Introducing the HIFIMAN HE-R9!

[orbilius]

I sang the praises of the R9s with EQ one some types of music, but honestly they haven’t had much time in rotation recently.

 

[kata2012]

I sang the praises of the R9s with EQ one some types of music, but honestly they haven’t had much time in rotation recently.

I hear ya. I feel like its one of those headphones that you forget about until you get a new amp or dac and start to cycle though all your headphones to see how all the old stuff sounds on the new equipment. Then you get to the R9s and are like "hey, these are pretty good" and you listen to them for a few days or a week before they fall off the radar again.

 

[tonyc2468]

I have been rotating the r9s and r10d for last few weeks - listening to mainly blues rock across quite a few sources - like many comments I have found they sound very good on some tracks but not on others
R9s seem to perform better to my ears balanced and have very good synergy with my questyle qp2r and pono player but did not seem to pair well with shanling m6 or non balanced on dethonray dtr1
Using a dac from iPhone bloated and almost un listenable
Line out of a few Astell kern daps through burson soloist amp good also
In general very easy to listen to for extended periods but definitely source and track dependant
R10d definitely more refined sound but so it should be for price difference
If you have a cowon plenue with jet effects you can get some great sound if you have the time to play around with eq
At current price well worth having in a rotation

 

[stuck limo]

Has anyone tried these with an Apple dongle? How do they sound or get driven? I would think not great but idk.

 

[rattler]

I recently acquired a Denon AHD5000 with Lawton wooden Cups. On a cursory comparison, HE R9 seems to have more bass & they are bit warmer than the Denons
Resolution wise, the Denons score more than the HE R9... Somehow the wooden cups of the Denons (though large but not as large as the HE R9s) seem to tone down the echo effect which is present in the large cups of HE R9
In the mids/vocals section, I like the HE R9 sound better.... it's just a bit forward & doesn't present signature of the V shaped frequency of the Denons
Without this comparison, I'd be completely pleased with the HE R9 but now it seems the bass/overall signature could use some damping
Some day, would love to try the both of these on a Tube amp
R 10D or the ES Labs R10 or the ZMF Atrium Closed could be an upgrade

 

[kata2012]

Can anyone compare the R9 and the Denoki Blue?

 

[Hyde00]

I recently acquired a Denon AHD5000 with Lawton wooden Cups. On a cursory comparison, HE R9 seems to have more bass & they are bit warmer than the Denons
Resolution wise, the Denons score more than the HE R9... Somehow the wooden cups of the Denons (though large but not as large as the HE R9s) seem to tone down the echo effect which is present in the large cups of HE R9
In the mids/vocals section, I like the HE R9 sound better.... it's just a bit forward & doesn't present signature of the V shaped frequency of the Denons
Without this comparison, I'd be completely pleased with the HE R9 but now it seems the bass/overall signature could use some damping
Some day, would love to try the both of these on a Tube amp
R 10D or the ES Labs R10 or the ZMF Atrium Closed could be an upgrade

Which ear pad did you end up using on your Lawton D5000? I find Lawton mod change sound a lot depending on earpad used.

But I agree with you that Lawton put a lot of damping in the wood cup so might explain why R9 seem like it does not have as much damping.

Though from what you said it seems nice at last the vocal and mids are more forward on R9.

I struggle forever to push vocal forward on my Lawton TH900 using other means.

 

[rattler]

Which ear pad did you end up using on your Lawton D5000? I find Lawton mod change sound a lot depending on earpad used.

But I agree with you that Lawton put a lot of damping in the wood cup so might explain why R9 seem like it does not have as much damping.

Though from what you said it seems nice at last the vocal and mids are more forward on R9.

I struggle forever to push vocal forward on my Lawton TH900 using other means.

Not sure which Earpad brand it is but it's not the stock one... Previous owner had already installed it & I didn't check the details

It has a larger cavity when compared to the stock earpads & they are softer too...

Despite the differences, I believe, both R9 & the Lawton D5000 play rock very well... especially the older recordings

Just that R9 will play even Tenor Saxophone better than the Lawton D5000

I listened to the stock TH900 couple of years ago & I thought it was a super fast HP...

If Fostex/Lawton are able to bring the vocals forward in the TH900s, it could be a major step in the right direction

 

[Hyde00]

Not sure which Earpad brand it is but it's not the stock one... Previous owner had already installed it & I didn't check the details

It has a larger cavity when compared to the stock earpads & they are softer too...

Despite the differences, I believe, both R9 & the Lawton D5000 play rock very well... especially the older recordings

Just that R9 will play even Tenor Saxophone better than the Lawton D5000

I listened to the stock TH900 couple of years ago & I thought it was a super fast HP...

If Fostex/Lawton are able to bring the vocals forward in the TH900s, it could be a major step in the right direction

lol gotcha, but yeah for Denon/Fostex headphones, usually earpad with bigger holes will result in recessed mids, though better layering. And if the ear pad is thick it will also make vocal recessed.

That being said if you're enjoying the headphone then I'd not worry about it lol.

Otherwise it sounds like R9 is pretty good value compared to the Lawton D5000.

 

[rattler]

I am enjoying the Lawton D5000... till something new comes up

Yes... I agree, R9 is a massive 'bang for the buck'... especially at its current price of USD 109

 

[big45-70]

Will Deva/Deva Pro pad clips it’s the R9? They look pretty similar.

 

[Viper Necklampy]

I received HE-R9 and is the 32ohm version with the premium box... Is better to my ears than the 60ohm carton-box.. If there are 60 ohm and 32 ohm different versions at least.. The 32 ohm is not that heavy in the bass, yes a little bit, but not so than the 60 ohm, i also hear more clarity overall!!

 

[Kukuk]

Currently bouncing between my LCD-3s and my other headphone, just to see if I still love them. The LCD-3 has a been such a high point for me lately that they might be my favorite headphone, and have the unfortunate effect of making my other headphones seem worse.

With my secondary setup seen here I've been enjoying some more critical listening. On my desktop setup I have a horrible habit of just using music as background noise, so I'm not fully appreciating my headphones. The fact that I have this setup next to my comfy couch lets me just lay back and take it all in.

So I decided to get some critical listening in with the R9. It's a headphone that when sitting at my desk I do get some enjoyment out of, even when listening to background music, thanks to the visceral bass. Some of their finer points get lost on me a bit, so actually focusing on them has been a nice change of pace. I'll say that I think one of the most surprisingly things to me is how well-behaved the mids are. They're actually very nice, considering bass-monster headphones seem to sacrifice mids in a big way. I had actually purposefully picked some softer rock to listen to to really let them shine, and I'm super pleased by them.

I never really caught it before, but there does seem to be some fairly heavy bass reverb going on. I don't hear any reverb in mids or highs, but the bass is lingering a bit. Oddly, I don't find it to be messy sounding. I think if this were a $5000 headphone it would be lauded as resembling the acoustics of a jazz club or something. I won't go so far myself, but I do find it to be a non-issue. If you were to attempt to use these as a reference headphone, though, it would most definitely be an issue. Don't do that, though. These aren't for that.

Also, every time these headphones hit a new low in terms of price, I have to drive home the fact that I paid $370 for mine, and feel I absolutely stole them. I paid $700 for my Beyerdynamic DT1770 when they were new, and these absolutely cream them in every way (except isolation). That these are now down to $79 is absolutely mind-melting.

I own the R10D, as well, and while I like them better, these might be a technically better headphone. I really want an R10P; I've nearly got my funding all lined up for them, but it might be a little bit longer, assuming no surprise expenses pop up.

 

[boxster233]

I still feel ripped off by R9. Paid $650 and could barely resell for $150. Underwhelming headphone that soured me in Hifiman.

 

[Viper Necklampy]

There is the old more expensive 32 ohm HE-R9 and this HE-R9 of now 60 ohm.

Which sounds better??