[rgs9200m]

Thanks for that Dr. Jazz.
Currently (roughly), I like Kesha (with a $?), Elle King, Meghan Trainor, Katy Perry, Robin Thicke, Ariana Grande,  & Pitbull.
For some reason, I can't listen to Ed Sheeran without adverse reactions. (Nothing personal here.)
I'm still mainly stuck in the past. ('saw Paul McCartney on his current tour. Still the greatest.)
 
[I had the Koss too a while back.]

 

[doctorjazz]

Hey, excited about an upcoming double bill I'm going to, Steely Dan and Elvis Costello...even considering the PPV Grateful Dead last stand! (do like Sheeran, the little I've listened to. Like the Muffs, the newest Punch Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, Wilco, and all sorts of jazz.

 

[Kiats]

That's some nice little collection!!!!!

Heheh! Thanks! Keeps me sane in my insane life.

 

[funch]

Before I start my 'review', I have to give kudos to all the other testers. I've enjoyed reading each and every review, and have agreed with just about 
everything that has been written. Several observations have mirrored my own, which is reassuring.
 
These are my thoughts on the HE1000's as I listened, just as I jotted them down. Nothing technical, as that has been done by others here much
better than I could. I tried to list the music that was playing as I wrote the comments. Please be aware that my ears are 64+ years old, I have a
mild case of tinnitus, and some hi frequency hearing loss.
 
My equipment:
Wyred 4 Sound DAC 2 
Eddie Current Balancing Act w/PX4 output tubes and a red base RCA 5692 input tube
Headphones compared: HD800 w/Anaxilus original mod, and LCD-3F. Both have DIY cables using Cardas #24 litz wire, two wires per pole,
 terminated in four pin XLR plugs
 
Fourplay '4', Gerald Albright "Kickin' It Up', Tom Scott 'Smokin' Section':
Bass is fast and deep. Snare thwacks are hard and fast.
 
Chesky Binaural Headphone Demo Disc - 'Shake, Rattle and Roll':
Bass is solid down to 25Hz
 
Down To The Bone 'Best Of' - 'Staten Island Groove':
Deep, tight bass, not bloated
 
24 hours burn in, no noticeable change in sound
These 'phones are fast; excellent transients
The right side ear pad on mine is slightly misshapen, causing my ear to touch the mesh a bit
I could use a wider earhole in the pads
Non-fatiguing sound
Jesse Cook ('Rhumba Foundation') never sounded better. Transients on guitar plucks are clear and crisp
Bass deep without being muddy
Instruments sound like they're supposed to
Layering is exemplary
 
Not a 'Gee Whiz', 'Wowee' headphone, but one that is refined and reveals its charms the more you listen. Its excitement lies in the long-term 
 listening session. I would imagine that this headphone would appeal to the seasoned listener, not so much to the person looking for an
 overly exciting sound.
 
Bob Baldwin 'Brazil Chill' - Tracks 4,5,7 (quite the sibilant recording):
Sibilant recordings are tamed. Deep bass isn't jumbled into a rumble; you can hear the separate pitches.
 
This is a headphone that one can live with long-term.
Pick one singer/instrument and concentrate on it. You can hear it distinctly; it doesn't get lost in the crowd. Sound isn't jumbled. You 
 can hear every line clearly.
96 hours and getting hints of out-of-head sound. Sometimes I jump 'cuz sumthin's in the room with me.
Y-split on the cable is too low.
Who decided to put black ear pads on a wood grain-with--a-brown-headband headphone? Weird! The ear pad guy must have been out of the loop.
HE1K can handle anything you send its way.
Low bass is there without having to crank the volume to bring it out.
Hard to become distracted with this headphone. It keeps pulling me back into the music.
 
Sound of Wood and Steel 'Liquid Amber':
Squeaks as fingers move on strings crisp and clean.
These do not get muddied on complex passages.
 
Andreas Vollenweider 'White Winds':
Clear, but not in a manner that assaults the ears. A good description might be the title of a Roberta Flack album: 'Quiet Fire'.
One doesn't need to sacrifice clear highs for thundering lows, a liquid, detailed midrange for .... yada yada. This headphone seems to cover
 all the bases, giving the listener a very pleasurable, inoffensive musical experience. You get lost in the music and stop listening to the equipment.
 
The HE's can bring out the best in any amplifier, provided it can supply enough current. These are planars after all.
 
Some of my favorite musical sounds come from an acoustic guitar, and the HE's bring it out in a smooth, lush, and simultaneously detailed way.
 Very inviting.
 
I would really like to hear this headphone with a good solid state amp. They sound good out of my BA, but I'm still curious about the synergy with 
 a good solid state unit.
 
Below is my take on how the HE1000's compare to LCD-3F's and HD800's:
 
LCD-3F's:
 
Although the HE's go slightly lower in the bass, the LCD's have a greater impact in the bass. The bass in the LCD's can also, at times be
 overpowering, whereas the HE's keep it better under control. This is quite evident in the tune 'Between the Sheets' on the Fourplay album
 of the same name.
 
The HE's midrange is much more even than the LCD's, which have noticeably boosted mid's, especially in the lower mid's. This is quite evident
 on acoustic guitar. The sound on the LCD's sounds somewhat confused and bloated in the mid's, whereas the HE's sound clearer. I can follow
 the separate lines better on the HE's. Of course, if you like a nice 'fat' midrange, then the LCD's are for you.
 
In the treble region, the HE's seem to have a tad more extension. They are also more clear, and less confused sounding. It's easier, for example,
 to follow a fast right hand on piano on the HE's. The HE's, by the way, are harder to drive than the LCD's.
 
I find the HE's more comfortable to wear. They aren't as heavy as the LCD's, and don't stick out as much, so they're easier to move around
 with, but they're not perfect.
 
For my style of listening, I would choose the HE over the LCD-3. If only the HE's had the bass impact of the LCD's.
 
HD800: 
 
I know I'm preaching to the choir here comparing the bass on these two, but... .
 
In the aforementioned Fourplay song 'Between the Sheets', at the beginning there is a very low bass drum (sounds like a 40" concert bass).
 It's definitely felt and heard on the HE's. On the HD's, it's pretty much MIA; only the upper harmonics are present. The HE's also seem
 to have the edge in the bass impact department, although because of its deeper bass range, it may be only perceived. Not sure.
 
Listening to Earl Klugh's version of 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead' from his Naked Guitar album, it didn't take long for me to realize that I
 enjoyed it more on the HE's. The mid's on the HE are more lush and warm, and bring out the best in acoustic guitar. I notice the same
 effect on Tom Scott's tenor sax ('Smokin' Section'). Now, that's not to say that, in the HE's case, lush and warm precludes detail. It's
 just that the HE's have more body to the sound. The HD's in comparison, sound a bit thin and dry. Detailed for sure, but... yawn.
 This may very well speak to the sound characteristics of planar versus dynamic drivers. 
 
I'm sure my experiences with the treble range on both the HE's and HD's would be different on a solid state amp, as the Balancing Act
 does a great job of taming aggressive highs. Still, there are noticeable differences between these two headphones.
 
So, everyone knows, or has heard about the treble on the HD's. The best way I can describe them is 'steely'. Very clear to be sure,
 yet seemingly boosted to an uncomfortable point at times, and completely out of control on sibilant recordings. Even with the anax mod 
 on mine, it can still be just a tad overbearing. In the past, I have listened to them on a solid state amp. Too treble-centric for me. 
 Let's just say that that's what led me to tubes. 
 
The HE's, on the other hand, bring out the details without beating the listener over the head with them. They present treble energy on a 
 more even keel than the HD's. 
 
You know those recordings that you don't listen to much because the recording engineer treated the highs as a WAD (Weapon of Aural
 Destruction)? They will be a lot more enjoyable with the HE's.
 
The one area in which the HD's are hard to beat is comfort. Nice, big, open earcups. Probably hard to duplicate on a planar.
 
I do have a couple of gripes. The headband, but I guess that's already been addressed. I feel that the pads could be a bit thicker, maybe
 by two or three millimeters, and of better quality. The pads on mine aren't very evenly made.
 
If I had to describe both the style and the sound of the HE1000's in one word, I would say that they are a 'mature' headphone. I think 
 they have a great look (see previous comment about the black pads) that is at the same time retro and modern. The sound is not 
 something that impresses right away, but reveals itself more as you listen. To me, that is the mark of a great anything: car, motorcycle,
 headphone, etc.. You never tire of it. It always has something new to show you. It's something that never offends, and always brings
 you back again and again.

 

[boinger]

  Quick off-the-top-of-my-head real-time unedited impressions of the HEK soon after arrival with an old time-life 1970 CD I downloaded….

This is really how i feel. The HEK's just want to let you enjoy the music, and everything is present in spades. 
 
*Edited (Moderator Note) - No need to re-quote entire review (be nice to mobile users, please)-

 

[Oregonian]

   
Fourplay '4', Gerald Albright "Kickin' It Up', Tom Scott 'Smokin' Section':
Bass is fast and deep. Snare thwacks are hard and fast.
 
Down To The Bone 'Best Of' - 'Staten Island Groove': Deep, tight bass, not bloated
 

Thank you for the detailed list of music used - I listen to all of this and more from those artists and love smooth jazz.  The bass response in that genre is underrated. 

 

[doctorjazz]

Think I'm spoiled...went to the Jersey shore, left the HEk/ZOTL combination home. Brought sine decent headphones along, Audeo PFE 232, Ultimate Ears UE 900, Pono, some others, missing the clarity, open sound, details, silence between notes...got it bad (and that ain't good...)

 

[halanr]

HE 1000? What's the deal with the amp?  I have a large selection of highness phones, HD800's, Foster TH900, Audeze LCD3's, Beyers T5p, etc. and they all have been used with my Woo WA7 fireflies and sound terrific with minimal power; however, the HE1000's, while sounding terrific, seem to need much more power and a much higher volume to rock them out.  I'm confused as the HE 1000's are only 35 Ohms and the LCD's are 110 Ohms---yet the HE's need the volume turned WAY up and the LCD3's need minimal power. Any ideas, suggestions?  I spoke with the good folks at Woo Audio and they indicate that they'd noticed that the HE 1000's were a bit on the power hungry side---which surprised them too.  They suggested another amp of theirs.  Seems very strange.....Please help!  I love the phones but if i have to keep powering them at this volume they may just have to go back to the shop...
 
Thanks,
alan 

 

[onlychild]

HE 1000? What's the deal with the amp?  I have a large selection of highness phones, HD800's, Foster TH900, Audeze LCD3's, Beyers T5p, etc. and they all have been used with my Woo WA7 fireflies and sound terrific with minimal power; however, the HE1000's, while sounding terrific, seem to need much more power and a much higher volume to rock them out.  I'm confused as the HE 1000's are only 35 Ohms and the LCD's are 110 Ohms---yet the HE's need the volume turned WAY up and the LCD3's need minimal power. Any ideas, suggestions?  I spoke with the good folks at Woo Audio and they indicate that they'd noticed that the HE 1000's were a bit on the power hungry side---which surprised them too.  They suggested another amp of theirs.  Seems very strange.....Please help!  I love the phones but if i have to keep powering them at this volume they may just have to go back to the shop...

Thanks,
alan 

Which other Woo amp did they suggest?

I've noticed they need more power than I had originally thought. Tried the oppo Ha1 with them in balanced mode and wasn't impressed. Seemed a little underpowered even though oppo states 3 watts.

 

[musicman59]

Yes they do need power to really shine. My MHA100 power them beautifully but my Woo WA5-LE is right at the border line. It depends of the level of the recording with recordings with low level I have to raise the knob to almost 12 even out of the High output.

 

[rgs9200m]

OK, I did  a few more hours  listening to the HEK on my Pinnacle amp w/EMM cdp.
1. I think these are the best headphones for those who like listening to speakers (high-end speakers, big ones, towers, like Revel Salons maybe). There is lots of drama in these phones.
2. The main thing that stood out to me is that these phones create a definite atmosphere, an environment, a very enjoyable space, a large space, a cloud, slighty misty, like I am in a room or studio. It is a very soothing, comfortable, and enjoyable space. No other headphone has created this illusion so strongly for me, and I personally like it a great deal (I think it's awesome actually), but it may be an acquired taste. It's like wearing a musical helmet, creating an area beyond the range of other headphones.
3. But from this slight misty and slightly humid bubble, within the confines of the space, I hear very clear, well-defined images, very natural instruments and vocals of all kinds.
4. Each musical object, no matter where it is, has its own very individual character that is startling when it starts generating sound.
5. I listened to and old fav, Melanie's Greatest Hits (Rhino Records), and the intro to Candles in the Rain is dramatic, but when the chorus (the Edwin Hawkins singers) starts, it is in the background but so vivid and extended and sweet, it caught me by surprise and was riveting and natural.
6. The music is thrilling, but these are not cheap thrills. The vivid sounds are captivating but not over-the-top from the lowest lows to the highest highs. It's a full range sound with no exaggeration that I heard with this amp and source.
7. The only negative, is that the bass is not quite as quick or detailed as the best stats, like the SR009, but I really didn't care when I was wrapped up in the music. The bass quality is on par with the Audeze LCD3F I feel, with a trifle more detail in the Audeze, but I'm not sure.
8. Overall, if I had to choose, I prefer the bass in the HEK, because it is so palpable and earth-shaking and controlled. Paradoxically, the HEK bass is like from well implemented large dynamic cone woofers in a speaker, as opposed to super clear, quick, planar speaker bass, like in Quads.
9. I do not hear mid-range recession at all with this system. While the LCD3F is more forward in the mids, both are equal in terms of satisfaction to me in terms of how the mids stand out from the stage. The Audeze just puts me closer to the stage, where the HEK is maybe 2 rows back. The HEK is not a phone to fire directly into your eardrums.
10. I listened to my set of Beach Boys SACDs (and the Melanie CD), and vocals are full, rounded, with great texture, not smoothed over or mechanical/sandpapery/digital in the least, with no glare. Vocals are in the Goldilocks range, just plain human.
11. So the way I would sum up is that the HEK is full of humanity, atmosphere, and able to bring out the character of each musical element, but is not over the top. There is no dreaded upper midrange glare, a real phobia of mine with headphones.
12. On the solid state amp, there was some treble highlighting that sent me to reduce the highs at 12-16K, and that reminded my of the HE560 highs, but I need to try a Draug2 cable, as that perfectly fixed that problem. The Chord Hugo may also have something to do with this I think. But with the tube amp, highs were just right, in fact, perfect in sweetness and extension without any tinniness.
13. So I do find these engaging? Yes, extremely so (it was hard for me to stop listening), but I can see how it's a different sound from some phones with more attack, forwardness, or speed. It is very different from my Grados or TH900s, say.
14. What's funny is that the HEK is well suited to both high level and low level listening, as the low volume experience had gobs of detail and strong bass, while the high volumes bring drama without shout or abuse or lack of control of any kind, and even more nice thunderous bass down below.
15. I used to have Grado PS1000s, and these tried to emluate the tower speaker affect too, but for me, the bass just was too pushy, and the highs and upper-mids had glare. I was hoping for a new generation flagship from Grado to refine the PS1000, which I feel are a work in progress, but I feel Hifiman has beat them to it, as this is what I envisioned a super-Grado to sound like. (I'm still a big fan of the Grado GS1000e, FWIW.)
16. I feel that the HEK also improves on the spatial strengths of the Senn HD800 (a lot), because the space of the HD800 is too clear and empty for my tastes, more like a vacuum, or an outdoor area even with studio music. But I nevertheless like my HD800s when I need a breath of fresh air and openness. (Long ago, Sennheisers were sold under the slogan "Openaire Headphones.")

 

[saidentary]

Which other Woo amp did they suggest?

I've noticed they need more power than I had originally thought. Tried the oppo Ha1 with them in balanced mode and wasn't impressed. Seemed a little underpowered even though oppo states 3 watts.

This is extremely similar to my experience with the HA-1.  One difference is that I was impressed with the HA-1; I thought it drove them well, but not optimally.  It was very good but not magical.  It did seem underpowered, and like you I was surprised by that given the stated power rating from the balanced output.  (I never even bothered to try the single ended output from the Oppo HA-1).  I found myself turning up the volume to 3 o'clock and sometimes even past that. 
 
All that changed dramatically with the MicroZOTL 2 amplifier.  I know it's only one watt and it's only single ended output, but that DOESN'T matter--TRUST ME.  The HE 1000 + MicroZOTL 2 = MAGIC
I'm not the first or the last headfi-er to be stunned by this combination: read the posts from doctorjazz and jamato8 if you want to see emphatic corroboration of these assertions.  I also posted information to this effect in my "official" HE 1000 beta tester review.

 

[immtbiker]

  HE 1000? What's the deal with the amp?  I have a large selection of highness phones, HD800's, Foster TH900, Audeze LCD3's, Beyers T5p, etc. and they all have been used with my Woo WA7 fireflies and sound terrific with minimal power; however, the HE1000's, while sounding terrific, seem to need much more power and a much higher volume to rock them out….

 
Does 35Ω rated on a planar equal 35Ω on a dynamic headphone in efficiency and amplification needs? It's all about 2 things. Load impedance and efficiency.
 
For example: 32Ω Grados, even though they only have a load impedance of 32Ω, they don't fair well with certain amps..
A Beyer Dynamic T-1 is 600Ω but is very efficient based on their Tesla technology. They still need decent power to sound great, but not 20 times more than the Grados.
 
Here's a quote from a 2011 article on this subject by 3 of our own Head-Fiers:
 
"Pros and Cons of low impedance headphones:

•  Headphone impedance is usually decreased by thicker wire and less turns of wire in the voice coil. The magnetic field is built up by more current.
• Easier for small and/or portable headphone amps to drive. For example: an iPod or MP3 player headphone jack. Many small and/or portable headphone amplifiers are designed to output a volt or two into low impedance, high efficiency headphones, e.g. Grado headphones.
• Low impedance, low efficiency headphones usually sound better when driven by a desktop amplifier, e.g. Audeze LCD-2 or AKG K70X.
• Low impedance headphones usually sound better when driven by a solid state or a transformer coupled vacuum tube amplifier.  Low impedance headphone do not usually work well with Output Transformerless vacuum tube amps."

 
Here's the link if anyone wants a good read:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-impedance

 

[miceblue]

^ point 4 doesn't apply to planar magnetic headphones as they are immune to the amps' high output impedance

The design of the amp makes far more of a difference than output power as long as it provides enough power for your listening needs.

 

[saidentary]

   
"Low impedance headphone do not usually work well with Output Transformerless vacuum tube amps."
 

Maybe not usually, but my experience has been MicroZOTL 2 + HE 1000 = magical pairing.  I'm not sure why*, but it does work extremely well.  I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA HOW ANY OTHER Output Transformerless vacuum tube amps would do with the HE 1000s.  Just the MicroZOTL 2.  And that's only because I own it, NOT because I know a lot about amplifiers.  I'm no expert on headphone amplifiers ⇒ no, no, no, no, NO.
 
 
*Ooohhhh.  Maybe THIS is the reason! (Post #794)