[Maxx134]

The key to any reviews, is not the review, but the reviewer...
We need to know the reviewer and his ear preferences in relation to ours...

We are lucky to have such reviewers as tyll who have made a large mass of reviews, so we can get a basis for his preferences, and align them with our own.

Then we can gain proper perspective of how the review unfolds.
It is not about listening to people with same ear preferencs,
It's about Knowing the reviewer's ear preferences, so we can base it in the review.

In any case what we have going on now is quite a few new TOTL headphones out at same time,
A battle of the headphone giants..
Focal Utopia & Elear
Mrspeakers Ether Flow & Flow C
HifiMan HEK V2
And about 3 other less known or discussed units ..

I am sure the HEK V2 will regain the glory of Tyll's WOF..

 

[JeffMann]

The key to any reviews, is not the review, but the reviewer...
We need to know the reviewer and his ear preferences in relation to ours...

We are lucky to have such reviewers as tyll who have made a large mass of reviews, so we can get a basis for his preferences, and align them with our own.

Then we can gain proper perspective of how the review unfolds.
It is not about listening to people with same ear preferencs,
It's about Knowing the reviewer's ear preferences, so we can base it in the review.

In any case what we have going on now is quite a few new TOTL headphones out at same time,
A battle of the headphone giants..
Focal Utopia & Elear
Mrspeakers Ether Flow & Flow C
HifiMan HEK V2
And about 3 other less known or discussed units ..

I am sure the HEK V2 will regain the glory of Tyll's WOF..

How do you assess Tyll's "ear preferences"? I find it impossible! I know that he likes a punchy sound and that he likes to experience a sub-bass "feel" in his chest using an incompletely specified sense of palpability (and which doesn't involve his auditory organ). In his review of the Utopia, he only talks about three instruments - piano, congo drums and cymbals. He never refers to classical musical instruments in an in-depth manner and I personally find his reviews of no value. My "guiding light" for audio equipment is John Grandberg (aka Project 86), who has written very favorably about the HE1000 headphone. I guess that I will have to wait to read his impressions on the Focal Utopia headphone. In the meantime, I am enjoying my HE1000 headphone, which sounds much more "musically accurate" than my HD800 headphone (which was my end-game headphone for 5 years).
 
Jeff.

 

[Maxx134]

Good point..

 

[sahmen]

NOOB question about the stock He-1000 cable (balanced and SE, although I am mostly interested in the balanced version):
 
I just joined the He-1000 family, and I am wondering about this: Is the stock cable decently up to snuff in bringing out the best out of the cans?  If not are there any suggestions for reasonably priced aftermarket alternatives?  

 

[Kiats]

NOOB question about the stock He-1000 cable (balanced and SE, although I am mostly interested in the balanced version):

I just joined the He-1000 family, and I am wondering about this: Is the stock cable decently up to snuff in bringing out the best out of the cans?  If not are there any suggestions for reasonably priced aftermarket alternatives?  

Welcome to sonic bliss! Well, have a listen to the stock cable and see how you like. If you think you want more, there's plenty of time to get those later down the line.

 

[sahmen]

Cool.  I guess that is sound advise

 

[vc1187]

NOOB question about the stock He-1000 cable (balanced and SE, although I am mostly interested in the balanced version):

I just joined the He-1000 family, and I am wondering about this: Is the stock cable decently up to snuff in bringing out the best out of the cans?  If not are there any suggestions for reasonably priced aftermarket alternatives?  

Do you enjoy a laid-back sound signature that dampens dynamics a bit while providing emphasis on bass? That's what the stock cable sounds like to me.

I use the Moon Audio Black Dragon V2 premium cable, and it sounds like the veil on dynamics is lifted, bass is tighter, heavier, and well defined, and clarity seems to be improved. The cable makes the headphones sound a little darker, but in my system that means one of two things:
-Allows for louder listening levels without fatigue
-Gives room for brighter upstream equipment (swapping tubes, for example)

 

[STR-1]

NOOB question about the stock He-1000 cable (balanced and SE, although I am mostly interested in the balanced version):

I just joined the He-1000 family, and I am wondering about this: Is the stock cable decently up to snuff in bringing out the best out of the cans?  If not are there any suggestions for reasonably priced aftermarket alternatives?  

Do you enjoy a laid-back sound signature that dampens dynamics a bit while providing emphasis on bass? That's what the stock cable sounds like to me.

I use the Moon Audio Black Dragon V2 premium cable, and it sounds like the veil on dynamics is lifted, bass is tighter, heavier, and well defined, and clarity seems to be improved. The cable makes the headphones sound a little darker, but in my system that means one of two things:
-Allows for louder listening levels without fatigue
-Gives room for brighter upstream equipment (swapping tubes, for example)

Yes, and if you like more detail, tighter (if ever so slightly reduced) bass, and a bit more sparkle, then try the Moon Audio Silver Dragon V3 Premium (I got the Black Dragon for my HD800). The stock cable is perfectly serviceable so best to spend sometime getting to know the HE1000 with that before considering an upgrade.

 

[auricgoldfinger]

I would look at copper or tri-metal (copper+gold+silver) cables from @PLUSSOUND.  There are many customization options and I'm sure you can find one that will fit your budget.
 
I use their LR+ 16-wire copper cable (TOTL - very expensive), and the improvement over the stock cable is dramatic.
 
Any quality after-market cable will be a worthwhile upgrade, but you need to figure out what you'd like to change after listening to the stock cable.

 

[musicman59]

NOOB question about the stock He-1000 cable (balanced and SE, although I am mostly interested in the balanced version):

I just joined the He-1000 family, and I am wondering about this: Is the stock cable decently up to snuff in bringing out the best out of the cans?  If not are there any suggestions for reasonably priced aftermarket alternatives?  

I have a balanced (4 pin XLR) Double Helix Cables Complement4 OCC copper for sale and will include a 4 pin XLR to 1/4" adapter. If interested PM me.

 

[sahmen]

Guys: Thanks for all the suggestions.  It seems the best approach will be to give the stock cables a good listen first, and then decide later which way to go in the aftermarket cable field.

 

[npdang]

Curious if anyone's had a chance to compare them to the new Focal Elears or Ether flows yet?

 

[auricgoldfinger]

  Curious if anyone's had a chance to compare them to the new Focal Elears or Ether flows yet?

 
Check out the QP1R thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/778877/review-questyle-audio-qp1r-with-multiple-headphone-and-iem-pairings.  You can search page 1 of the review for all the headphones of interest.  @moedawg140 owns the HEK, so I suggest you start with that one to compare his description to what you hear.  Then you can search the other headphones so see how they sound in comparison.  I think it will give you a good idea of the differences as well as their respective strengths and weaknesses.

 

[moedawg140]

@auricgoldfinger, you're the man.  
 
@npdang,
 
I'll be adding the ETHER FLOW and ETHER C FLOW to the QP1R review as well in the near future.
 
I would say that I like the Elear more than the ETHER C FLOW (especially for the price), but compared to the ETHER FLOW, that's when things get more interesting, in my opinion.  You've got the overall texturally smooth sound of the FLOW compared to the slightly more resolute sound of the Elear.  If you want a clearer, more coherent sound that is easier on the pocketbook, I would choose the Elear.  If you want a texturally smooth sound that is very full in nature, then the FLOW would be the way to go (at a higher price).

 

[npdang]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.  I like the HE-1000 sound quite a bit, as it reminds me very much of the Magnepan 3.6R with much better bass extension.  Just curious what else is out there before making the leap.