HiFiMAN HE-1000 Headphones Beta Tester Review
Synopsis:
Hearing the HE-1000s at Axpona 2015 is what reignited my interest in headphone listening. These are the very finest headphones I’ve ever heard and their sound is astoundingly excellent. They are the first headphone I’ve heard with sound that legitimately rivals that of my loudspeakers in particular, and which sound (to me at least) a lot like loudspeakers in general. They sounded very good to great though the Oppo HA-1. They sound absolutely MAGICAL through the David Berning designed MicroZOTL 2; I predict that the HE1000s + the MicroZOTL 2 will come to be widely recognized as an exquisitely synergistic pairing. Whether or not that happens,
I’m absolutely
done looking for amplifiers
or headphones, and may even sell my beloved Denon AH-D7000s (with their coveted Lawton modifications). I’m
so confident that I’m done, that—get
this—I even said that to my
wife! (Seriously, I swear, I really did.)
Introduction and Background:
(NOTE: You can skip this part if you find it to be too tangential)
I haven’t been this excited about an audio product in 10 years or so. At that time, it was the
Intuitive Design Summit loudspeakers that reawakened the previously dormant audiophile in me. I listened late into the night on school nights and my family began complain. So I started looking at headphones. The Sennheiser HD-600s had sounded great to me before. Now they sounded…..
kinda bad! I ended up with Stax Lambda Pro Signature earspeakers and an SRM T1 amplifier (“energizer”). I also had a repaired earspeaker set that were essentially identical to the newer 404s. Because the SRM T-1 had duplicate outputs, I could A/B the two sets of earspeakers. (I found that I preferred the newer, thinner diaphragm version to the original.)
Ultimately I
sold the Stax setup because it didn’t have enough bass and just didn’t sound good enough to be a reasonable substitute for my main rig. It was right here on headfi.org that I found the Lawton-modified Denon AH-D7000s and a decent Audio GD Compass amplifier/DAC. I got a Parasound Z CD player and thought the sound was excellent, with much better bass, and moderately more engaging sound, than the Stax system had had. The detail was almost certainly less and there’s no way I’d call the Denons “ethereal,” but overall I preferred the sound for what I listened to , which is and was mostly (but not exclusively) classic rock.
Friends from Audiogon decided to go to Axpona and I decided to listen to various high end headphones at the Ear Expo. The Audio GD Compass was certainly not an end game amp, either, so I also looked at amplifiers. This leads into part 1 (of 3) with the HE-1000s, which was hearing them at Axpona…..
Experience with the HE-1000 Headphones:
Part I →
Epiphany at Axpona:
I took a Parasound Z CD player and my own CDs to Axpona. I listened to the same music from the same player on multiple sets of headphones. I didn't do extended listening to any of the headphones, because there wasn't time. However, my opinion is that SIGNIFICANT sonic differences should be apparent rather quickly. There was no headphone that was even remotely close to the HE 1000.
(I almost didn't even listen to the HE-1000s because prior to this event I hadn't taken HiFiMAN very seriously as a high end contender. In fact, I hadn't even considered them based on several factors, including some negative things I had read on line.)
I can't remember everything because I didn't catalog my impressions if the headphones weren't good enough on a quick listen to potentially replace my Denon AHD 7000s. But here are some impressions:
REMEMBER FOLKS, THESE WERE ONLY QUICK OVERALL, INFORMAL,
GESTALT IMPRESSIONS AND I WAS AT A SHOW AND THERE WASN’T MUCH TIME AND I DIDN’T DO EXTENDED LISTENING AND I’M NOT HOLDING THIS OUT AS FACT AND I MAY BE TOTALLY WRONG AND IT’S ONLY MY OPINION AND WITH EXTENDED LISTENING AND DIFFERENT AMPS THE OUTCOME MIGHT VERY WELL HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT AND ALSO REMEMBER I HAD NO IDEA I’D BE WRITING A REVIEW AND I ONLY AM PUTTING THIS IN BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE SO FIXATED ON “FLAGSHIP” COMPARISONS AND I’M NOT AS EXPERIENCED AS A LOT OF YOU GUYS AND NOT AS SMART ABOUT HEADPHONES EITHER AND I MAY NOT EVEN QUALIFY AS A “TRUE AUDIOPHILE” BECAUSE I LOVE THE HE-1000s…
….. SO……….
PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!
(It’s OK if you get a little bit irked & roll your eyes & think I’m really stupid, just don’t
kill me.)
Fostex flagship headphones: Not magical. Not bad, but certainly not great. I wasn't impressed.
Sennheiser HD 800: I know people think these are great but I wasn't impressed. They sounded thin, analytical, not that dynamic, and lacking in bass. It made me wonder what all the fuss is about with these.
{EDIT/UPDATE: After hearing these again at the headphone meet in Chicago (August 8th, 2015) my opinion of them has changed considerably. In their own right, these are very special headphones. I no longer "wonder what all the fuss is about" with the HD 800s. That said, I still (very) strongly prefer the HE-1000s.}
Mr. Speaker brand planar magnetic: Sounded very good, well balanced, but not magical. I preferred the sound of my Denon AHD-7000s.
Closed back Audeze: Seemed inferior to my Denons. Less detail and dynamics as I recall.
Stax 007 (Mark 2 I think) being driven by a two box "Blue Hawaii" amp. Good detail, smooth, but lacking in bass. That was a surprise, because I thought the larger diaphragms would help more than they seemed to have.
Stax 009 through the same Blue Hawaii amp. Much better detail than the 007s, which now sounded veiled by comparison. Reasonably smooth but nothing to shout about. Bass still not good enough.
HE-1000: The vendor had a Geek Audio amplifier. I listened to my Denons first and they sounded good. Then I listened to the HE-1000s. I was stunned. It was OBVIOUS after only a few seconds listening that these are phenomenal. I could detect absolutely no sonic deficiencies. NONE.
Detail: Detail was STUNNING. Intricate, probably superior to that of the 009s*.
*Remember, this is JUST a quick gestalt
impression and could be wrong….
Smoothness: These seemed perfectly smooth without being the least bit rolled
off to my ears.
Balance: They seem very evenly balanced, top to bottom.
Bass: Spectacular. Far, far FAR superior to that of the SR 009s but not boomy. As deep as
my Denons but much more well controlled, articulate and “musical” (oooh, forbidden
word!).
Treble: Not rolled off as far as I could tell. Spectacular detail.
Among the amps I looked at, the Oppo HA-1 seemed to be the best value. I was surprised at how good it sounded compared to comparably priced amps, plus it had more features. I listened briefly to the Wells Head Trip but didn’t consider it because it was out of reach for me financially.
Part II →
Beta Testing with the OPPO HA-1
Out of the box they sounded good to great and seemed to open up very quickly, even in the first half hour. Based on my initial listening (about 2 hours), I thought I could tentatively confirm everything I said about them above.
With additional listening, it was apparent that obviously these change during the breaking in process. The fact that the new Oppo HA-1 was also breaking in at the same time added another variable. At this point, at about 4 hours total time on both the HE-1000s and the HA-1, there seemed to be slightly more detail, similar dynamics, and now just a very slight hint of brightness, which was new. Still awesome, but now I could see that more burning in would be necessary for this setup (HA-1 + HE 1000) to achieve its optimal sound. That said, at this point I couldn't imagine anyone saying they lack detail. No way. At any rate, the plan was to start using the Purist Audio Enhancement CD tomorrow for some formal burning in time, which I did.
With more listening after more burn in time with Purist Audio CD, brightness was ameliorated. I still considered these to be spectacular headphones, almost unbelievably good. I will say this: They can even handle organ fugues and capture the deep notes with amazing deft and weight.
Following the Beta Tester Impressions thread, I noticed several themes emerged:
--Several people noted an almost forced smoothness, as if the drivers were being held back;
--Several people (including those who were blown away by the HE-1000s and others who were not so
blown away) noted an urge to turn up the volume for two reasons:
- to retrieve microdetail that was present but insufficient in volume, and
- to heighten the sense of impact and/or transient attack.
I agreed with these observations but thought I could live with them. I also noticed that the sound quality of the Oppo HA-1/HE-1000 combo improved markedly with increasing playing time, i.e. after warm-up of 60-90 minutes or so.
{As an aside, let me say that I was extremely impressed (and still am) by the high level of discussion and astuteness of observations from the beta testers—both pro and con, not to mention the prodigious efforts of this group; I’m honored to be a part of this group.}
However, through the balanced output of the Oppo HA-1, I was often turning the volume to around the 3 o’clock position. I had pretty much decided to keep the HE 1000s; after warm-up the sound became substantially similar to what I had heard at Axpona, with intermittent “magical” moments or “near-magical” moments. But the limitations described above never seemed to disappear completely, and I was still highly impressed, but my enthusiasm had waned somewhat.
Then doctorjazz mentioned that he had a MicroZOTL amplifier……
Part III →
The Dynamic Duo: HE 1000 + MicroZOTL 2
ONCE AGAIN--PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS JUST MY OPINION AND I COULD BE “WRONG” BUT I CAN ONLY DESCRIBE WHAT I HEAR AND PERCEIVE..…..
My reaction within a few seconds of listening was to say "Oh my (GOSH)!!!" except I didn't say "GOSH".......Detail, bass, texture, smoothness, just the right speed of transient attack, and RESOLUTION were all now there in spades. I know that sounds like a crock of feces but the proof for me was in the listening.
Specifically:
-The retrieval of microdetail at lower volumes is no longer an issue, at least to me; it’s still fun to turn up the volume but I don’t feel so driven to do so;
-High end extension is much better and there is now better articulation of voices and instruments. This greatly improves the transient attack. My son listened and described the treble as “crisp but not piercing.” I would say that what in retrospect was a “blunting” of the edges is now greatly ameliorated without overshooting the mark.
-Bass is just as good, actually better, just as deep if not even deeper, and now with better midbass punch as well.
Conclusion:
At this point the sound is like music. I am no longer listening to the equipment. That magic that we all (or most of us, anyway, I
think) crave is there for me, and in SPADES. There’s no more doubt for me. The sound is now utterly phenomenal beyond all possible belief. I didn’t know headphones could sound like this. My guru (a magnificent dealer named Duane Randleman, at whose home I first fired up the MicroZOTL 2/HE-1000 combo) had previously told me that there were no headphones in existence that would fully satisfy me due to “wave launch issues,” whatever the hell that means. Unlike me, he IS an audiophile heavyweight. But he, too, was blown away by this pairing, and he specifically pointed out to me that he is a dealer for
neither of these two products.
So, I am done for now and probably forever, with my headphone quest. Thank you to all of the beta testers whose keen insights challenged my mind; and thank you to HiFiMAN, including and Dr. Bian and Jeff, for this beta testing opportunity. It was more complex and difficult than I’d ever anticipated. It turns out to have been well worth the effort. I’m very happy and in headphone Nirvana.
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