[adamaley]

  Lol no, it doesn't go away... It just depends on how sensitive you are in that range. I've never been trying to hide I have increased sensitivity in the upper mids / lower treble region but people saying it not being there when you change XYZ [which I did and tried the HEK on many different setups from bright to warm] is just not true.
I followed those impressions when I bought the HEK only to find out that the signature HiFiMAN lower treble boost to still be there. Not that I am surprised in hindsight. It's a signature trait.
Almost everything else is spot on though. Not saying the HEK sin't an excellent headphone 

 

 
Well, I guess that invalidates the opinion of everybody else who experienced otherwise by tweaking other aspects of their chain. I'll be listing my Norne Zoetic cable for sale and reverting back to the stock one. I'll also be sure to get rid of all USB cleaning components and power conditioning. 

 

[1BADJAD]

I feel the same way, although I've read varying opinions in this forum.  I loved them right out of the box with the stock cables.  I've since upgraded my toys (stock to Charleston Universal Cable, Burson Conductor SL to Auralic Vega DAC & Taurus MKII amp) and love them even more now.  They sound so blissful now I've considered divorcing my wife and marrying the HEK's....well, maybe I won't go to THAT extreme just yet.

 

[JaZZ]

  The treble peak goes away with upgraded cabling, clean power, and a clean source (especially if USB). If either of these are suspect, the glare pops up and spoils whatever party you thought you were about to have.

 

  Lol no, it doesn't go away... It just depends on how sensitive you are in that range. I've never been trying to hide I have increased sensitivity in the upper mids / lower treble region but people saying it not being there when you change XYZ [which I did and tried the HEK on many different setups from bright to warm] is just not true.
I followed those impressions when I bought the HEK only to find out that the signature HiFiMAN lower treble boost to still be there. Not that I am surprised in hindsight. It's a signature trait.
Almost everything else is spot on though. Not saying the HEK isn't an excellent headphone 

 

 
You're both right. There is a peak between 4 and 5 kHz or on both frequencies. It doesn't magically disappear with a different amp or cable, but a treble-friendlier and -refined cable will mellow the masking effect the peak(s) has/have for the treble region. And a tube amp will make the sound more forgiving and flowing, hence make it less of a problem in the form of graininess.
 
In my experience the best you can do is equalize the peak down by 3-4 dB, so you won't even need the forgivingness of tubes. (Actually there's even more you can do with an equalizer, but that's the HE1000's main problem zone in my book.)
 

 

[daltonlanny]

You're both right. There is a peak between 4 and 5 kHz or on both frequencies. It doesn't magically disappear with a different amp or cable, but a treble-friendlier and -refined cable will mellow the masking effect the peak(s) has/have for the treble region. And a tube amp will make the sound more forgiving and flowing, hence make it less of a problem in the form of graininess.

In my experience the best you can do is equalize the peak down by 3-4 dB, so you won't even need the forgivingness of tubes. (Actually there's even more you can do with an equalizer, but that's the HE1000's main prooblem zone in my book.)

When I was doing beta testing on the HE-1000, I measured the peak to be around 7khz. It wasn't major, but it did exist.

 

[JaZZ]

At least with my pair it's even rather at 4 kHz than at 5 kHz. No peak at 7 kHz. (Not measured, though, «just» deduced from the EQ curve necessary for a perceivedly flat response.)

 

[conquerator2]

Which brings us to another issue of comparing these headphones from pair to pair... 

 

[adamaley]

I'm not saying there is no peak. My point is it is possible for some to eliminate it by actually taking care of certain aspects of your chain, like I did, and it's worth not discouraging others from attempting to do so. Obviously, it may perpetually remain audible to those who are hyper sensitive to that frequency. 

 

[Angaria]

A couple observations about the HE1K and associated gear, after listening to them in a some different setups at AXPONA today.  The cable from Axios (kimber) was 6+ db louder than the stock cable, coming out of some Woo amps.  Also thought there was superior soundstaging and detail with that cable, after trying to keep the volume at the same level, though this certainly was not a blind  test.  How it compares against other $1K cables is not clear.  Was considering the Linear Audio micro zolt2, since I enjoy my current OTL very much, but I was underwhelmed with it.  Granted these are show conditions with music I'm much less familiar with than my standard test set, using a variety of dacs.  On the other hand, the Tungsten... something prototype amp from Cavalli sounded excellent.  Overall, the HE1K offers an experience that many rooms with $100K+ of traditional speaker setups failed to match.  

 

[mowglycdb]

6dB louder? Not very likely, 1 or 1,5dB at most sounds more reasonable. 4dB is already twice the volume.

 

[doctorjazz]

I'm a fan of the MicroZOTL2, but I've heard the HEK with the Cavalli Liquid Crimson, makes a fine pairing, sure the new upcoming Cavalli TOTL amp won't disappoint.

 

[versace]

i would love a balanced option for the microZOTL2 for my HEK it is the only thing that stopped me from that pairing however i have been using a WA22 and getting some awesome results!

 

[doctorjazz]

I have a balanced Norne Zoetic cable, with a single ended adapter for the HEK. Use the single ended for the ZOTL, the balanced for the Liquid Carbon (will be getting the LH Labs Vi Tube DAC at some point, hopefully before the world comes to an end...that is balanced out for headphones as well). Don't see using the WA22 as a problem, though, should be fine!

 

[musicman59]

Guys,
I am going to put for sale some of my after market 2.5mmm connector cables that fit the HE1000 and PM1/PM2.
They are the Norne Vanquish, Wywires Red and WireWorld Nano Platinum Eclipse. All in perfect condition and terminated with. 1/4" TRS.
Check the FS forum in the next few days or PM me if interested.

 

[rgs9200m]

Has anyone seen the Hifiman tradeup program to the HE1000? For example, LCD3 + $1500 for one, or HD800 + $1779, or Beyer T1 + $2029.

 

[macon]

Audirvana does the easy work... The Schiit Y&M of course but son of a gun. HIfiman's HE-1000 are fine. Sort of a cross bred Senn 800 & LCD-2. The first time I was a little disappointed with the LCD-2 was when the HE-1000s pumped out William Orbit's "Monkey King".

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