Hifiman HE1000-SE
Dec 8, 2018 at 10:22 AM Post #91 of 5,108
I've had my SE's for about a month or so, and feel the same. They are my first Hifiman 'phones, and I'm extremely impressed. I am surprised by some feelings expressed towards the company, perhaps I'll get a better handle on that over the next year or two.

From my point of view there are two reasons to dislike (or disagree with) Hifiman:
1. It feels like they had an important role in the current pricing levels of headphones. Although after spending 3000$ on a pair, you might become a bit indifferent to these sums, but they sure are high. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that in the past, and for a long period of time, the flagships cost was more towards the 1500$. Even if we take in account that money loses its value, it's still quite a jump.
2. The fact that they come up with new versions for the same products each year is not to my liking. Again, in the past it seems like flagships were flagships for a number of years before an upgrade was developed. Now you buy a 3000$ headphones and feel like you have the best one, until a year later a 'better' version comes out, for the same price. I know there is a psychological aspect to our hobby, and it's of wanting to have the 'best'; this aspect is taking a hit.
Now it's true that they give the option to upgrade, but one can't deny the hassle that comes with it.

Regarding QC issues that people talk about, I didn't experience any, but I'm sure it would have caused me to feel negative feelings, especially due to the fact that I live in a place where sending/receiving packages takes a long time.
 
Dec 8, 2018 at 11:13 AM Post #92 of 5,108
Absolutely loving my 1000se. Waiting till I get my Lazuli Reference cable in 3.5mm to do a little review for you guys. Thus far I totally agree with the sentiment others are sharing that these are indeed incredibly detailed and clear and have lots of presence at the same time. They are more engaging than my previous HE1000v2. Dare I say more “fun” :)
 
Dec 9, 2018 at 7:58 AM Post #93 of 5,108
From my point of view there are two reasons to dislike (or disagree with) Hifiman:
1. It feels like they had an important role in the current pricing levels of headphones. Although after spending 3000$ on a pair, you might become a bit indifferent to these sums, but they sure are high. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that in the past, and for a long period of time, the flagships cost was more towards the 1500$. Even if we take in account that money loses its value, it's still quite a jump.
2. The fact that they come up with new versions for the same products each year is not to my liking. Again, in the past it seems like flagships were flagships for a number of years before an upgrade was developed. Now you buy a 3000$ headphones and feel like you have the best one, until a year later a 'better' version comes out, for the same price. I know there is a psychological aspect to our hobby, and it's of wanting to have the 'best'; this aspect is taking a hit.
Now it's true that they give the option to upgrade, but one can't deny the hassle that comes with it.

Regarding QC issues that people talk about, I didn't experience any, but I'm sure it would have caused me to feel negative feelings, especially due to the fact that I live in a place where sending/receiving packages takes a long time.

Thank you for your reply, it was most informative. Since reading it I've read some other posts here and on other forums, and now I have a better understanding of HiFiman's relationship with the audiophile community. Quite a difference when compared to a company like Mrspeakers, which seems to provide a higher level of support for existing products.

Now that I'm on the HiFiman's wagon, it'll be interesting to see what this company does with this latest product, and the HE1000 series in general.
 
Dec 11, 2018 at 4:25 PM Post #95 of 5,108
How does it compare with the utopia?

To me, the SE has better upper mid and treble, but not by much. The Utopia has better resolution, you can hear more detail and texture. But they are quite close. I give the comfort nod to the SE also.

This will irritate some perhaps, but to summarize I'd say the SE has more areas where it outperforms the Utopia, but overall as a total package the Utopia is the better headphone.
 
Dec 11, 2018 at 5:18 PM Post #96 of 5,108
To me, the SE has better upper mid and treble, but not by much. The Utopia has better resolution, you can hear more detail and texture. But they are quite close. I give the comfort nod to the SE also.

This will irritate some perhaps, but to summarize I'd say the SE has more areas where it outperforms the Utopia, but overall as a total package the Utopia is the better headphone.

Can you define better upper mids and treble? What does that mean? More quantity? Fuller bodied? Is the SE as bright or brighter than the Utopia?
 
Dec 12, 2018 at 9:46 AM Post #97 of 5,108
Can you define better upper mids and treble? What does that mean? More quantity? Fuller bodied? Is the SE as bright or brighter than the Utopia?

Yes, that's about as ambiguous as a statement can get.....

As I listen and compare the two headphones, the Utopia sounds like it has a slight roll off in the upper frequencies that effects vocals and instruments. I use a Loki and apply a very small amount of increased Eq on the Midrange (third) adjustment, which starts at 2 khz, moving to just off center. On the Treble (4th) knob, which effects at 8 khz, I use about 2X the amount of adjustment increase. The Loki is not marked so I can't use anything like an amount of dB, but the overall effect is slight. For my listening, and personal taste, this additional upper frequency increase is my sweet-spot.

When I use the SE I take the Loki out of circuit (Schiit has a convenient switch on the front panel for this). The SE falls right where I want freq response to be without any Eq. I wouldn't call the SE bright at all, I would refer to it as a flatter response. It is possible to have this effect by decreased lower frequency, therefor making the upper freqs more prominent. The SE doesn't seem to do this, powerful bass and upper mid is present in abundance. Of course its all frequency levels relative to each other over the audible range and speed and dampening of drivers. I think the SE excels in this, as does the Utopia.
 
Dec 12, 2018 at 11:32 AM Post #98 of 5,108
To me, the SE has better upper mid and treble, but not by much. The Utopia has better resolution, you can hear more detail and texture. But they are quite close. I give the comfort nod to the SE also.

This will irritate some perhaps, but to summarize I'd say the SE has more areas where it outperforms the Utopia, but overall as a total package the Utopia is the better headphone.

Although I didn't had the chance to listen to the Utopia for long, I get what you're saying, but I also feel like the 'better' part regards specifically to the technicality of the pairs.
Maybe the Utopia has better resolution, details, speed, but it comes at a cost right? Smaller sound stage, more fatiguing over long sessions, etc. Eventually it comes to personal taste in my opinion. The SE still might be more pleasant/fun to listen to.

As someone who has both, are there genres of music where you'll always take one over the other?
 
Dec 15, 2018 at 10:54 PM Post #99 of 5,108
I'm one of the few lucky people who owns the hifiman he 1000's SE. I got them brand new for a very solid price. I was originally going to buy the v2's, but the guy told me ''hey the SE just came out and I have a few pairs, for 350 more you can get the SE'' it's really hard to say no to this.

So far I've owned the senn's hd700, hd800, and finally the audeze LCD 2 headphones. As a huge metal fan, obviously the LCD 2's were solid for me, and between the 3 I obviously picked the lcd 2's in the end. The day I recieved my hifiman cans, I listened to a lot of Iron Maiden songs. At first I was like, meh they're obviously better, but are they $1500++ better? But I knew that these headphones apparently took 150 hours to finish their burn-in. So for around a month I just, casually listened to my music.

After a month I did notice a big difference. It is hard to describe, but I felt like my music became somewhat punchier. Like the music was less distant. Guitars would be more present. Then, I realized the true potential of these headphones. I have the Lyr 2 powering them right now but I can't wait to upgrade for a better amp.
 
Dec 15, 2018 at 11:11 PM Post #100 of 5,108
I'm one of the few lucky people who owns the hifiman he 1000's SE. I got them brand new for a very solid price. I was originally going to buy the v2's, but the guy told me ''hey the SE just came out and I have a few pairs, for 350 more you can get the SE'' it's really hard to say no to this.

So far I've owned the senn's hd700, hd800, and finally the audeze LCD 2 headphones. As a huge metal fan, obviously the LCD 2's were solid for me, and between the 3 I obviously picked the lcd 2's in the end. The day I recieved my hifiman cans, I listened to a lot of Iron Maiden songs. At first I was like, meh they're obviously better, but are they $1500++ better? But I knew that these headphones apparently took 150 hours to finish their burn-in. So for around a month I just, casually listened to my music.

After a month I did notice a big difference. It is hard to describe, but I felt like my music became somewhat punchier. Like the music was less distant. Guitars would be more present. Then, I realized the true potential of these headphones. I have the Lyr 2 powering them right now but I can't wait to upgrade for a better amp.
I wonder what kind of sound response you prefer if you like metal, but given LCD-2 was the preferred choice, I'd guess you prefer more subdue'd rock response?

Have you tried HD6XX? I would think it would be a good recommendation for you if you like rock. The music type that stood out to me initially with it was rock, but mainly classic rock. Van Halen, Guns & Roses, Heart, Boston, etc.. I think it's because the mids pop forward, and those type of music sounds more interesting that way. I know some people like a lot of treble energy and shimmer with metal, and others subdue'd peakiness. I think you'd be the latter category?
 
Dec 15, 2018 at 11:12 PM Post #101 of 5,108
I'm one of the few lucky people who owns the hifiman he 1000's SE. I got them brand new for a very solid price. I was originally going to buy the v2's, but the guy told me ''hey the SE just came out and I have a few pairs, for 350 more you can get the SE'' it's really hard to say no to this.

So far I've owned the senn's hd700, hd800, and finally the audeze LCD 2 headphones. As a huge metal fan, obviously the LCD 2's were solid for me, and between the 3 I obviously picked the lcd 2's in the end. The day I recieved my hifiman cans, I listened to a lot of Iron Maiden songs. At first I was like, meh they're obviously better, but are they $1500++ better? But I knew that these headphones apparently took 150 hours to finish their burn-in. So for around a month I just, casually listened to my music.

After a month I did notice a big difference. It is hard to describe, but I felt like my music became somewhat punchier. Like the music was less distant. Guitars would be more present. Then, I realized the true potential of these headphones. I have the Lyr 2 powering them right now but I can't wait to upgrade for a better amp.

Get yourself a better cable. The stock cable is very limiting.
 
Dec 15, 2018 at 11:23 PM Post #102 of 5,108
I wonder what kind of sound response you prefer if you like metal, but given LCD-2 was the preferred choice, I'd guess you prefer more subdue'd rock response?

Have you tried HD6XX? I would think it would be a good recommendation for you if you like rock. The music type that stood out to me initially with it was rock, but mainly classic rock. Van Halen, Guns & Roses, Heart, Boston, etc.. I think it's because the mids pop forward, and those type of music sounds more interesting that way. I know some people like a lot of treble energy and shimmer with metal, and others subdue'd peakiness. I think you'd be the latter category?

I've had a few pairs of headphones by Senn, but not the HD6xx. I honestly believe they will never come close to the he1000 SE so I don't see the point of buying them today. Even if it's just to compare them against my LCD 2 headphones. I do like every band that you've mentioned though, especially Boston. Boston songs sound amazing with the hifiman cans. Now I got to say, I truly am new to this hobby. Go back two years ago I'd have the sennheiser 558's that I would just connect directly to my PC headphones port. But time has passed and now I do care a lot about the sound I get. Hence why I bought the he 1000se. Now I can't say what sound signature I'm into, but all I know is that I don't regret the choice i've made by buying $3000 headphones without even trying them. Where I live, only headphones that they'd put in demo are bose headphones, and maybe some sennheiser cans if you're lucky enough. What a shame!
 
Dec 15, 2018 at 11:28 PM Post #103 of 5,108
I've had a few pairs of headphones by Senn, but not the HD6xx. I honestly believe they will never come close to the he1000 SE so I don't see the point of buying them today. Even if it's just to compare them against my LCD 2 headphones. I do like every band that you've mentioned though, especially Boston. Boston songs sound amazing with the hifiman cans. Now I got to say, I truly am new to this hobby. Go back two years ago I'd have the sennheiser 558's that I would just connect directly to my PC headphones port. But time has passed and now I do care a lot about the sound I get. Hence why I bought the he 1000se. Now I can't say what sound signature I'm into, but all I know is that I don't regret the choice i've made by buying $3000 headphones without even trying them. Where I live, only headphones that they'd put in demo are bose headphones, and maybe some sennheiser cans if you're lucky enough. What a shame!
I can tell you right now that my recommendation isn't about speaking performance, as they perform differently. I think HD6XX is worth a shot given that it's inexpensive comparatively, and can provide a musical experience which is different from technical. This is my experience in the music types I've listed. There's no reason to under estimate it's performance due to it's price. If you have a good setup, it performs at a good technical level.
 
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Dec 15, 2018 at 11:32 PM Post #104 of 5,108
I can tell you right now that my recommendation isn't about speaking performance, as they perform differently. I think HD6XX is worth a shot given that it's inexpensive comparatively, and can provide a musical experience which is different from technical. This is my experience in the music types I've listed. There's no reason to under estimate it's performance due to it's price. If you have a good setup, it performs at a good technical level.

That, I completely agree. I will check them out. If I sell the other pairs of headphones I have, I will probably need a 2nd pair in some near future, and the HD6xx might just be perfect for me. I will take your word for it.
 

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