "cheap" headphones are already beautiful. 
  
So don't worry about how good the HE-100 is or how much it costs. I remember my first Head-Fi meet, I took my Benchmark DAC1 and a Denon AH-D5000. I expected to be blown away by everything. In the end, after hours of trying all sorts of things, I decided that the old beat up used DAC1 of mine was solid gold, and I'll never part with it. Some other people would laugh at that, and say they think the DAC1 is ugly and sounds weak/boring. They'll go out and buy the $9000+ DACs and only be happy with that. They're not wrong. Neither am I though - a lot of this stuff just plain comes down to opinion and price often has very little to do with the actual experiences you get. And I decided that the AH-D5000 did a few things that even the SR-007 or the LCD-3 didn't do, and all objective stuff about overall realism and beauty aside, every single headphone there had strengths and compromises and not a single headphone was everyone's favorite, and some of the most affordable things were impressing people.   
  
We survived this long in the shadow of super expensive STAX we couldn't afford and we still enjoyed ourselves. One more fancy statement headphone for super enthusiasts at the top won't change anything. But it is another thing to dream about snagging for cheap used, or getting when we get our christmas bonus at work, or what have you!

 

[jelt2359]

  Well, the HE500 still sounds great and you can get a used pair for less than $500. HE6 is still just as beautiful as it ever has been, and you can probably get them used for like $800 or less now. I think I saw an HD800 for under $1000, too.  An LCD2 used is like $500, and the LCD3 that is honestly only slightly or incrementally better/different is double that. The respected and loved HD650 is easy to find at only $300. That stuff won't change. We won't enter a post-apocalyptic market where Apple Earbuds are $1000 and old beat up HD280s are $6K and everyone says, "They don't make 'em like they used to!"
  
I believe that sound only gets so good. Each step up is a smaller step, and it will never be as good as a real artist singing and playing music live directly in your own room. Or even if it ever does literally match that, it won't ever get BETTER than REAL. You can already spend about $1000, close your eyes, and feel like you are in a concert hall. Or if you're super familiar with concert hall sound and not easily fooled, have a drink or two before putting on the headphones, close your eyes, and then you'll be as good as convinced. No matter what cost the HE-1000 are, the "cheap" headphones are already beautiful. 
  
So don't worry about how good the HE-100 is or how much it costs. I remember my first Head-Fi meet, I took my Benchmark DAC1 and a Denon AH-D5000. I expected to be blown away by everything. In the end, after hours of trying all sorts of things, I decided that the old beat up used DAC1 of mine was solid gold, and I'll never part with it. Some other people would laugh at that, and say they think the DAC1 is ugly and sounds weak/boring. They'll go out and buy the $9000+ DACs and only be happy with that. They're not wrong. Neither am I though - a lot of this stuff just plain comes down to opinion and price often has very little to do with the actual experiences you get. And I decided that the AH-D5000 did a few things that even the SR-007 or the LCD-3 didn't do, and all objective stuff about overall realism and beauty aside, every single headphone there had strengths and compromises and not a single headphone was everyone's favorite, and some of the most affordable things were impressing people.   
  
We survived this long in the shadow of super expensive STAX we couldn't afford and we still enjoyed ourselves. One more fancy statement headphone for super enthusiasts at the top won't change anything. But it is another thing to dream about snagging for cheap used, or getting when we get our christmas bonus at work, or what have you!

You have to trust your ears. Every once in a while, a real innovation happens. In IEMs, for example, I've heard a real improvement in the mid-level over the past few years. Lots of heavy hitters from new companies like Dunu, Fidue these days.
 
With the HE1000, I'm not ashamed to say, I'm looking forward most to the low weight. My neck hurts from the HE6.
 
PS, the Stax sounds great, but it's a super clean and fast sound that not everyone will enjoy. FWIW, I prefer my HE6 to the SR009.

 

[silversurfer616]

They look like Orpheus' ugly or cheap relative/rip off.
Not tempting at all.....seriously!

 

[wuwhere]

Looking at the 3rd picture from the first post, the finish and workmanship does not look impressive.

 

[IAMBLEST]

More interested in the amp TBH - any info on it? couldnt find anything on Google...

 

[jelt2359]

Initial impressions from erji are that it has a different sound signature from the HE6.
 
Apparently it sounds very detailed and airy, with great microdynamics. The user compared it to Stax.

 

[Viper2005]

  Initial impressions from erji are that it has a different sound signature from the HE6.
 
Apparently it sounds very detailed and airy, with great microdynamics. The user compared it to Stax.

Dang, was hoping it would be like a properly modded HE-6  

 

[Ron12]

  Initial impressions from erji are that it has a different sound signature from the HE6.
 
Apparently it sounds very detailed and airy, with great microdynamics. The user compared it to Stax.

 
Oh my, another uberdetailed HD800/SR-009ish headphone... Would be nice to have some change, like competition to SR-007 mkI.

 

[preproman]

  Initial impressions from erji are that it has a different sound signature from the HE6.
 
Apparently it sounds very detailed and airy, with great microdynamics. The user compared it to Stax.

 
What about the mids, the weight of the music and the bass?