[jibzilla]

Listened to my he1k a few more hours. I think these might be really great all arounders. While I do not find that they best the hd800, X, and airbow; night and day in any area, they have all the best attributes of those headphones built in. They have that crystalline effortless sound of the airbow, the weight of the X and the micro detail of the hd800 . I also like that the emphasis is sub bass rather than mid bass like the X.
 
Quite a bit of my gear will be at chiunifi tomorrow. Should be some good impartial impressions.

 

[doctorjazz]

Have to say, "inside the head" is one thing I'd NEVER say about the HEK, can't be the same headphone...

 

[jamato8]

Have to say, "inside the head" is one thing I'd NEVER say about the HEK, can't be the same headphone...

That is one thing for me, they absolutely are not unless the music is poorly recorded. 

 

[Angelbelow]

That is one thing for me, they absolutely are not unless the music is poorly recorded. 

 


Was wondering which headphone (or any other HE1000/HE500 owner) you would describe as more engaging/forward. The HE500 or HE 1000

 

[purrin]

Depends on what you mean by engaging/forward? I owned HE500 in past and liked it quite a bit.

 

[goldendarko]

  LOL

Yeah, obviously my brain processes sound differently from yours.
I did have a distinct inside-my-head sound stage impression with the HEK that I listened to in the NYC meeting with Dr. Fang and I can't stand this effect. Other details of what I didn't like are in the impressions thread somewhere and I don't care to search for it. For me the HEK is obviously different than the HD800 but IMHO clearly not a better headphone.
Cheers mate, enjoy your HEK

 

I understand this hobby is all subjective and that everyone has different opinions, but I just can't understand how anyone who has heard both could honestly prefer the HD800 over the HE1000. Value-wise I can understand the argument, but in pure sonic comparison the HD800 can't even hold the HE1000's cable, it's clearly in another league. It's like telling someone Apple earbuds are as good as a low end pair of Grado's - sorry but it's just incorrect. There is nothing the HD800 does better in my comparison of the two, even the HD800's strong suits, imaging and soundstage, are superior on the HE1000 once they are properly broken in and properly amplified. Tell yourself what you want to justify sticking with the HD800, but the HE1000 is easily the better headphone in at least my opinion.

 

[jibzilla]

 
I understand this hobby is all subjective and that everyone has different opinions, but I just can't understand how anyone who has heard both could honestly prefer the HD800 over the HE1000. Value-wise I can understand the argument, but in pure sonic comparison the HD800 can't even hold the HE1000's cable, it's clearly in another league. It's like telling someone Apple earbuds are as good as a low end pair of Grado's - sorry but it's just incorrect. There is nothing the HD800 does better in my comparison of the two, even the HD800's strong suits, imaging and soundstage, are superior on the HE1000 once they are properly broken in and properly amplified. Tell yourself what you want to justify sticking with the HD800, but the HE1000 is easily the better headphone in at least my opinion.

 
I find the hd800 does micro detail as well as the he1k but yeah all other areas I prefer the he1k, not by allot, but still I prefer it.

 

[goldendarko]

   
I find the hd800 does micro detail as well as the he1k but yeah all other areas I prefer the he1k, not by allot, but still I prefer it.

I would agree with that, it's probably a draw there but let's see how else they compare:
 
Bass: Huge win for the HE1000, not even close, the HD800 is lacking in bass for a flagship. The HE1000 has bass incredible bass quantity and quality, very full sounding but clear and detailed at the same time, whereas the HD800 bass is one of the least enjoyable I've heard in a flagship can.
 
Mids: Another win for the HE1000, very neutral and engaging whereas the HD800 can get a bit cold and distant in the mids from my experience.
 
Treble: A smaller victory for the HE1000, but a victory nonetheless. The treble on the HE1000 has great speed and attack and doesn't get bright like the HD800 does on certain tracks.
 
Soundstaging: Closest area of competition between the two, but the HE1000 still wins. It has amazing soundstage height and great soundstage depth, whereas the HD800 has amazing depth but ok height. If you want to call this a draw I could see that, but gun to my head, the HE1000 does soundstaging better too.
 
Not sure where exactly the HD800 is the better headphone, but by all means if you prefer it, then save yourself the money and go with the HD800, but I don't think people should state that it is the better headphone because I think that's very misleading for people that are interested in both.

 

[up late]

I understand this hobby is all subjective and that everyone has different opinions, but I just can't understand how anyone who has heard both could honestly prefer the HD800 over the HE1000. Value-wise I can understand the argument, but in pure sonic comparison the HD800 can't even hold the HE1000's cable, it's clearly in another league. It's like telling someone Apple earbuds are as good as a low end pair of Grado's - sorry but it's just incorrect. There is nothing the HD800 does better in my comparison of the two, even the HD800's strong suits, imaging and soundstage, are superior on the HE1000 once they are properly broken in and properly amplified. Tell yourself what you want to justify sticking with the HD800, but the HE1000 is easily the better headphone in at least my opinion.

not sure that you do understand

 

[jibzilla]

  I would agree with that, it's probably a draw there but let's see how else they compare:
 
Bass: Huge win for the HE1000, not even close, the HD800 is lacking in bass for a flagship. The HE1000 has bass incredible bass quantity and quality, very full sounding but clear and detailed at the same time, whereas the HD800 bass is one of the least enjoyable I've heard in a flagship can.
 
Mids: Another win for the HE1000, very neutral and engaging whereas the HD800 can get a bit cold and distant in the mids from my experience.
 
Treble: A smaller victory for the HE1000, but a victory nonetheless. The treble on the HE1000 has great speed and attack and doesn't get bright like the HD800 does on certain tracks.
 
Soundstaging: Closest area of competition between the two, but the HE1000 still wins. It has amazing soundstage height and great soundstage depth, whereas the HD800 has amazing depth but ok height. If you want to call this a draw I could see that, but gun to my head, the HE1000 does soundstaging better too.
 
Not sure where exactly the HD800 is the better headphone, but by all means if you prefer it, then save yourself the money and go with the HD800, but I don't think people should state that it is the better headphone because I think that's very misleading for people that are interested in both.

 
I agree with most of that with just about every SS amp out there and the hd800 including some really expensive ones. I tried lots of SS amps with the hd800 and did not understand, at all, the fanboyism. Thought that they sounded mediocre, save the violectric. Then I tried the hd800 out of 3 different ohm output amps and blamo, quite a bit of improvement especially with the bass which is what you think is the biggest loss for the hd800. The Stratus/hd800 combo is really something to be heard. Even with just a few ohms the bass, pretty much everything, sounds incredible. I suspect the Hex had something to do with that, but another individuals hd800/stratus/hex, I'm down to admit sounded every bit as nice as my own he1k/peak/ark mx+ with the he1k being the more relaxed/forgiving version and the hd800 the brutally honest version.
 
I think the he1k still has a more preferable bass than hd800 but I do not feel it is a night and day win. If you do a little digging you will find that ohm output and ohm matching affects the bass more than anything and I totally agree with that.

 

[icebear]

 
I understand this hobby is all subjective and that everyone has different opinions,....

 
Maybe you consider that we do have a very different music preference.
That's why what we like to hear differs, we focus on different aspects and preferences in sound reproduction might be different.
You have a lot of SOLD equipment listed ... how long until that appears behind the HE1000?

 

 

[Sorrodje]

not sure that you do understand

 
Indeed. 
 

 

[rrahman]

  I would agree with that, it's probably a draw there but let's see how else they compare:
 
Bass: Huge win for the HE1000, not even close, the HD800 is lacking in bass for a flagship. The HE1000 has bass incredible bass quantity and quality, very full sounding but clear and detailed at the same time, whereas the HD800 bass is one of the least enjoyable I've heard in a flagship can.
 
Mids: Another win for the HE1000, very neutral and engaging whereas the HD800 can get a bit cold and distant in the mids from my experience.
 
Treble: A smaller victory for the HE1000, but a victory nonetheless. The treble on the HE1000 has great speed and attack and doesn't get bright like the HD800 does on certain tracks.
 
Soundstaging: Closest area of competition between the two, but the HE1000 still wins. It has amazing soundstage height and great soundstage depth, whereas the HD800 has amazing depth but ok height. If you want to call this a draw I could see that, but gun to my head, the HE1000 does soundstaging better too.
 
Not sure where exactly the HD800 is the better headphone, but by all means if you prefer it, then save yourself the money and go with the HD800, but I don't think people should state that it is the better headphone because I think that's very misleading for people that are interested in both.

 
I kind of agree with all your points except I think the HD800 is faster overall, more responsive, sharper attacks etc.  I also think the mids and treble differences are pretty equivocal.

 

[Brucemck2]

I increasingly like the 1000s relative to the 800s.
 
With my 450mw output dac/amp I preferred the 1000s, but could understand why some might like the 800s better (the former with better low end and more liquid midrange, the latter with more transient sparkle and high end resolution), but with significantly more tube amp power in the chain (Lyr 2) the 1000s improve markedly while the 800s improve only marginally.
 
Maybe it's synergy, but it's not nearly as close. Worth the dollar differential? For me, "easy yes" with the larger amp and "largely yes" with the smaller amp.
 
I'm looking forward to trying both with the Decware Taboo amp relatively soon.

 

[doctorjazz]

Have the MicroZOTL, getting the Liquid Carbon, should be fixed for tube and SS HEK options.