[martel80]

Okay so I received my HE1000SE today and I compared it with my Arya Organic. And i'm really excited i'm gona be honest I think it's a really long time ago I have been this excited when it came to soundquality.

I'm in no way a professional reviewer so my appologies if I would describe some things unclear and i'll only give my impressions about the Sound.
Just wanted to add also I was very impressed with the Arya Organic, and I think it was a small step up compared to the Arya stealth and a significant step up to the Edition XS.

So here we go HE1000SE vs Arya organic:

Clarity of the HE1000SE is superior in a big leap, no competition here compared to the Organic: notes, strings, voices everything sound. Hard to give a percentage but I would give it a solid 15-20% more transparancy.
Notes have more weight, guitars have more body, sound fuller, voices sounding fuller, more textured, more layering for the HE1000SE compared to the Organic.

Treble: HE1000SE sounding smoother while remaining more detailed, Organic might give the impressions retreiving more micro details but in a Artificial way if that makes sense. I compared here several times between the two, HE1000SE is giving same amount of details in treble. I would give a Tie here in this compartiment

Mids: Organic is very well refined in this area, but HE1000SE is even even more refined here, it wins in it's transparency and fuller notes imo it's sounding lusher. Organic sounds nice and warm, HE1000SE sounds sweet and full both are very good here. But i'm giving the HE1000SE a win for my personal taste.

Bass: I was not expecting this but the HE1000SE is rocking hard, no competition here, HE1000SE takes the lead with deeper and fuller bass, more controlled and more in quantity at the same time. I can push my EQ much further without bleeding in other frequencies on the HE1000SE than I can do on the Organic. Maybe it beats even my Audeze in this area? i'm confused

Soundstage Depth: I might sound already like a fanboy, sorry about that but again no competition here in soundstage depth the HE1000SE wins in holography, every note is floating around you while the Organic does the same but in a smaller scale and with bit less "floating", more intimate, the Organic sounds like a medium sized studio the HE1000SE sounds like a hall concert.

Soundstage width: HE1000SE sounds very open here, wide, much wider than the Organic and even wider than the Edition XS (Which was until now the widest soundstage headphone I had).

I think for me it's clear which one wins, i'll send the Organic back and keep the HE1000SE without any hesitation.
I bought the HE1000SE for 1750€ refurbished and I wanted to thank hifiman to send me a decent pair, it looks like new to be honest. Knowing I have 3 year warranty on the HE1000SE it's a no brainer for me.

If you ask my honest opinion: The organic is still a very good headphone, but for 300€ more you have a HE1000SE which is in my opinion more superior and more refined in every way.

Great review. You’re tempting me a lot.

Question here. Would you say that , to an extent, the width and depth (what you describe as cathedral) is unnatural in certain circumstances?

Which type of songs have you listened to with the HEKse ?

I’m an Ananda Nano user looking to upgrade. I use them for critical listening ( mix and master )

Best,

 

[ardilla]

Okay so I received my HE1000SE today and I compared it with my Arya Organic. And i'm really excited i'm gona be honest I think it's a really long time ago I have been this excited when it came to soundquality.

I'm in no way a professional reviewer so my appologies if I would describe some things unclear and i'll only give my impressions about the Sound.
Just wanted to add also I was very impressed with the Arya Organic, and I think it was a small step up compared to the Arya stealth and a significant step up to the Edition XS.

So here we go HE1000SE vs Arya organic:

Clarity of the HE1000SE is superior in a big leap, no competition here compared to the Organic: notes, strings, voices everything sound. Hard to give a percentage but I would give it a solid 15-20% more transparancy.
Notes have more weight, guitars have more body, sound fuller, voices sounding fuller, more textured, more layering for the HE1000SE compared to the Organic.

Treble: HE1000SE sounding smoother while remaining more detailed, Organic might give the impressions retreiving more micro details but in a Artificial way if that makes sense. I compared here several times between the two, HE1000SE is giving same amount of details in treble. I would give a Tie here in this compartiment

Mids: Organic is very well refined in this area, but HE1000SE is even even more refined here, it wins in it's transparency and fuller notes imo it's sounding lusher. Organic sounds nice and warm, HE1000SE sounds sweet and full both are very good here. But i'm giving the HE1000SE a win for my personal taste.

Bass: I was not expecting this but the HE1000SE is rocking hard, no competition here, HE1000SE takes the lead with deeper and fuller bass, more controlled and more in quantity at the same time. I can push my EQ much further without bleeding in other frequencies on the HE1000SE than I can do on the Organic. Maybe it beats even my Audeze in this area? i'm confused

Soundstage Depth: I might sound already like a fanboy, sorry about that but again no competition here in soundstage depth the HE1000SE wins in holography, every note is floating around you while the Organic does the same but in a smaller scale and with bit less "floating", more intimate, the Organic sounds like a medium sized studio the HE1000SE sounds like a hall concert.

Soundstage width: HE1000SE sounds very open here, wide, much wider than the Organic and even wider than the Edition XS (Which was until now the widest soundstage headphone I had).

I think for me it's clear which one wins, i'll send the Organic back and keep the HE1000SE without any hesitation.
I bought the HE1000SE for 1750€ refurbished and I wanted to thank hifiman to send me a decent pair, it looks like new to be honest. Knowing I have 3 year warranty on the HE1000SE it's a no brainer for me.

If you ask my honest opinion: The organic is still a very good headphone, but for 300€ more you have a HE1000SE which is in my opinion more superior and more refined in every way.

Nice comparison What was your amp/s?

 

[TheAbyss2022]

Okay so I received my HE1000SE today and I compared it with my Arya Organic. And i'm really excited i'm gona be honest I think it's a really long time ago I have been this excited when it came to soundquality.

I'm in no way a professional reviewer so my appologies if I would describe some things unclear and i'll only give my impressions about the Sound.
Just wanted to add also I was very impressed with the Arya Organic, and I think it was a small step up compared to the Arya stealth and a significant step up to the Edition XS.

So here we go HE1000SE vs Arya organic:

Clarity of the HE1000SE is superior in a big leap, no competition here compared to the Organic: notes, strings, voices everything sound. Hard to give a percentage but I would give it a solid 15-20% more transparancy.
Notes have more weight, guitars have more body, sound fuller, voices sounding fuller, more textured, more layering for the HE1000SE compared to the Organic.

Treble: HE1000SE sounding smoother while remaining more detailed, Organic might give the impressions retreiving more micro details but in a Artificial way if that makes sense. I compared here several times between the two, HE1000SE is giving same amount of details in treble. I would give a Tie here in this compartiment

Mids: Organic is very well refined in this area, but HE1000SE is even even more refined here, it wins in it's transparency and fuller notes imo it's sounding lusher. Organic sounds nice and warm, HE1000SE sounds sweet and full both are very good here. But i'm giving the HE1000SE a win for my personal taste.

Bass: I was not expecting this but the HE1000SE is rocking hard, no competition here, HE1000SE takes the lead with deeper and fuller bass, more controlled and more in quantity at the same time. I can push my EQ much further without bleeding in other frequencies on the HE1000SE than I can do on the Organic. Maybe it beats even my Audeze in this area? i'm confused

Soundstage Depth: I might sound already like a fanboy, sorry about that but again no competition here in soundstage depth the HE1000SE wins in holography, every note is floating around you while the Organic does the same but in a smaller scale and with bit less "floating", more intimate, the Organic sounds like a medium sized studio the HE1000SE sounds like a hall concert.

Soundstage width: HE1000SE sounds very open here, wide, much wider than the Organic and even wider than the Edition XS (Which was until now the widest soundstage headphone I had).

I think for me it's clear which one wins, i'll send the Organic back and keep the HE1000SE without any hesitation.
I bought the HE1000SE for 1750€ refurbished and I wanted to thank hifiman to send me a decent pair, it looks like new to be honest. Knowing I have 3 year warranty on the HE1000SE it's a no brainer for me.

If you ask my honest opinion: The organic is still a very good headphone, but for 300€ more you have a HE1000SE which is in my opinion more superior and more refined in every way.

In terms of bass my conclusion compared to the LCD 4 is that the HEKSE delivers better clarity/texture whilst hitting harder into the sub-bass but the LCD 4 has the mid bass and dynamic punch that hits you in the back of the head like a train.

 

[fedebenji]

Okay so I received my HE1000SE today and I compared it with my Arya Organic. And i'm really excited i'm gona be honest I think it's a really long time ago I have been this excited when it came to soundquality.

I'm in no way a professional reviewer so my appologies if I would describe some things unclear and i'll only give my impressions about the Sound.
Just wanted to add also I was very impressed with the Arya Organic, and I think it was a small step up compared to the Arya stealth and a significant step up to the Edition XS.

So here we go HE1000SE vs Arya organic:

Clarity of the HE1000SE is superior in a big leap, no competition here compared to the Organic: notes, strings, voices everything sound. Hard to give a percentage but I would give it a solid 15-20% more transparancy.
Notes have more weight, guitars have more body, sound fuller, voices sounding fuller, more textured, more layering for the HE1000SE compared to the Organic.

Treble: HE1000SE sounding smoother while remaining more detailed, Organic might give the impressions retreiving more micro details but in a Artificial way if that makes sense. I compared here several times between the two, HE1000SE is giving same amount of details in treble. I would give a Tie here in this compartiment

Mids: Organic is very well refined in this area, but HE1000SE is even even more refined here, it wins in it's transparency and fuller notes imo it's sounding lusher. Organic sounds nice and warm, HE1000SE sounds sweet and full both are very good here. But i'm giving the HE1000SE a win for my personal taste.

Bass: I was not expecting this but the HE1000SE is rocking hard, no competition here, HE1000SE takes the lead with deeper and fuller bass, more controlled and more in quantity at the same time. I can push my EQ much further without bleeding in other frequencies on the HE1000SE than I can do on the Organic. Maybe it beats even my Audeze in this area? i'm confused

Soundstage Depth: I might sound already like a fanboy, sorry about that but again no competition here in soundstage depth the HE1000SE wins in holography, every note is floating around you while the Organic does the same but in a smaller scale and with bit less "floating", more intimate, the Organic sounds like a medium sized studio the HE1000SE sounds like a hall concert.

Soundstage width: HE1000SE sounds very open here, wide, much wider than the Organic and even wider than the Edition XS (Which was until now the widest soundstage headphone I had).

I think for me it's clear which one wins, i'll send the Organic back and keep the HE1000SE without any hesitation.
I bought the HE1000SE for 1750€ refurbished and I wanted to thank hifiman to send me a decent pair, it looks like new to be honest. Knowing I have 3 year warranty on the HE1000SE it's a no brainer for me.

If you ask my honest opinion: The organic is still a very good headphone, but for 300€ more you have a HE1000SE which is in my opinion more superior and more refined in every way.

That is the comparison I was looking for! Thanks
Would you say that the experience of perceiving the instruments in the space in front/around you and their "shape" and "weight" in a 3-dimensional space is a great improvement with the HE1000SE?

I'm struggling to choose from one of the two (the refurbished HE1000SE isn't that much more expensive).

Thanks!

 

[jody2k]

Nice comparison What was your amp/s?

I used the ifi hip-dac2 and because i'm impressed by this little powerhouse I also ordered the ifi hip-dac 3 i'll compare the 2 to check if there is really a difference.
I'm also tempted to use higer end dedicated headphone amp in the future with this headphone though as I feel it scales well with your source.

Great review. You’re tempting me a lot.

Question here. Would you say that , to an extent, the width and depth (what you describe as cathedral) is unnatural in certain circumstances?

Which type of songs have you listened to with the HEKse ?

I’m an Ananda Nano user looking to upgrade. I use them for critical listening ( mix and master )

Best,

No nothing sounded unnatural to me with the HE1000SE, the organic in comparison the upper treble sounded a bit too hot/unnatural in my opinion but yeah that's just me nitpicking I think. Looking at the curve for mixing mastering I think the HE1000SE the more accurate one if you lookup the Harman curve. Haven't tried the Nano but my edition XS is comparable to the Nano and the HE1000SE is just leaps ahead of my edition XS (so was the organic too).

That is the comparison I was looking for! Thanks
Would you say that the experience of perceiving the instruments in the space in front/around you and their "shape" and "weight" in a 3-dimensional space is a great improvement with the HE1000SE?

I'm struggling to choose from one of the two (the refurbished HE1000SE isn't that much more expensive).

Thanks!

Yeah the Organic has the same 3 dimensional space but like 20% "smaller" compared to the HE1000SE I would say, they share alot of simelarities though tone wise. But the HE1000SE has clearly bigger soundstage compared to the Organic as for width and for depth both. The stage is just massive for a headphone

 

[martel80]

I used the ifi hip-dac2 and because i'm impressed by this little powerhouse I also ordered the ifi hip-dac 3 i'll compare the 2 to check if there is really a difference.
I'm also tempted to use higer end dedicated headphone amp in the future with this headphone though as I feel it scales well with your source.

No nothing sounded unnatural to me with the HE1000SE, the organic in comparison the upper treble sounded a bit too hot/unnatural in my opinion but yeah that's just me nitpicking I think. Looking at the curve for mixing mastering I think the HE1000SE the more accurate one if you lookup the Harman curve. Haven't tried the Nano but my edition XS is comparable to the Nano and the HE1000SE is just leaps ahead of my edition XS (so was the organic too).


Yeah the Organic has the same 3 dimensional space but like 20% "smaller" compared to the HE1000SE I would say, they share alot of simelarities though tone wise. But the HE1000SE has clearly bigger soundstage compared to the Organic as for width and for depth both. The stage is just massive for a headphone

Thanks for that answer. We’re not using the Harman curve.

How about the soundstage? Which of the organic or HE K is more natural ?

 

[morpheus69]

Thanks for that answer. We’re not using the Harman curve.

How about the soundstage? Which of the organic or HE K is more natural ?

The HEKs all have a good stage. The HE1000se presents a holographic imaging, you will feel it around you and in front.

 

[TheAbyss2022]

The HEKs all have a good stage. The HE1000se presents a holographic imaging, you will feel it around you and in front.

And if you want to fully maximise the HEKSE's holographic soundstage then I would recommend running tubes.

 

[jody2k]

And if you want to fully maximise the HEKSE's holographic soundstage then I would recommend running tubes.

Interesting, which tube amp would you recommend?

 

[martel80]

The HEKs all have a good stage. The HE1000se presents a holographic imaging, you will feel it around you and in front.

Around me ? Sounds like artificial soundstage like on the HD800 to me.

I really need to have a listen by myself .

Thanks for the pointers.

 

[morpheus69]

Around me ? Sounds like artificial soundstage like on the HD800 to me.

I really need to have a listen by myself .

Thanks for the pointers.

It's like you are standing with the band, not the band wearing you like clothes

 

[martel80]

It's like you are standing with the band, not the band wearing you like clothes

On my Q701, when I listen to some
Classical music, I have the impression of being in the center of the orchestra with some instruments being at about 20 degrees behind on each side. That, to me, is an unnatural soundstage and makes it hard for me to place instrument in a natural way when mixing for a generic playback system as it is over exaggerated.

Are you hearing stuff that seems to come a bit from a back angle when listening with the HEK?

I know the HD800 does that as well.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

I'd say that sometimes behind-ear imaging is also common with the HiFiMan Arya Stealth and Meze Elite and probably many others, at least for my ears. And with my recent foray into actual studio monitors and using software and HRTF measurements to simulate anechoic listening to a virtual stereo triangle, all headphones without perfect stereo crossfeed matching your HRTF are going to have "unnatural imaging". "Natural" imaging to me as mixed in the studio is a stereo field a few feet if not meters (hard to simulate with my current HRTF measurements using a speaker positioned 1.5 m away) with everything clearly panned between two virtual sound sources. Once you hear real stereo imaging as originally mixed and hence "intended" rather than how headphones wrap that image between your ears and maybe a bit in front of your eyes or forehead, there's no going back. But I do admit that early on, at least one recording played through my EQed Arya Stealth did astound me with the sense of being on the stage with the orchestra, but I still consider that to be fundamentally a distortion of the intended sonic image which I'd say with speakers only regards stereo width, the distance from those speakers, and the imaging sharpness or diffuseness as affected by the speaker directivity and the room acoustics. As for my binaural head-tracking setup, I can say that I did recently hear a recording that somehow finally relayed a more convincing sense of the sounds coming from beyond the wall right in front of me while still being tonally balanced, full, and rich.

 

[martel80]

Definitely.

Some cans are just more prone to this exaggerated soundstage and in a quest to get something that fits one need, it is something that someone need to get in consideration.

I’m Not saying that everyone has my taste and expectation. And crossfeed can be achieved with plugins in the mixing process if needed.

I know my ananda nano are not exaggerating the soundstage like my Q701 does. They stay in the realms of natural when compared to my monitoring setup which keeps me in known and controlled territory. That help work faster and make decision with more confidence .

 

[TheAbyss2022]

Interesting, which tube amp would you recommend?

Depends on your budget?