[JimL11]

Why does Stax use Ribbon cables and HFM use common cables with cheap sleeve ? Why...oh....why ?

Well, not just that, but also the fact that the individual wires inside the HFM cables are floating around loose so they are free to move about in relation to each other, whereas the wires in the Stax cable are in a fixed relation to each other. Really shoddy [lack of] engineering.

 

[purk]

The @purk comment in that picture is funny in that advertisement. I am not laughing st what @purk said, it is the fact that Hifiman is trying spin the fact that this $8k unit is a steal compared to their $50k unit as a selling point when both prices are solely controlled by Hifiman. It’s like they think we will rejoice at the fact they tried to price gouge us less, lol.

“Why is so expensive? Because it sound good.”

Hell, my intention was a sarcasm against the price of the Sr. I have not even auditioned the Jr. Perhaps, Fang should send one to me so I can listen to it.

 

[weasel1979]

I never understood why people make so much fun about Fangs answer "because it sound good". Do people think the price is set by production costs or development or sth? That goes into it as well, but basically, the demand sets the price and if something sounds better than the other headphones, it should be more expensive. (just as Messi is more expensive than other players. Cuz he play better.) Whats to laugh about? Plus, he was honest about it. Does anyone think the aluminium and the built of a SR-009 costs 5000 Dollars? Or an lcdi4? Now that's something to laugh about.
But maybe I misunderstand the whole "because it sound good" scandal. If the cans dont sound good, well thats a problem. . But from what I've read about Canjam London, people dig the Jr sound a lot.

 

[omniweltall]

At that price level, sound good isnt justifiable enough. A lot of $300-1000 cans sound good. And many have better build quality and reliability than Fang's. Many of his cans fall apart before even reaching his customers' hands. Some not long after.

Problem is he wants to score big with his cans by making his cans as cheap as possible and selling at ridicilously insane prices. It's like a get-rich-quick scheme. He figured audiophiles are the best target to do this.

 

[weasel1979]

I've had almost every hifiman can and none ever fell apart. The old designs were heavy but now it's all good imo.
Every company wants to make a profit. The HE-500, then the 560 and now the Sundara are the best bargain you can get in headphones imo, seriously. Prices are still dropping.

Anyway, I dig the hifiman sound, so I am kind of a fanboy. This thread unfortunately turned into a running gag by non-fans which is unfortunate imo cuz i am really interested in their sound. But go ahead, who am I to stop the fun

 

[oneguy]

I like the sound of the HEK and Susvara. Besides my first listen on an unbroken in pair, I’d say the Susvara is the best non-estat cans I have heard but the point on build quality does touch on the heart of the matter. While his cans don’t often fall apart literally, I have seen issues with fit and finish that should never exist at those asking prices.

 

[protoss]

I never understood why people make so much fun about Fangs answer "because it sound good". Do people think the price is set by production costs or development or sth? That goes into it as well, but basically, the demand sets the price and if something sounds better than the other headphones, it should be more expensive. (just as Messi is more expensive than other players. Cuz he play better.) Whats to laugh about? Plus, he was honest about it. Does anyone think the aluminium and the built of a SR-009 costs 5000 Dollars? Or an lcdi4? Now that's something to laugh about.
But maybe I misunderstand the whole "because it sound good" scandal. If the cans dont sound good, well thats a problem. . But from what I've read about Canjam London, people dig the Jr sound a lot.

Fang quote was a comic relief! It will be going down in audiophile history as one of the greatest quotes ever said. It is not base on any type of scandal. It was just convey humorously to serious audiophile-heads and they just ran with it. Sadly I and a few others were the very first ones to point out this humorous quote and started quoting it. Its funny because at the moment of the time, the wording and expression was just too funny!

Everyone knows why the Senior was made. Hifiman wanted to rival the juggernaut Sennheiser He-1. So the expectation on Hifiman is extremely high to fulfill.
And if you going to do that, its bots vs bots and fanbois vs fanbois. While STAXs chilling on the sidelines smoking a cigar and coughing saying 009 dummies. And to point out what people said about the Sr. is really disappointing to hear. And on the opposite side of the coin people said the He-1 is a true successor to the legendary HE90. So this comes to the conclusion why the hell is the Shangri-la cost 50k if it sounds bad? --Because it sounds good?


And I wanted to agree with you on your other post about Hifiman products. It is true that Hifiman has great headphones. No doubt about that. But I also want to pin-point the design flaws and sound of each headphone to get an idea why Hifiman is mock or is question constantly.

HE-500 is a amazing headphone. (It had like 3 other revision. Some had had cracking woods and others dead drivers, etch) The last revision was good.
HE-6 will be going down as a legendary headphone and one of the Best. It is extremely hard to drive to its full potential. And because of that its dismiss.
He Audio Jade (Pre-Hifiman) This is a legendary headphone. It had like 3 bad revisions and designs flaws and even the final product had major problems. But the final version is to die for.
I personally consider the Jade a masterpiece of audio-sound.
He1000v1 was rushed too quickly and than a few months later the He1000v2 (HE1000V2 is a really good headphone) was release? This pissed a lot of people. Because of this incident the famous statements will be with Hifiman forever.
It goes like this;
"Hifiman just release a NEW product ($3000)! Don't buy it right away because version 2 ($2500) will be release in 6 months!"

Susvara with a Top Amp and Top Dac is one of the best headphone. Again horrible built quality, etch.
Shangri-la Jr. Cables are a design error. The cable of a $4000 pair most likely need to be replace within a year! And the sound is said to be a Stax L700 quality!! L700 is $1300. And Jr. is $4000.
And when you said People are praising the sound of the Jr. Well L700 sounds pretty god damn good too!

I can hear Fang saying in the background, Because it sounds good!

So the history of Hifiman is funny but a serious player in this game.

 

[Rhamnetin]

Fang quote was a comic relief! It will be going down in audiophile history as one of the greatest quotes ever said. It is not base on any type of scandal. It was just convey humorously to serious audiophile-heads and they just ran with it. Sadly I and a few others were the very first ones to point out this humorous quote and started quoting it. Its funny because at the moment of the time, the wording and expression was just too funny!

Everyone knows why the Senior was made. Hifiman wanted to rival the juggernaut Sennheiser He-1. So the expectation on Hifiman is extremely high to fulfill.
And if you going to do that, its bots vs bots and fanbois vs fanbois. While STAXs chilling on the sidelines smoking a cigar and coughing saying 009 dummies. And to point out what people said about the Sr. is really disappointing to hear. And on the opposite side of the coin people said the He-1 is a true successor to the legendary HE90. So this comes to the conclusion why the hell is the Shangri-la cost 50k if it sounds bad? --Because it sounds good?


And I wanted to agree with you on your other post about Hifiman products. It is true that Hifiman has great headphones. No doubt about that. But I also want to pin-point the design flaws and sound of each headphone to get an idea why Hifiman is mock or is question constantly.

HE-500 is a amazing headphone. (It had like 3 other revision. Some had had cracking woods and others dead drivers, etch) The last revision was good.
HE-6 will be going down as a legendary headphone and one of the Best. It is extremely hard to drive to its full potential. And because of that its dismiss.
He Audio Jade (Pre-Hifiman) This is a legendary headphone. It had like 3 bad revisions and designs flaws and even the final product had major problems. But the final version is to die for.
I personally consider the Jade a masterpiece of audio-sound.
He1000v1 was rushed too quickly and than a few months later the He1000v2 (HE1000V2 is a really good headphone) was release? This pissed a lot of people. Because of this incident the famous statements will be with Hifiman forever.
It goes like this;
"Hifiman just release a NEW product ($3000)! Don't buy it right away because version 2 ($2500) will be release in 6 months!"

Susvara with a Top Amp and Top Dac is one of the best headphone. Again horrible built quality, etch.
Shangri-la Jr. Cables are a design error. The cable of a $4000 pair most likely need to be replace within a year! And the sound is said to be a Stax L700 quality!! L700 is $1300. And Jr. is $4000.
And when you said People are praising the sound of the Jr. Well L700 sounds pretty god damn good too!

I can hear Fang saying in the background, Because it sounds good!

So the history of Hifiman is funny but a serious player in this game.

You pretty much nailed it, though I do disagree on a few points. The HE-6 is very good, but I'd never call it one of the best. I think the Stax SR-009 obliterates it in every way, and this is a more fair comparison to make since they strive for a somewhat similar sound I believe.

On the flip side of the coin, I'm not sure that the Susvara build quality is terrible in general. Terrible for $6k though yeah. But at least the Susvara and HE1000 have an all metal body, unlike the SR-009's plastic top headband and sliders.

 

[oneguy]

You pretty much nailed it, though I do disagree on a few points. The HE-6 is very good, but I'd never call it one of the best. I think the Stax SR-009 obliterates it in every way, and this is a more fair comparison to make since they strive for a somewhat similar sound I believe.

On the flip side of the coin, I'm not sure that the Susvara build quality is terrible in general. Terrible for $6k though yeah. But at least the Susvara and HE1000 have an all metal body, unlike the SR-009's plastic top headband and sliders.

Don’t knock the plastic. It’s sturdy and does the job well. Sure it won’t last if you step on it but I don’t think ability to support human weight is a normal design criteria for headphones.

 

[omniweltall]

I would take sennheiser or stax plastic over fang's metal any day.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I haven't listened to HE-6 in ages. I should probably sell it.

 

[XSAMURAI]

Many of his cans fall apart before even reaching his customers' hands. Some not long after.

well, there is a huge field of negative energy in this topic , that is a bold statement and not fair , from someone who own & owned almost all the hifiman's headphones , HE350 , 400S , 400i , HE500 , 560 , HE6 , Edition X , Edition X V2 , HE1000 , HE1000 V2 and moving to Susvara & Shangri la jr i've never had any major problem with hifimans and served well for years except couple minor examples such as quality of material they using for ear pad and cables shield , or in some models stiff body , or any similiar ( Edition X V2 , HE1000 V2 , Susvara ) i didn't found or see even one pair of broken hifiman in my entire history with this brand, full size headphone at least and. i won't comment on sound though or no need to mention , but i totaly agree they need to keep the price under the radar

 

[JimL11]

Well, I have an HE4xx, and I think it is a well-built headphone for its price - $169. The problem is that HFM headphone's build quality doesn't scale with their price. Just compare HFM build with an equivalent priced Utopia - or better yet, don't.

 

[omniweltall]

well, there is a huge field of negative energy in this topic , that is a bold statement and not fair , from someone who own & owned almost all the hifiman's headphones , HE350 , 400S , 400i , HE500 , 560 , HE6 , Edition X , Edition X V2 , HE1000 , HE1000 V2 and moving to Susvara & Shangri la jr i've never had any major problem with hifimans and served well for years except couple minor examples such as quality of material they using for ear pad and cables shield , or in some models stiff body , or any similiar ( Edition X V2 , HE1000 V2 , Susvara ) i didn't found or see even one pair of broken hifiman in my entire history with this brand, full size headphone at least and. i won't comment on sound though or no need to mention , but i totaly agree they need to keep the price under the radar

Consider yourself lucky, mate. I wasn't so lucky.

For example, go and check how many people got problems with HE4XX right now. Many of them got defected products right out of the box. As Jim mentioned about their higher lineups, even my $3000 HEK and 560 had problems not even after a year of purchase. These things are not built to last. It is clear that Fang put no love in making these.

Fang's products look much much better in pictures than real life.

 

[mulder01]

I've never owned hifiman products, but from the time I have been a head-fi member and reading these forums, it seems like they were widely loved and well respected back when the HE-6 was the TOTL flagship, but their reputation seems to have died a slow death since then.