[471724]

Speaking personally, and to be taken with more sodium than the dead sea. I've just made the leap, owning SE for a year, then 2-3 days ago having leapt to the Sus. My more complex thoughts are in their formative stage, but I don't regret the leap.

The most definitive litmus test was handing them to my partner, who was deciding if she should castrate me this weekend. She held back tears listening to Midge Ure's cover of the Man Who Sold the World. My member and backup singers have been spared thanks to the power of the Susvara when amp'd as they demand. That's my unhelpful first impressions

In audiofile nomenclature, the largest differences:-

• I've heard more details brought to the fore, in a more integrated and balanced way, than in any other system that I've had the pleasure of listening to so far.
• The much deserved naturalness/timbre praise the Susvara received is deserved... ethereal, amazing. Insert any other positive adjectives here.

This said, everyone's audio journey is unique. I was "content" with my Toppings and SE. But with some personal circumstances changing, found myself able to afford to take the leap, started with my amp/DAC and got an XLR adaptor. After some time and some further internal monologues my rational shifted, the change being I now listen for 8hr+ a day with WFH, and with this change the opportunity to buy a Sus at a price I could afford came along at the right time, serendipity at its finest.

Not sure if that helps but that has been my journey, tumbling down the rabbit hole, down the same path you are debating travelling now.

That's interesting, and I might be interested in the Susvara too. Except the suitable headphone amplifier problem seems on all reports to be a deal-breaker, because the Susvara supposedly won't "shine" without an absolute top-of-the-line amp. Your Chord TT2/MScaler combination has a retail of $11,000 or so, a Woo WA-33 at least $6000.

 

[DDMacreedy]

That's interesting, and I might be interested in the Susvara too. Except the suitable headphone amplifier problem seems on all reports to be a deal-breaker, because the Susvara supposedly won't "shine" without an absolute top-of-the-line amp. Your Chord TT2/MScaler combination has a retail of $11,000 or so, a Woo WA-33 at least $6000.

I'm glad its helped, to whatever degree it has.

At this echelon, I'll echo the advice of my peers, and say rarely if ever pay full RRP unless your coffers are deep enough. Mine weren't, and aren't to have paid the RRP referenced. So my answer would be to follow the deals, and be happy at whatever step on your path the SE turns out to be. I've been very fortunate to find the deals I have. The advice would be to scale appropriately and plan any budget around matching a system with the Susvara, solely than just the initial headphone cost outlay.

I've also not had the Sus for long, so those far more qualified with greater gear experience are a better source. But, my experience thus far, for a laugh I have tried running them from my Chord Mojo. Equally, I have an A90 and D90 combo to reference. They are suitable out of them, if, you set expectations accordingly. The Mojo strained on white volume level, and like for like the SE is far, far better out of this portable source. The SE are more versatile, without a shadow of a doubt. But if you like the Hifman sound signature, are looking for a versatile jack of all trades, and your partner has set a limit of one expensive TOTL, then so far I've heard nothing better on my system. It's also worth stating at this point you may want to introspect on your own aimed outcome in this hobby, if it is for just one headphone to rule them all, then the Sus could fill that hole which parental love couldn't.

The above is also written with the trade off that you WILL almost assuredly be tied to your desk with the Sus for now to eternity, and you'll need to reconcile the math on if you're comfortable with that, and, the individual value proposition to you.

To make an assumption, the subtext of your point was that their is a huge cost in the leap from SE to Susvara, in order to get the diminishing returns at this level of rarefied air (amp pairing and synergy). Agreed if so, the SE is unparalleled and deservedly praised for its drivability, but it's all relative. It scales the higher you climb the tower of madness, but it has a ceiling. My circumstance change means I'm tethered to my desk now, and at home long enough to justify having a setup which can sacrifice portability for Nirvana. To my ears, goals and to my preference, I can't envision a better setup.

I heavily caveat that I'm in the honeymoon phase, and lace this with the standard qualifiers of your mileage will vary, and that your physiology and phycology is different to mine.

All that said, I'm very happy I made the leap so far.

 

[smodtactical]

What is the warmest chain you put in front of the he1000se and what was the resultant sound like ?

 

[puppypatrol]

I'm curious: Are SE owners generally content with their headphone, or does everyone have aspirations for the Susvara? If you're already at this level of HiFiMan headphones, it seems like the SE can be seen as a waystation until ending at the Susvara. And I hear mixed reports: some who have both or have heard both say the Susvara is at a whole other level, and others say they're actually pretty close, or not different enough to warrant the extra expenditure. I'm pretty happy with the SE (with EQ) for certain listening purposes, but there's always that nagging feeling/'audiophilia nervosa' nudging me to punish my wallet/savings and go for the gold, so to speak. "Welcome to Head-Fi..."

I still own and listen to both, but if I were honest with myself I'd admit that the Susvara is considerably better than HEKse in almost all the ways that matter - that said, imo those that say there isn't much difference between the two just aren't powering the Susvara properly. This cannot be overstated enough, Susvara is less synergy dependant than power dependant. A good sounding midline receiver with adequate power through taps will sound better than a totl headphone amp that doesn't have enough juice and current imo. Speaker amps dramatically increase slam, soundstage, tonal weight and extension at both ends and the HEKse cannot keep up. All that said, I really like my HEKse too because it sounds good with almost any good quality amp - it'll scale too, but even moderately powered quality amps bring out its qualities.

 

[Spawn300Z]

I still own and listen to both, but if I were honest with myself I'd admit that the Susvara is considerably better than HEKse in almost all the ways that matter - that said, imo those that say there isn't much difference between the two just aren't powering the Susvara properly. This cannot be overstated enough, Susvara is less synergy dependant than power dependant. A good sounding midline receiver with adequate power through taps will sound better than a totl headphone amp that doesn't have enough juice and current imo. Speaker amps dramatically increase slam, soundstage, tonal weight and extension at both ends and the HEKse cannot keep up. All that said, I really like my HEKse too because it sounds good with almost any good quality amp - it'll scale too, but even moderately powered quality amps bring out its qualities.

+1 I have and love both. He is absolutely correct. If your happy with current setup keep the HEKSE. You will have an great system. When your ready to add a power amp or intergtate then look into the Susvara. Otherwise it’s a waste of your money. Neither one is leaving my stables anytime soon.

 

[DDMacreedy]

What is the warmest chain you put in front of the he1000se and what was the resultant sound like ?

I'll make two working assumptions:- First that the question is directed at me. Second, that by "warmth", tubes such as those shown in your profile picture are the method you've envisioned. Apologies if I'm wrong on both counts.

Admittedly, if the answer is limited to tuning by sources, my experience is limited to demo's to preface with that context. I've gravitated to delta sigma over my audio career, tubes I've experienced a fleeting flirtation with at best, and my R2R experience is non-existence. Though, I've had the occasional wet dream in which a Holo May and/or a Woo 33 EE's have featured, the option to demo is non-existent for me with that pairing, which has been a core consideration for me in my journey, coupled with deal hunting.

I've driven them from a HDV820, when I was private demoing the Sennie selection with them, which is DS but an ESS Sabre with a warmer skew by some accounts. Schiit Val and Darkvoice are my sole tube experience with the SE's, though I'm unsure/can't remember what tubes were used in the demo, and if they were rolled from stock.

To clarify, and state for the avoidance of doubt, I never experienced the sibilance or aggressive treble some have reported with the SE. So I've never felt the requirement to seek added warmth per se. This maybe why I never purchased anything typically associated as a warm source, beyond my dalliances stated above.

The preceding is based on the assumption of warmth=tubes, but I'll also expand the question from this assumption too, in case I narrowed to much, or have made a false assumption.

I've tried jaakkopasanen AutoEq with them. Through Roon Parametric and JRiver. Which to my understanding is an EQ to bring a warmer Harmon target tuning to the SE's. I've also tried the other Delta sigmas mentioned above, in addition to a Hugo 2 which I found warmer than my current "main" setup.

Finally, before the mTT2 purchase, I found HQ Players various filters for PCM and DSD, especially DSD settings, to add a warmer tilt to my ear. The TT2 has a warm filter and roll off option too, which I've also tried. Some pure copper cables, as opposed to the rubber silver plated stocks as well.

That about covers it I think.

 

[Vangelis]

I noticed Danacable has a new reference cable called the Lazuli Reference Plus HF-SE designed specifically for the HE-1000se. I was wondering if anyone heard this newer version on the 1000se?

​

 

[migo]

I still own and listen to both, but if I were honest with myself I'd admit that the Susvara is considerably better than HEKse in almost all the ways that matter - that said, imo those that say there isn't much difference between the two just aren't powering the Susvara properly. This cannot be overstated enough, Susvara is less synergy dependant than power dependant. A good sounding midline receiver with adequate power through taps will sound better than a totl headphone amp that doesn't have enough juice and current imo. Speaker amps dramatically increase slam, soundstage, tonal weight and extension at both ends and the HEKse cannot keep up. All that said, I really like my HEKse too because it sounds good with almost any good quality amp - it'll scale too, but even moderately powered quality amps bring out its qualities.

I'm still in doubt if I should keep HEkSE or try Susvara. I've tried Susvara with my H20 amp and it was small (close to me) stage with low dynamic experience, but forgot it in low gain mode, I don't know if gain setting can make such difference. I've vintage Onkyo A8850 stereo receiver, can Susvara with this amp surpass HEkSE experience?
My HEkSE has 151h of pink noise on and stage is better now and that treble energy is not so fatiguing me that much.

 

[rreynolds]

I'm still in doubt if I should keep HEkSE or try Susvara. I've tried Susvara with my H20 amp and it was small (close to me) stage with low dynamic experience, but forgot it in low gain mode, I don't know if gain setting can make such difference. I've vintage Onkyo A8850 stereo receiver, can Susvara with this amp surpass HEkSE experience?
My HEkSE has 151h of pink noise on and stage is better now and that treble energy is not so fatiguing me that much.

Yes, gain makes a big difference. Most any, if not all headphone amps will require high gain to push the Susvara. If you're using the power output on the Onkyo, 80w per channel is more than enough.

 

[migo]

Yes, gain makes a big difference. Most any, if not all headphone amps will require high gain to push the Susvara. If you're using the power output on the Onkyo, 80w per channel is more than enough.

On low gain setting it was loud enough but dynamic and stage was not there. Gustard H20 has only +2dB gain increase, but maybe it will not current limiting Susvara on high gain mode. On this Onkyo is HP output wired from speaker output through resistor and Arya sounded great from that. I've tried speaker taps for Arya, but there was no advantage.

 

[TheAttorney]

After further tests subsequent to my Tweaks post on page 203, I now realize I had underplayed the importance of the Feilian3 port mod.
For those interested in those tweaks, I've added a postscript to that post - which now also references a postscript added to my original post in the Feilian port thread.
For those not interested, all I can say is that you have no idea how much better your HEKse can sound.

Changing the topic from the sublime to the ridiculous: I've noticed that the outer plastic skin of my original SE pads is starting to peel off, exposing the foam below. This has nothing to do with the port mod because the skin is peeling away in several places across all outer areas of the pads. Anyone else have this? It's different to the original UPS issues on V2 and V1 (the Unravelling Pad Syndrome where the plastic skin would come loose from the glue on the insides of the pads).

Inspecting the peeling skin, it's incredibly thin and flimsy, so no surprise that it's failing despite me taking good care of my headphones that have never left my main rig. I don't mind if hifiman uses ultra-cheap materials as long as they do their job well. I do mind that hifiman charges high-end replacent prices for low-end materials, so I will try to get a replacement set under warranty. On the plus side, this doesn't seem to impact SQ, and I still have a spare pair of pads that I gained last year when I had to have my SE replaced due to driver failure.

 

[Gowry]

I'm curious: Are SE owners generally content with their headphone, or does everyone have aspirations for the Susvara? If you're already at this level of HiFiMan headphones, it seems like the SE can be seen as a waystation until ending at the Susvara. And I hear mixed reports: some who have both or have heard both say the Susvara is at a whole other level, and others say they're actually pretty close, or not different enough to warrant the extra expenditure. I'm pretty happy with the SE (with EQ) for certain listening purposes, but there's always that nagging feeling/'audiophilia nervosa' nudging me to punish my wallet/savings and go for the gold, so to speak. "Welcome to Head-Fi..."

I've become pretty content with them. I know there are some things that might be better, and, while I'd like to get the Susvara, I just believe it isn't worth the added cost. The HEKse are pretty much portable due to how easy they are to power. The Susvara wouldn't just cost me a lot for the headphones, but I'd also have to get a more powerful amp than the Bryston BHA-1 that I own. Oh--and I eq. I have liked what HQPlayer and AutoEQ settings have done for them. Gonna modify the settings to Oratory's settings as that's what I seem to prefer.

Instead of Susvara I went on a spending spree for IEMs. I enjoy the "heads-down" isolation I get when listening to them.

 

[Delta9K]

Instead of Susvara I went on a spending spree for IEMs.

No worries I'm going to keep the Susvara I'm auditioning. Should help keep the universe in balance.

 

[Louisiana]

New HEKSE owner here:

Love it out of the box.

 

[wenbinbin2010]

New HEKSE owner here:


Love it out of the box.

Very clean looking setup! What cable brand and type are you using? Looks quite thick and heavy duty. I'm also curious whether the HEKse will take over the place of your HEDDphone or instead complement it.