I have looked at a lot of FR for the SE and you can find a bit of everything. Crinacle did not have this sun-bass « deep » for example.
Hifiman HE1000 Planar Dynamic Headphone
InquisitiveLogic
Head-Fier
On a different note -
While you guys discuss which HE1000 iteration is the best or which version works for whom, when, where, I am sitting on my desk staring at my HE1000V2 (which is hanging on a stand in a corner along with its partners - Soloist 3XP + Supercharger + D1se) and wondering - where is the love gone for you my big boy?
Why this thought - Well, I was rocking these from a few minutes to hours almost daily for the past few months but ironically, now its been a week I last heard them!
And before that, I was putting them on once in two or three days!
The reason - I happened to venture into the IEMs!
Just happened to have me my first IEM because of the biggest credit these little guys have, irrespectively and universally - Portability.
Had to travel and got me the IE600 and things havent been the same!
IE600 got together with some buddies - Symphonium Meteor, Fatfreq Maestro Mini and the latest Tuthear Zero Red.
No heavy special equipment required to power these and not much worry about system synergy, max portability with almost a hands free wireless experience and the best part - they sound fantastic - seriously was blown away with the sound experience of these little engineering wonders. I did not expect them to sound so big and rich.
Special mention here to Truthear Red. Solid performance + total musicality. The tonality and frequency balance is almost perfect with these IEMs. And getting this performance at just $55 is almost like too good to be true. These sound much much expensive. But you gotta listen them personally to know what I'm saying. These have been my preferred transducers for the past 2 weeks now!
And yeah, one more best part - one can sleep with IEMs in ears... Lol
I am not saying that HE1000V2 is lost for me. It still gives me the best headphone experience I've ever heard and they are beautifully enjoyable when I ever put them on but just the sheer ergonomics of listening to them makes me put less time and effort towards them.
As of now, I am going more and more for my IEMs. And it also makes me wonder and excited, that what do the TOTL IEMs, like the TOTL HE1000V2, bring to the table.
Ahhh.... the bittersweet rabbit hole
While you guys discuss which HE1000 iteration is the best or which version works for whom, when, where, I am sitting on my desk staring at my HE1000V2 (which is hanging on a stand in a corner along with its partners - Soloist 3XP + Supercharger + D1se) and wondering - where is the love gone for you my big boy?
Why this thought - Well, I was rocking these from a few minutes to hours almost daily for the past few months but ironically, now its been a week I last heard them!
And before that, I was putting them on once in two or three days!
The reason - I happened to venture into the IEMs!
Just happened to have me my first IEM because of the biggest credit these little guys have, irrespectively and universally - Portability.
Had to travel and got me the IE600 and things havent been the same!
IE600 got together with some buddies - Symphonium Meteor, Fatfreq Maestro Mini and the latest Tuthear Zero Red.
No heavy special equipment required to power these and not much worry about system synergy, max portability with almost a hands free wireless experience and the best part - they sound fantastic - seriously was blown away with the sound experience of these little engineering wonders. I did not expect them to sound so big and rich.
Special mention here to Truthear Red. Solid performance + total musicality. The tonality and frequency balance is almost perfect with these IEMs. And getting this performance at just $55 is almost like too good to be true. These sound much much expensive. But you gotta listen them personally to know what I'm saying. These have been my preferred transducers for the past 2 weeks now!
And yeah, one more best part - one can sleep with IEMs in ears... Lol
I am not saying that HE1000V2 is lost for me. It still gives me the best headphone experience I've ever heard and they are beautifully enjoyable when I ever put them on but just the sheer ergonomics of listening to them makes me put less time and effort towards them.
As of now, I am going more and more for my IEMs. And it also makes me wonder and excited, that what do the TOTL IEMs, like the TOTL HE1000V2, bring to the table.
Ahhh.... the bittersweet rabbit hole
Bansaku
1000+ Head-Fier
Yes, I'd love to hear your impressions of the HE1KS vs the Arya Organic.
I fully understand. My Letshuoer S12pro is my portable HE1000 in a(two) nutshell(s). Fantastic planar IEM...it gives me about 80+% of HE1000 Stealth sonic qualities and even stronger dynamics.
I still prefer headphones when I'm at home...just a more comfortable and refined experience with the HEKstealth.I don't think IEMs will quite touch the separation and imaging of a HE1000 any time soon.
Having said that i know i won't miss my HE1000 when I'm away...as long as i have the S12pro with me.
What's even crazier is that i prefer the sound quality of my 40$ Kiwi Ears Cadenza (with a W shaped eq ) to all my other headphones .
It could be another reason why Fang Bian wants to sell HiFiMan
). When a 150$ IEM gets so close to TOTL hp's ....
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who said anything about fang bian selling hifiman? source?I fully understand. My Letshuoer S12pro is my portable HE1000 in a(two) nutshell(s). Fantastic planar IEM...it gives me about 80+% of HE1000 Stealth sonic qualities and even stronger dynamics.
I still prefer headphones when I'm at home...just a more comfortable and refined experience with the HEKstealth.I don't think IEMs will quite touch the separation and imaging of a HE1000 any time soon.
Having said that i know i won't miss my HE1000 when I'm away...as long as i have the S12pro with me.
What's even crazier is that i prefer the sound quality of my 40$ Kiwi Ears Cadenza (with a W shaped eq ) to all my other headphones .
It could be another reason why Fang Bian wants to sell HiFiMan
what i know is that their headphones are getting less expensive recently
It's been discussed in this thread about 10 pages ago.
borkenarrou
500+ Head-Fier
Yes Apple acquiring Hifiman, Susvarapods pro going to be released soon
InquisitiveLogic
Head-Fier
I fully understand. My Letshuoer S12pro is my portable HE1000 in a(two) nutshell(s). Fantastic planar IEM...it gives me about 80+% of HE1000 Stealth sonic qualities and even stronger dynamics.
I still prefer headphones when I'm at home...just a more comfortable and refined experience with the HEKstealth.I don't think IEMs will quite touch the separation and imaging of a HE1000 any time soon.
Having said that i know i won't miss my HE1000 when I'm away...as long as i have the S12pro with me.
What's even crazier is that i prefer the sound quality of my 40$ Kiwi Ears Cadenza (with a W shaped eq ) to all my other headphones .
It could be another reason why Fang Bian wants to sell HiFiMan
I have not heard the Kiwi ears but yes many listeners like yourself have good things to say about it. And the best part or the scary part (in an amusingly funny way that is), good things at just $40!
Hell, even if one looses the set someday, spending the bucks to buy them back again is a no brainer and almost like an impulse action with no remorse or regrets.
Can I say the same thing about a pair of headphones that costs a grand or 2 grand or more or may be anything above $100 - $200 for me atleast - Nope!
Picture this - a few months after getting my HEKV2, its right side went silent. Works fine till last evening and next evening I put them on and no sound from the right side. It was scary and disheartening and disappointing to be frank. But thankfully because the set was new and under warranty, Hifiman replaced my unit with a new one. But what if I had got a unit that had its warranty expired! Big bucks just down the drain! (...and makes me ponder, what happens when I run out of my warranty period!)
So when you say getting 80% of the performance of HEKV2 at under $200, I got your back buddy. I fully roger your opinion because I too hold the same view.
Agree, the IEMs do not give that level of holographic soundstage or imaging like headphones but I wouldnt say I miss this in my IEMs to the point that it spoils my musical experience. Its rather contrary, I thoroughly enjoy the IEMs, I am not missing out on anything in sound, that is as of yet.
For mentioning here, the Truthear Red IEM has some great instrument separation that I wasnt expecting for just $55 and I also dare say that I prefer the mids tonality of the Red IEM more than the HEKV2 for some or maybe many of my songs, esp male vocals.
Seriously cant beat the IEMs. I was so not aware of their capabilities and performance and how one can listen to good class sound without breaking the bank or better put - even with some spare change in the pockets!
I have heard and owned scores of headphones, ranging from $100 to $4000, and there were just a few I liked and only one that impressed me, the HEKV2. SO much time and money to reach here! And vis-a-vis getting impressed with almost every IEM I tried ($55-$1000) under the umbrella - small package but big sound, is very impressive for me.
So if anybody reading this post and hasnt tried an IEM, please do yourself a favor and try out a good IEM. You will surely be amazed.
trackrunner
New Head-Fier
In case it's helpful to others (with big heads
), I reached out to Hifiman customer support and they do sell just the Arya head strap on its own. $25 including shipping and problem solved!There is one more thing worth mentioning regarding TOTL Headphones vs IEMs.
A premium opened back headphone like the HE1000 Stealth might be a healthier solution in the long run than going all IEMs.
The HEK Stealth is so resolving and holographic it offers me great experience even at a lower volume.
The S12pro is more dynamic but it's probably too dynamic for my own eardrum's good. It's fabulous for listening your favourite classical and jazz recordings on a sunbed....but having it as the main listening device...i don't know.
Opened back headphones are less punishing on the ears than iems in general . At the same time those opened back IEMs make no sense to me .
I'm at an age i need to think about this aspect.
For me the greatest money saver is the fact IEM's are the perfect complementary solution for a highly technical HP like HE1000/Susvara/DCA Expanse or even Arya.
It saves me wanting,needing something "fun& musical" from Focal or Meze as a secondary phone. I mean I can get that slam,dynamics and lush, enveloping mids for a 10th of the price.
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InquisitiveLogic
Head-Fier
Makes sense. And for that reason, it just goes to say that ya better keep a check on listening volume levels especially for long listening sessions and preserving the longevity of ones anatomic ears.
I am a loud listener but I start at loud levels (85-95 Medium gain Soloist) for a song or two and then tone it down to 60-80 and just keep listening or may be start at low levels and then crank up the volume a little some where in the session for a song or two. But, anytime I dont go over 10-15 mins max at loud levels.
This is especially for the HEKV2, as it does require some good amount of juice to come to life, esp for fast EDM snappy music. But my TH909 are so nimble and sing even at 50 on the volume dial. So with them I rarely go too loud.
As I did mention before also, that HEKV2 are not a lost cause for me and do enjoy them when ever I put them on but just the sheer simplicity of IEMs makes me get them more often as of now. And again, the performance one gets for the bucks spent with an IEM runs circles around headphone's price to performance ratio.
Anybody who now asks me for a suggestion for a budget or a starter headphone, I am pointing them towards the budget IEMs, just so they know what good sound sounds like without spending a bank.
I am a loud listener but I start at loud levels (85-95 Medium gain Soloist) for a song or two and then tone it down to 60-80 and just keep listening or may be start at low levels and then crank up the volume a little some where in the session for a song or two. But, anytime I dont go over 10-15 mins max at loud levels.
This is especially for the HEKV2, as it does require some good amount of juice to come to life, esp for fast EDM snappy music. But my TH909 are so nimble and sing even at 50 on the volume dial. So with them I rarely go too loud.
As I did mention before also, that HEKV2 are not a lost cause for me and do enjoy them when ever I put them on but just the sheer simplicity of IEMs makes me get them more often as of now. And again, the performance one gets for the bucks spent with an IEM runs circles around headphone's price to performance ratio.
Anybody who now asks me for a suggestion for a budget or a starter headphone, I am pointing them towards the budget IEMs, just so they know what good sound sounds like without spending a bank.
EasyCheese
New Head-Fier
I joined in on the HE1000v2 stealths. Using the ibasso DC05 as my DACAMP, i am not really feeling it over OG Anandas. There's like, no difference.
Maybe I am just missing something here, but they both get plenty loud enough that I don't even hit half way on either of the headphones. I notice a lot of ringing in my ears (Tinnitus) from the V2 Stealths after a session.
I do have the SRM-727A amp I could try running the V2 Stealths on, but I've been told that the estat amp will destroy my planars.
Not sure if this is the diminishing returns that people talked about.
Maybe I am just missing something here, but they both get plenty loud enough that I don't even hit half way on either of the headphones. I notice a lot of ringing in my ears (Tinnitus) from the V2 Stealths after a session.
I do have the SRM-727A amp I could try running the V2 Stealths on, but I've been told that the estat amp will destroy my planars.
Not sure if this is the diminishing returns that people talked about.
100 percent I.E.Ms is better for portability and value.
But if you want the best sound quality possible, with huge soundstage and depth, tonality and etc. The he1000v2 is on a completely different level at least on my desktop setup. At least when compared to the Ej07m Kinda Lavas.
When plugged them into a DAP or phone though I could argue I.E.M is probably better.
The he1000v2 needs lots of clean power ( more than a phone or most DAPs can provide ).
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Try A/Bing the two. As similar as they may sound - both are some variation on Hifiman's house sound after all - may be, those are very different headphones on the technical front
Greatest improvement you can make to Hifiman egg-shapes' sound is to try wearing them at a different position and angle on your head. Every one I've tried (Ananda, HEXv2, HEKv2) changes significantly in treble presentation based on how it's seated and sounds like limp, plasticky, unnatural awfulness unless I hit the sweet spot. Then, it sounds better, and the differences between them become more clear. The HEKv2 sounds excellent out of a phone dongle or a Switch headphone jack, even. My rule of thumb is that tall-sounding = wrong.
FR-wise, the difference between Hifimans' stealth-drivers and their non-stealth counterparts has consistently been a +5 dB increase at ~12 kHz. The HE1000se was re-tuned with elevations at 4 and 7 kHz to balance out the tonality, but the others seem unchanged apart from that upper treble boost. The Arya had some peakiness in the lower treble
to begin with, making its stealth-ing work out in a similar way, but I'm not surprised that something more flat like the HEKv2 is causing tinnitus with that upper treble added. I'd recommend the non-stealth version for sure in the HEKv2's case. Amping your headphones harder is probably not going to do your hearing any favors if they're making your ears ring already.
e: As for other solutions, adding a high shelf filter to reduce >10 kHz by a few dB could do the trick if you're okay with EQ.
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