i do not have the recommended 150 burn-in time so take my impressions with a grain of salt.
these headphones are what i would describe as pleasant to listen to - very easy on the ears.
slightly warm in lower mids giving body to vocals, but robbing headphone of absolute clarity; these are clear headphones but not the clearest.
treble is extended and initially sounded slightly disjointed from the mids because the upper-mids appear to sound slightly attenuated. the treble is quite good though and improving. it seems to blend better with the mids than it initially did.
impact is very good, but again, not the best i've heard.
i initially felt there was a slightly bleached sound in the upper mids, which is strange cause i would normally associate that with a brighter upper midrange- as i said though, these headphones are slightly warm, not bright. in any event, that trait of bleachness is subsiding. i also think the sound has opened up a little since initial listening and clarity has improved a little bit - time will tell to see if the clarity improves further
sound is reasonably large, but in my opinion still like a headphone; doesn't sound like a speaker to me as some have stated
detail retrieval seems to be very good
some have claimed an electrostat quality...i can kind of see that. the sound is smooth and the headphone imparts little texture of its own. it has a refined sound...but you won't confuse this for a stax 009, which tends to have a brighter tonality and a more forward sound in the vocals and mids. the he1000 mids are pretty neutral to slightly recessed, not forward. the he1k is defintely more full bodied than stax though.
bass is good as others have said. it's not the tightest bass or the fastest bass, but it is full and the natural decay presents bass in an interesting way.
the headphone won't wow you when you first listen but it's a nice full sound. i do think the slightly recessed upper mids encourages me to turn the volume up more than i might normally. i also find these headphones to be power hungry, though my gs-x mk2 certainly has enough power.
in some ways, tonality-wise the he1000 reminds me of an akg 712. the he1000 has better bass, impact, and overall refinement. i would describe the sound as bottom-up or bottom-weighted rather than top down.
is there a headphone i prefer? yes, i prefer the mcintosh mhp1000 which is more impactful, clearer, and in my opinion, faster and deeper bass, withan overall more neutral sound. the mhp1000, however, is not warm and the lower mids aren't quite as full, though i believe this is a slight coloration of the he1000.
well there you have it. the he1k is an excellent headphone overall, perhaps more euphonic with some bloom as opposed to absolute neutraility. this actually may make it somewhat more forgiving of poor recordings, but may also mean that it's slightly less revealing ...not completely sure about that yet.
will i keep it? not 100% sure, but it certainly ranks up there with the best. so why would i consider returning it? comes down to value and my overall preference for the mcintosh. that said, i could easily see the he1k improving to be my favorite and a real keeper. i'll keep an open mind as i continue to burn it (and my brain) in.
![xjw51onbk2291[1].jpg](https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/12222025.jpg)
