[Rowethren]

Looks like when I get back from my holiday in 2 weeks I will be able to demo the SE at a local shop. It has been a real mission to organise though. After speaking to several shops the problem is there is no UK distributor for Hifiman apparently so all orders come direct from another country. Really not that helpful for trying to demo, hopefully they get a UK distributor sorted out especially with the whole Brexit crap looming.

 

[TheAttorney]

Does anyone have a frequency response of the SE?

I've seen one posted on the Suerbestaudiofriends..... emyrean thread, 4th page (I won't post a link). I don't know the the measurement techniques or compensation curves applied, but the big takeaway for me was a significant channel imbalance in the treble region, where the left channel had big peaks at 6khz and 12khz compared to the right. Both Empyrean and SE had broad dips around 2khz - not sure what that's about - one has to be very careful when interpreting FR measurements.

Have people really experienced a shouty nature to the v2 treble? Maybe it's my system that I'm using, but I seriously have never heard of such a smooth treble. .

No headphone has a perfect FR curve, and the HEK V2 is better than many, but it (and V1) absolutely does have a measured peak around 8khz-9khz (possibly in other places, but that's the only one that I felt necessary to EQ down). I would call it a thinness rather than shouty, but lots depends on the recording and rest of the system.

My final word on recent hifiman love/hate posts: I think it is perfectly reasonable to praise a company for the things it does well, and to criticise the things it does badly. I tend to ignore the extreme posts from either side. Whilst we shouldn't let a company get away with bad practice, we should also give praise where due. In this case, I think the SE upgrade option was one of hifiman's better decisions.

 

[STR-1]

Looks like when I get back from my holiday in 2 weeks I will be able to demo the SE at a local shop. It has been a real mission to organise though. After speaking to several shops the problem is there is no UK distributor for Hifiman apparently so all orders come direct from another country. Really not that helpful for trying to demo, hopefully they get a UK distributor sorted out especially with the whole Brexit crap looming.

There is now a UK distributor. I don’t know who they are but but was told by Hifiman when I asked about this that they have only recently been set up. Audio Samctuary (who told me about the distribution issues) and other dealers should now know about this.

 

[Rowethren]

There is now a UK distributor. I don’t know who they are but but was told by Hifiman when I asked about this that they have only recently been set up. Audio Samctuary (who told me about the distribution issues) and other dealers should now know about this.

Good to know thanks for the information. Audio Sanctuary are the ones that told me of the issue as well which is why they didn't stock the SE when I came over to test the Empyrean. I wonder if they will get a demo unit in as I can get to them from work very easily for a quick lunch time demo.

 

[marhol]

Does anyone have a frequency response of the SE?

Besides already mentioned FR curve, I´ve seen also FR curve from HEK SE review here: https://www.samma3a.com/tech/en/product-reviews/hifiman-he1000se-headphones-review/
Although other FR curves from Hifiman family are not visible perfectly (for comparison purposes) it seems HEK SE generally follows Hifiman house sound. According to these measurements HE1000 SE seems less bright than HE-6(SE) but brighter than HEX v2. (This can be said also about both previous HEK versions). I would like to see measurements of both channels as well as distortion and CSD measurements. Hopefully we will see more details in near future on some popular sites (e.g. innerfidelity has got HE1000 SE for review). I liked HE1000 v2 measurements from: https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/hifiman/12890-2/

 

[chimney189]

Okay, so clearly the SE is to be considered a brighter headphone than the HEKv2.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Okay, so clearly the SE is to be considered a brighter headphone than the HEKv2.

No it’s not.

 

[chimney189]

No it’s not.

The SE is stated to have a similar frequency response to that of the Sundara and Ananda, both of which are bright headphones.

I guess I'm really going to have to wait until I try one out.
I'm getting a lot of conflicting information.

 

[franz12]

I've seen one posted on the Suerbestaudiofriends..... emyrean thread, 4th page (I won't post a link). I don't know the the measurement techniques or compensation curves applied, but the big takeaway for me was a significant channel imbalance in the treble region, where the left channel had big peaks at 6khz and 12khz compared to the right. Both Empyrean and SE had broad dips around 2khz - not sure what that's about - one has to be very careful when interpreting FR measurements.



No headphone has a perfect FR curve, and the HEK V2 is better than many, but it (and V1) absolutely does have a measured peak around 8khz-9khz (possibly in other places, but that's the only one that I felt necessary to EQ down). I would call it a thinness rather than shouty, but lots depends on the recording and rest of the system.

My final word on recent hifiman love/hate posts: I think it is perfectly reasonable to praise a company for the things it does well, and to criticise the things it does badly. I tend to ignore the extreme posts from either side. Whilst we shouldn't let a company get away with bad practice, we should also give praise where due. In this case, I think the SE upgrade option was one of hifiman's better decisions.

I saw that post, and asked the sonarworks whether they have measured any hekse. But they said they measured quite a few hekv1 and hekv2, but never hekse. What a strange. That measurement probably might me hekv1 or hekv2.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

The SE is stated to have a similar frequency response to that of the Sundara and Ananda, both of which are bright headphones.

I guess I'm really going to have to wait until I try one out.
I'm getting a lot of conflicting information.

All Hifiman have a similar house sound, especially the higher end ones like HEX V1/V2, HEK V1/V2, Ananda, Arya, and HEKSE. But what a frequency response chart can’t tell you is the QUALITY of the treble. And as an owner of every one of those models I listed above, I can confidently tell you that the HEKV2 sounds brighter to me than the SE. I would also consider all of these models as neutral to slightly bright except for the HEX V2, which is the smoothest Hifiman model I’ve ever heard.

Also, when you say conflicting information, what do you mean? Because I’ve followed this thread from the beginning and I haven’t heard one person say the SE is brighter than the V1 or V2.

 

[chimney189]

All Hifiman have a similar house sound, especially the higher end ones like HEX V1/V2, HEK V1/V2, Ananda, Arya, and HEKSE. But what a frequency response chart can’t tell you is the QUALITY of the treble. And as an owner of every one of those models I listed above, I can confidently tell you that the HEKV2 sounds brighter to me than the SE. I would also consider all of these models as neutral to slightly bright except for the HEX V2, which is the smoothest Hifiman model I’ve ever heard.

Also, when you say conflicting information, what do you mean? Because I’ve followed this thread from the beginning and I haven’t heard one person say the SE is brighter than the V1 or V2.

From the few official reviews that I've read and/or watched it was stated that the HEKse is more of a bright headphone, and if was compared to the likes of the Sundara and Ananda (in one of the reviews), then it would definitely lean more strongly to a brighter sound signature.

Then again, brighter is not always bad. I think that the HD 800S has one of the best treble if not the best treble for my liking even though it can get fatiguing every now and then.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

From the few official reviews that I've read and/or watched it was stated that the HEKse is more of a bright headphone, and if was compared to the likes of the Sundara and Ananda (in one of the reviews), then it would definitely lean more strongly to a brighter sound signature.

Then again, brighter is not always bad. I think that the HD 800S has one of the best treble if not the best treble for my liking even though it can get fatiguing every now and then.

Official reviews? Like Major Hifi? What have people in here on this thread been saying? We’re not merchants and have no vested interest in retail. I could care less if you buy an SE or not. I’m just telling you that I’m also treble sensitive and was worried about the SE being brighter as well. But I finally made the plunge and did the upgrade, and am very glad I did. The SE treble sounds smoother and less grainy to me than the HEK V2. And the HEK V2 treble wasn’t bad to begin with. It was just a little problematic at times.

Ask @franz12 what he thinks. He just upgraded a few days ago.

 

[chimney189]

Official reviews? Like Major Hifi? What have people in here on this thread been saying? We’re not merchants and have no vested interest in retail. I could care less if you buy an SE or not. I’m just telling you that I’m also treble sensitive and was worried about the SE being brighter as well. But I finally made the plunge and did the upgrade, and am very glad I did. The SE treble sounds smoother and less grainy to me than the HEK V2. And the HEK V2 treble wasn’t bad to begin with. It was just a little problematic at times.

Ask @franz12 what he thinks. He just upgraded a few days ago.

I don't think anything is going to give me comfort until I listen to them on my gear.

 

[franz12]

Official reviews? Like Major Hifi? What have people in here on this thread been saying? We’re not merchants and have no vested interest in retail. I could care less if you buy an SE or not. I’m just telling you that I’m also treble sensitive and was worried about the SE being brighter as well. But I finally made the plunge and did the upgrade, and am very glad I did. The SE treble sounds smoother and less grainy to me than the HEK V2. And the HEK V2 treble wasn’t bad to begin with. It was just a little problematic at times.

Ask @franz12 what he thinks. He just upgraded a few days ago.

Actually, I am a new comer. I bought a HEKSE new and didn't upgrade from the HEKv2, and never heard the HEKv1 and HEKv2....

 

[chimney189]

The HiFiMAN Edition X sounds pretty nice actually