[digitalzed]

 
FedEx finally came. Man it's hard to wait all day. Can't really give you a true impression of the sound yet. Just happy they've arrived!

 

[cute]

 

 
Better sub bass than the HE-6?

 
I am not qualified to make that judgement having only auditioned but never owned the he-6. Oregonian is your guy for that. 

Thanks, trouble is, Oregonian never answers my posts, not part of his posse I guess!

 

[rgs9200m]

Quick first listen to the Ether (with Moon Silver Dragon balanced cable):
1.  I am very much reminded of a good Stax system; the sound is very reminiscent of the Stax SR007, with speed and precision in the mids and highs, with a ton of that stat delicate sound. It's a very stat-like vocal too.
2. It's a very friendly sound, nothing too disturbing. It's friendly but alive. Piano is nice and plinky; I can hear each plink and key, but not aggressively so or painful. The detail is better than the Oppo PM-1, but the Ether is almost as much at ease.
3. Nice mids, clear and well defined. With guitars, there is nice twang and click of a guitar string. 
4. Highs are present and just right.
5. Vocals have a natural raspiness and texture. Vocals are not smoothed over. No annoying sibilance. There is a just right sense to vocals, going just far enough to sound lifelike but not over the line into shrieks. 
6. The mids and highs seemed to be tuned just right, walking the line to get detail without abuse. Well, when a vocal is too forward in a recording, it does shout slightly. I don't have to turn it up to get lots of texture.
7. Highs are also clear, again tuned just right. Bells, falsettos, soprano voices sweet, detailed, and bite, but natural bite. Both male and female.
8. Strings again have nice texture, maybe a little less strident and screechy than in real life.
9. The bass again reminds me of Stax. Fast and thumpy, not extremely deep (no subwoofer sound here), but the bass is well integrated.
10. Stax aficionados really have to hear these. There is a real emphasis on texture rather than drama. It's all about insight as the prime objective. 
11. These seem to be a cross between the Stax SR007 and 009. The SR009 can push too hard in the upper mids, but it's much less so in the Ether, only if it's too loud.
12. If anyone is looking for phones that have lots of musical information and joy at lower levels, the Ether may be the ticket.
13. The Ether definitely passes the can't-stop-listening acid test.
14. As for the sometimes too-shouty mids, it's a plus in most recordings, making them palpable, and only over-the-line in recordings that stress this.
15. What a great headphone! Not boring, no pain in most situations, and a high-end Stax like sound at a bargain price.
Again, these are barely edited real-time first impressions while listening and typing simultaneously.
I find myself using some EQ in Jriver: -2db at 14khz, -4 db at 16khz. This tames the shout factor. Now all is well for the moment...
I feel this is a remarkable headphone, regardless of price, compelling, full of insight, texture, fine bass/mids/highs, just the right amount of liquidity and silkyness, and lets me hear deep into the music. Just superb.
And comfort is great, and it's light as a feather also.

 

[Oregonian]

 
Thanks, trouble is, Oregonian never answers my posts, not part of his posse I guess!

Dude, sorry if I gave that impression! 
 
To your question..............no way is the Ether in the same league in the bass department.  Nothing touches the HE-6 the way I drove it - out of a vintage Pioneer Spec 2 amp/Spec 1 preamp from the speaker taps.  Ether had nice bass and went plenty low but just no way to match the visceral power of the HE-6. 

 

[cute]

 

 
Thanks, trouble is, Oregonian never answers my posts, not part of his posse I guess!

Dude, sorry if I gave that impression! 
 
To your question..............no way is the Ether in the same league in the bass department.  Nothing touches the HE-6 the way I drove it - out of a vintage Pioneer Spec 2 amp/Spec 1 preamp from the speaker taps.  Ether had nice bass and went plenty low but just no way to match the visceral power of the HE-6. 

Thanks, that helps!  I also have the HE-4 and HE-400, plus tried the 400S.  Nothing like the bass on the Hifiman's.  With that, I won't need to spend the $1499 on the Ether, I don't have that amount in all three Hifiman combined, I'll be happy with what I have!

 

[nopc0de]

Will they ever be sold in the EU?
 
I'd love to try them out.

 

[mrspeakers]

Will they ever be sold in the EU?

I'd love to try them out.

Come to CanJam London, and we are looking at a solution for the UK as well.

 

[dpron]

Got my Ethers yesterday!  I ordered them too late to qualify for the first 50 preorders that were supposed to get the DUM cable for free - However, I ordered through Moon Audio (which is out of state), and low and behold they arrived with the DUM cable!  That was a really nice surprise.  Although it is the 1/4" version so I'll still need to get a balanced cable but I knew that was coming anyways.
 
I've only been able to put 4 or 5 hours into them thus far.  My Liquid Carbon won't be here for at least another month, so I have them running through a Nuforce Icon HDP, which really isn't of the right caliber to be driving these headphones - but either way they sound great.  Much better than the HD650s that are now going to spend more time on the stand than on my head.
 
The lightness and comfort is really spectacular.  After 10min or so I barely notice them on my head.
 
The paperwork that ships with the Ethers advise that they need up to 200 hours of warming up, so I look forward to them further improving over the next few weeks.

 

[Vangelis]

I have considered the HE6 phones and now the Ethers. So after reading all the posts, aside from bass, is any area where the HE 6 equals the Ethers?

 

[TonyNewman]

I have considered the HE6 phones and now the Ethers. So after reading all the posts, aside from bass, is any area where the HE 6 equals the Ethers?

 
Just my 2 cents - if the amp you intend to use with the HE6 is the Taurus, then I would recommend the Ether. The Taurus doesn't have the juice to drive the HE6 close to its abilities IMHO - you will be getting only about 50% of what this headphone can do.

 

[Vangelis]

I think I've decided to go for the Sim audio. So I can go either way, which gives me more flexibility. I put a wanted ad looking for a 430HA. I would welcome a PM from anybody who's found a good price on one.

 

[TonyNewman]

I think I've decided to go for the Sim audio. So I can go either way, which gives me more flexibility. I put a wanted ad looking for a 430HA. I would welcome a PM from anybody who's found a good price on one.

 
Excellent choice! I love mine, and it drives the HE6 superbly.
 
Not sure you will find many folks wanting to sell one - I plan on keeping mine for a long time.

 

[NZtechfreak]

I have considered the HE6 phones and now the Ethers. So after reading all the posts, aside from bass, is any area where the HE 6 equals the Ethers?

It doesn't just equal the Ethers for bass, it outdoes them by a reasonable margin (to my ears etc). It has better soundstage height, I think width too, but I need more time to listen on that score. On most other fronts (detail retrieval, mids/highs, imaging etc) I need more listening time. I'd turn the question on its head, instead asking what areas the Ether can match up to the 6 sonically.

Comfort, build and looks are all easily in the Ethers favour, but that goes without saying.

 

[Vangelis]

Interesting perspective, reformatting the question. Build quality, looks, are not important to me, soundstage width and height and all the other categories are. I know the Ethers may have more comfort but I've never read that the HE6s are brutal. The HE1000 are not in the running due to their price and that many have said they're somewhat analytical. So for me the HE6 and the Ethers are the only ones in the running.

 

[Vangelis]

Excellent choice! I love mine, and it drives the HE6 superbly.

Not sure you will find many folks wanting to sell one - I plan on keeping mine for a long time.

I would consider new. I'm not trying to get a mile off retail but a couple inches would be good.