eugene2
100+ Head-Fier
Last night:
>I've been reading through this thread while listening to a few sets of my headphones. I've been listening mostly through Tidal Masters and a lot to the Album by Brad Mehldau "Mehliana". If you want an album that will test the bottom limits of your gear this it. I'm a recent full blown convert to headphones, not because I wanted to I was forced to, living in an apartment now, with new neighbors upstairs my big rig is in hibernation mode. Just to give you an idea of my rig:
Vapor Audio Joule (many upgrades), Odyssey Kismet hybrid preamp, Kismet mono bloc amps, PS Audio Directstream DAC and PS Audio transport, Antipodes DX Music Server, with Verastarr Silver cabling.
My headphone rig has not quite caught up with my big rig:
Headphones: Hifiman HE1000 V2, Focal Elear, Audeze LCD X, Final Audio Pandora VI, Sony 1000X Noise Cancelling Headphones, Campfire Andromeda & Nova IEM, JH Audio Roxanne series I, JH Audio JH16 custom, Nuforce HEM8, Final Audio Heaven V aging. Music player A&K 320, Antipodes and OPPO DVD; Amps: Cavalli Carbon, Audeze Deckard, Schiit Jotunheim, Chord Mojo and an old Hifiman Tube headphone amp (rarely use). Dacs: Schiit Multibit Modi, Mojo and PS Audio Directstream.
I really don't understand the complaints about Hifiman build quality, I guess it boils down to personal taste. It appears Hifiman was going more for Art Deco a south beach kind of touch, instead of that purely masculine hard look like my Focal Elears. I like the wood and metal non traditional look given to the HE1000 V2s, they get a lot of attention from non audiophiles. I was not an owner of the V1 so cannot reflect on their build. The Elear on the other hand is built like a tank, but I do not see anything special regardintg their looks. The Audeze are heavy cans and have since been retired because of their darker tonality.
The first thing I noticed about the Hifiman is how there character changes with the change in amplification. I'm sure I haven't scratched the surface with the HE 1000 V2 until I get a better amplifier or the HE adapter maybe hook them up to my Odyssey gear. What I notice listening between the Elear and the HE 1000 is the HE 1000 on my gear mostly tonight using A&K 320 and Mojo is how much deeper the HE 1000 gets into the recording, things like foot pedals on keyboard, bass player humming etc., where I can still hear them on the Elear, it is not as noticeable. the Elear is punchy and exciting, the HE1000 much more dynamically accurate to me. Bass is very deep on both phones, again listening to the synth bass on Brad Mehldau "Angry Ghost", to my ears HE 1000 is much more accurate. On music which has complex passages the Elear's seem to slip a bit sounding a little confused, less distinguished, not in a game ending way, just not as clean or delineated as the HE 1000, Vocals are beautifully rendered by both headphones, again based on tonight listening to Joni Mitchell Mingus I preferred the HE1000 V2's.
At this point I think the Elears mate well with the above mentioned amplifiers and may also improve with better power, I think the HIfiman will definitely benefit from better amplification, perhaps tubes... For now when I'm in my fun mode I'll listen to the Elear's, when I'm in my serious listening mode I'll take the HE 1000 V2. For the money the Elear's are ridiculously good, the Hifiman HE 1000's are great. Hopefully in the near future I'll be able to hear the Utopias. I started to purchase the B&W P9 but I think I'll wait until September for the Klipch Heritage, they are suppose t
o compete with the big boys at $999. I heard the Ether's, 800S, various Grado's and others at shows, for my money I bought the Elear's and HE 1000's based on show listening and am glad I did.
>I've been reading through this thread while listening to a few sets of my headphones. I've been listening mostly through Tidal Masters and a lot to the Album by Brad Mehldau "Mehliana". If you want an album that will test the bottom limits of your gear this it. I'm a recent full blown convert to headphones, not because I wanted to I was forced to, living in an apartment now, with new neighbors upstairs my big rig is in hibernation mode. Just to give you an idea of my rig:
Vapor Audio Joule (many upgrades), Odyssey Kismet hybrid preamp, Kismet mono bloc amps, PS Audio Directstream DAC and PS Audio transport, Antipodes DX Music Server, with Verastarr Silver cabling.
My headphone rig has not quite caught up with my big rig:
Headphones: Hifiman HE1000 V2, Focal Elear, Audeze LCD X, Final Audio Pandora VI, Sony 1000X Noise Cancelling Headphones, Campfire Andromeda & Nova IEM, JH Audio Roxanne series I, JH Audio JH16 custom, Nuforce HEM8, Final Audio Heaven V aging. Music player A&K 320, Antipodes and OPPO DVD; Amps: Cavalli Carbon, Audeze Deckard, Schiit Jotunheim, Chord Mojo and an old Hifiman Tube headphone amp (rarely use). Dacs: Schiit Multibit Modi, Mojo and PS Audio Directstream.
I really don't understand the complaints about Hifiman build quality, I guess it boils down to personal taste. It appears Hifiman was going more for Art Deco a south beach kind of touch, instead of that purely masculine hard look like my Focal Elears. I like the wood and metal non traditional look given to the HE1000 V2s, they get a lot of attention from non audiophiles. I was not an owner of the V1 so cannot reflect on their build. The Elear on the other hand is built like a tank, but I do not see anything special regardintg their looks. The Audeze are heavy cans and have since been retired because of their darker tonality.
The first thing I noticed about the Hifiman is how there character changes with the change in amplification. I'm sure I haven't scratched the surface with the HE 1000 V2 until I get a better amplifier or the HE adapter maybe hook them up to my Odyssey gear. What I notice listening between the Elear and the HE 1000 is the HE 1000 on my gear mostly tonight using A&K 320 and Mojo is how much deeper the HE 1000 gets into the recording, things like foot pedals on keyboard, bass player humming etc., where I can still hear them on the Elear, it is not as noticeable. the Elear is punchy and exciting, the HE1000 much more dynamically accurate to me. Bass is very deep on both phones, again listening to the synth bass on Brad Mehldau "Angry Ghost", to my ears HE 1000 is much more accurate. On music which has complex passages the Elear's seem to slip a bit sounding a little confused, less distinguished, not in a game ending way, just not as clean or delineated as the HE 1000, Vocals are beautifully rendered by both headphones, again based on tonight listening to Joni Mitchell Mingus I preferred the HE1000 V2's.
At this point I think the Elears mate well with the above mentioned amplifiers and may also improve with better power, I think the HIfiman will definitely benefit from better amplification, perhaps tubes... For now when I'm in my fun mode I'll listen to the Elear's, when I'm in my serious listening mode I'll take the HE 1000 V2. For the money the Elear's are ridiculously good, the Hifiman HE 1000's are great. Hopefully in the near future I'll be able to hear the Utopias. I started to purchase the B&W P9 but I think I'll wait until September for the Klipch Heritage, they are suppose t
o compete with the big boys at $999. I heard the Ether's, 800S, various Grado's and others at shows, for my money I bought the Elear's and HE 1000's based on show listening and am glad I did.
