[marhol]

Maybe it's not a measurement of the se version, but it is still troubling that any headphone - which has not been damaged after it left the factory - would show such an imbalance.
If I buy the headphone, I will make sure that both drivers are being tested for an imbalance and that a driver imbalance will be a reason to cancel the deal.

Certainly. Hifiman headphones are usually very good (regardless of price) concerning driver imbalances but one can never be 100% sure... Assuming you are living in Germany - EU there is a possibility to send these headphones to Sonarworks for proper evaluation(if you eventually buy them). Sonarworks company resides in Latvia - EU and charges are more or less reasonable. See: https://store.sonarworks.com/products/individual-headphone-calibration for further reference.

 

[Tekunda]

Both electrostatic and planar headphones need a driver made from mylar or some other polymer material.
And these drivers need a certain tension. And this might be the tricky part.
Both drivers must have the exact same tension, otherwise you end up with an imbalance in sound pressure.
To get the tension right is probably pretty tricky. Most of the time the mylar foil is glued to the strators. Now just imganine the glue giving way just a few nanometers and you immediately have an inbalance.
No wonder that Final Audio with its D8000 headphones proudly mentions on their website that they have invested in expensive machinery to do this stretching and fastening of the foil in an automated process. Maybe not all manufactures go to such great lengths with their mylar foil tightening process?

 

[Tekunda]

Certainly. Hifiman headphones are usually very good (regardless of price) concerning driver imbalances but one can never be 100% sure... Assuming you are living in Germany - EU there is a possibility to send these headphones to Sonarworks for proper evaluation(if you eventually buy them). Sonarworks company resides in Latvia - EU and charges are more or less reasonable. See: https://store.sonarworks.com/products/individual-headphone-calibration for further reference.

Thanks, good to know!

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Both electrostatic and planar headphones need a driver made from mylar or some other polymer material.
And these drivers need a certain tension. And this might be the tricky part.
Both drivers must have the exact same tension, otherwise you end up with an imbalance in sound pressure.
To get the tension right is probably pretty tricky. Most of the time the mylar foil is glued to the strators. Now just imganine the glue giving way just a few nanometers and you immediately have an inbalance.
No wonder that Final Audio with its D8000 headphones proudly mentions on their website that they have invested in expensive machinery to do this stretching and fastening of the foil in an automated process. Maybe not all manufactures go to such great lengths with their mylar foil tightening process?

And the Final D8000 are awesome! I have them and the HEKse. Both are amazing!

 

[Tekunda]

And the Final D8000 are awesome! I have them and the HEKse. Both are amazing!

What is it what you like about the D8000 better than about the HEKse and vice versa?

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

What is it what you like about the D8000 better than about the HEKse and vice versa?

They present the music differently. The HEKse has an overall larger soundstage (especially taller), but the d8000 is wider, which I like. The d8000 definitely has more sub bass and mid bass quantity. The d8000 has smoother upper mids and treble, so it’s definitely more forgiving of poorly mastered music. But it doesn’t mask sibilance, it just slightly tones it down. If the track is very poor, it’s still going to sound harsh on the d8000 but not as harsh as the HEKse.

The HEKse is definitely the lighter, more comfortable headphone. They both have amazing imaging! It’s hard to say which is better, because it’s more track dependent. I’ll call it a tie. They’re both 10/10 for imaging.

They’re both fairly easy to drive.

The d8000 treble is more grounded and less ethereal than the HEKse. I wouldn’t necessarily call that better though, it’s simply a different presentation.

I would call the HEKse slightly bright. I’d call the d8000 very close to neutral with some warm bass. But honestly, after burn-in, it’s really not elevated that much. I’d say the LCD X has more mid bass but less sub bass.

I love them both. I’m very happy right now

 

[TheAttorney]

After 7 days of HEK SE burn-in (not quite full time 24/7), I hadn't noticed much change recently and I was about to write some impressions when yesterday on the 8th day something happened to stop me in my tracks.
I vaguely remembered some posts about the importance of burn-in for this model, so I started trawling through earlier posts and came up with this post below that I agree with just about word for word.
However, I'd class the improvement as greater than the 8-10% suggested earlier. And I'm still using the stock cable!

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.

 

[marhol]

After 7 days of HEK SE burn-in (not quite full time 24/7), I hadn't noticed much change recently and I was about to write some impressions when yesterday on the 8th day something happened to stop me in my tracks.
I vaguely remembered some posts about the importance of burn-in for this model, so I started trawling through earlier posts and came up with this post below that I agree with just about word for word.
However, I'd class the improvement as greater than the 8-10% suggested earlier. And I'm still using the stock cable!

Would you say He1000 SE + DAVE is as "heavenly combination" as HEK v2 + DAVE used to be ?

 

[STR-1]

deleted.

 

[franz12]

This is a post from @franz12 regarding the subject. According to aforementioned email communication it seems they have not measured HEK SE yet. Or try to ask @franz12 for more details.

If I don't jump to a Susvara, I might be sending my unit to the Sonarworks to have them measure my unit. I think their service is reasonably priced, and in fact shipping fees for postal services are more expensive from here U.S. lol. I might be able to share results then, if I go this route.

I had an interesting conversation with them. They agreed to create multiple EQ profiles like full corrections across FR, only treble corrections, and only mid-to-treble corrections. The issue with me is that I am still burning my unit in lol.

 

[TheAttorney]

Would you say He1000 SE + DAVE is as "heavenly combination" as HEK v2 + DAVE used to be ?

Yes, I remember saying that HEK V2 + DAVE was a "match made in heaven" - and it still is. Two parameters in particular are still valid:
HEK V2 scales really well will more transparent upstream components, and its wide soundstage is greatly helped IMO by DAVE's Cross-Feed function.
I didn't upgrade the V2 because I stopped liking it, I upgraded simply because I could (as a committed audiophile).

The SE + DAVE is also a match made in heaven, albeit now performing at a higher level.
SE's more focused and slightly narrower soundstage doesn't seem to need C-F quite as badly as V2 did, but it nevertheless still benefits.

The only area that I felt the SE lacked, compared to V2, was that its midrange seemed slightly recessed. In particular, vocals didn't pop out of the mix in the way I was used to - they now seemed a touch flat and lacking in body..
I countered this by a small 1db EQ boost just below 2khz (someone else did something similar, from memory). But that changed yesterday, when vocals suddenly gained all the body I could wish for, so I no longer need the EQ boost.

One happy surprise with the SE is that it seems to have lost (at least some of) the V2's 8-9khz peak, so I no longer need EQ to tone down that area, I find SE's treble generally more refined. So I'm currently in the happy position of not using any EQ at all (DAVE's bass boost, as a by-product of its C-F function, is a tonal complication I'll come to later). This is all still work-in-progress. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

 

[marhol]

Thank you for your information ! I was particularly curious as Dave is currently my targeted DAC/amp. Very interesting findings, which seems to be consistent with what others have said.

 

[Gibson59]

Really enjoying listening to this album through my HEKse tonight. Sounds great streaming from Qobuz (it’s on Tidal too). If you enjoy piano it’s worth a listen

 

[franz12]

Really enjoying listening to this album through my HEKse tonight. Sounds great streaming from Qobuz (it’s on Tidal too). If you enjoy piano it’s worth a listen

I attended his concert a few years ago. He was crazily involved in his performance. Yeah. He was crazy.

 

[Gibson59]

I attended his concert a few years ago. He was crazily involved in his performance. Yeah. He was crazy.

Very cool! Yeah I’m officially a fan. Looks like he’s playing here in Los Angeles May 17 and 19 at the Disney Concert Hall. I think I may have to go see/listen to him play.