[DarthFader]

   

 
HifiMAN EF-6 (right column) excels over Schiit Lyr 2 and Joseph Grado HPA1 in driving the HiFiMAN HE1000.
 
As a result, I plan to purchase a HifiMAN EF-6 as the amplifier for my HE1000 headphones.

 
Tiny, nit-picky point but you have the wrong colors for the cells in the TOTAL row.

 

[money4me247]

  The Schiit Lyr 2 volume knob (and for that matter, the HPA-1 knob) were placed near 90%; the EF-6 was at 50% of full.

 
oh my goodness! I have the Lyr 2's volume knob at 9-10 o'clock low impedance. wow 90% volume seems extremelyyy high.
 
be careful with your volume levels man.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

   
Tiny, nit-picky point but you have the wrong colors for the cells in the TOTAL row.

YIKE!  Thanks... I fixed it both places.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

   
oh my goodness! I have the Lyr 2's volume knob at 9-10 o'clock low impedance. wow 90% volume seems extremelyyy high.
 
be careful with your volume levels man.

Perhaps the difference is in the level inputs we use going in to the amps... mine was relatively low level and probably needed more amplification than yours.  Volume in headphone was robust but not painful... level of a live orchestra concert at its loudest, I'd say.

 

[DreamKing]

  Perhaps the difference is in the level inputs we use going in to the amps... mine was relatively low level and probably needed more amplification than yours.  Volume in headphone was robust but not painful... level of a live orchestra concert at its loudest, I'd say.

 
What's the output level of the source you're running into the Lyr 2? it should be higher than the Lyr 2's input sensitivity for proper use. If it's lower, more amplification won't help as it won't be sufficiently driven. 

 

[ruthieandjohn]

  
What's the output level of the source you're running into the Lyr 2? it should be higher than the Lyr 2's input sensitivity for proper use. If it's lower, more amplification won't help as it won't be sufficiently driven. 

The output, for all three amps, was the headphone output of my iPhone 5 at about 7/8 full volume.  IPhone 5 is reported to put out 1VRMS at full, so I'd be at about 7/8 V RMS.


Just put my 32 ohm, 98 dB Grado PS1000s into the Lyr 2. With Lyr 2 on low gain, the knob is indeed in the 10:00 range. The HE1000 is specified at 35 ohms, 90 dB sensitivity. Measurements reported on this thread (@miceblue, I think) indicated a sensitivity of lower than 90 dB, so maybe that is why the volume needed to be raised to 90% position.

 

[moodyrn]

So you were using the iphone 5 for the source of all of your testing?

 

[musicman59]

  There was a question (translation... I wondered) about the ability of the Schiit Lyr 2 vs. the HiFiMAN EF-6 to drive the HE1000.  The Lyr 2 was used in at least two of the earliest, most complete reviews on this thread, and they were quite positive.  On the other hand, the HiFiMAN EF-6 is HiFiMANs current top-of-the-line amp (at least until their EF-1000 is released), costing about 2-1/2x the cost of the Lyr 2.  The Lyr 2 places 6 W into 32 ohms; the EF-6 places 5 W into 50 ohms.  There have been statements that the Lyr 2 is better suited for driving the HE-560 than the HiFiMAN EF-6, and HiFIMAN has said that the drive requirements of the HE1000 are similar to the drive requirements for the HE-560, suggesting that perhaps the Lyr2 would also be better than the EF-6 for driving the HE1000.
 
I used the same test methods as described in this thread earlier, and these results are integrated into that original review, here.
 
In short, the HiFiMAN EF-6 performs better in driving my HE1000 Beta than does the Schiit Lyr 2.  For all three amplifiers, differences between first, second, and third place on an acoustic test were small... even the lowest scoring HPA-1 sounds very, very good.  The Schiit Lyr 2 volume knob (and for that matter, the HPA-1 knob) were placed near 90%; the EF-6 was at 50% of full.  The following chart compares the three amplifiers driving the HE1000 on 10 acoustic features, using a "first prize" (blue, 3 points), "second prize" (red, 2), "third prize" (yellow, 1) method.  Ties for first place are in purple at 2.5 points; ties for third place are in orange at 1.5 points.
 

 
 
 
HifiMAN EF-6 (right column) excels over Schiit Lyr 2 and Joseph Grado HPA1 in driving the HiFiMAN HE1000.
 
As a result, I plan to purchase a HifiMAN EF-6 as the amplifier for my HE1000 headphones.

 
When I listened to the HE-1000 for the first time at Jude's office the amplifier was the EF-6 and they sounded great so I don't think for the price you can go wrong.

 

[DreamKing]

 
The output, for all three amps, was the headphone output of my iPhone 5 at about 7/8 full volume.  IPhone 5 is reported to put out 1VRMS at full, so I'd be at about 7/8 V RMS.

 
The source's output has to be higher than the amp's input sensitivity, which is typically 1-1.5V RMS. Or else you lose sound quality.  That's why sources that are meant to be used with an amp usually have about 2V output.

 

[immtbiker]

Don't really understand these numbers offered by manufacturers, but here they are.
1 watt is an awful high output for a smartphone. How do they know how much impedance they are pushing in general.
 
It's like a manufacturer saying that the frequency goes from 10 to 60KhTz
 
 
HTC M8           iPhone 6            Galaxy S5
1.254 Vrms      933 mVrms       592.4 mVrms

 

[doctorjazz]

OK, been late to the Beta game, been burning in the HEK for a week, along with a newly delivered MicroZOTL amp. Did some listening and comparing tonight. I don't have any other TOTL headphones, pulled out some well regarded ones I do have: The HE-560, Senn 650, Shure 1540 (have a few more I'll get to at some point). All I have to say is, WOW! I'm not going to get into whether the 3+ times price is worth the improvement in SQ, but the 1K SQUASHES these headphones, ones that I've always really liked! It is just another level of sound! Soundstage is wider, and it has something people have talked about in headphones, but I never really hear: depth. There is actually a feeling of front to back depth with the 1K, missing in all the others (think the ZOTL helps here, but I used that for the others as well) (people often talk about front to back and height when listening to headphones...i think, at least to me, these are things not readily apparent in most headphone listening. You can strain and find the cues if you try hard enough, but it doesn't naturally just present itself as a real space/room. Or at least, not to me. The HEK is different in that regard). The depth is accompanied by SILENCE...that is, you hear the space in between the instruments! That is amazing! You also get a rounded, 3 dimensional body of the instrument/voice you're listening to. These are the things I note that are pretty remarkable. They CREATE the 3D imaging! Of course, the bass is spot on, deep, tactile, fabulous drive. Treble makes all the other headphones sound like they just splash up there. This has all been reviewed in much more depth than I can/will do at this point (likely ever), and the things others have mentioned about details of different frequency reproduction is similar to my perception, no need to spend a lot of time here waxing about the highs/mids/bass, they are quite terrific. The spacial aspects I mentioned, seems to me, haven't been talked about as much, so I'm stressing them here. (I did note some splashiness of the highs, roughness if you will, initially, along with that undefined, "lack of involvement"...a week of burn in and playing it through the ZOTL seems to have made these disappear).
(btw-don't find them as comfortable as the HE-560 or the others I mentioned, seems to focus pressure on the top of my head).
Think the ZOTL/1K combo is a really great one, but I'm going to spend some more time (time, what i could use more of...) comparing it to my Ray Samuels HR-2, which I think is a fine amp in its own right, but my initial impressions are that the ZOTL best it considerably.

 

[immtbiker]

Hey Dr. Jazz,
When you can "feel" certain instruments hanging out over your shoulders, and can hear various components of a drum set
from the back of your ears to the tip of your nose, and you can feel a female vocal weighing equally on both eyelids...
 
…that's the definition of soundstage depth to me!
 
That's something that the 1000's bring to the table. Now, determining if the soundstage feels realistic as if you were in the studio/audience,
watching the performance live, then that tells us whether or not a headphone or a speaker is doing it justice.

 

[doctorjazz]

True dat!

 

[boinger]

   
The point is there. I like my music as I ilke Single malt Whisky. Be able to savor all different subtle nuances improves my enjoyment. it does not disturb me. it it's blended or watered down (  I mean severly watered down.. i don't talk about the litlle pure water we add to help savors to eclose... ) , even slightly... the music is dead for me.  If I just want a fresh water down drink to relax after work, I don"t drink an expensive and rare single malt. I take a beer ( or a Pernod in France ) and I don't care about subtleties but I wouldn't put as much money as I could do for a fine whisky. Same for Music. Just bought a HD650 for when I want to relax. 
 
That"s probably why we're hearing the same sound ( from what I read from your great review)  but our expectancies are different. 

Well to use your analogy. I wouldn't really call the HEK watered down. I think that is doing it a rather disservice. I would say the HEK is more like a smooth 18 or 25 yr scotch with all the nuances present. And the HD800 / HE-6 are more like a single malt with a slight bite at the finish you notice the boldness of the flavor more in these two. That's the amazing part I find about the HEK the detail is there but it just all melds together really well. 
 
I should note that I am a bit torn. I can't quite decide if I want the smooth sound or the bite of the HE-6 / WA5. They are a magical combination I think. 

 

[Sorrodje]

@boinger : to each their own.
 
The last time I heard my HEK ( mine is boxed , waiting to be sent back to hifiman for refund) we listened some orchestral pieces and compared with the SR009 and Abyss. HE1K's precision, instruments separation, imaging, layering clearly was inferior to both headphone. Not to mention the HD800.    
 
Considering I'm always cautious about my own bias and subjectivity , I was eager to have someone else impressions. that's why we organized the mini meet with my friend and his SR009 and AByss last saturday. Fortunately , although he's not a big HE-6 or HD800 fan, his conclusions was the same than mine and match what I wrote here . My friend was even less forgiving than I am...