[LikeABell]

Hello everyone, I bought an HE1000v2, but I am yet to receive it.
Has anyone here tried the Dekoni Velour pads for the HE1000? Any reviews on it?

So I just realised that the Dekoni pads lack the fabric mesh and hence can't be used with the HE series headphones.

 

[JacquesCustodian]

Was about to trade in my Hekv2 for a Susvara but I can't, with the bass mod there is nothing I hear and say, I wish this or that was better" can't mess with magic. I'll just save up and buy a Susvara to compliment, not replace Hek v2. And.. trade"up" to SE? Nope.

Been trying to figure out what you might refer to, when you say 'bass mod' for the HeKV2's - is it referring to ear cup placement, or something else?

 

[FiGuY1017]

Been trying to figure out what you might refer to, when you say 'bass mod' for the HeKV2's - is it referring to ear cup placement, or something else?

Nope it's so easy shouldn't call it a mod, just leave a couple earpad clips undone on each side. Sold my HeK V2 after having Susvara for awhile I wasn't using them, miss them by now though, thanks for the reminder btw . I'll rebuy one day probably not at the price I sold mine unfortunately

 

[Fargeg]

Now that I've sharpened my critical listening skills up a bit, I wrote up impressions of the HE1000 V2 with comparisons to the HD800S:

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/un8rfh/he1000v2_impressions/i86crsz/

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones...mic_soundstage_godzilla_vs_planar_soundstage/

To summarize, the HE1000 V2 is an upgrade over the stock HD800S overall if you're looking for a wide, detailed presentation, although EQ brings the HD800S up nearly to par. In terms of tonality/technicality ratings, I'd give the stock HEK an S/S-, the stock HD800S a B/A+, and the EQ'ed HD800S another S/S-.

However, the planar needs to be worn at an annoyingly specific position to avoid flushing timbre, imaging, and slam down the toilet, which I speculate is why people have so many differing impressions of it.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

However, the planar needs to be worn at an annoyingly specific position to avoid flushing timbre, imaging, and slam down the toilet, which I speculate is why people have so many differing impressions of it.

Your review says:

Listening was done with the cups 5/6 of the way backward relative to my ears instead of centered, tilted about 20 degrees back, though the best position may be different for your own ears.

What exactly does that mean to be 5/6 of the way backwards? I'm not sure which direction is frontwards or backwards. And which direction are they being tilted 20 degrees? I may need a diagram or visual aid to understand this.

I got to demo the first version of the HE1000. I found the soundstage depth to be flat. The headstage was all wideness, poor depth. And have had similar experiences with other HiFiMan headphones of that ear cup design. How are you positioning them on your head and ears to get the sense of soundstage depth?

 

[Fargeg]

Your review says:


What exactly does that mean to be 5/6 of the way backwards? I'm not sure which direction is frontwards or backwards. And which direction are they being tilted 20 degrees? I may need a diagram or visual aid to understand this.

I got to demo the first version of the HE1000. I found the soundstage depth to be flat. The headstage was all wideness, poor depth. And have had similar experiences with other HiFiMan headphones of that ear cup design. How are you positioning them on your head and ears to get the sense of soundstage depth?

basically like this

 

[Ham Sandwich]

basically like this

Thanks! That makes it clear. And wasn't what I was picturing. The visual aid helps both with how the ear cups are positioned over the ear and how the headband is angled back.

Weird. I've always pushed the headphones forward relative to my ears to increase the sense of soundstage/headstage depth. Positioning the ear cups so that the back of my ears are touching or almost touching the back of the ear pads. Positioning the ear cups so that most of the driver is in front of my ear holes. If the HiFiMan headphones with that ear cup shape create a better sense of headstage projection in front of the head when pushed back like that then something weird and unexpected is going on.

What could be going on to explain that?

I'm interested in trying the Arya and the HE1000 V2 as an additional headphone in my setup. I'll keep this in mind when demoing them. I want my headphones to project imaging out in front of my forehead. I don't like the style of headphone sound that doesn't have depth.

 

[vlach]

Your review says:


What exactly does that mean to be 5/6 of the way backwards? I'm not sure which direction is frontwards or backwards. And which direction are they being tilted 20 degrees? I may need a diagram or visual aid to understand this.

I got to demo the first version of the HE1000. I found the soundstage depth to be flat. The headstage was all wideness, poor depth. And have had similar experiences with other HiFiMan headphones of that ear cup design. How are you positioning them on your head and ears to get the sense of soundstage depth?

Out of curiosity, do you remember which DAC & amp were driving the HE1000?
Reason i ask is because i have several amps and get noticeably different results in terms of soundstage width and depth depending which one i use.

Edit: I've been considering adding a used HE1000, HE1000v2 or new Arya to my collection for some time now and will be watching your posts closely to see where you land, please keep us posted on your journey!

Edit #2: My HE500 gained density and dimensionality across the board once i drove them directly from the speaker taps of my vintage receiver. Gravity is lower. Mass is higher.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Out of curiosity, do you remember which DAC & amp were driving the HE1000?
Reason i ask is because i have several amps and get noticeably different results in terms of soundstage width and depth depending which one i use.

It was a iFi Pro amp and iFi Pro DAC stack. At a head-fi meet. I tried the amp with and without the tube processing. Normally I expect adding second harmonic tube flavor will help add more sense of soundstage depth (see Katz's Corner Episode 25: Adventures in Distortion), but in this case with the iFi Pro amp I didn't good sense of soundstage depth with the HE1000. I'm not familiar with the iFi Pro amp with other headphones. So it's possible that the amp just generally doesn't have a good presentation of soundstage depth.

My usual amps at home are the Liquid Fire and Liquid Glass. I do like the added second harmonics hybrid tube amps have compared to pure solid state. Helps me to get a little more soundstage depth with headphones. A good all tube amp would do better at that.

 

[LikeABell]

I received my HE1000v2 yesterday and I'm floored!
I currently have a HE1000SE with me as well (sent by a dealer for auditioning) and I honestly prefer the v2. Seems to have more edge to it.
Just now, just for fun, I connected the HEKv2 to my Bottlehead Crack and oh my god! Sounds so good! I'm surprised.

 

[alavenue]

Hello, I'm selling a HE1000V2 if anyone is interested

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/hifiman-he1000v2-audiophile-headphones.27363/

 

[TheR0v3r]

Now that I've sharpened my critical listening skills up a bit, I wrote up impressions of the HE1000 V2 with comparisons to the HD800S:

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/un8rfh/he1000v2_impressions/i86crsz/

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones...mic_soundstage_godzilla_vs_planar_soundstage/

To summarize, the HE1000 V2 is an upgrade over the stock HD800S overall if you're looking for a wide, detailed presentation, although EQ brings the HD800S up nearly to par. In terms of tonality/technicality ratings, I'd give the stock HEK an S/S-, the stock HD800S a B/A+, and the EQ'ed HD800S another S/S-.

However, the planar needs to be worn at an annoyingly specific position to avoid flushing timbre, imaging, and slam down the toilet, which I speculate is why people have so many differing impressions of it.

Excellent reviews!

Any new insights into the imaging issue you mention?

 

[Atriya]

I have heard it said (e.g. by @GoldenOne) that the HEKv2 is "easier to drive" than the Arya in the sense that it doesn't need need as much power to shine as the Arya does.

I'm consider getting an HEKv2 to pair with an amp which can put ("only") 258mW & 3Vrms into it.

Now, given the impedance and sensitivity of the HEKv2 (35ohm & 90db/mw resp.), this power will drive it to 114.1db, which is obviously much more than listening volume:

https://www.headphonesty.com/headph...ic2Vuc2l0aXZpdHlNZWFzdXJlbWVudCI6IndhdHQifQ==

Would such a setup be "enough" power for the headphone? Obviously it is enough power from a pure loudness perspective, but would the HEKv2 benefit substantially from "excess" power being available, such as the Arya reportedly does? Or would it benefit, but to a lesser extent than the Arya?

EDIT: I know I didn't explain what this mysterious 258mW amp is. It is in fact not an amp at all, but a Chord Qutest directly connected to the headphone. The Qutest provides 3Vrms maximum voltage, and high-quality software attenuation can be done using HQPlayer with higher-order noise shaping at 768Khz. I have tried this setup on an Arya Stealth and it works quite well, much to my initial astonishment. With no amp at all, the sound is remarkably transparent, but, on the Arya Stealth at least, does seem to be lacking a little in punch and 3-dimensionality compared to using an amp. My concern is whether the HEKv2 might fare better or worse.

 

[GoldenSound]

I have heard it said (e.g. by @GoldenOne) that the HEKv2 is "easier to drive" than the Arya in the sense that it doesn't need need as much power to shine as the Arya does.

I'm consider getting an HEKv2 to pair with an amp which can put ("only") 258mW & 3Vrms into it.

Now, given the impedance and sensitivity of the HEKv2 (35ohm & 90db/mw resp.), this power will drive it to 114.1db, which is obviously much more than listening volume:

https://www.headphonesty.com/headph...ic2Vuc2l0aXZpdHlNZWFzdXJlbWVudCI6IndhdHQifQ==

Would such a setup be "enough" power for the headphone? Obviously it is enough power from a pure loudness perspective, but would the HEKv2 benefit substantially from "excess" power being available, such as the Arya reportedly does? Or would it benefit, but to a lesser extent than the Arya?

P.S. I know I didn't explain what this mysterious 258mW amp is, but I can if there is interest.

Worth clarifying that this is only in comparison to the original/V2 arya. The Arya stealth is MUCH easier to drive than it's predecessors

 

[Atriya]

Worth clarifying that this is only in comparison to the original/V2 arya. The Arya stealth is MUCH easier to drive than it's predecessors

Thanks, makes sense. I edited my original post with some more context...