[bagwell359]

It dropped $100 quite quickly, they might as well make it $349 for BF we'll see but I suspect HE500 bass & natural SS won't be there so I would end up being a sad panda

I've had the v1 for must be over 2 years. I rank it neck and neck with the 500's. 6 v1 has better bass than the 500, More accurate/detailed overall. A bit more angular/cold but quite sure handed. If the 6 v1 had a stage like the 500 than the 6 v1 would clearly be better. They both need EQ ande mods.

My listening:

35% 500
35% 6se v1
20% HD-600 on BHC
10% HEX v2

 

[leeperry]

I've had the v1 for must be over 2 years. I rank it neck and neck with the 500's. 6 v1 has better bass than the 500, More accurate/detailed overall. A bit more angular/cold but quite sure handed. If the 6 v1 had a stage like the 500 than the 6 v1 would clearly be better.

I've read on many occasions that 6SE lacks bass and sounds bright compared to 500, supposedly when not lacking amping power either.

 

[bagwell359]

I've read on many occasions that 6SE lacks bass and sounds bright compared to 500, supposedly when not lacking amping power either.

Well. I have heard and proved to myself that the HE-6 6 screw has an immediacy/rise time in the bass that put the 500 and the 6se down the list.

The 500 which I love as much as life itself, has a chubbier, slower bass than music, the HE-6 6 screw or the HE-6 v1. From 30-300 Hz. The tone is nice but with a well recorded electric bass and drums playing/dueling with each other the drummers sticks hitting drums (not high hats or cymbals) will be heard to be a close to correct but the bass will be slower and tuby - and any sustain will go on far too long. I rid my 500 of enough of that via use of dynamat (3 trial sizes) and now its lithe and a fair match to the HE-6se (not the HE-6)

The 6se v1 has a bit of this chubbiness in the bass to my ear (I like damped bass clearly), but it only requires 1/3 of the dynamat I use in the 500 and guess what? They are close but the 6se has a somewhat better bass overall. I rank mine very close to each other on that topic after my mods and EQ.

On other fronts they both need control of reverberations/ringing via mods and EQ to really sing. in the mids/highs and not make every female vocalist have the Stevie Nicks gravel throat. A stock Arya v2 is lesser than either of mine IMO. OTH LCD-4, and the Susvara both send my cans running for cover.

 

[bagwell359]

nowhere on the web is a pic of the v2 with back and pads off. even with the pics magnet change might not be discernable. I'll take a Susvara like upgrade. I'll shun any sort of hack designed by an office worker.

 

[Sebbai]

Where do you apply the dynamat on the HE6SE and HE500?

 

[bagwell359]

Where do you apply the dynamat on the HE6SE and HE500?

Take off rear screen, the outside edge of the cup is basically pointing at you - 90 degrees from the main flat surface, the inside edge facing towards the middle of the cup is where it goes.

the 500 needs more. I came up with this: dyn 2", space, dyn 1.4", space, dyn .8" - not touching each other with spaces about equal to each other. I put the longest by the wires. The diff lengths attempt to focus damping in different areas, as opposed to just one. Dynamat all around bleeds the life out of the 500's

6se v1 is easier, one strip of 2" by wires.

Sorbothane is more effective than dynamat per size, but it doesn't stick well, blu/white tack is less effective, need IMO more than is safe, and not enough if it is a safe mounting.

Damping cups from outside and headbands (esp the parts near the cups) seem useful - but a little seems to go a long way, and I haven't worked on that enough to take up any strong POV.

 

[knorris908]

Okay... I received the XLR to Banana plug cable today and attached the fork adapters, (It looked for a second like the banana plugs might work in the HK 870's terminals, but they didn't want to stay in place and I didn't want to risk "forcing" it with how notoriously brittle the plastics securing those terminals are.) and plugged-in my Opus #1S' 3.5 jack to my A90's RCA inputs and then RCA out of A90 into the HK 870. Let it run through the He6 SE v2 for a few hours... Sat down when my work-day finally ended and figured I'd take a quick listen not expecting much. (Still waiting on the Neutrik XLR to RCA Transformer Balancing Adapter needed to preamp from my Burson Soloist 3XP that doesn't arrive until SATURDAY now!) Portable DAP, straight into A90. Expected "Meh"... Listened to a few songs. Had to recheck. Went to Daft Punk. Rechecked again. Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" Smiled. Listened to the drum pans in first section of "Money For Nothing". Switched to my HEDDPhone, then my GL850 to re-listen again juuuust to be sure...

* Cue slow clap *

If the He6 SE v2 can sound THIS good in my temporary setup via a DAP, its internal DAC, & unbalanced into the A90 (It's okay left-to-right, but I think the A90 is killing ~20% of the spatial placement forward and ~10% behind me compared to my favorite amps) RCA into HK 870 (I can't help that the HK 870 is RCA-only, but the rest of the chain shouldn't have to suffer loss as well!) then I'm truly terrified of what these might do on a system that's tuned stem to stern.

I'm genuinely impressed. I usually skip over Daft Punk's "Doin' It Right" because I've heard it SO many times, but I actually heard new activity (not DETAIL, "activity") in the track that I had to go back with my HEDDPhone and listen for. Yup, they're there on the HEDDPhone too, but I just never "noticed" them before.

I'm not making ANY claims about power requirements, voltage swings, or any other "reasons". I'm just relaying that my He6 SE v2 sounded really good, then I got the Burson Soloist 3XP, and I thought, "Oh, THAT'S what they've been talking about!" but no. I think I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of what people have been buzzing about. I can't wait to get this added into my rig downstairs when those XLR-->RCA Transformer Balancing Adapters finally show up!

 

[JoshG1217]

Hey guys,

Just ordered the he6se v2 from Adorama for $600 including 2 day shipping. Went off a rec from BGGAR who I seem to have similar taste to. Can someone please link where I can get the honeycomb grills, and what (vegan) pads I should pair with them? I ordered an Ibasso dx300 to drive them and am pretty excited by the combo. Currently have a Sundara running on an M11.

Thanks!

 

[knorris908]

Hey guys,

Just ordered the he6se v2 from Adorama for $600 including 2 day shipping. Went off a rec from BGGAR who I seem to have similar taste to. Can someone please link where I can get the honeycomb grills, and what (vegan) pads I should pair with them? I ordered an Ibasso dx300 to drive them and am pretty excited by the combo. Currently have a Sundara running on an M11.

Thanks!

Hi @JoshG1217

First, congratulations on your decision! I love mine.
Second, in answer to your question - these are the grilles I bought https://www.ebay.com/itm/265277136476

And lastly, I'm just a little concerned that you won't get the most out of the He6se v2, because your dx300 says it's only rated for 1240mW@32ohm, 168mW@300ohm. I'm not knocking your DAP. I still have my old Ibasso dx90, and I use it when my OPUS #1S is packed for business trips. It's still going strong! They are great DAPs, but these headphones aren't really intended for "portable class" devices...

I think the minimum for these to even start performing "properly" is 2 watts into 50ohm. I don't want you to think that the headphones are "over-hyped" because you're not hearing what the rest of us are.

To give you an idea: My Artemis desktop amp outputs 50Ω, 3.28W RMS, 300Ω, 800mW RMS (And while it drove them "NICELY" in terms of characteristics, the volume was too low. On the other hand, my Topping A90 and SMSL SP200 were able to power the He6se v2 loudly enough, but just didn't really sound that great.

First fix: Bought a Burson Soloist 3XP, and THEN I was happy with how they sounded.

2nd fix: Found an old Harmon Kardon HK 870, then hooked it up with my He6se v2 running off the speaker taps. NOW I'm extremely happy with them. MUCH cheaper than spending "mega-bucks" on the truly heavy-duty amps that are available out there. (With compromises, of course. It's "vintage", not a balanced amp unit, etc.. But I spent less than $300 for what I consider EPIC sound quality instead of high thousands or double-digits thousands.) I love them but I'm not ready to plunk-down for options out easily over $15K for $600 headphones... (Looking at YOU Woo Audio WA33 JPS Elite, you tempting, VEXXING thing, you...)

Oh, to be clear, there ARE less exotic amps out there that you can buy that are reported to sound GREAT with these headphones.
Schiit Audio Jotunheim 2 (https://www.schiit.com/about/news/i...mQ3pE6GIj54TLx9YpNmzkE98NiN9RmUxoCAIEQAvD_BwE) $399USD & up
and Flux Labs FA-10 ( https://fluxlab-acoustics.com/product/fa10/ ) $749USD & up are 2 options that I've seen good things about when it comes to properly powering the various He6 versions of headphones. Both are reportedly solid sub-$1,000USD options. My Burson Soloist 3X Performance is juuust over the $1K mark at $1,144, and I can tell you personally that I love it!
Burson Soloist 3XP (https://www.headphones.com/products..._content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic)


So just wanted to prep you in case they don't sound as great as you were hoping. These headphones scale incredibly with power. (Even more-so than my Sennheiser HD650, and they scaled better than anything I had heard before I got these HiFiman He6se v2s. (Yes, I have HiFiMan Sundaras too, and they sound great from the get-go, but don't really scale that well. They pretty-much try to give you their best no matter what.)

By the way, the headphone to speaker tap cable I bought was just this: https://lqicables.com/collections/a...-pin-female-to-speaker-taps-banana-plugs-pins

It works for me. People make them, order pre-mades like mine linked above, or have them custom-built by makers like Hart Audio, Periapt, Forza Audio Works, etc...

I know I dumped a lot on you, but I wanted you to have all the info I wish I had known going into this. (From MY perspective, of course. Others may feel differently or have better advice.) I just wanted to provide you with a starting point.

Good luck and looking forward to hearing your impressions/experiences!

 

[Skylah]

Saw a good price for these used (HE-6SE V2, very minimal use, barely over three months), can't wait for them to come in the mail You can see where my current setup in my signature below. 15W RMS into 50Ω should be enough for these cans, no? Does anyone have any EQ profiles for these cans as well?

 

[knorris908]

Saw a good price for these used (HE-6SE V2, very minimal use, barely over three months), can't wait for them to come in the mail You can see where my current setup in my signature below. 15W RMS into 50Ω should be enough for these cans, no? Does anyone have any EQ profiles for these cans as well?

Wow! Sounds like you're starting-off a fair bit ahead of where I've taken all this time to get to! Good on you! I'm sure that you'll have great results.
Though when you get the itch, even with the XLR-out of the Ragnarok's headphone section being PLENTY powerful enough, I'd love to hear your A/B opinion of speaker-out vs XLR-out on the same Ragnarok unit. Just a curiosity thing. No offense taken at all if you don't decide to do it, or spend a LONG time "just enjoying" before you do. I wouldn't blame you one bit.

 

[Skylah]

Wow! Sounds like you're starting-off a fair bit ahead of where I've taken all this time to get to! Good on you! I'm sure that you'll have great results.
Though when you get the itch, even with the XLR-out of the Ragnarok's headphone section being PLENTY powerful enough, I'd love to hear your A/B opinion of speaker-out vs XLR-out on the same Ragnarok unit. Just a curiosity thing. No offense taken at all if you don't decide to do it, or spend a LONG time "just enjoying" before you do. I wouldn't blame you one bit.

Trust me, if anyone is interested in trying the speaker taps, it's me Is there anything I would need to do apart from getting an adapter? Like any ritual regarding turning the amplifier on and off in a specific way to make sure my headphones don't explode etc

 

[knorris908]

Well, since your Ragnarok is an "all in one" solution, unlike mine, I hope that you'll be a little less in danger... And the best order to shut things down is listed by actual audiophiles here, so I won't comment as I'll probably get something wrong. A rule that I believe everyone will agree on: "No Matter What make it a "ritual" to check your Ragnarok's volume is set to zero/off BEFORE AND AFTER each turn up/turn off." (Or even if you're just walking away for a bit!)

 

[chrismoyer]

Well, since your Ragnarok is an "all in one" solution, unlike mine, I hope that you'll be a little less in danger... And the best order to shut things down is listed by actual audiophiles here, so I won't comment as I'll probably get something wrong. A rule that I believe everyone will agree on: "No Matter What make it a "ritual" to check your Ragnarok's volume is set to zero/off BEFORE AND AFTER each turn up/turn off." (Or even if you're just walking away for a bit!)

Ragnarok sends the full power output of the amp to the balanced headphone jack. There should be no difference between the speaker taps and the XLR headphone jack if I understand correctly.

I’ve never had to turn down the volume with the Rag 2 hooked up my He6 via XLR, I would think it would be the same with the speaker taps?

 

[Sebbai]

The rutine is:
CHECK DC LEAK WITH MULTIMETER, and beware of the DC-spikes when turning the volume knob (digital volume is generally safer than relay) sometimes DC-spikes are generated when turning the volume knob to fast.
DC-leak behaves differently on Class-A amps and are generally safer to use, they don’t send square signals like Class-D (not sure about Class-AB
(This last section I’m waiting confirmation on by someone who knows, but from using my Burson Soloist 3x with the HE6 for about 1.5 months this is my conclusion, since it has a DC- Leak at 59mV, consensus on the internet is don’t connect you HE6 to speaker taps if the DC-Leak is over 10mV)

Start up procedure:
Turn on you amplifier, let it warm
TURN down the volume to zero
Connect adapter (4-PIN XLR to 4x Banana plugs)
Pause the music from your source, (make sure your source doesn’t clip the amplifier at input)
Connect the headphone to XLR Adapter
Play music from source
SLOWLY turn the volume knob on the amplifier until you are satisfied (don’t go over 75% of max volume, you don’t want the amplifier to clip, safer at 50%, but I’ve had mine up to 85% without issues)
BEWARE of EQ if you use it, bass EQ requires more wattage, so it will lower you amplifier clipping volume.
Enjoy the incredible speed in bass you amp provide.
(Never take of your HE6 when full volume is playing, the diaphragm will not have any air resistance so it could slap against the magnets if bassy songs are playing)

Finished listening:
SLOWLY turn down volume to zero
Pause music
Disconnect the XLR connection between the adapter and headphone cable
Then you can disconnect the adapter from the amplifier.

Sincerely your HE6 fanboy, I’ve owned 7 pairs and blown 2 pairs on speaker amps.
I’ve settled on the Soloist 3x, drives the headphone to 95% of what it is capable of in my opinion. (Don’t care much for soundstage and resolution, I have electrostatic headphones for that, HE6 for me is to enjoy the music, and my go to for listening to new releases from my favourite band)