🔶 Hifiman HE1000v2 and HE1000v2 Stealth Edition

[giova05]

I honestly hate this… Lol. I thought I could pick one and just go with it, but both have their strengths… and at the same time they are very close, making it feel wasteful and redundant to keep both. I am not sure I will be able to pick one over the other… oi!

[Delta9K]

Spend some time with them both - the HEKse is not even broken in, judging it now is premature positive or negative. Also, when A/B back n fourth spend like two weeks with one and then two weeks with the other and just listen like you do as part of your normal routine.

Congrats and Enjoy !

[giova05]

For sure, will do

[Etroze86]

Put them on tubes and I think the delta between them might get wider for you.

[giova05]

Yeah, don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely a delta. So far the Stealth’s feel more relaxed in the treble, which I like, but the SE definitely sounds more natural with a better midrange. I’ll definitely be spending at least a couple weeks comparing them to decide which I prefer (or if I’ll just keep both, lol).

Been listening to them on the Cayin HA-3A

[Etroze86]

Definitely let those SEs break in, I don’t get the peaky treble from mine that everyone talks about but I have an extremely warm chain.

[giova05]

Yeah, the Atriums are more peaky than the SE. It’s not peaky to me at all, either. They are genuinely great overall. I’m just being dramatic. Lol

It’s like, which version of “perfect” do I want to keep. LOL I love them both.

[Etroze86]

Lol I have both the SE and atrium as well. Very complimentary cans and if you can try them out definitely add an Audeze LCD3 in there as well.

[MindBreak]

The prices on the HE1000se and HE1000 stealth makes me wonder when Hifiman will drop a new variant.

They did the same thing with the Arya Stealth prior to the Organic release.

[Pokrog]

I’ve been wondering if they’re going to do some kind of successor like the HE1000se v2 or HE1000se Unveiled or something. Honestly wouldn’t surprise me if it happens fairly soon.

[MindBreak]

I would suspect it would happen in conjunction with another price drop. Not sure how much inventory they have left of the current versions though.

[Pokrog]

I found out recently that the cost of every single Hifiman is $250 so if they get $275 for an HE1000se, they’re still making money. I could see another price drop happening if they do end up dropping a successor but they could easily just keep the pricing and discontinue the current ones.

[giova05]

Here is a measurement comparison i took with the minidsp ears for both of these. Most of these are compensated with MiniDSPs HEQ target (The one it comes with, looks similar to Harman, but without as much of a bass shelf, so perfectly-flat response on these graphs would be equivalent to adhering to that target, unless otherwise noted as being raw).

And here is the same graph but with the Y-Axis zoomed in to really exaggerate the differences in measured frequency response (What little there is). Despite the similarities, there is still a perceived audible difference between the two. I don’t mind saying it could be placebo, but it still seems noticeable when I go back and forth. Might just be the limitations of a sine-wave measurement.

vs 6xx zmf lambskin

VS Clear OG with ZMF lambskin

VS Atrium with universe lambskin

Here’s a raw measurement of he1000se vs Harman OE 2018

I generated some filters and plugged those into roon to compare raw tuning vs EQed to Harman 2018 and I definitely prefer the raw tuning for these.

Even with a more subtle filter, It definitely feels like Hifiman knows what it’s doing with their “house sound” IMO. It sounds way larger, more expansive, etc. Tuning it to Harman 2018 really makes it sound dull by comparison, even after turning the volume up after enabling the EQ to try and rule it out as a factor. Should also add I’m listening through the Singxer SA-1 and Bifrost 2/64.

That’s it for today, I have a 5-day weekend, so decided to stay up late tinkering with the new measurement tool.

[NtraXMod]

My favorite headphone.

[MindBreak]

Well, images and pricing of the HE1000 unveiled are circulating. Considering reports of Susvara Unveiled being damaged due to the exposed driver, I wonder if it is a good idea to skip this version?!

[Ohmboy]

[Etroze86]

I’m skipping it just because it’s fugly IMO.

[MindBreak]

True enough

[Ohmboy]

@Etroze86

I’m skipping it just because it’s fugly IMO

I does look like a Moondrop Para and HEDD love child though lol.

[Etroze86]

Lol still doesn’t help the looks