šŸ”¶ Hifiman HE6SE

I want to post a comparison with a pretty high end headphone, the Abyss Diana V2. In short, the He6seV2 is about 60 to 70% of the Diana V2. The He6 wins on comfort and has a wider soundstage. The Diana V2 wins in every other category. The Diana are more detailed, layer better, and has better bass in everyway, if you break the seal of the pads. If you donā€™t break the seal, the He6 actually wins in the bass department. It is very easy to do, I just use a tiny rubber foot put it next to the back screw. It makes a small gap in the back. I also had to put a small AKG pad on the headband, that was like 8 USD. My He6 have the grill mod and I have a pair of ZMF perforated leather pads on them. I am using the Bifrost 2 into the Soloist to drive both of them. So the He6seV2 fairs really well, itā€™s normally around $650 USD and the I got the Diana V2 for around $2100 USD. I think most should feel pretty good about the performance of the He6seV2.

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Hello guys, I was trying to run the He6se v2 through Magnius/Modius but Iā€™m not satisfied with it.
I found a good deal on IOTAVX Sa3 speaker amp locally where I live, would you recommend it ?

Thank you

aaaaaand another one gone. number 4 dead. holy fucking shit. like i want to give up on them but i like them too much and use them basically daily (only hifiman with real pinpoint imaging iā€™ve ever owned for gaming, even the he1000se isnā€™t quite as accurate) for comp gaming and itā€™s really irritating.

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Just wondering, are you getting them from Hifiman directly, or via another e-tailor?

did they offer you an exchange for another product?

hifiman directly for the 3 replacements.

@El_Nagual not yet, i think iā€™m gonna wait and see if another one bites the dust and maybe send them out at the same time and ask about it. i really really would like to keep one if i can and the first one i had lasted well over a year (yeah, still pathetic) and iā€™d be more than happy to give up 3 of them in exchange for a pair of susvaras lol. they havenā€™t offered to exchange them for something else, but iā€™ve also tried basically every other hifiman other than the susvara and arya stealth and nothing else they make is a real replacement for the specific use case i want them for, which is gaming and head kicking slam when i want to really rock out.

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The Susvara is indeed a very nice headphone but Iā€™m not sure it would replace your HE6SE more than it would compliment it. I have not heard the HE6SE so I could be blowing smokeā€¦ But Iā€™ve owned Edition Xv2 and HE1000v2 so I have a decent point of reference for the bigger Hifiman planars.

Sorry to see that it was hifiman direct units - I was thinking I would try one from Hifiman vs Adorama or elsewhere but it seems as though it could be more general QC and perhaps supply chain related and inconsistent parts/suppliers. In any case I hope that you are able to get a working that lasts.

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Yeah thatā€™s the only reason Iā€™m hesitant to just give up on them. I really do like them a lot when they work and if there was something specific I could do to keep them from dying Iā€™d be all for it but Iā€™m pretty meticulous about how go through the unplugging/plugging ritual so Iā€™m pretty sure itā€™s not me killing them. On top of that, they always go in a bag when not in use and have their own safe place where they canā€™t be bumped out knocked onto the floor or anything stupid and I really think I couldnā€™t do any more to take care of them better so itā€™s really disheartening that it keeps happening. The was a time where Iā€™d rec them to people if they had the means to drive them well, because they really are great, but in no way would I recommend them to anyone for any reason now unless you can live without them a couple weeks out of the year while theyā€™re being warrantied.

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Try to find a V1 when they are on sale. So far I havenā€™t heard of many issues with the v1ā€™s.

I grabbed a set for 699 on the hifiman site for black friday last year. Since you have so many units they may give you that price on a v1

i bet not a lot of people have tried the iotavx amp with the he6se - it will be trial and error for u .i have a he6se v2 and i used to own a burson soloist 3xp with supercharger , i did a trial and error with a smsl ao200 amp for $279 paired it with a schiit modius dac , kimber hero xlr interconnect and blue dragon headphone cable xlr . i sold the burson soloist with supercharger .

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Thank you for your feedback! I actually live in the ME area so UK products are more available than US. The guy who is selling the amp used to use it with the exact same headphone but he doesnā€™t have it anymore and he mentioned that the headphone sounded itā€™s best on the Iota !
And the price is really good so Iā€™m gonna try it and see for myself.

I did search the smsl that you mentioned, it looks like it produce as much power! So thatā€™s promising.

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Can you share a picture of this interconnect? I am trying to place an order but just wanted for reference.

Edit: also the SMSL shows 90W at 4 ohms, how much power would it be outputting at 50 ohms?

try the iota tnen if someone has tried it and good results with it

same as this

I sent my he6se in, and got it back from hifiman todayā€¦and my thing has the most squeaky headband I have ever heard . It literally sounds like my headphone is fartingā€¦why hifiman whyā€¦

I think other people in hifiman xs were reporting bad headbands tooā€¦

from what iā€™ve heard personally, itā€™s been pad squeak. the xs had some pretty bad pad squeak when i first got it, so i pulled the pads off and rubbed a tiny bit of vaseline around the edge to get rid of the friction and it was gone. something about how the leather is pushed up against the plastic of the inside by the tension of the little tabs on the pad ring.

Iā€™m debating if I should get one or not. Iā€™m concerned about the QC. I know I can get a replacement but if the replacement keeps failing then what?
I might get the he6se, use it if it fails, RMA to get a replacement from hifiman. If it keeps failing maybe ask for credits for another headphone or ask for the edition XS.
One of the reasons I upgraded my amp to the soloist 3xp was to be able to drive the he6se.

You arenā€™t ever going to know the real failure rate of any headphone. I have only had one pair out of three fail but I am sure that running the HE6seV2 off dual stereo amps killed the left driver. I donā€™t believe it was a QC issue. Anyone with issues are also going to be more vocal about it. The decision is yours in who you believe and you might get unlucky. But I have had two pairs for over a year now with no issues.

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I think that was my issue as well. On my second pair, but I think it was my carelessness with the speaker amp (possibly) that nuked the right driver, not any QC issues (but not 100% sure of course).

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I dont plan to use any speaker amp. I should be fine then!