[thecrow]

I dont know about the V2 but the improvement from V1 to SE worth every penny , the V1 sounded extra laid back ( almost veiled and lifeless ) when i compared both at the same time ,
, i rank the SE in another level over the V1, not sure if the V2 is as laid back as the V1.

I found the v2 sits in the middle

 

[nishan99]

He is my HE1000SE ($3.5k) vs ZMF Verite ($2.5k) impressions after 2 weeks of the HEKSE arrival:

• The HEKSE is more comfortable thanks to their light weight
• The Verite is way better built and feels like a real fancy product
• The Verite has much mmmuch better stock cable
• The HEKSE is more detailed in the bass and treble
• The Verite has more natural timbre and sweeter sounding
• The HEKSE is slightly V-shaped favoring the treble
• The Verite is slightly darker sounding with a dipped upper mids but still has way more accurate frequency response (Verite lamb pads)
• The HEKSE has more peaks and dips requiring a more complex EQ
• The Verite has noticeable better imaging and deeper soundstage
• The HEKSE has slightly wider and taller SS with bigger sound images (things sound big)
• The HEKSE has much better subbass extension and power
• The HEKSE is the most open sounding headphones that I've listened to.

Without EQ I would not recommend the HEKSE, it sounds off without it.
Here is my current EQ settings for both to make them more natural/warmish sounding

The Verite:

The HEKSE

 

[sahmen]

Well I have been using my HeKSE without any kind of EQ, and it sounds fantastic. I agree though that the stock cable is trash and needs to be changed, but .with the right aftermarket cable, the HeKSE is simply bonkers good. Full disclosure : I use three different Norne Audio cables with the HeKSE in balanced mode, and they're all great with it : the silvergarde S, the Silvergarde S3, and the Draug V3.

So I find that EQing on the HeKSE is completely unnecessary, but YMMV, of course.

I used the same range of cables with my Audeze cans too, and that provides a nice spread of sound quality varieties that complement each other well among the cans in my stable. Ironically, it is with the Audeze Headphones that I sometimes do any EQ'ing, but that is simply because Audeze itself provides EQ filters for those headphones via roon, or their own AudezeHQ / Reveal software, which I really do not need to enjoy the headphones, anyway..

 

[mixman]

He is my HE1000SE ($3.5k) vs ZMF Verite ($2.5k) impressions after 2 weeks of the HEKSE arrival:

• The HEKSE is more comfortable thanks to their light weight
• The Verite is way better built and feels like a real fancy product
• The Verite has much mmmuch better stock cable
• The HEKSE is more detailed in the bass and treble
• The Verite has more natural timbre and sweeter sounding
• The HEKSE is slightly V-shaped favoring the treble
• The Verite is slightly darker sounding with a dipped upper mids but still has way more accurate frequency response (Verite lamb pads)
• The HEKSE has more peaks and dips requiring a more complex EQ
• The Verite has noticeable better imaging and deeper soundstage
• The HEKSE has slightly wider and taller SS with bigger sound images (things sound big)
• The HEKSE has much better subbass extension and power
• The HEKSE is the most open sounding headphones that I've listened to.

Without EQ I would not recommend the HEKSE, it sounds off without it.
Here is my current EQ settings for both to make them more natural/warmish sounding

The Verite:

The HEKSE

I agree with many of your impressions but would add the Verite FR is known to be a bit uneven also. Since I don't EQ, I can live with the SE as is. I just look on the two as different sounding and complimentary HP's.

Well I have been using my HeKSE without any kind of EQ, and it sounds fantastic. I agree though that the stock cable is trash and needs to be changed, but .with the fight aftermarket cable, the HeKSE is simply bonkers good. Full disclosure : I use three different Norne Audio cables with the HeKSE in balanced mode, and they're all great with it : the silvergarde S, the Silvergarde S3, and the Draug V3.

So I find that EQing on the HeKSE is completely unnecessary, but YMMV, of course.

I used the same range of cables with my Audeze cans too, and that provides a nice spread of sound quality varieties that complement each other well among the cans in my stable. Ironically, it is with the Audeze Headphones that I sometimes do any EQ'ing, but that is simply because Audeze itself provides EQ filters for those headphones via roon, or their own AudezeHQ / Reveal software, which I really do not need to enjoy the headphones, anyway..

Same feeling if I felt had to EQ the SE it would be gone. While the SE can be a touch bright, there are other ways to offset that such as warmer amps and as you mentioned different cables.

 

[JaZZ]

Same feeling if I felt had to EQ the SE it would be gone. While the SE can be a touch bright, there are other ways to offset that such as warmer amps and as you mentioned different cables.

Equalizing is not a sin – but the very best way for perfecting every headphone on the planet (since none sounds neutral), much better than using amplifier colorations (= harmonic distortion) for this task, which will only mask the flaws instead of fixing them. Cables on the other hand are a useful tool for fine-tuning, but they can't really equalize tonal aberrations. That said, the original cable indeed needs to be replaced (e.g. with the Lavricables Grand).

Here's my current EQ curve:

Yes, I'm surprised myself how much of an upper-treble boost the Wave Storm cable between M Scaler and DAVE has made necessary. All this due to the removal of RFI a.k.a. treble sparkle.

 

[mixman]

Equalizing is not a sin – but the very best way for perfecting every headphone on the planet (since none sounds neutral), much better than using amplifier colorations (= harmonic distortion) for this task, which will only mask the flaws instead of fixing them. Cables on the other hand are a useful tool for fine-tuning, but they can't really equalize tonal aberrations. That said, the original cable indeed needs to be replaced (e.g. with the Lavricables Grand).

Here's my current EQ curve:



Yes, I'm surprised myself how much of an upper-treble boost the Wave Storm cable between M Scaler and DAVE has made necessary. All this due to the removal of RFI a.k.a. treble sparkle.

Not a sin, but I come from a more purist way of thinking. If you are going to EQ get the measured FR from your HP and do it right. Flatten the peaks and valleys according to that measured response. I see many here just EQ willy nilly and do it according to what they feel and hear, which for the most part most likely creates more problems than it solves.

 

[JaZZ]

Not a sin, but I come from a more purist way of thinking. If you are going to EQ get the measured FR from your HP and do it right. Flatten the peaks and valleys according to that measured response. I see many here just EQ willy nilly and do it according to what they feel and hear, which for the most part most likely creates more problems than it solves.

Which «measured FR» are you talking about? I have used a few sources as guidelines in the past (not just for the HE1000[se]), but the deviations among them are so massive that it's impossible to draw any conclusion as to which is the most reliable and how my compensations have to look. Of course I still search for as much graphs as I can (building a curve from scratch can be insanely time consuming and is full of meanders), but in the end it's my own perception that counts – and I don't take it easy.

Here's the first one of the few I found that I considered passably usable (from Headphones.com):

And here's a FR graph that I received from another Head-Fi member who received it from HiFiMan (I had to rectify it, as originally it was «3D»):

The second curve is clearly uncompensated, unlike the first. You know that the compensation curves aren't standardized, everyone uses one that he or she finds the most plausible – although most of the serious measuring persons base their compensation curves on Harman or Olive-Welti.

So which of the above is the more reliable? I've come to the conclusion that none of them can be trusted. When I had the HiFiMan curve at my disposal, I was eager to try it as a template, but I mistrusted it from the start. First it seemed to work well, but that soon changed again. The only two elements that I've found to be passably trustworthy is the drop-off below 40 Hz and the drop-off in the extreme treble. One must be aware that the response above ~7 kHz can't be reliably measured (as explained by Tyll, among others) anyway, so all that's left is to use your own ears.

I consider myself a purist as well – that's why I have chosen a signal path as direct as possible and not amplifier colorations serving as equalizing (or rather masking) tools. The resulting unvarnishedness calls for an over-all amplitude response (with the headphone as the main issue) as flat as possible, otherwise the sound can be unbearable. Also, I'm extremely sensitive to amplitude-related tonal flaws myself, so equalizing is the only valid purist approach in my book. Accepting tonal flaws is a flawed interpretation of pusism.

 

[GU1DO]

Well I have been using my HeKSE without any kind of EQ, and it sounds fantastic. I agree though that the stock cable is trash and needs to be changed, but .with the right aftermarket cable, the HeKSE is simply bonkers good. Full disclosure : I use three different Norne Audio cables with the HeKSE in balanced mode, and they're all great with it : the silvergarde S, the Silvergarde S3, and the Draug V3.

So I find that EQing on the HeKSE is completely unnecessary, but YMMV, of course.

I used the same range of cables with my Audeze cans too, and that provides a nice spread of sound quality varieties that complement each other well among the cans in my stable. Ironically, it is with the Audeze Headphones that I sometimes do any EQ'ing, but that is simply because Audeze itself provides EQ filters for those headphones via roon, or their own AudezeHQ / Reveal software, which I really do not need to enjoy the headphones, anyway..

I am expecting Draug V3 within few days and i can't wait to compare it to my Kimber axios cable , though the axios is really good but i wanted to explore other more popular options and Norne Audio was at the top , also same here i dont think the HEKse need any EQ just alittle burning and good DAC/AMP.

 

[471724]

I recently got the HeKSE, and was blown away by its extreme resolution and transparency. Unfortunately, the headphone right channel has started to intermittently drop out momentarily. After some troubleshooting I'm sure it's not the source, DAC, amp or cables. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[JaZZ]

I recently got the HeKSE, and was blown away by its extreme resolution and transparency. Unfortunately, the headphone right channel has started to intermittently drop out momentarily. After some troubleshooting I'm sure it's not the source, DAC, amp or cables. Has anyone else had this problem?

Yes, the right channel did what yours did, caused by an increasingly bad contact in the earpiece socket. It was with the original HE1000, though. When the defect started, a temporary fix was possible by gently wiggling and turning the plug in the socket, but toward the end it was hard do get any sound at all → time for a warranty exchange (against the «se» as part of the upgrade program).

 

[TheAttorney]

Looking at the various FR graphs and EQ settings in the above few posts, it seems to me that there is no consistency here that any of us can take for granted.
E.g.nishan99's EQ has INCREASED the area around 8Khz, wereas JaZZ has DECREASED much the same area.
Both V1 and V2 versions were known to have a peak around 8Khz, so I'm inclined to follow JaZZ on this one, but I repeat my earlier posts that the SE is the first headphone that I've felt doesn't need EQ to sound about right.
That's not to say that it's perfect - just not essential to EQ. I've found that changes to the source and cables (upstream of the DAC) can have as much impact on perceived tonal qualities as anything else in the chain.

On another matter, my SE's RH driver failed after a few months. Initially intermittently, then totally after a few days. Various tests meant that I was 100% sure it was not any other component, and 99% sure it was not the plug/socket connection. So it must have been a poor connection downstream of the socket, or maybe the driver itself. I'll probably never know becuase hifiman sent me a brand new set under warranty.

It's annoying that the driver/connector failed (the 4th example I've seen on this thread now - why always the RHS?), but credit where due: hifiman customer support were very good at arranging (via email) a replacement.
Note that I had to pay shipping to my local centre in France. I only needed to send the bare headphones (not the pads, cables or presentation box). In return, I got a brand new pair back from China, with pads and in a presentation box. So I now have a spare set of pads for the inevitable next time the unravelling pads issue arises.

 

[JaZZ]

Looking at the various FR graphs and EQ settings in the above few posts, it seems to me that there is no consistency here that any of us can take for granted.
E.g.nishan99's EQ has INCREASED the area around 8Khz, wereas JaZZ has DECREASED much the same area.
Both V1 and V2 versions were known to have a peak around 8Khz, so I'm inclined to follow JaZZ on this one, but I repeat my earlier posts that the SE is the first headphone that I've felt doesn't need EQ to sound about right.
That's not to say that it's perfect - just not essential to EQ. I've found that changes to the source and cables (upstream of the DAC) can have as much impact on perceived tonal qualities as anything else in the chain.

Good points, Attorney!

In fact I also felt that the HE1000se is one of the very few headphones that sound decently satisfying without equalizing. As I hear it, it's because of a good balance between lows, mids and highs and the lack of irritating resonances, certainly a merit of the pronounced openness.

However, the perfectionist in me wants more than that, also in view of an unforgiving system that not just reveals the tiniest flaws, but also rewards for an amplitude (and phase!) response that gets it closer to perfect neutrality. The compensation curve that I have to apply speaks for a «factory setting» that still suffers from rather massive tonal aberrations (to and with my ears, mind you!).

 

[thecrow]

i have recently been (surprisingly) very impressed with how the hekse sounds like straight out of my ipad mini (stock 3.5mm cable)

I will have to sit and compare it the ipad mini with my metrum hex dac /auralic taurus setup because without a side by side comparison the ipad mini/hekse is great whilst kicking back/chilling out/ browsing the ipad mini

 

[Roybenz]

i have recently been (surprisingly) very impressed with how the hekse sounds like straight out of my ipad mini (stock 3.5mm cable)

I will have to sit and compare it the ipad mini with my metrum hex dac /auralic taurus setup because without a side by side comparison the ipad mini/hekse is great whilst kicking back/chilling out/ browsing the ipad mini

I recently tried my lcd4 and z1r's out of my ipad pro 3,5mm and i am shocked over how good it sounds. I really cant understand that the sound is so close to my desktop setup of chord qutest and moon 430had. It sure sounds lager and more "calm" but its not a night and day difference as i would expect. This meaning that ipad really are descent as source. This was with Roon. Tidal app doesnt give as high volume as roon does.

Please write back when you have tested A-B with your setup

 

[bagwell359]

Equalizing is not a sin – but the very best way for perfecting every headphone on the planet (since none sounds neutral)

That's an opinion, not a fact.