My HE1K arrived last week. I have been listening through my Geek Pulse X Infinity (powered through an LPS4) and this thing is stunning. I currently have an HD800 and LCD2.2 to compare with my new HE-1000. (I have some other stuff, but nothing else worth mentioning.) I mostly listen to rock and roll and electronic music. With rock and roll, I prefer a lot of Grateful Dead and Phish. With electronic music, I listen to a lot of dubstep as well as a lot of ambient, trip hop, and acid jazz.
I think that the case is great. And the cables are excellent quality. I especially appreciate HiFiMAN including 3 cables. I do have one gripe. As reported before by someone else, my HE-1000 was dirty when I got it out. There was what I choose to believe is chocolate on it, because the other options are unthinkable. (My wife encouraged me to taste it!) So, I had to spend some time wiping it down and shining it up. It's not a huge deal. Nothing was damaged. But still, it is just silly that any of these are not spotless when they arrive.
Initially, I did not have very high expectations before burning them in. A number of people have reported less-than-spectacular performance before burning them in but that has not been my experience. I have logged about 100 hours logged on the HE1K and it sounds exactly how it sounded straight out of the box. HiFiMAN must be doing some pretty substantial burning in before they ship which I applaud.
The first thing that really struck me was the very speaker-like presentation of the music. The HD800 has a bit more of the out-of-your-head feeling, but compared to the HE1K, it feels unnatural. Wearing the 1000 really feels like you are listening to speakers while wearing some sort of absurd hairband. When I take them off with music playing, I still get this slight feeling of surprise that the music doesn't keep playing. I really feel like the music is coming from somewhere else. I do have to note that don't think the HE-1000 is as comfortable as everyone is reporting. I have a rather large head --I'm 6'8". And I feel like the clamping force and weight a little annoying. I also hate velour. It feels hot and makes me a bit sweaty. I think like many others out there, I hope that HiFiMAN will offer us some other choices for pads.
When it comes to imaging, I find the HE-1000 to be much better than the LCD2.2 and on par with the HD800. While the HD800 has a bit more precision, like I mentioned before, the HE1K feels more believable. The soundstage is fantastic, especially with live music, of which I am a great fan. I have spent the last few days doing my own little 'Fare thee well' tour to honor the Grateful Dead, and I really feel like I am right there standing right it the pit. Unfortunately, I have no LSD to make the experience complete.
(PMs welcome!!
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Adding to the experience is the transparency. I used to own the Stax 007 mk 1 and their transparency was spectacular. I sold them because they didn't quite fit me and I got really annoyed with the Stax 'farts.' It would just yank me out of the music and kind of ruin the experience. I think the HE1K rivals the Stax 007 in this area. I don't have them for a direct comparison, but they are definitely in the same league. I have never heard the 009s.
The bass is absolutely fantastic. Obviously, if I want to crank up the bass to absurd levels, and occasionally I do, I'll put on my DT770s and let 'er rip. But the HE1K is more like a flagship pair of cans with an attached subwoofer. Wow. And I have to emphasize how little bleedthrough there is into the lower mids. The extension and speed is really spectacular.
A lot of people have commented that they feel the mids are just ever-so-slightly recessed. I think they are spot on. Vocals can be rough and gritty or smooth and creamy. Whatever is called-for, the HE-1000 can deliver. But this may be a matter of taste, but I would find anything more too forward.
The treble is excellent, although I understand why people say it can be splashy. Fortunately, I am not bothered by it. They don't sound particularly unnatural to me, however, I am not a percussionist. I am very sensitive to sibilance and thankfully the HE1K is anything but sibilant. I love my HD800s but I find them extremely fatiguing. With the HE-1000, I have found it difficult to put them down.
What about micro-detail and 'plankton?' I remember being more blown away when I first put on the HD800s. But I was also floored by the out-of-your-head experience, too, and now I don't even notice it. I think that it is plausible that I am just much more used to it so I don't notice anything. But maybe not...
The big issue that many people have criticized has been a lack of attack, and inability for the HE1K to make the music engaging. I have to say, I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Maybe I got a particularly excellent pair, but these things suck me right in. It's hard for me to put these down. I spent a while with acoustic music trying to dial in on what people have been talking about. I find the attack to be right there when it should be there. If your pair lacks this, I do feel sorry, but I have found nothing like that when listening.
In the end, if you feel like all I did was gush about them, you are correct. I think they are the best headphones I have ever heard. They do not win out on every aspect of sound, but nothing else does this well across the board. I guess it comes down to "Do you want to win one gold medal or five silver medals?" (Don't take this analogy too far.) I don't want a pair of headphones that do one thing exceptionally well and then mediocre in other areas. These things do an amazing job across the board. I don't think there is anything out there that does so much so well.
So now the $2,999 question: Are these worth the money? My answer may sound a little strange. The answer for me is: No, but I am still happy I bought them. They are absurdly expensive. You would have to be crazy to buy them. But now that they are here, the money is gone so I might as well just enjoy them. I will be selling my LCD2.2s, but I will be keeping my HD800. Before I got my HD800s, I really believed that, no matter how good the HE-1000 is, there is nothing that would make me sell my HD800. Now? I'm not sure.
Are they right for you? I can't say. But if you are asking this question, the question you should be asking is how bad will you feel for blowing $2,999?
I still manage to get myself out of bed in the morning.
), which meant that folks know more about this headphone prior to hearing it.
