[m8o]

Me too. Got one from the 1st shipment to stereo exchange. And drive mine hard. OK for now, but I worry about the same thing.

If it degrades I'll spray it with a mix of graphene aerogel and adhesive. If anything I tend to think the extra mass will enhance the rumble! How the bass gets massive an flappy when you uncouple the earpads from your ear by pulling it away slightly makes me think it could use more mass to move more air. Haha

 

[gto88]

Just received mine this noon.
Hooked up to LKS MH-DA003 -> Audio-Gd NFB-1AMP balanced cable.
Jump to Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard's Gladiator (Special Anniversary Edition) disc 1  track 3 - the battle.
One should listen to this track to experience its impact from heavy punch of instrument and the speed of brass music.
HE1000 can reproduce the music very close to the feeling of 3 ways floor standing speaker that I have.
of course the stage is different from listening to speaker, but for headphone, I am impressed.
Listening to George Winston album, it feels like you are standing right near the piano playing.
The bass is good and sub-bass is better than LCD-X that you can feel the vibration.
This headphone is really good that it makes classic orchestra fun to listen to, for example, Yo-Yo Ma's album now will catch my attention instead of just background music, somehow the music becomes more enjoyable.
 
I will be doing some comparison with my HD800 (aftermarket balanced cable, same setup)
when I have time.
 
However, for the build quality, I have to some complaint, for a $3000 headphone, there is flaws like this:

And the box has been bump somehow:

 

[Panoyski]

Can you compare your 1AMP against the stock cable after your burn-in? It will be interesting to know your thoughts about them.

Congrats on your new HEK!

 

[Oldfella]

It looks as if your HE1000,may have been opened/used?.Mine was delivered to dealer here, in the UK,with instructions,NOT to open, and it arrived pristine unopened.

 

[potkettleblack]

Every HE1000 I've ever seen (4 in total) has that kind of shoddy wood finish. I think most are onboard with the fact Hifiman's build quality isn't that great overall.

Try to not let it bother you.

 

[JeffMann]

  Just received mine this noon.
Hooked up to LKS MH-DA003 -> Audio-Gd NFB-1AMP balanced cable.
Jump to Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard's Gladiator (Special Anniversary Edition) disc 1  track 3 - the battle.
One should listen to this track to experience its impact from heavy punch of instrument and the speed of brass music.
HE1000 can reproduce the music very close to the feeling of 3 ways floor standing speaker that I have.
of course the stage is different from listening to speaker, but for headphone, I am impressed.
Listening to George Winston album, it feels like you are standing right near the piano playing.
The bass is good and sub-bass is better than LCD-X that you can feel the vibration.
This headphone is really good that it makes classic orchestra fun to listen to, for example, Yo-Yo Ma's album now will catch my attention instead of just background music, somehow the music becomes more enjoyable.
 
I will be doing some comparison with my HD800 (aftermarket balanced cable, same setup)
when I have time.
 
However, for the build quality, I have to some complaint, for a $3000 headphone, there is flaws like this:

And the box has been bump somehow:

My HE1000 is flawless.
 
I would never accept those two defects - considering the $3,000 cost. You should send it back for replacement.
 
Jeff.

 

[onsionsi]

This is interesting DAC/AMP i figure out in the internet.
 

Pro series - Beta Product Specifications
IFI iCan Pro

Introduction
As you know, there is the nano, the micro and the mini series which has now be renamed the “Pro series” which is the flagship (or helicarrier?) of the iFi range.

It is serious for not only the professional audio market, but home audio too.

The Pro series – planned are the iDSD, iCAN and the iUSB Power and others.

In terms of sonic results, the iCAN will be all out assault at the state of the art and drive every headphone out there. Even electrotatic Headphones like Stax can be driven (but requires a special external energiser module - separate item).

As is often the case, we got carried away and instead of making the iCAN+iTUBE, we combined the two. And just for kicks, we added a Pre-Amplifier.

So the iCAN is now the iCAN + iTUBE + iPre all rolled into one.

And then just to really things really interesting, we have put in TWO amplfication sections for the customer to choose. Read on.

 

The most salient features are:

Selectable Tube or Solid State Input , fully discrete Class A design
Balanced Output options on 3-Pin & 4-Pin XLR plus 6.3mm Jack on front panel.
Unbalanced outputs on 6.3mm Jack (direct) and two 3.5mm Jacks with built-in fixed iEMatch attenuation on front panel to drive IEMs etc.
1 pair of XLR Inputs and three pairs of RCA Inputs.

1 pair XLR & RCA outputs on back

> 20V maximum output, > 600mW into 600 Ohm headphones, appx 16,000mW maximum into 16 Ohm and appx. 6,000 mW continuous output into 16Ohm.

Three levels of gain selectable from Front Panel.

Balanced ALPS Volume control with remote control.

3D Holographic® for Headphones and XBass® (each adjustable in 3-Levels + Off).

Class A operation for all stages up to 500mW/16 Ohm, pure Class A at all levels for Headphones > 120 Ohm.

Circuitry derived from professional tube-based studio equipment, implemented in a hybrid design mixing Tubes or J-Fet Inputs (selectable) with Bipolar Transistors and Mosfets.

Full Dual-Mono design including internal power supplies, supplied with 15V/4A Ultra Low Noise PSU (Generation 2 same as iPOWER).

Optional Electrostatic Headphone Energiser in separate Box will be introduced, 1,700V Peak-Peak maximum output, Bias selectable for Stax HiFi/Pro, Sennheiser and others, Output Levels selectable, 3 * Stax Pro & HiFi Sockets fitted.

 

iCAN Pro - Features

Balanced Headphone Amplifier

PowerSource:
External DC 15V/4A

Inputs (Back):
1 x XLR True Balanced Stereo
3 x RCA Stereo

Output Front):
4-Pin XLR Headphone Balanced
Dual 3-Pin XLR Headphone Balanced
6.3mm Headphone x2, single ended or balanced
6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter included
3.5mm iEMatch attenuated x 2

Output (back):
1 X XLR True Balanced Stereo (preamp out)
1 X RCA Stereo (preamp out)

Multipin Link connector for Energiser module

Volume Control:
Motorised ALPS 6-Way potentiometer

Amplification:
2 * GE 5670 Tube or 4 * Ultra Low Noise J-Fet, selected via front panel switch

Analogue Processing:
X-Bass, +3dB at 80Hz, 160Hz, 320Hz 
3D Sound. 30/45/60 Degrees virtual Speaker angle

Gain:
0dB, 12dB and 24dB user-selectable

Signal to Noise Ratio:
>117dB(A)

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD):
<0.003%

Frequency Response:
0.5Hz to 500KHz(-3dB)

Output Power (16R cont):
> 6,000mW

Output Voltage (600R):
>20V (Balanced); > 10V (single ended)

Size:
220mm x 62mm X 190mm (W X H X D including feet and connectors)

And you want more? Well, here you go with pictures of the current beta.

We hope you found this interesting!

 

Does anyone has a chance to listen to it as i'm curios for this new upcoming device

 

[gto88]

Can you compare your 1AMP against the stock cable after your burn-in? It will be interesting to know your thoughts about them.

Congrats on your new HEK!

Thanks, but the aftermaket cable I mentioned is on HD800 which didn't come with balanced one, so I bought one for it.
 
@JeffMann, yeah, it really sucks, I have contacted hifiman, we'll see.

 

[jhljhl]

Recommend the Premium Silver Dragon cable for HE1000 - noticeable improved dynamics overstock.
The alo salty pepper cable with HE1000 adapters from q-cable (btg) were really nice too.

 

[musicman59]

Recommend the Premium Silver Dragon cable for HE1000 - noticeable improved dynamics overstock.
The alo salty pepper cable with HE1000 adapters from q-cable (btg) were really nice too.

I recommend the Dana cable and also the MIT Vero Refernce as a close second.
The Dana really brings you into the music. It is very natural sounding giving you the feeling of being there.

 

[Panoyski]

Thanks to Jhlhjl and musicman59 for their recommendations. I will for sure consider them.

To musicman: which cable do you use on your MHA100? Have you tried driving your HEK out of the speaker taps? The MHA100 is also on my wish list, so naturally I'm very interested to know the synergy between it and the HEK.

 

[musicman59]

Thanks to Jhlhjl and musicman59 for their recommendations. I will for sure consider them.

To musicman: which cable do you use on your MHA100? Have you tried driving your HEK out of the speaker taps? The MHA100 is also on my wish list, so naturally I'm very interested to know the synergy between it and the HEK.

I have been using the Dana cable or the MIT Vero Reference. I think the Dana is a hair ahed of the MIT. 
Yes, I have done it. In other to do that you need a balanced cable and a spades/bananas to XLR adapter. Due to this I have used my balanced DHC Complement4 and an adapter that I made out a WireWorld Equinox interconnect wire. To be honest compared to the High Gain and High impedance setting I did not hear much of a difference. The same happened with I did the comparison with the HE-6 I used to own.
 
I think the sound signature and transparency of the MHA100 complement and help the HE1000 nicely.

 

[jhljhl]

  I have been using the Dana cable or the MIT Vero Reference. I think the Dana is a hair ahed of the MIT. 
Yes, I have done it. In other to do that you need a balanced cable and a spades/bananas to XLR adapter. Due to this I have used my balanced DHC Complement4 and an adapter that I made out a WireWorld Equinox interconnect wire. To be honest compared to the High Gain and High impedance setting I did not hear much of a difference. The same happened with I did the comparison with the HE-6 I used to own.
 
I think the sound signature and transparency of the MHA100 complement and help the HE1000 nicely.

What's the sound sig of the MHA-100 like with the HEK and other headphones?

 

[musicman59]

 
What's the sound sig of the MHA-100 like with the HEK and other headphones?

The MHA100 has a very clean and transparent sound just like the new series of Macintosh speakers amps (I have a pair of their MC601). You need to get used to the sound because your first impression would be of it being bright but it is not, it is clean and transparent. It is well extended at both ends of the frequencies and will show everything in the recording good or bad. IMO the HE1000 sound is a little laid back so the matching is good because the MHA100 brings life to the HE1000.

 

[doctorjazz]

I heard the Mac at Stereo Exchange in NYC a while ago, and was impressed by how open and clear it sounded with the HEK. Quick audition (while the lady was shopping), didn't get to compare with any other gear, but I was impressed.