[Shane D]

I jumped around with these today on my amps. My system is now wired as:

1) BF2 to XLR switcher to Violectric V220, Monoprice LP and iFi Pro iCAN.

2) BF2 to Schiit Loki to RCA switcher to Violectric V220, Monoprice LP and iFi Pro iCAN. EQ usually causes a raising of the volume.

On the XLR front, the Pro iCAN (using X-bass and 3D) is awesome! A wide stage, great separation, great mids and great bass. Worked very well with rock, blues and horn jazz. I couldn't ask for more, especially at this price.

The LP is Very strong with these headphones (4.21W). I think it is missing only the X-bass and 3D, obviously. I love the sound of this amp as it is lush and smooth. Just missing the extra effects (which are fixed later). If the iFi is a 10, this is a 8.5-9.

Last is the Vio V220. It struggles with these. The sound is thin with high gain and volume at 1:00-2:00. It needs more punch and power to compete. That comes later.

I would recommend the top two amps with these headphones for a lot of fun.

Now, using the SE inputs. This surprised me.

With the iFi, it offered a different sound and is obviously more flexible with the EQ option. The big upside would be if you needed to pull the mids forward, add some bump or turn down the treble. Didn't do a lot for me.

One oddity about the LP is that the inputs, XLR and RCA, are equal, power wise due to its wiring. However going via RCA brings the boom and the extra bump from the Loki. This amp comes Very close to the iFi with this addition. Very full sound, nice and bassy with Lots of power. FUN!

Lastly, the Violectric V220. This amp LOVES the Loki. It gives more boom, more impact and more volume. This combo works. It is still number 3 in this group, but it works well. I love the fact that this amp can fill out some of my headphones (Grado, etc.) nicely. But it is really not meant for HUNGRY headphones. Workable with the Loki and awesome with regular headphones.

End result with the HE6se V2's is:
1) iFi Pro iCAN = Awesome!
2) Monoprice LP = *Just* down a step.
3) Violectric = Not meant for these kinds of 'phones. Of course V280 and V281 are probably quite different from mine.

 

[cwoo]

I jumped around with these today on my amps. My system is now wired as:

1) BF2 to XLR switcher to Violectric V220, Monoprice LP and iFi Pro iCAN.

2) BF2 to Schiit Loki to RCA switcher to Violectric V220, Monoprice LP and iFi Pro iCAN. EQ usually causes a raising of the volume.

On the XLR front, the Pro iCAN (using X-bass and 3D) is awesome! A wide stage, great separation, great mids and great bass. Worked very well with rock, blues and horn jazz. I couldn't ask for more, especially at this price.

The LP is Very strong with these headphones (4.21W). I think it is missing only the X-bass and 3D, obviously. I love the sound of this amp as it is lush and smooth. Just missing the extra effects (which are fixed later). If the iFi is a 10, this is a 8.5-9.

Last is the Vio V220. It struggles with these. The sound is thin with high gain and volume at 1:00-2:00. It needs more punch and power to compete. That comes later.

I would recommend the top two amps with these headphones for a lot of fun.

Now, using the SE inputs. This surprised me.

With the iFi, it offered a different sound and is obviously more flexible with the EQ option. The big upside would be if you needed to pull the mids forward, add some bump or turn down the treble. Didn't do a lot for me.

One oddity about the LP is that the inputs, XLR and RCA, are equal, power wise due to its wiring. However going via RCA brings the boom and the extra bump from the Loki. This amp comes Very close to the iFi with this addition. Very full sound, nice and bassy with Lots of power. FUN!

Lastly, the Violectric V220. This amp LOVES the Loki. It gives more boom, more impact and more volume. This combo works. It is still number 3 in this group, but it works well. I love the fact that this amp can fill out some of my headphones (Grado, etc.) nicely. But it is really not meant for HUNGRY headphones. Workable with the Loki and awesome with regular headphones.

End result with the HE6se V2's is:
1) iFi Pro iCAN = Awesome!
2) Monoprice LP = *Just* down a step.
3) Violectric = Not meant for these kinds of 'phones. Of course V280 and V281 are probably quite different from mine.

I am not getting the "BOOM" from the he-6se v2 and running it through the Liquid Platinum. I see you are doing some EQ'ing, do you happen to have your EQ Profile to share? I originally thought the LP just didn't have the juice to do the 6se justice, but I haven't heard it on any other amp. I was thinking that the 4.2 Watts weren't enough, but maybe these headphones just don't have the bass capabilities I was thinking they would have from other posts I have read.

The timbre and naturalness on the 6se is probably one of the best I have ever heard. Awesome instrument separation (great space and time) and wonderful imaging. Bass and soundstage (depth and height are pretty weak and not holographic or three dimensional at all, but the width is plenty wide.

I did do the grill mod which offered better air and separation, but also added more width to the soundstage without any increased depth to round it out which makes the soundstage more unnatural ultimately.

FYI... I'm going Bifrost 2 to Liquid platinum with the stock balanced cable to the 6se.

 

[Shane D]

I am not getting the "BOOM" from the he-6se v2 and running it through the Liquid Platinum. I see you are doing some EQ'ing, do you happen to have your EQ Profile to share? I originally thought the LP just didn't have the juice to do the 6se justice, but I haven't heard it on any other amp. I was thinking that the 4.2 Watts weren't enough, but maybe these headphones just don't have the bass capabilities I was thinking they would have from other posts I have read.

The timbre and naturalness on the 6se is probably one of the best I have ever heard. Awesome instrument separation (great space and time) and wonderful imaging. Bass and soundstage (depth and height are pretty weak and not holographic or three dimensional at all, but the width is plenty wide.

I did do the grill mod which offered better air and separation, but also added more width to the soundstage without any increased depth to round it out which makes the soundstage more unnatural ultimately.

FYI... I'm going Bifrost 2 to Liquid platinum with the stock balanced cable to the 6se.

I think your set-up is fine. However, using the SE outputs through a physical EQ (Loki) can up the power and the punch. Or you could get a Lokius and use an XLR cable. I think the amp is pretty good with these, but not great. But the Loki can bump that up.

I don't use digital EQ's.

 

[cwoo]

I think your set-up is fine. However, using the SE outputs through a physical EQ (Loki) can up the power and the punch. Or you could get a Lokius and use an XLR cable. I think the amp is pretty good with these, but not great. But the Loki can bump that up.

I don't use digital EQ's.

I use the built in Parametric EQ with Roon (which typically works well for me). I might have to introduce a loki or lokius into the mix at some point. What EQ gains do you set on your Loki?

 

[prymortal]

My one arrived today after a month of issues, reordered & this one got here in 5 days(working days), It is so Microphonic compared to everything else but especially the HE5XX, HE400se, Arya & HE1000se using the same (periapt) cable, Those vibrations are due to my zipper so obviously not an issue for many. He6se needs double the volume. Has a more natural sound (Vs some of my other headphones) bar the highs on certain cymabls (might be a THX 888 chip thing?). I think in future when someone says the Arya is Sibilant or Bright I'm going to slap them upside the head & make them buy a HE6se so they learn the hard way to stop crying crying wolf. Much better (upper) mids HE6se also better Microdetail, macro not so much. I also tried pulling off the grills & all i'm going to say on that is Yip!, put them back on since.
Forgot to mention I Re-ordered the Used E - Excellent one that was cheaper than the special, It arrived, clearly an open box, But not a scratch or sign of being used at all.

 

[wazzupi]

My one arrived today after a month of issues, reordered & this one got here in 5 days(working days), It is so Microphonic compared to everything else but especially the HE5XX, HE400se, Arya & HE1000se using the same (periapt) cable, Those vibrations are due to my zipper so obviously not an issue for many. He6se needs double the volume. Has a more natural sound (Vs some of my other headphones) bar the highs on certain cymabls (might be a THX 888 chip thing?). I think in future when someone says the Arya is Sibilant or Bright I'm going to slap them upside the head & make them buy a HE6se so they learn the hard way to stop crying crying wolf. Much better (upper) mids HE6se also better Microdetail, macro not so much. I also tried pulling off the grills & all i'm going to say on that is Yip!, put them back on since.
Forgot to mention I Re-ordered the Used E - Excellent one that was cheaper than the special, It arrived, clearly an open box, But not a scratch or sign of being used at all.

My HE6SE isn't sibilant, I'm using Burson soloist 3xp, Burl B2 Bomber Dac which is Delta Sigma.

 

[prymortal]

My HE6SE isn't sibilant, I'm using Burson soloist 3xp, Burl B2 Bomber Dac which is Delta Sigma.

By comparison to the Arya V2 it is. But yea in General it's not.~Which is my point, Sorry if above reads a bit misleading. Please avoid putting words in other peoples mouths.

 

[Shane D]

I use the built in Parametric EQ with Roon (which typically works well for me). I might have to introduce a loki or lokius into the mix at some point. What EQ gains do you set on your Loki?

Hopefully you can read the dials. I really need to run a fine tip marker through those grooves. I believe the new Lokius has six dials.

 

[FYFL]

My HE6SE isn't sibilant, I'm using Burson soloist 3xp, Burl B2 Bomber Dac which is Delta Sigma.

I didn't find sibilance to be a problem with HE6 SE V2 neither. And, I am running it with what would be considered a super detailed/airy amp. I haven't heard Arya but from memory, HE1K was slightly more “offensive” in that regard.

 

[Infoseeker]

He6se isn't sibilant to me. It only has a glare to some vocals to me. That gets worse and then becomes sibilance if you use leather earpads. The default earpads it came with work best. Unless you want to add a toilet paper or some fabric to line the inside of the leather earpads.

 

[FYFL]

OG and Sundara pads. Perhaps I am not super sensitive to some sibilance. Which, could be part of the recording.

 

[Shane D]

I actully have both Elex and HE6SEV2 as well, I personally feel HE6 has a more impactful and deeper bass, overall a more impactful and more intense sound with a little more "in your face detail" too. Elex is smoother and a bit more relaxed (but not overly relaxed).

I haven't gotten that far yet, but these certainly have a lot more slam and dynamics than the Monoprice M1570's. Of course the M1570's are a lot cheaper.

I will also mention that I have not noticed any sibilance. Still pretty impressed with the sound with my iFi.

 

[cwoo]

These aren't sibilant headphones. They definitely do a great job of portraying sibilance on songs recorded with sibilance. They are pretty natural sounding and timbre accurate but very recording dependent for tonal accuracy.

 

[bagwell359]

Every HFM I have heard (most) can be sibilant. Even the HEX v2 which is one of the most polite highs they have produced has some. I'd consider not using the word sibilant, and instead getting a waterfall plot for these, reading up on where it seems the ringing is worst, and trying settings to battle that. Not all issues with cans are frequency domain. Orthos ring. These ring. If you remove a bit of that, you're going lose db's off of some music too - up to the user to decide what they want to live with. Nobody that likes HFM's like me would say to neuter these to cut all ringing. Compromise, insight, and patience is rewarded.

 

[FYFL]

Every HFM I have heard (most) can be sibilant. Even the HEX v2 which is one of the most polite highs they have produced has some. I'd consider not using the word sibilant, and instead getting a waterfall plot for these, reading up on where it seems the ringing is worst, and trying settings to battle that. Not all issues with cans are frequency domain. Orthos ring. These ring. If you remove a bit of that, you're going lose db's off of some music too - up to the user to decide what they want to live with. Nobody that likes HFM's like me would say to neuter these to cut all ringing. Compromise, insight, and patience is rewarded.

I have heard my share of HFM and I know what you're saying. I am not a huge fan of the house sound but these are not it.