[Menkau-ra]

That sucks! Hopefully HiFiman will look after you. Or this might be a chance for you to back out, if you are debating the amp situation?

yes, mostly the amp. I would consider used Pro iCan, but they don't show up often. Also trebles are too much for me, maybe it's because my pair was defective.

 

[Shane D]

yes, mostly the amp. I would consider used Pro iCan, but they don't show up often. Also trebles are too much for me, maybe it's because my pair was defective.

Might be your chance to back out then and find something easier to drive?

 

[NascentAP]

what a story! I am glad they finally gave you a good pair. What amp do you use with them? What's the palipads?

HM support just emailed me and I have a choice to get something else instead of HE6se. I am leaning towards Edition XS.


I purchased my pair in Dec 2021. I think I had the stuck driver from day 1. And my pair are treble cannons, after 30 mins of listening I have a headache.

I use primarily Singxer SA-1. I also have the Emotiva BasX A-100, which is the older model of amp that some here have already recommended. Palipads are default earpads that come with the HE6V2, which are the same ones as those that come with the Sundara.

When I had the stuck membrane, I preferred the sound from the A-100 directly off of speaker taps. I realized from my experience (as well as reading others) that HE6V2 with a stuck membrane will require more power and can sound sibilant. With the proper pair though, the SA-1 has more than enough power (Iow gain at 3-4pm volume with a DAC that can output 4v) and I prefer the more refined sound from it than the A-100. A-100 is still a great bargain but to my ears, the bass is a bit boomier and the treble is not as refined as the SA-1.

 

[DeweyCH]

yes, mostly the amp. I would consider used Pro iCan, but they don't show up often. Also trebles are too much for me, maybe it's because my pair was defective.

Yeah, the Pro iCAN works very well with these. The treble has never struck me as harsh or overwhelming... maybe it was a defective pair effect. As much as I love these headphones, I'm on my 2nd pair thanks to a stuck driver... I'm more or less OK with taking the risk, given the price/performance when you have a good one and good amplification, but I could definitely see why you might consider a different model.

Other options that show up on the Classifieds or are on there now you could consider if you decide to keep the HE6SE and want something that drives them well are the Burson Soloist 3XP (I have the Conductor 3XP which is the same topology with an integrated Bluetooth DAC and lower power; it does a very nice job with them and the Susvara), an SMSL SP400, a Topping A90, a SPL Phonitor SE (one for $850 on the classifieds) or a Flux FA-10.

 

[Menkau-ra]

Might be your chance to back out then and find something easier to drive?

Depends on what Hifiman will offer me. Waiting on their email with my options.

 

[DenverW]

Slapped a pair of zmf perf eikon lambskin on these last night and gave a listen.

First of all, let me mention again how much I dislike hifiman’s pad mounting. The annoyance of getting the pads on without putting too much pressure on the pad rings is lovely. Give me fostex or focal any day.

Comfort improved. Love the feel of zmf pads. Sounds was, at the very least, not any worse. I have to spend more time with them than I did last night for placebo, but…very enjoyable, and a bit better imho.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Are stuck magnets the HE6 specific issue or all planars suffer from it?

 

[bagwell359]

Palipads are just wrong for any version of HE-6. The cord is awful too.

My HE-6 SE v1 have never stuck. The v2 I heard is better but not so much so that I want to deal with with this sticky issue.

Good luck.

 

[bagwell359]

Slapped a pair of zmf perf eikon lambskin on these last night and gave a listen.

First of all, let me mention again how much I dislike hifiman’s pad mounting. The annoyance of getting the pads on without putting too much pressure on the pad rings is lovely. Give me fostex or focal any day.

Comfort improved. Love the feel of zmf pads. Sounds was, at the very least, not any worse. I have to spend more time with them than I did last night for placebo, but…very enjoyable, and a bit better imho.

Pad mounting is easy. Pick your vector, get the tab on that lead side in. Gently depress the left and right tabs hovering maybe an 1/8" over the tab holes using your spaced out fingers. Press down, release, and five a gentle push. 3 tabs should be done. while holding the 3 tabs down, push that 4th tab up, push down, press back. Check it.

And yes clearly not as good as Fostex.

I've tested 12 diff pads on the OG HE-6 and HE-500, tested 5 on the 6 v1, and 2 on the v2, and it always comes up the same: Ether Flow Angled Lambskin Pads by DCA.

Most even top to bottom, by far widest soundstage (even wider with back screen minimal or gone), excellent depth, no strange mid bass fatness. No fuzzy pads can touch these in the bass. No flat pads can do the imaging or depth. Ori pads the worst: big bump at 1k, suppressed upper mids/lower treble, no soundstage - I mean like a 5th of the Ethers.

Issues: they can get a bit warm after 90 minutes.

 

[bagwell359]

Are stuck magnets the HE6 specific issue or all planars suffer from it?

never heard of any commercial planar having this problem, nor any of the 10 I've owned.

 

[DeweyCH]

Pad mounting is easy. Pick your vector, get the tab on that lead side in. Gently depress the left and right tabs hovering maybe an 1/8" over the tab holes using your spaced out fingers. Press down, release, and five a gentle push. 3 tabs should be done. while holding the 3 tabs down, push that 4th tab up, push down, press back. Check it.

And yes clearly not as good as Fostex.

I've tested 12 diff pads on the OG HE-6 and HE-500, tested 5 on the 6 v1, and 2 on the v2, and it always comes up the same: Ether Flow Angled Lambskin Pads by DCA.

Most even top to bottom, by far widest soundstage (even wider with back screen minimal or gone), excellent depth, no strange mid bass fatness. No fuzzy pads can touch these in the bass. No flat pads can do the imaging or depth. Ori pads the worst: big bump at 1k, suppressed upper mids/lower treble, no soundstage - I mean like a 5th of the Ethers.

Issues: they can get a bit warm after 90 minutes.

I've got my DCA angled pads on again since I added a port to prevent crinkle. They do sound fantastic. I disagree that pad mounting is easy, mostly because (specifically with ZMF) the flaps of the pads tend to be longer than the space between the edge of the mounting ring and the clips. It's not hard, per se, but it's annoying. I have a lot more patience these days with pad rolling on ZMFs, which I used to think was fiddly and challenging, mostly because these are a minor PITA to put on aftermarket pads that don't have the ring and clips attached to the back.

It's super easy to put on HFM pads, though.

 

[Menkau-ra]

I've tested 12 diff pads on the OG HE-6 and HE-500, tested 5 on the 6 v1, and 2 on the v2, and it always comes up the same: Ether Flow Angled Lambskin Pads by DCA.

How do you compare HE6se to HE-500? From my memory HE-500 were too flat for me, very little low end, that's why I've sold them. But everything else was great.

 

[bagwell359]

You are the fifth person that's said that about the 500. The first 4 clearly did not have the power, and they agreed, after they tried. You need 2 wpc. @ 50 ohms minimum. I think 4 is more like it. The 500 doesn't go as low as some of the bass cannons such as the OG HE-6 and LCD-4, but its superb tone, good speed, and the slightly too rich Q is easily cured - ranks very high overall IMO. It starts to lose power around 35 but still carries on to 20 Hz. and it takes EQ like a champ.

The 6se v1 or v2 is more technical and has better bass, but it lacks the magic mids suffused with a slight warmth. They actually make a good pair - but best have 8 wpc min.

How do you compare HE6se to HE-500? From my memory HE-500 were too flat for me, very little low end, that's why I've sold them. But everything else was great.

 

[TWerk]

Slapped a pair of zmf perf eikon lambskin on these last night and gave a listen.

First of all, let me mention again how much I dislike hifiman’s pad mounting. The annoyance of getting the pads on without putting too much pressure on the pad rings is lovely. Give me fostex or focal any day.

Comfort improved. Love the feel of zmf pads. Sounds was, at the very least, not any worse. I have to spend more time with them than I did last night for placebo, but…very enjoyable, and a bit better imho.

Exactly the pads I've got on mine! Yes, the mounting was annoying as hell to get them on there and I now hesitate to want to even swap back and deal with that again.

But yes, the feel of the Eikon pads is fantastic (premium) and the sound is too (and the smell!).

Compared with stock velour hifiman pads, the sound becomes more rich and thicker/denser in my opinion, it's a more full-bodied sound which is super enjoyable.

As I always say - I still love the velour pads for their open and crisp clean sound but it is nice to have both options for these headphones.

Often a good leather set and velour pad set gives you some nice variety with the sound of a headphone and that is certainly the case with these two options.

Both IMO are much preferred over the stock pali pads. Pali pads were not the right choice for these.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Pads replacement instruction.