Oh no… Anything red draws me in… How could you?!
UH oh, SUPER GASP!
I am sure this will go with my Inspire Dragon IHA-1 Tube and Burson Soloist 3X Grand Tourer Red Edition amps.
This is a very unique headphone.
It has HD800 levels of soundstage and imaging and yet isnt focused on the treble at all. In fact it has a very smooth top end to the point where I feel that I want more micro detail at times.
Its imaging its warm, thin, precise and fast with almost none of the macro dynamics being smoothed over and works best with classical where you can hear everyone precisely or J-core to cut though their brickwall 6 layer BS.
But the star of the show is that BASS. Its controlled fast and overwheming. Truely the detail heads answer to a bass cannon guity pleasure. Although it needs about 50ish hours of break in. On first listen the bass is very THICC and dirty and is very not indicative of the final state. So for people that want all that meat I personally recomend you skip as it becomes real tight as the driver works its way to a stable state.
But personally highly recommenced 11/10 from me. Mainly because Its the type of headphone that I was looking for but couldnt find. Like what Zeos said though, its not really a main headphone kind of deal but what it does well it really does well.
The R2R module is nice but personally I feel it destroys the magic of the R9 since it boosts the upper mids to high hevens making it a very V shape can and making the treble sound even darker.
Also Dem cups is a lie, knocking on them shows that they are thin plastic and do not isolate well. So yeah buyer beware as there was one guy that needed the isolation and was bitching about how it doesnt isolate well.
Lastly I would like to thank @WaveTheory for making this thread so I can shill this headphone that I didnt know I needed in my life.
Well I am sold. It will be displayed on the desk with my red desktop gear for aesthetic reasons. Whoever walks in the audio cave will go “That’s a lot of red.”
I’m working on a review, as I mentioned above. One thing I can say is I somewhat expected mediocre results because the model line the R9 is part of is Hifiman’s first real stab at dynamic driver AND closed back. I am pleasantly surprised. This headphone puts mediocre way in the rear view. I agree with you the bass is the star of the show, but the mids are smooth and natural, the treble is detailed and controlled, and they are stupid easy to drive (another achievement for hifiman). Now if there was a way to make them not look like shiny red traffic cones on your ears…
Oh yeah same here, I went into the store expecting to demo it for 5min and then go on to the XS and eventually buy the XS. Left with the R9 instead.
That being said they did start this design with the PR disaster that was the R10 Dynamic so I guess they took those lessons to make the R9. Wouldnt be surprised if the R7DX was one of the iterations for the R&D for the R9 which I presume was to cut as much cost as possible from the R10D.
With reguards to the red traffic cone issue I dont think you can solve that. Maybe working with your local sticker shop or masking and spray painting the cups. Both require too much effort on my part.
As an FYI, HiFiman has these as an open box for $449.00. If I hadn’t just bought a set of used Grado Hemps, I might be tempted. 
Anyone actually tried to buy one at that price? It’s listed at $369 here:
but when you click that “buy now” button it says the price is $749 for the wireless version. 
yeah going to bug their customer service about it. Maybe they forgot to add the discount like they forgot to promote the R9.
I was going to hit buy, but it is still at $749.00. For $369.00, I’d try it.
If you are still interested they finally added the discount.
I just ordered a pair a few minutes ago. They sent me an email with a proper link. Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks for the review. Btw what was the sauce you used when testing the R9?
And now I am watching Love, Death and Robots.
I will get to it tonight or tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it. 
Sauce? R9 listening pairs great with onion rings dipped in a mixture of 70% ranch and 30% Sriracha 
But I think you meant signal chain. I’ll pin a comment below the video on YT.
Hifiguides Amazon Link
