[reddog]

Ygg/Rag is supposed to be a top notch pairing with the he1000 from what I've read

+1 the HE1K sounds great driven by the yggy/ rag.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Still a preliminary report, but one word comes to mind for the HEK, "natural". Not a U shaped presentation, details, but no hyperbole, tone, earthy, nothing (for now and for what I have heard in my system) artificial, bass is just right, slam is too, natural....

 

[jamato8]

  Still a preliminary report, but one word comes to mind for the HEK, "natural". Not a U shaped presentation, details, but no hyperbole, tone, earthy, nothing (for now and for what I have heard in my system) artificial, bass is just right, slam is too, natural....

I would have to agree. I think that one thing some might have a more difficult time getting by is the presentation that is not hyped, which many headphones do, in order to get your attention. I find the dynamics extremely potent and no frequencies are left behind. 

 

[pearljam50000]

Natural... But also neutral?

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Natural... But also neutral?

Pretty neutral to my ears, doesn't have the Audeze slam, but IMO it is accentuated. Nor the incredible, hyper transparency of the HD800, but I don't hear that when I listen to live music.

It is as if Fang decided to design a HP splitting the middle between the HD800 and LCD 3. Though I think a silver/copper (solid hyperlitz like the Norne SolvX, not plated) would really be an excellent combination with the HEK.

I will leave deeper analysis for those with a lot more experience than I, cheers!

 

[moodyrn]

Summer gave me a return call last Tuesday when I called the previous week incurring when the production version will be shipped out(she was on vacation). She told me they would either be shipped later that day or tomorrow. Two days later they showed up at my front door. So a total of 10 days from the time I shipped the betas back and the time I received the production version from China. They definitely deserve a lot of credit for customer service.

But like a couple of others have posted, the production pair sounded like a fully burned in beta out of the box which led me to wonder if they had been fully burned in at the factory. But since that time they have improved just like the betas did with burn in.. So I do think the production version is a better sounding pair, at least a little.

 

[doctorjazz]

I was under the impression that the only thing changed from Beta to production was the band adjustment for smaller heads. A different fit might change how it sounds, though...find I lose bass if the fit is not correct, just like with a poor fitting iem. Otherwise, I didn't think they changed anything.

 

[reddog]

Summer gave me a return call last Tuesday when I called the previous week incurring when the production version will be shipped out(she was on vacation). She told me they would either be shipped later that day or tomorrow. Two days later they showed up at my front door. So a total of 10 days from the time I shipped the betas back and the time I received the production version from China. They definitely deserve a lot of credit for customer service.

But like a couple of others have posted, the production pair sounded like a fully burned in beta out of the box which led me to wonder if they had been fully burned in at the factory. But since that time they have improved just like the betas did with burn in.. So I do think the production version is a better sounding pair, at least a little.

Thanks for the information. I just sent my beta set back, for the production version.

 

[moodyrn]

I was under the impression that the only thing changed from Beta to production was the band adjustment for smaller heads. A different fit might change how it sounds, though...find I lose bass if the fit is not correct, just like with a poor fitting iem. Otherwise, I didn't think they changed anything.

It's also been stated that the manufacturing tolerances were tighten up. This could also have something to do with it as well. For me, I would say it's not the headband, as I would probably be one of the few who wish they had the older headband. The new strap is a little on the small side for me and puts a lot of pressure on top of my head. 

 

[doctorjazz]

I suppose "closer tolerances" would improve things...if there was very sloppy manufacturing to begin with. I suspect the manufacturing changes were minor, and most beta testers have felt the sound was pretty much the same.

 

[doctorjazz]

I do have the same problem with discomfort on the top of my head, which is interesting, as I have a small head, and the changes were supposed to be for someone like me. I've been using a snap on wrap on the inside part of the band that cushions it, helps a lot.

 

[moodyrn]

I think instead of making it a few ticks smaller, he went way overboard. With the beta, I used next to the smallest setting. Now it's maxed out, it's like he skipped all of the settings in between. He should have just made it the size of the one on the he560. The first headband was for large heads, and now the current one is for small heads. He should have shortened it to just make it a few tics smaller instead of making it drastically smaller.

 

[rgs9200m]

In my experiments so far the HE1000 sounds better running balanced (on my 2 amps).
And FWIW, after 2 weeks of frequent use and long sessions, I really like this phone a whole lot. It's a favorite, along with my TH900 as a good complementary phone.

 

[doctorjazz]

As I said, I actually have a very small head...usually have headphones as smack as I can adjust them to, sometimes they're still too big. The geometry of this doesn't work for me, have to put on a cushion band to make it wearable!

 

[miceblue]

Here's something I did for fun.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2816447/150708_0001.flac
12 MB download size

0:02 - HE1000 on dummy head
0:28 - Earcups about 2 cm off of dummy head
0:39 - Back on dummy head
0:43 - Earcups about 2 cm off of dummy head
1:05 - Right earcup about 15 cm off of dummy head's right ear
1:09 - Right earcup about 15 cm off of dummy head's right ear (driver flipped, grille facing ear)
1:20 - Right earcup about 5 cm off of dummy head's right ear
1:25 - Right earcup about 5 cm off of dummy head's right ear (flipped)
1:30 - Right earcup about 5 cm off of dummy head's right ear
1:35 - Left earcup about 15 cm off of dummy head's left ear
1:37 - Left earcup about 15 cm off of dummy head's left ear (flipped)
1:42 - Left earcup about 15 cm off of dummy head's left ear
1:46 - HE1000 on dummy head


2:10 - SR-207 on dummy head
2:33 - SR-207 about 2 cm off of dummy head
2:43 - Slowly putting SR-207 back on dummy head
2:53 - SR-207 on dummy head
3:07 - SR-207 about 5 cm off of dummy head
3:15 - SR-207's left earcup about 8 cm off of dummy head's left ear


Sounds to me that the HE1000 has an off-seal response similar to that of the Abyss, making it much more woofer-like. Also when flipping the earcups, it's evident to me that the grille side has a reduced bass response and more midrange/treble energy. Perhaps the "Window Shade" system combined with the asymmetrical magnet configuration affects the sound output. I still don't quite understand the significant bass difference between the HE1000 and the SR-207. You can literally use one as a speaker while the other sounds like crap when it's not coupled to a head.


Also don't mind the background sounds in the recording, there was a movie playing in another room.