Been burning in the SE for the past 10 days each night while I sleep and while I’m away at work... guys please make sure you let this headphone burn in before making any critical assessment... WOW. I feel kinda bad for even offering my thoughts prematurely.
I loved it out of the box and after a few days of burn in I estimated about 5% improvement, but after about 100-150 hours of burn-in I can confidently say that the improvement to my ears is about 8-10% better. Sounds crazy but I swear. Easiest way to describe it is that the entire sound has just bloomed. Everything is smooth but defined, the stage is bigger, smoother highs, lower lows, full mids. Maybe this is standard across headphones after burn-in, but I’ve never experienced it quite to this extent. It’s kinda like any tool I’ve ever had that was top of the line and built with extremely tight tolerances and after some use became smooth as butter.
The soundstage in particular I’m impressed with because at first it felt a touch closed in compared to the HEKv2. This made for amazing imaging/3D but I missed a little bit of the openness. Well after burn-in it’s right where it needs to be. Not as big as the HEKv2 but not in any way compressed. Also, I really can’t believe how lifelike instruments sound. Piano, violin, guitar, drums, horns, bells etc. The portrayal of instruments is just so real and organic. The details are spot on while treble never getting harsh, the mids are meaty while never bloated. The bass reaches low but never boomy. It’s just perfectly balanced. However I can absolutely say that for some that may like some elements of their sound accentuated this is probably not the headphone for you. If you like a balanced, controlled, composed sound with depth, texture, realism and that still has great energy then get the SE. That element of energy is one things I’m finding really separates the HEKse from the HEKv2. Loved the HEKv2 but by comparison now it feels almost a bit too polite with certain music like rock and hip-hop.
Apologies for my enthusiasm but that’s just how I am when I like something and it really comes together for me after a lot of effort. I’ve been listening to pop, jazz, blues, classic rock and classical for the past two hours and I’m in sound heaven!
I’m using both the stock cable and the Lazuli Reference cable terminated in 3.5mm. Most of my comments on how I feel about the SE are with me using the Lazuli Reference.
While I hate the rubbery texture/feel of the stock cable, it actually compliments the SE very well and I can see many people being content with it. I am very pleasantly surprised. Since the SE has great sensitivity I’ve been listening very contently directly from my phone in bed at night which I never even dreamt of doing with the HEKv2. However, the Lazuli Reference adds greater balance, composure and depth to the sound that I really enjoy. I would say if you want a little more treble energy to the sound plug in the stock cable and if you want what I consider the perfect reference sound use the Lazuli Refence.
I was checking throughout the burn-in process. I never just burn-I’m and wait, it too hard not to listen. So my burn in always involves me listening as I’m able throughout. So after roughly 150 hours there was a nice jump in sound quality to my ear.