Where Iām from - one of yours is worth 174 of ours. Now let that sink in heheā¦
You win some, lose some. Most expensive health care in the worldā¦
I guess so yeahā¦
If the XS is what is claimed, than HFM pricing will indeed need adjustment from within.
Based on what I read it doesnāt sound like the HEX v2 or XX - at least performance wise.
Iād like to know if anybody has compared it to the HE-6se v1/2 or Arya stealth.
TIA
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I donāt think they know what they have sometimes. Certainly the marketing arm told us the 5XX and 5se were great reboots of earlier classics. And IMO they both suck.
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Yeah maybe someone will compare - personally, Iāve only got the 4XX and the 400is to compareā¦
BTW, Iām really taken surprised. This guy has a showdown and soundtest of six 4X0/5X0 series cans here: Hifiman Headphones Compared | Which do you like best? Sound demos - YouTube.
Watch the video and check the sound comparisons. Iām very very surprised here. Donāt wanna spoil the outcome yet but - check the comparison of the 6SE with the 4X0 line. See what you can make out of the sound comparisons, then we talkā¦
He was using a 789 I believe which was the reason I almost sold my 6se v2. If you have any questions for him heās @tkddans on this forum.
Ohā¦ man I figured that would have been the issue here, but hadnāt thought anything of it.
Guy testing multiple cans and I can see multiple amps back there - this sounds like quite an oversight.
He goes through all those cans and not use the right amp for the 6SE?
Damn - I was NOT ready for this.
So itās true, these need a damn fusion reactor to run hunhā¦
So maybe then, with very powerful amps, they really come alive?
I mean itās kinda fair to evaluate them all on the same amp and honestly a lot of people donāt want to spend the money it takes to run them properly and that review is a good thing for people thinking they are gonna get audio bliss out of an $1800 pair of headphones on sale for $600 on an entry level amp. I love his reviews, personally.
Oh yea, Iāve since raised my HE6SE V2 rank back to S on my rankings list.
The demo in that video gives a worse impression than what I actually feel the more I listen to them in real life. Not that I listen to them a lot these days, but I put them on again recently and they got me back into appreciating their sound.
As wonky as they sound in the demo, the real life wonk does it wonders.
EDIT: Oh, and I did use a 789 for the recording. BUT, I prefer using the TA-30 hybrid tube amp. It actually brightens up the music, compared to a warmer 789 solid state (the opposite of what you would expect when comparing tubes and solid state amps). The TA-30 helped make it sound even splashier, in a good way.
Hey itās possible thereās issue with the power, but it seems like thereās a lot of headroom on the 789 before hitting max on its highest gain. That being said, I prefer the sound on the less powerful TA-30. So Iām not sure how much power is directly involved with the quality of the headphones.
It may be possible that the differences in qualities may be more amp specific, than power specific. Every amp sounds different after all.
EDIT: Buy hey, maybe one day I can get access to the big expensive tube amps someday. That would be cool! Some really sexy looking gear out there.
Oh and I tried the HE6SE off my speaker amp for my surround system, but it sounded worse than the 789. Plenty of power, but not a good amp apparently for headphone quality.
Regarding that comparative video - was there any thoughts to the different iterations/style of magnets utilized in these drivers causing some recording variance? I know that you were demonstrative that these cans sounded to your ear as they were recorded, but I wondered if that may have played a role. Iām unfamiliar in the world of doing āsound demosā, but I know there has been discussion in that world about accurately recording planars.
Hmm yeah I guess - I donāt know what to conclude of this then. But well, I feel happier with my 400i+4XX out of that group.
I still canāt get over how really expensive it is - few of the things Iāve not been able to comprehend in the industry - includes prices of many Grados and Ultrasones (again, very personal opinion) and then the price of these so similar looking round cupped Hifiman 400/500/560/6SEs. Wasnāt much impressed with the original 500s either when I heard em once at a meet. Even now, I see the new (current) 560 priced over the XS.
Anyhow - no issues there. Keeps me unimpressed with the price/performance still - nothing to complain about for me.
Very curious about what really must go on in those drivers though.
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Yea Iāve heard, from a Zeos video once, that planar magnetics could mess with mics or something. I honestly donāt know enough about the subject though to say if that was the culprit to what happened in my demos - could be.
The he6 have ridiculously strong magnets so I would think itās a possibility depending on the mic that it could effect the recording.
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The 6sev1|2 needs at least 8 wpc at 50 ohms to get the bass right. 500 needs 2 wpc at 38 ohms,
I have a 4XX with mods/EQ and its a pile of junk next to my HE-500 or my 6v1. Anyone thinks any HFM 4**, toss in the 560 too (not including 400se which I have not heard) is a match for either has them on the wrong amp, or a defective 500 or 6se.
I see the 4th person dissing the 500 in the past 4 years. The first 3 had amps under 1 wpc, which makes the bass and mids flat.
Hmmm, the magnets (to me) seem to be strong in all of them, donāt they? Almost slipped a tool in a planar once - and then many other unsung heroes out there have successfully totaled their driversā¦
Hmmmā¦ I see. Yeah could be a bad unit or amp, the one I tried years ago, but an old one (OG He-500).
I wonder now though - you may or may not really be impressed with the XS then.
Itās not miles ahead of the 4XX/400i to me - but is more open, goes lower in the bass, and feels much taller. But from what I gather - I wonder if it will leave you wanting for moreā¦
You best wait for a 6SE vs XS feedback for sure.
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all it takes is a finger if youāre in deep enough lol
If the XS is close to either the HEX v2 or XX I wonāt like it. Iāve had the v2 for 4 years and know the XX well. Iāll throw the Ananda in as well (I dislike that more than either of the others).
Iāve got mods/EQ for my 6v1 and its a rough equiv with the Arya v1. The XS better be good to beat that.
I do not like the order situation on the XS at this point.