[Weilli]

Hi everyone, has anyone ever pair HE1000 with Lampizator Head DAC?
http://lampizator.eu/Fikus/HEAD_DAC.html
I'm not sure if a tube DAC driving HE1000 were good or not.
Thanks.

 

[Maxx134]

Hi everyone, has anyone ever pair HE1000 with Lampizator Head DAC?
http://lampizator.eu/Fikus/HEAD_DAC.html

I'm not sure if a tube DAC driving HE1000 were good or not.
Thanks.

Just make Shure you get the transformer output option..
I will find out how this pairs soon.

 

[Preload]

  Curious if anyone's had a chance to compare them to the new Focal Elears or Ether flows yet?

 
I'm curious too. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

 

[reeltime]

As an HE1000 enthusiast, I was thrilled to be invited into the HE1000 upgrade program.  
 
DISCLAIMER:  HiFiMan asked me to review the new version in exchange for my V1 version provided I offer an opinion after reviewing the 2 versions.  I've purposefully avoided reading other reviews of the HiFiMan HE-1000 V2.  I will have to say goodbye to one pair or the other, that's the bargain.  
 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
 
Same box.  Same style.  Smaller.  Major cable upgrade.  MAJOR.  
 
PLUGGING IN:
 
The HE-1000 V2 should come with a red warning label:  Do Not Use Until Broken In.  I've never experienced a headphone of this stature that lacked bass the way the new HE-1000 V2 did out of the box.  I wanted to run back to the V1 screaming and crying-- "Why would the eliminate the sub-bass?  What were they thinking?"  
 
I put iTunes on repeat mode and flooded them with pink noise.
 
Fortunately, the missing bass only temporary.  After around 10 hours of burn-in with the pink noise sweep over a few nights, the bass thumps in.  Until I got there, I was convinced HiFiMan had made a major misstep with the update, and I was prepared to keep my V1 beta edition.  Whew.
 
The area the HE-1000 needed the most work was in the upper mids, to my ears.  Right in the area where the snare drum lives there was an audible dent in the frequency response on the V1.  The snare drums lacked snap and presence.  That, thankfully, has been corrected with the V2.  
 
The soundstage width is about the same to my ears, perhaps a little narrower on the V2.  As a tradeoff, the imaging has greater focus. 
 
The V2 are cozier headphones.  The V1 is a roomier headphone.  From the looks of it-- the HE1000 V2 has moved the membrane closer to the ear-- the thickness of the wood is less on the V2.  The proximity change seems to have created an interesting effect-- you actually feel the bass more when it slams around your ears.  You sort of feel the musical impact.  
 
I still wouldn't put these headphones in the "basshead" category, it's a more balanced, full-bodied overall signature.  
 
 
ADVANCING THE NARRATIVE:
 
I had to leave the new headphones for two agonizing weeks while away on business.
 
The V2s are growing on me.  Doing some quick-change work between the V1 and V2 this morning, the bass is deeper, tighter, with more impact than the V1.  The impact might be the proximity affect I referred to earlier.  I assume the bass will continue to improve as I get more break-in.
 
The midrange (in particular, upper mids) is where HiFiMan really did serious work.  The gains are a definite improvement.  The V sound is flattened ever so slightly, this is a good thing.  More sparkle on the top end.  Serious kudos improving the V1's greatest weakness.  
 
Intimacy.  That's the word that keeps presenting itself as I listen.  The HE1000 V2 is a more intimate experience than the V1.  If you were a fan of the V1, as I still am, the V2 gives you the same sound in a more intimate experience with improvements along the way.  If you like vocals, this headphone will scratch that itch in a profound way.  Honestly, there is little the V1 didn't handle well, so understand, we're talking tweaks here, not giant steps.
 
Fit and finish-- Frankly, I prefer the looser feel of the V1-- no cloth touches my somewhat large-ish ears (not the case with the V2)-- this is a personal preference, but the V1 headphones are floppier on my head and will slide around if I turn quickly.  The V2 is tighter in its hinges, they stay in place better and don't slop around in my hands the way the V1 does.  HiFiMan listened to the criticism and tightened up tolerances in the whole package.  The V2 is lighter in weight, the construction is tighter in all the seams.  The wood is lighter in color.
 
This is a more polished and refined headphone, but they haven't thrown away the overall HE1000 experience, it's an upgrade not a complete overhaul.  
 
RESULTS:
 
I will be keeping the V2.  HiFiMan has improved an already stellar headphone.  
 
 
Source Gear: Mac Pro >> Audionirvana Plus >> Chord Hugo TT >> Woo Audio WA5LE V2 
Interconnects: Moon Audio Silver Dragon, Audioquest

 

[sahmen]

^^^Interesting impressions! Without having heard the V2 myself, this review is making me think that the slightly narrower soundstage of the V2 and the improved sense of "intimacy" spring from the same source, to the point where we could say, one is the effect of the other (of course, I could be wrong about that). That said, and without intending this to sound like a critique,  I would have liked some commentary on the type of music that was used in the comparative evaluation...  I am wondering whether the sense of increased intimacy and "slightly narrower soundstage" of the V2 would have the same apparently beneficial effect on all types of music... Or put in a different way, are there not some types of music that might possibly sound better to some listeners on the V1 (as is) than on the V2, precisely because of the relatively reduced sense of intimacy of the V1?
 
One more question:  I have decided to stick with the V1 and not to send it to hifiman for the upgrade.  However, I would like to purchase the pads and cable of the V2 in order to experiment with them on the V1...  I wonder what results this type of experimentation might produce.
 
These remarks are not to be taken as a critique of the very interesting review above, for which I am very grateful.  I am just articulating some questions and concerns that the review has produced in my mind.
 
Thanks very much for the review.

 

[doctorjazz]

I know that there is supposed to be some upgrade program in the future, but am I correct that it doesn't yet exist? (the last past made it seem like it was a decision made for now).

 

[pedalhead]

Nope, upgrade program not announced implemented yet Doc.

 

[sahmen]

I know that there is supposed to be some upgrade program in the future, but am I correct that it doesn't yet exist? (the last past made it seem like it was a decision made for now).

Hey doctorjazz : I could probably have chosen my words more carefully, but, for the record,* I did not mean to suggest that the upgrade program was already up and running.  I was only referring to the program *announced* (as opposed to implemented) by Hifiman.  That said, I am also aware that the selective "Lucky upgrade" lottery started by Hifiman is already ongoing, although I am not a participant in that lottery.

 

[doctorjazz]

Now, the "Lucky Upgrade" would be the way to do it...

 

[chowmein83]

I know that there is supposed to be some upgrade program in the future, but am I correct that it doesn't yet exist? (the last past made it seem like it was a decision made for now).

 

  Nope, upgrade program not announced implemented yet Doc.

 
I actually asked Dr. Fang Bian about this while at RMAF CanJam. Since he was the one who said this, and he didn't tell me to not to say this to anybody else - apparently, the reason they haven't announced anything about an upgrade program yet is because they're still ramping up production of the HE1000v2, and don't have enough for the people who want to upgrade.
 
That makes it sound like to me that the "upgrade program" is really just swapping out your v1 for a v2, not like the MrSpeakers Ether upgrade where they do change the drivers out. Though I could be totally wrong on this.

 

[pedalhead]

Good info thanks. With the headband, pads, cups and driver changes I think that makes sense. Not much left really!

 

[reeltime]

   
That makes it sound like to me that the "upgrade program" is really just swapping out your v1 for a v2, not like the MrSpeakers Ether upgrade where they do change the drivers out. Though I could be totally wrong on this.

 
The size of the wood part of the cup is less deep on the V2.  If you only change the driver, there will be room left over.

 

[zolkis]

If there is (will be) an upgrade program (probably meaning transplanting the driver in the new housing/headband/pads), the $500 mentioned earlier would be a fair offer for that if you'd take the individual cost of the assembly parts - provided there are indeed no driver changes. I am a bit concerned about the V2: I don't want more treble, nor a thinner sound. If there is more _body_ in the treble, that is fine. I just hoped for the bass getting fixed, and a tad less upper midrange hardness (also apparent from measurements published on some other sites). I guess I need to make a visit to my dealer.

 

[doctorjazz]

Haven't seen a ton of v1 Vs v2 comparison yet, but what I have read seems to favor v2. Need to see some more (at first, most everything about v1 was a rave as well).

 

[Gowry]

  If there is (will be) an upgrade program (probably meaning transplanting the driver in the new housing/headband/pads), the $500 mentioned earlier would be a fair offer for that if you'd take the individual cost of the assembly parts - provided there are indeed no driver changes. I am a bit concerned about the V2: I don't want more treble, nor a thinner sound. If there is more _body_ in the treble, that is fine. I just hoped for the bass getting fixed, and a tad less upper midrange hardness (also apparent from measurements published on some other sites). I guess I need to make a visit to my dealer.

I, too, don't want more treble. I really love my HE-1000s. Most headphones have too much treble for me or end up being shouty. The HE-1000 just sound great.