[gimmeheadroom]

Just curious. Do you know, which headphones have similar bass quality (that visceral bass "wroooom") and resolution like HE6se V2 but not with piercing highs and less amp demanding? I had HE6se V2 for a couple of months, but sold them only because their power needs. With Oratory1990 EQ preset, these were amazing.

LCD-2C (classic) slams and is fairly easy to drive. It's warm and a bit slow, but can be very impactful. It's expensive relative to the HE6SE V2 especially after the hundreds of discounts.

If you want to stay with Hifiman, try the HE 400i 2020, it's very good.

I don't hear piercing highs on either headphone btw.

 

[malenak]

LCD-2C (classic) slams and is fairly easy to drive. It's warm and a bit slow, but can be very impactful. It's expensive relative to the HE6SE V2 especially after the hundreds of discounts.

If you want to stay with Hifiman, try the HE 400i 2020, it's very good.

I don't hear piercing highs on either headphone btw.

I had LCD-2C for around 2 years. I know them well and liked them a lot, but their bass is nowhere close to HE6se V2. I would say LCD-2C have a plenty of bass, but comparing to bass quality of HE6se V2, sounds like bloat. Bass on HE6se V2 has texture, layers, speed and a lot of details. I have Meze Empyrean. They are closer to HE6se V2 with bass quality, but still not there. HE400i was my first planars, but the first version, not the 2020 version. They are basic planars. Nowhere close to sound quality of HE6 models.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I had LCD-2C for around 2 years. I know them well and liked them a lot, but their bass is nowhere close to HE6se V2. I would say LCD-2C have a plenty of bass, but comparing to bass quality of HE6se V2, sounds like bloat. Bass on HE6se V2 has texture, layers, speed and a lot of details. I have Meze Empyrean. They are closer to HE6se V2 with bass quality, but still not there. HE400i was my first planars, but the first version, not the 2020 version. They are basic planars. Nowhere close to sound quality of HE6 models.

I have all 3 headphones I mentioned and I have different impression than you.

Sorry I couldn't help.

 

[malenak]

I have all 3 headphones I mentioned and I have different impression than you.

Sorry I couldn't help.

Actually, I sold LCD-2C after I get HE6se V2.

 

[JoshG1217]

Actually, I sold LCD-2C after I get HE6se V2.

Yeah LCD2 and he6 are pretty different imo. LCD2 has great vocals and more bass, but less resolution overall, and a much more intimate stage. Still a great HP though. The best bass I have heard on a HP has come from the Dekoni Blue. I recognize that that is an odd rec (a bit out of the blue if you will), but bass is solid on them. Can't say how they compare overall to these as I have not owned them side by side. They are really fun for bass. For a bluetooth option, the Yamaha overear YH L700A have great bass as well, and surprisingly good resolution. THose and the aonic 50 are the best I have heard after going through several dozen pairs, though I know Focal and some others have come out with super expensive high end BT phones lately that I have not hear.

 

[kmmbd]

Just curious. Do you know, which headphones have similar bass quality (that visceral bass "wroooom") and resolution like HE6se V2 but not with piercing highs and less amp demanding? I had HE6se V2 for a couple of months, but sold them only because their power needs. With Oratory1990 EQ preset, these were amazing.

IMO, Final D8000. The Abyss 1266 also have excellent bass but the treble and mids are... kinda terrible. Abyss can't really tune those regions so I can never recommend it to anyone (also absurdly priced everything including the upgrade cable that you must purchase as the stock cable is garbage).

D8000 have dense, meaty bass with excellent mids and smooth highs. Great staging and imaging too. If I'm upgrading from the HE-6se V2, that's what I'll be getting.

 

[alcantaradiego]

Hi guys. I'm new to the world of full size headphones. I recently bought a he6se from a friend along with the amp pictured. I changed the grill and noticed a slight opening in the sound and the bass a little maks present. I'm using DCA VOCE earpads and it has significantly increased the sound stage. I would like to know which pads you recommend for bass reinforcement and greater definition. thanks!

 

[bagwell359]

Just curious. Do you know, which headphones have similar bass quality (that visceral bass "wroooom") and resolution like HE6se V2 but not with piercing highs and less amp demanding? I had HE6se V2 for a couple of months, but sold them only because their power needs. With Oratory1990 EQ preset, these were amazing.

Wait they were amazing with EQ, but you sold them because they want 2 wpc @ 50 ohms?

Why are the highs an issue if the EQ you used takes care of it?

Almost all HFM planars have those sorts of highs.

Often people that don't like those go for the LCD Series. I personally find the 2 and 3 with very depressed upper mids and lower treble and a descending treble over 12k. Since the D8000 has been brought up the LCD-4 OG is maybe what you are looking for - very strong bass and more in the upper mids and higher treble but certainly not annoying. Think cushy leather couch, in a mahogany study with your favorite drink in your hand. Have to buy them used as the z version doesn't seem to have the same magic.

 

[bagwell359]

D8000 have dense, meaty bass with excellent mids and smooth highs. Great staging and imaging too. If I'm upgrading from the HE-6se V2, that's what I'll be getting.

Agree with that. OTOH, you won't be running it with some sub 2 wpc amp which the OG seems to want to hang onto.

 

[bagwell359]

Hi guys. I'm new to the world of full size headphones. I recently bought a he6se from a friend along with the amp pictured. I changed the grill and noticed a slight opening in the sound and the bass a little maks present. I'm using DCA VOCE earpads and it has significantly increased the sound stage. I would like to know which pads you recommend for bass reinforcement and greater definition. thanks!

DCA Ether Angled. The VOCE earpads are giant and I didn't like them with the HE-6 6 screw, HE-6 SE (v1), and the HE-500 vs the Ether Angled. I've written a lot about mods for that model in both main threads as well as the HE-500 thread and the OG 6 thread - if you are interested in mine or about 500 other folks ideas of what to do to get the most out of them.

 

[alcantaradiego]

DCA Ether Angled. The VOCE earpads are giant and I didn't like them with the HE-6 6 screw, HE-6 SE (v1), and the HE-500 vs the Ether Angled.

I like them much better than the stock ones, but I'm going to try the DCA ether angled. Thanks!

 

[malenak]

Wait they were amazing with EQ, but you sold them because they want 2 wpc @ 50 ohms?

Why are the highs an issue if the EQ you used takes care of it?

2 wpc? This is common mistake. They need amp which is able to handle current peaks. It's not only about watts. For example A90 has enough power, but it sounds dull, because this unit is not able to control HE6 properly. Class A amps are best choice for these. I was simply not able to use them everywhere I want. The only setup where they sounds amazing was my main rig. Roon (with PEQ) from iMac > TT2 (speaker taps) > HE6se V2. They sounds good also with Lyr3, but HE6 turnes on its safety circuit, so it was useless combo. And my EF400 was not there like with TT2. And I don't want to buy another amp for them. I wanted for daily drivers something which I can use with my TV or Playstation. Nothing from this was possible with HE6. Their use was just so much complicated due to their power needs.

Almost all HFM planars have those sorts of highs.

And that is exactly the thing which I hate about them (+ some models sounds plastic - Arya). Otherwise I like Hifiman sound.

Often people that don't like those go for the LCD Series. I personally find the 2 and 3 with very depressed upper mids and lower treble and a descending treble over 12k. Since the D8000 has been brought up the LCD-4 OG is maybe what you are looking for - very strong bass and more in the upper mids and higher treble but certainly not annoying. Think cushy leather couch, in a mahogany study with your favorite drink in your hand. Have to buy them used as the z version doesn't seem to have the same magic.

I like LCD-4 but can't live with their weight. I heard D8000 this year in Munich and I liked them a lot. Maybe I will give them a try.

 

[PolloLoco]

I just learned this morning how important the grill mod is to making these headphones sound their best.

I previously did the grill mod with honeycomb grills I bought off EBAY, but did it at the same time as swapping amps and cables - so I wasn't able to determine how much difference the grills made. But after 2 months, my He6SE's left driver suddenly failed. I contacted customer support and they sent a refurb - but fortunately it looked to be in perfect shape.

While my He6SE were out, I added a switch to protect the headphones from my speaker amp's shutdown noise (Adcom GFA 545 II). When I got them back, I heard them for several hours and was severely disappointed. The treble was muted to my 45 year old ears, the mids were nasally and the bass didn't excite me. I blamed the switch or feared the drivers were stuck to the magnets.

This morning I pulled off the stock grills and confirmed that the drivers were NOT defective, there's space between drivers and magnets. I replaced the grills with my EBAY grills that had thin speaker cloth glued on - and the difference was night and day. I'm loving the sound as I type. The air is back, there's a bigger soundstage and I'm getting all the detail I want out of the mids while enjoying visceral bass. Only now do these seem a good complement to my Stax L700's - that yesterday seemed miles better than the He6SE.

In short - only with the grill mod do these sound like end-game headphones to me. The difference is NOT subtle.

My chain is an SMSL M400 DAC to Schiit Saga +, to ADCOM GFA 545 II to a Pyle speaker switch, to the Hifiman He 6 SE v2.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

The only way to tell reliably is to have two sets with OEM and honeycomb grill and do blind ABX.
In my experience, which can be just the result of typical human expectation bias, it was just slightly bigger soundstage but that's it, nothing else stood out.

 

[PolloLoco]

The only way to tell reliably is to have two sets with OEM and honeycomb grill and do blind ABX.

In my experience, which can be just the result of typical human expectation bias, is just slightly bigger soundstage but that's it, nothing else stood out.

I understand the need for objective A/B testing. Even better than A/B testing like you suggest which is still prone to subjective bias - are measurements. I've seen a few people post measurements before and after. This is just the first plot I found after seeing your post:

https://www.audiodiscourse.com/2021/03/hifiman-he6se-v2-mods-and-stuff.html

And as for my experience, though I've caught myself being the victim of human expectation bias in the past - in this case, the result was NOT my expectation. I fully expected that the Pyle Switch I added to the mix was the source of the suddenly sub-par audio. I know myself well enough to be sure that I wouldn't go from 3 hours of disappointed listening yesterday - to 3+ hours of absolute bliss today, when the only difference was the grills.