[anon4835]

I love how it's a resolving neutral planar with the dynamics of DD.

 

[Festive56]

Good news everyone! I finally received notification my refund has been issued for my returned HE6SEV2's that Adorama received TWENTY ONE days ago. You might want to factor that little tidbit into your purchasing decision. Sure put a bad taste in my mouth, Adorama's off my list for sure! YMMV of course, just reporting my experience.

 

[bagwell359]

b

You will need a speaker amp or a $2k headphone amp for HE6se.
Arya Stealth would be anemic on L30, you want at least A90 for proper amping.

You need 2 wpc @ 50 ohms to run any HE-6 - although 4 might be more desirable. Several models of Schitt in the $200-500 range drive them. My Rag 1 drives them great and I don't even have to get out of gain 2. A used Rag 1 should go for about $650 nowadays.

 

[bagwell359]

How powerful of an amp do you really need to drive these?

I’ve considered ordering them (if they drop back down to $399), but if I have to spend $1000 on an amp anyways, then I might as well just spend the extra on an Arya Stealth instead, since that will probably work well on my Topping L30.

2 wpc @ 50 ohms min. The HE-6 SE v2 has better bass (timbre, impact) than any Arya. Also it has technicals comparable to the Arya. It does not have the sound stage size. Get a used Rag 1 for $650 and you can run most speakers with it.

 

[Shane D]

In related news, I just ordered a set of Bee planar's from Nectar Sound. Really curious how they compare to my beloved HE6se V2's.

Nectar Sound is just a small one man operation that hand makes every set out of Georgia in the US.

 

[bagwell359]

In related news, I just ordered a set of Bee planar's from Nectar Sound. Really curious how they compare to my beloved HE6se V2's.

Nectar Sound is just a small one man operation that hand makes every set out of Georgia in the US.

great, been waiting for a review from a regular,and a fan of the HE-6 too. enjoy! ... then spill!

 

[Shane D]

great, been waiting for a review from a regular,and a fan of the HE-6 too. enjoy! ... then spill!

Supposed to be pretty bassy. But at the cost of high end. I am game. I have Grado's and Focal's for getting the high stuff.

I have heard a ton about planar's being bassy, but I have never heard it in my life. I have had some, including my HE6se V2's that REALLY take to bass boost/EQ, but none ever sounded bassy to me out of the box. Of course I play in the shallow end of the pool, price wise, so that could be why.

Pretty jacked up to hear these. And I love supporting a small business.

 

[bagwell359]

Supposed to be pretty bassy. But at the cost of high end. I am game. I have Grado's and Focal's for getting the high stuff.

I have heard a ton about planar's being bassy, but I have never heard it in my life. I have had some, including my HE6se V2's that REALLY take to bass boost/EQ, but none ever sounded bassy to me out of the box. Of course I play in the shallow end of the pool, price wise, so that could be why.

Pretty jacked up to hear these. And I love supporting a small business.

Bass is the most overloaded term in audio IMO. There is timbre, speed, impact - and thats where I live, and thats were planars live (not the cheaper HFM jobs which have pumped up mid/upper bass - via sloppy Q usually). People that like lots of sustain usually listen to closed backs which are frankly almost all colored - and then some bass heads pump that up with bass shelfs. They get upset when they put +15 db shelf at 100 Hz on the 6 SE, and it doesn't sound like a whale in distress.

My solution for them is listen to open backs with flat bass (the 6 SE to be flat to me needs a +3.2 db bass shelf at 48 Hz) then hook up a subwoofer that goes to 10 Hz and sit on it. Get the sensation and reasonable sonics.

 

[Shane D]

Bass is the most overloaded term in audio IMO. There is timbre, speed, impact - and thats where I live, and thats were planars live (not the cheaper HFM jobs which have pumped up mid/upper bass - via sloppy Q usually). People that like lots of sustain usually listen to closed backs which are frankly almost all colored - and then some bass heads pump that up with bass shelfs. They get upset when they put +15 db shelf at 100 Hz on the 6 SE, and it doesn't sound like a whale in distress.

My solution for them is listen to open backs with flat bass (the 6 SE to be flat to me needs a +3.2 db bass shelf at 48 Hz) then hook up a subwoofer that goes to 10 Hz and sit on it. Get the sensation and reasonable sonics.

I like the bass from my Focals and the iBasso SR2's.

The Cascades are kind of cartoonish, but I have to play with them more. I have to run through all three sets of ear pads and the two sets of filters. Maybe less bass for more longevity.

And of course bass boost is a popular option for almost all of my headphones with the iFi as the mood strikes.

 

[rieku321]

Tried these out today, I just want to let any potential buyers know, I'd really recommend a 4W output minimum (even though Hifiman recommend 2W) for these if you are planning to do any sort of EQ. I ran these off the Topping L50 and even without EQ I was able to completely max it on high gain without it getting earsplittingly loud. If you want to add a bass shelf and really make these shine you are gonna need a lot more power.

 

[bagwell359]

Tried these out today, I just want to let any potential buyers know, I'd really recommend a 4W output minimum for these if you are planning to do any sort of EQ. I ran these off the Topping L50 and even without EQ I was able to completely max it on high gain without it getting earsplittingly loud. If you want to add a bass shelf and really make these shine you are gonna need a lot more power.

How big a bass shelf?

 

[rieku321]

How big a bass shelf?

I EQ'd them to Harman with oratory's settings so it was +5.5db (I was lacking a little bit in volume), but I enjoy EDM so in an ideal world I would probably up that even more, and these can definitely handle it with no problem, you just need the appropriate power.

 

[bagwell359]

I EQ'd them to Harman with oratory's settings so it was +5.5db (I was lacking a little bit in volume), but I enjoy EDM so in an ideal world I would probably up that even more, and these can definitely handle it with no problem, you just need the appropriate power.

If you are going to +7 db, then you need more than 2, more like 6-8 wpc. I have 10 wpc @ 50 ohms, and I don't get close to using that, and my shelf is +3.2db, so 3-4 max is where I live, I listen to music as close to how it was recorded as possible - audiophile/flat bias. which the past 25 years or so is the minority view. Also oratory settings under 100 Hz are not set too flat - they use a crap speaker listening room curve which they think will make people feel at home - except hardly anyone has this room. - certainly not me. They also take the average listeners likes into consideration - which is biased bass heavy these days - both of these factors biased towards more bass. The Headphone Community has a better take on this now, I hope people check it out.

I think one thing most folks forget - the human ear doesn't hear nearly as well at 20 Hz as it does at 80 Hz, so EQ'ing 20 Hz bass to be as loud as 80 Hz is not only not what was recorded, it's simply ignoring human normal human hearing. ...off of soapbox.

 

[NascentAP]

Surprisingly this is opposite to what these measurements show.

Here's the post with measurements from Antdroid using solid leather pads.
His words



And another post from him with different pads measurements, no fenestrated though.
Probably better graph in his blog.

Coincidentally, I came across this video from Resolve and at around 14:25 mark, he mentions that on OG HE6, leather pads create a peak at around 1k Hz that produces a "honky" effect. He did not mention whether this is limited to the OG or whether the same effect is also there for the V1/V2. I have a suspicion that this is what I am hearing and may be (erroneously) describing it as being v shaped. I clearly hear the boosted bass with the leather pads as bass bloats on the Elex with dekoni leather pads if driven by Emotiva BasX but not with its original ones. Just speculating since I clearly here these changes

 

[bagwell359]

Coincidentally, I came across this video from Resolve and at around 14:25 mark, he mentions that on OG HE6, leather pads create a peak at around 1k Hz that produces a "honky" effect. He did not mention whether this is limited to the OG or whether the same effect is also there for the V1/V2. I have a suspicion that this is what I am hearing and may be (erroneously) describing it as being v shaped. I clearly hear the boosted bass with the leather pads as bass bloats on the Elex with dekoni leather pads if driven by Emotiva BasX but not with its original ones. Just speculating since I clearly here these changes

I find that the 6 SE and 6 SE v2 have a little bulge between 700-1k, but its only annoying when one adds some EQ to the 1.k trough. I keep it to 3.6 db, but the crinicle setting is way too much at the top of the midrange IMO. But the 700-1k issue is not as bad as "honky" IMO unless you follow crinicle.

To all: In case you don't know - crinicle is crap in the lower treble and under 100 Hz, and its not just an opinion, ask me why.