Thanks for making this, dude. I've been keeping a close eye on people's opinion of this headphone and I don't see quite enough reviews of it on youtube for me to warrant making the purchase. I might add this to the wishlist. RIght now I'm waiting for my ZMF Verite closed to arrive - and considering the price of that headphone alone - I should probly wait a long while before expanding the collection once more. Keep up the good work.
Dekoni eggfiman pads. From least bright to most bright: Velour, Hybrid, Fenestrated sheepskin, Stock pads I find hybrid both the most comfortable and best sounding personally.
Great review. Glad you went out there and shared your appreciation for treble. I’m a fellow audiophile with a similar appreciation for treble and I have to say that I think some of the most appreciated/highly rated headphones of the rank and file TH-cam audiophile reviewers sound terrible. Your review here is spot on with my view and experience of these headphones. I think they are phenomenal. My listening is equally split between these (use at work) and Meze Elites (use at home). I’ll make sure to check out your other reviews. Two pairs of amazing headphones isn’t enough :)
I bought a HEKse brand new last summer. It lasted about 10 weeks before the right driver failed. Loved it while it lasted, especially for the quality of the available bass and, of course, the refined detail. I found the deep sub bass to be really good and clean but the overall bass to be polite on some tracks.
I consider myself treble sensitive and love the treble on this headphone..and all the rest.. Sound absolutely stunning with classical music and jazz, using a Schiit Mjolnir 3 amp Your experience with this headphone mirrors mine, you helped me pulling the trigger on this one, thanks for that
I have the HEKSE and LCD 4 and agree with the points you have raised. Resolution, imaging, soundstage and comfort are all incredible but it is a thinner sounding signature. I prefer the LCD 4 as it plays nicer with lower quality recordings and it has that thick sound signature that I prefer but I still enjoy the HEKSE for the technical performance and gaming.
great review - by the way: your shirt is quite dynamic :-). Looking outside my window seeing the snow fall I am jealous to see you in sommer clothing. Have a great time!
HEK Stealth is quite different, I would say, and to some will be a better headphone (even though I have zero doubt that the HEKse is technically superior). It's got an HD800-like soundstage (making HEKse sound more intimate by comparison), more pronounced bass, more Harman-compliant tuning. To my ears, the Stealth allows you to have a speaker-like experience (like you're in one of the first few rows of a live event) whereas the HEKse puts you right in the middle of the recording.
These are my daily drivers and I keep finding myself rediscovering entire albums with them. They're incredible. My chain is pretty basic with bitperfect > topping d90se in dac-only mode > lake people g111 mk ii.
Awesome review Sajid Bhai, fully concur with you once you are into hifiman house sound you get so addictive to it that everything else sounds boring, I Started my journery from HE-500 and now HEKSE, i tried in between all offerings from Meze, ZMF and Audeze and keep coming back to Hifiman. Nice to hear that Sony DAP is good match for HEKSE will give it a try I was considering Cayin so will get more feedback. But nevertheless HEKSE sound awesome out of my Questyle M15 dongle as well.
I definitely agree, Hifiman has somehow found a house sound that is so pleasing to hear. I too keep coming back to my Hifiman headphones of which I only have the He600se and Arya.
This is quite an expensive headphone for most people like myself and would be my endgame headphone if I could afford it, but I have been looking for the ultimate or penultimate sound quality for my 80's/ early 90"s hard rock/heavy metal music that I truly love, and how you describe the sound of the HE-1000SE is very holographic and I can almost hear it.
I really enjoyed my He1000SE until it failed 2 times on the same side driver, but lucky both were replacing new units. I did sell it because sometime is just too much treble sharp for me to use as long hours. You have great reviews.
The wooden lining is most likely real, particularly evident from the grain and voids. There were also some threads (TH-cam comments don't like links) sharing photos of at least the original HE1000 revealing that that wood isn't even just a veneer, or is at least a veneer on top of actually structural laminated wood. Anyways, having acquired the HE1000se mainly as a comfort counterpart to a free-field EQed and binaural head-tracked Meze Elite with hybrid pads hopefully with lower distortion than my Arya Stealth, per my in-ear mic measurements in page 320 of the Head-fi HE1000se thread and on, I've found that the only actual things going for the HE1000se are a lighter clamping force, better driver matching and hence imaging coherence, and a more controlled frequency response in the upper midrange. Distortion performance (important to me for EQ or assessing objective gains) looked better for one channel, but on checking my measurements later, I realized that my HE1000se's left channel's distortion performance was actually very similar to my Arya Stealth's right channel and vice versa, so there isn't actually any reliable gain for that measure. Their impulse and step responses are similarly incisive, transient quality also being subjectively very similar in listening comparisons particularly with an isolated single-sample impulse. I personally have not heard any actual appreciable differences or improvements over the Arya Stealth, mind the bass quantity is measurably nigh identical, at least on my head. Maybe a dB or few of a deeper "HiFiMan dip" causes some people to perceive the HE1000se as "wider". Sound sources in my reference tracks were positioned identically, and for large tuttis, when volume-matched, neither sounded bigger or wider. Likewise, the HE1000se for the same volume setting will play up to 2 dB louder than the Arya Stealth, which could influence A/Bing results. Otherwise, absolutely, the HE1000se is HiFiMan's most refined planar magnetic and is fantastic at this price point, probably even objectively outperforming the Susvara, but not outperforming the Arya Stealth by much. Meanwhile, I have had the misfortune of receiving a replacement for a damaged unit (pesky pad swapping process...) which unfortunately had distortion measurements suggesting diaphragm installation defects despite nothing other than potentially normal wrinkles being visible on the diaphragms; we'll see how the warranty-covered replacement for _that_ goes. As for ever hearing one thing on one headphone that you couldn't hear or was not as accentuated on another, I'd vie that it is almost always explainable by an in-ear microphone frequency response measurement (test heads may not match your own ears) showing the headphone as boosting the frequency bands those sounds lie within relative to the headphone being compared to. EQ guided either by close sine sweep volume matching or in-ear microphone measurements will you you how two headphones can be made to sound tonally identical, only noticeably differing in comfort, ear space, and maybe transient quality at the extremes.
Loved it on the Violectric V280. Hated it on GSX mini. So yeah amp pairing is extremely crucial for this one in particular. Typical for extremely resolving headphones.
I don’t find this headphone more resolving than the new Utopia, but I find them comparable. Their tunings are pretty different, so when I switch back and forth, I get wowed by both of them. But when I switch to my LCD-5s, the resolution jumps up compared to both of them. This is my first Hifiman headphone I’ve liked. I found the Arya Stealth a little too bright sometimes, but this one is fine as long as I don’t listen too loud. The main way i’ve been using it is watching films, because the extra treble helps with low level dialog. I bought it on a whim, and I’m happy with my purchase.
The he1000se remind me of the annihilator where there is a lot of treble but it is the most smooth treble never a sibilant spike and paired with a warm source it’s breathtaking Phenomenal headphone up there with the best
I remember trying various Hifiman headphones at London Can Jam last year - Susvara was too boring for me (also in the treble), Arya had bright treble which was annoying because it lacked what I'd perceive as resolution, and HE1000se also has bright treble but the big jump in resolution immediate changed my perception of it from "annoying" to "there's so much nuance happening up there". I think that the Utopia and Susvara sound more "correct", i.e. err on the side of caution, so to speak, but the HEKse's airiness is just beautiful.
Since I got into estats I listen to them 95% of the time, I do switch to my Arya Organic from time to time which is in the same frame as the HE1000se just different colors. Very estat esque
I agree with everything you said on this … I own the he100se he100 stealth and Arya stealth He6se v2 ,focal clear radiance ZMF atrium open and closed verite closed Aeolus Atticus Eikon … this is by far best resolving of the bunch it’s amazing…. I listen mainly through the Cayin ha-1A mkii tube amp which maybe makes the treble more tolerable but I have 0 issues with the treble and in fact love it! When I go back to listening to my other headphones it’s like listening to them through a towel! And I got open box deal for 1650🎉
@@urbenkam hey yeah so the he1000 stealth is great for the price…. I think it’s very close to the he1000se… the se may be a bit more resolving where I think the stage is close on both the bass may be a little better on the stealth …. The atrium open is prob the headphone I use most because it’s just all around good sounding and I prob use that more than all of my headphones …I guess depends on what you listen to ? But you won’t be unhappy with the he 1000 stealth it’s fantastic for the price
@@urbenkam in this hobby don’t wonder … lol honestly the stealth is awesome you will love it … you can’t go wrong I would prob be fooling myself if I said I could differ between the stealth and se in a blind test consistently….the atriums are different not necessarily better but different I use tube amps a lot so the zmfs are great in that area….
If you’re looking for a Dac and amp all in one with the he1000 … hifiman EF400 is amazing if you don’t mind the usb input only …. This amp is really amazing with the hifiman round up! And you can get it for around 300 now for a dac and amp
I have the Utopia 2022, Ananda, HE1000SE and Susvara in case anyone needs help. The Ananda has peakier highs sometimes. The HE1000SE is basically perfect for those who like treble clarity and air (ie. I know exactly what Danny Carey from Tool's symbols and Adam Jones' guitar riffs sound like in real life and have an electric guitar and drums at home). The susvara has what I would sibjectively call 2% better imaging (a perfectly spherical circle around you) and about 5%better depth with about 2% less bass with a medium powered amp (Dave+A90). The utopias have way less bass than I though but similar to the susvaras, the most perfect imaging I have ever heard with sounds swirling around you and a bit more dynamic air push. If I had to choose I would choose the HE1000SE used for bang for buck
I also have Utopia 2022 and am thinking of adding the HE1000SE to the collection. Along with HD800S, Beyerdynamic T1 Gen2, and a few others. I LOVE treble extension (not straight up treble) so I believe this is a headphone that will work well.
@@j_505 agreed on the preferences. What you may experience is the treble extension and clarity of the HE1000SE made my HD800 sound a bit muffled in comparison. I think you will love it.
@@brothatwasepic A while back I purchased HE1000V2. At first, I thought it had great tuning, and it does. Nothing wrong with tonality but it was to smooth and for me (border line bland). But I’m someone who loves air frequencies so that’s probably why I didn’t care for it because it was too warm (for me anyways). I guess I was underwhelmed. I see the SE takes a way different approach, so I’m probably going to pull the trigger. I didn’t give it a fair chance though because I didn’t keep it long enough. It was an extremely well tuned headphone, just didn’t give enough details (imo coming from the headphones we have).
@j_505 in that case I think you will find the SE perfect for your preferences. Don't be like me an jump down the Susvara black hole as the HE1000SE was 99.99% the detail retrieval to my ears and far less power hungry
I would think XLR 4-pin and mini XLR cable connectivity would be replaced by USB type C, being that USB type C also supports digital signals. Allowing for a potentially infinite audio PCM encoded bit-depth and sampling resolution.
@@TheWorldTeacher The price here in Europe (Austria and Germany) has fallen from €2399 to €1899. I ordered a HE1000se last week, it should arrive this week or next week.
Listen to the he1000se from a Mjolnir 3 (from balanced, high gain), possibly from an Yggy or even a bifrost. Can't even describe what happens to these headphones with that amp. Thank me later.
What material are your cables made of? Silver plated copper cables produce too much brightness. But, pure silver treble is smooth and never sibilant after proper burn-in.
I also have the Sundara and am loving them. Especially after luckily finding a superb headphone amp to drive them. But if I were to soon crawl down the rabbit hole to upgrade to an improved model, I would most likely make the HE1000se my next reasonable purchasing leap into that bunny hole! 😊👍🎶
Ananda Nano is completely different. I use both for mixing for the sole purpose that they both sound very different. HE1000SE is very relaxed with an expansive sound stage. Best sound stage I've heard in headphones but they have a loose bottom end and aren't great for judging slam or punch. Ananda nano on the other hand has a super fast decay time and are one of the most detailed headphones I've heard for transients and upfront detail. Bass response is super tight but lacks the soundstage of HE1000SE. The transient detail and slam of the nano makes it more difficult to place instruments in comparison. You have to fight with panning and placement mixing on nano Mix with the 2 and alternate, you have the absolute best of both worlds
Is there a amp that can thicken up the low end, from your experience? What I mean by that is that although the way I did eq work on the sub-bass, it sounds great and clean, but lacks some punch and authority, in relation to the other frequencies. The sub-bass still sounds "thin" to me, even after eq. I run the 1000SE's on a RME ADI-2 Pro and although I have nailed my overall EQ settings to my liking, there is some sub-iness that is missing, vs. say a dynamic headphone. I'm listening to some old-school Sony XB700's right now and there seems to be so much more presence of the sub-bass, but they are closed back and dynamic drivers. Is it even possible on these, from your experience, to get that big, floating subiness to happen, where is cushions all the other frequencies or am I just dreaming when it comes to that side of the frequency spectrum?
Stock cable are made with copper and silver. There is a noticeable différence with an aftermarket cable. Run my He1000se with a chord mojo2 and I think it is very good. But I am very curious to listen a more powerfull amp, I think it could be more dynamic. I listen mostly Classical. Very good my friends. What do you think of the chord mojo 2 my friend ?
My two main headphone are he1000se and the new utopia, I prefer keep these two rather than sus. Because these two have more characteristic. I like more connection with producer and mixer rather than guess what is “absolute nature” sounding which does not exist on any playback equipment. And they are definitely more punchy than sus. That make he1000se better OST (eg.Hiroyuki Sawano) EDM headphone than sus. And when I listen to vocal utopia is way better than sus.
@@amplifyaudioreviews Push pull tetrode/pentode speaker amps such as Citation V amp that can do 45 watts from 8-300 ohms then you get that Utopia punch and resolution in spades out of the Susvara
Tried this headphone and i can say this headphone is simply end game material. People who say this is the brightest must have used topping amplifier or something else or they love dark sounding HP like Atrium while as asian i love some treble like my food is spicy. I think this headphone is neutral not that bright and if you pair it with warmer amp it will reduce the treble and add more body to the sound which is perfect! This headphone is 6 years old and still one of the best! Edit: i want to know your opinion comparing he1000se with Empyrean 2.
Super bright. Easily the brightest headphone that HiFiMan makes. I personally vastly prefer the HE1000V2. HE1000SE out resolves it by a bit but the sacrifice to the timbre and sibilance on the SE is a deal breaker. Great review and glad that you’re enjoying them. I agree that they could be someone’s end game if they’re looking for a very bright experience.
Highly disagree about this comment .. I’ve owned both and he1000se is more extended in treble but by far smoother than the V2 with no hot treble spikes where the V2 can be sibilant with S and T sounds he1000se has beautiful timbre and resolution is on another level..yes it has lots of treble but it’s the smoothest I’ve heard, never sharp. V2 is warmer in the midrange but has hot treble spikes
@@theodorezurla496 We have wildly different experiences. Not sure if that’s unit variance or something totally different. The HE1000V2 Stealth can come across sibilant but the HE1000V2 is known for its superior timbre and less offensive brightness. Maybe you auditioned the HE1000V2 Stealth and not the original? On the brightness scale HiFiMan ranks like this: HE1000SE Arya Organic HE1000V2 Stealth Arya V1 Arya Stealth HE1000V2
@@kevintj604 I have owned a V2 and SE for a very long time .. the V2 is very warm in the midrange but with that comes a hot treble spike with S or T sounds while the SE is more consistent and smooth up top.. there is different ways treble is executed and the SE has a far better way of presenting itself than the V2.. never owned the V2 stealth edition
@@theodorezurla496 I think we just simply disagree here. I’ve owned the HE1000SE, HE1000V2 Stealth and currently own the HE1000V2 and I A/B’d with multiple source pairings for a couple weeks to come to my conclusion. I stand by my statement. HE1000SE is the brightest headphone that HiFiMan makes. Not like this really matters in this context but this is also noticeable in the FR graphs as well.
@@kevintj604 there is a very big difference between more extended treble (SE) and hot treble spikes(V2) .. a headphone with less treble can have a more spikey treble with S and T sounds and this is a great example
You’d have to address the elephant in the room that HEKse is one of the easiest to drive headphones, while tungsten is almost impossible to drive😂 Meaning that on HEKse you can get away with various amplification, while tungsten it’s gonna cost you if you don’t want cheap powerful shit from topping
About the same but mid bass and especially sub bass on the HE1000SE is vastly superior. HE1000SE is also noticeably more resolving. They are honesty in a totally different league comparatively.
Different than the OG I'd say. As Sajid explained quite well, it's brighter treble but done better. The way I'd describe it - it elevates the whole treble area as opposed to just peaks, which to my ears is much less annoying and actually very pleasant in many scenarios.
Regarding punch, my opinion is that you haven’t found the unicorn amp for this. After hearing it with the Riviera AIC-10 Bal, Susvara punches like Focal Utopia in that regard, more than HE1000SE could ever scale
Hey bro .i ordered one but I read som comments they say that this headphone good only for classical music ! What about pop hiphop rock !! I think i wasted my money
Most resolving in the world from someone hating elite but shamelessly taking the expert role to BS over pictures lol with entry under mid range toys and self titiled amplifying expert lol. You experience is only entry level and the most noisy show in the world, with no highness or honour whatsoever
Thanks for making this, dude. I've been keeping a close eye on people's opinion of this headphone and I don't see quite enough reviews of it on youtube for me to warrant making the purchase. I might add this to the wishlist. RIght now I'm waiting for my ZMF Verite closed to arrive - and considering the price of that headphone alone - I should probly wait a long while before expanding the collection once more. Keep up the good work.
Pad-rolling makes a massive difference in smoothness and brightness from my testing. Phenomenal headphone.
Please tell us more and specify the type of pad you're using
@@AmbientDatabasedekoni pads for oval hifiman is recommended over stock pads for he1000se
Dekoni eggfiman pads.
From least bright to most bright: Velour, Hybrid, Fenestrated sheepskin, Stock pads
I find hybrid both the most comfortable and best sounding personally.
@@hail9444, thank you for the analysis. I'll look into the Velour (assuming , of course, that they are VEGAN).
Great review. Glad you went out there and shared your appreciation for treble. I’m a fellow audiophile with a similar appreciation for treble and I have to say that I think some of the most appreciated/highly rated headphones of the rank and file TH-cam audiophile reviewers sound terrible.
Your review here is spot on with my view and experience of these headphones. I think they are phenomenal. My listening is equally split between these (use at work) and Meze Elites (use at home).
I’ll make sure to check out your other reviews. Two pairs of amazing headphones isn’t enough :)
Excellent review as always! Please review Ezretich Charybdis if possible.
Noted!
I bought a HEKse brand new last summer. It lasted about 10 weeks before the right driver failed. Loved it while it lasted, especially for the quality of the available bass and, of course, the refined detail. I found the deep sub bass to be really good and clean but the overall bass to be polite on some tracks.
I consider myself treble sensitive and love the treble on this headphone..and all the rest..
Sound absolutely stunning with classical music and jazz, using a Schiit Mjolnir 3 amp
Your experience with this headphone mirrors mine, you helped me pulling the trigger on this one, thanks for that
Welcome!
I have the HEKSE and LCD 4 and agree with the points you have raised. Resolution, imaging, soundstage and comfort are all incredible but it is a thinner sounding signature. I prefer the LCD 4 as it plays nicer with lower quality recordings and it has that thick sound signature that I prefer but I still enjoy the HEKSE for the technical performance and gaming.
great review - by the way: your shirt is quite dynamic :-). Looking outside my window seeing the snow fall I am jealous to see you in sommer clothing. Have a great time!
😁
🙏🏻
Good review but man i am extremely surprised you didn’t do a comparison with 1000 stealth. 😲
HEK Stealth is quite different, I would say, and to some will be a better headphone (even though I have zero doubt that the HEKse is technically superior). It's got an HD800-like soundstage (making HEKse sound more intimate by comparison), more pronounced bass, more Harman-compliant tuning. To my ears, the Stealth allows you to have a speaker-like experience (like you're in one of the first few rows of a live event) whereas the HEKse puts you right in the middle of the recording.
These are my daily drivers and I keep finding myself rediscovering entire albums with them. They're incredible. My chain is pretty basic with bitperfect > topping d90se in dac-only mode > lake people g111 mk ii.
They are best with DISCO music, in my testing. 🕺
Love this dude
Awesome review Sajid Bhai, fully concur with you once you are into hifiman house sound you get so addictive to it that everything else sounds boring, I Started my journery from HE-500 and now HEKSE, i tried in between all offerings from Meze, ZMF and Audeze and keep coming back to Hifiman. Nice to hear that Sony DAP is good match for HEKSE will give it a try I was considering Cayin so will get more feedback. But nevertheless HEKSE sound awesome out of my Questyle M15 dongle as well.
I definitely agree, Hifiman has somehow found a house sound that is so pleasing to hear. I too keep coming back to my Hifiman headphones of which I only have the He600se and Arya.
How does it compare to He1000 Stealth?
This is quite an expensive headphone for most people like myself and would be my endgame headphone if I could afford it, but I have been looking for the ultimate or penultimate sound quality for my 80's/ early 90"s hard rock/heavy metal music that I truly love, and how you describe the sound of the HE-1000SE is very holographic and I can almost hear it.
I really enjoyed my He1000SE until it failed 2 times on the same side driver, but lucky both were replacing new units. I did sell it because sometime is just too much treble sharp for me to use as long hours. You have great reviews.
Did you consider changing the earpads?
@@TheVeganVicar no because I didn't want to change the tune much, plus I had 2 failed units, so I had enough with it.
@@zloklau, fair enough! I'm considering buying a pair of angled pads for my pair of HEKSE.
@@TheVeganVicar I couldn't tell you because I never tried and I sold awhile ago, good luck 🤞🏻 don't change the tune too much and suits you 😊
The wooden lining is most likely real, particularly evident from the grain and voids. There were also some threads (TH-cam comments don't like links) sharing photos of at least the original HE1000 revealing that that wood isn't even just a veneer, or is at least a veneer on top of actually structural laminated wood.
Anyways, having acquired the HE1000se mainly as a comfort counterpart to a free-field EQed and binaural head-tracked Meze Elite with hybrid pads hopefully with lower distortion than my Arya Stealth, per my in-ear mic measurements in page 320 of the Head-fi HE1000se thread and on, I've found that the only actual things going for the HE1000se are a lighter clamping force, better driver matching and hence imaging coherence, and a more controlled frequency response in the upper midrange. Distortion performance (important to me for EQ or assessing objective gains) looked better for one channel, but on checking my measurements later, I realized that my HE1000se's left channel's distortion performance was actually very similar to my Arya Stealth's right channel and vice versa, so there isn't actually any reliable gain for that measure. Their impulse and step responses are similarly incisive, transient quality also being subjectively very similar in listening comparisons particularly with an isolated single-sample impulse. I personally have not heard any actual appreciable differences or improvements over the Arya Stealth, mind the bass quantity is measurably nigh identical, at least on my head. Maybe a dB or few of a deeper "HiFiMan dip" causes some people to perceive the HE1000se as "wider". Sound sources in my reference tracks were positioned identically, and for large tuttis, when volume-matched, neither sounded bigger or wider. Likewise, the HE1000se for the same volume setting will play up to 2 dB louder than the Arya Stealth, which could influence A/Bing results. Otherwise, absolutely, the HE1000se is HiFiMan's most refined planar magnetic and is fantastic at this price point, probably even objectively outperforming the Susvara, but not outperforming the Arya Stealth by much. Meanwhile, I have had the misfortune of receiving a replacement for a damaged unit (pesky pad swapping process...) which unfortunately had distortion measurements suggesting diaphragm installation defects despite nothing other than potentially normal wrinkles being visible on the diaphragms; we'll see how the warranty-covered replacement for _that_ goes.
As for ever hearing one thing on one headphone that you couldn't hear or was not as accentuated on another, I'd vie that it is almost always explainable by an in-ear microphone frequency response measurement (test heads may not match your own ears) showing the headphone as boosting the frequency bands those sounds lie within relative to the headphone being compared to. EQ guided either by close sine sweep volume matching or in-ear microphone measurements will you you how two headphones can be made to sound tonally identical, only noticeably differing in comfort, ear space, and maybe transient quality at the extremes.
Loved it on the Violectric V280. Hated it on GSX mini. So yeah amp pairing is extremely crucial for this one in particular. Typical for extremely resolving headphones.
True true vio is a good rec
I don’t find this headphone more resolving than the new Utopia, but I find them comparable. Their tunings are pretty different, so when I switch back and forth, I get wowed by both of them. But when I switch to my LCD-5s, the resolution jumps up compared to both of them.
This is my first Hifiman headphone I’ve liked. I found the Arya Stealth a little too bright sometimes, but this one is fine as long as I don’t listen too loud. The main way i’ve been using it is watching films, because the extra treble helps with low level dialog. I bought it on a whim, and I’m happy with my purchase.
The he1000se remind me of the annihilator where there is a lot of treble but it is the most smooth treble never a sibilant spike and paired with a warm source it’s breathtaking Phenomenal headphone up there with the best
I remember trying various Hifiman headphones at London Can Jam last year - Susvara was too boring for me (also in the treble), Arya had bright treble which was annoying because it lacked what I'd perceive as resolution, and HE1000se also has bright treble but the big jump in resolution immediate changed my perception of it from "annoying" to "there's so much nuance happening up there". I think that the Utopia and Susvara sound more "correct", i.e. err on the side of caution, so to speak, but the HEKse's airiness is just beautiful.
Agreed, though I’m yet to finally hear the anni:)
@@kajetan9550 highly recommended
Since I got into estats I listen to them 95% of the time, I do switch to my Arya Organic from time to time which is in the same frame as the HE1000se just different colors. Very estat esque
I like the Organics but these HEKSE are definitely something else.
I agree with everything you said on this … I own the he100se he100 stealth and Arya stealth He6se v2 ,focal clear radiance ZMF atrium open and closed verite closed Aeolus Atticus Eikon … this is by far best resolving of the bunch it’s amazing…. I listen mainly through the Cayin ha-1A mkii tube amp which maybe makes the treble more tolerable but I have 0 issues with the treble and in fact love it! When I go back to listening to my other headphones it’s like listening to them through a towel! And I got open box deal for 1650🎉
Hey how do you compare it with 1000 stealth over all and than in regards to treble. I am considering either 1000 se or stealth or zmf atrium. :$
@@urbenkam hey yeah so the he1000 stealth is great for the price…. I think it’s very close to the he1000se… the se may be a bit more resolving where I think the stage is close on both the bass may be a little better on the stealth …. The atrium open is prob the headphone I use most because it’s just all around good sounding and I prob use that more than all of my headphones …I guess depends on what you listen to ? But you won’t be unhappy with the he 1000 stealth it’s fantastic for the price
@@lb3537 thank you got the stealth but really wondering what atrium sounds like. Such is this hobby.
@@urbenkam in this hobby don’t wonder … lol honestly the stealth is awesome you will love it … you can’t go wrong I would prob be fooling myself if I said I could differ between the stealth and se in a blind test consistently….the atriums are different not necessarily better but different I use tube amps a lot so the zmfs are great in that area….
If you’re looking for a Dac and amp all in one with the he1000 … hifiman EF400 is amazing if you don’t mind the usb input only …. This amp is really amazing with the hifiman round up! And you can get it for around 300 now for a dac and amp
I just bought a pair of Arya Organic headphones. Should I swap for the HE1000v2 or keep the Organics?
I have the Utopia 2022, Ananda, HE1000SE and Susvara in case anyone needs help. The Ananda has peakier highs sometimes. The HE1000SE is basically perfect for those who like treble clarity and air (ie. I know exactly what Danny Carey from Tool's symbols and Adam Jones' guitar riffs sound like in real life and have an electric guitar and drums at home). The susvara has what I would sibjectively call 2% better imaging (a perfectly spherical circle around you) and about 5%better depth with about 2% less bass with a medium powered amp (Dave+A90). The utopias have way less bass than I though but similar to the susvaras, the most perfect imaging I have ever heard with sounds swirling around you and a bit more dynamic air push. If I had to choose I would choose the HE1000SE used for bang for buck
how does the he1000se sound while playing call of duty?
I also have Utopia 2022 and am thinking of adding the HE1000SE to the collection. Along with HD800S, Beyerdynamic T1 Gen2, and a few others. I LOVE treble extension (not straight up treble) so I believe this is a headphone that will work well.
@@j_505 agreed on the preferences. What you may experience is the treble extension and clarity of the HE1000SE made my HD800 sound a bit muffled in comparison. I think you will love it.
@@brothatwasepic A while back I purchased HE1000V2. At first, I thought it had great tuning, and it does. Nothing wrong with tonality but it was to smooth and for me (border line bland). But I’m someone who loves air frequencies so that’s probably why I didn’t care for it because it was too warm (for me anyways). I guess I was underwhelmed. I see the SE takes a way different approach, so I’m probably going to pull the trigger. I didn’t give it a fair chance though because I didn’t keep it long enough. It was an extremely well tuned headphone, just didn’t give enough details (imo coming from the headphones we have).
@j_505 in that case I think you will find the SE perfect for your preferences. Don't be like me an jump down the Susvara black hole as the HE1000SE was 99.99% the detail retrieval to my ears and far less power hungry
I would think XLR 4-pin and mini XLR cable connectivity would be replaced by USB type C, being that USB type C also supports digital signals. Allowing for a potentially infinite audio PCM encoded bit-depth and sampling resolution.
what about the caldera comparison? Does the caldera have similar speed to the hekse?
I sold the Hifiman HE1000SE for the Abyss PHI TC and I kind of regret it. Maybe I'll buy the SE again now at this attractive price.
USD$1,700 is the going rate now, it seems.
Did you buy another one, as you suggested?
@@TheWorldTeacher The price here in Europe (Austria and Germany) has fallen from €2399 to €1899. I ordered a HE1000se last week, it should arrive this week or next week.
@@vancybergoth, oh nice!
I bet you'll be hit with import duties too?
@@TheWorldTeacher I ordered the HE1000se from a German dealer. European prices always include tax.
Listen to the he1000se from a Mjolnir 3 (from balanced, high gain), possibly from an Yggy or even a bifrost. Can't even describe what happens to these headphones with that amp. Thank me later.
Frequency response of HEkSE matches with Susvara in 97%. It’s most balanced of all Hifiman’s headphones.
That sounds very wrong. You either got non industry standard measurements or you don't know how to interpret graphs
What material are your cables made of?
Silver plated copper cables produce too much brightness. But, pure silver treble is smooth and never sibilant after proper burn-in.
Just bought one last month.
Incidentally, there are no long vowels in "SUNDARA".
Can anyone tell me how it compares to the Arya organic? Currently they're both on sale.
how does the he-1000se sound while playing call of duty thats what we really wanna know?
Use a sniper rifle on the ground war maps then it won't make much difference what you use.
do you think buying them would be wise? Im currently rolling with the sundaras, and im loving them. I want to get deeper in to the hobby
I also have the Sundara and am loving them. Especially after luckily finding a superb headphone amp to drive them. But if I were to soon crawl down the rabbit hole to upgrade to an improved model, I would most likely make the HE1000se my next reasonable purchasing leap into that bunny hole! 😊👍🎶
it has come down in price a bit but still expensive for me. didnt want to spend so much so i went with the ananda nano.. "similar" at only 599.
Ananda Nano is completely different. I use both for mixing for the sole purpose that they both sound very different.
HE1000SE is very relaxed with an expansive sound stage. Best sound stage I've heard in headphones but they have a loose bottom end and aren't great for judging slam or punch.
Ananda nano on the other hand has a super fast decay time and are one of the most detailed headphones I've heard for transients and upfront detail. Bass response is super tight but lacks the soundstage of HE1000SE. The transient detail and slam of the nano makes it more difficult to place instruments in comparison. You have to fight with panning and placement mixing on nano
Mix with the 2 and alternate, you have the absolute best of both worlds
@@PaulThird ok. thanks for the answer
Is there a amp that can thicken up the low end, from your experience? What I mean by that is that although the way I did eq work on the sub-bass, it sounds great and clean, but lacks some punch and authority, in relation to the other frequencies. The sub-bass still sounds "thin" to me, even after eq. I run the 1000SE's on a RME ADI-2 Pro and although I have nailed my overall EQ settings to my liking, there is some sub-iness that is missing, vs. say a dynamic headphone. I'm listening to some old-school Sony XB700's right now and there seems to be so much more presence of the sub-bass, but they are closed back and dynamic drivers. Is it even possible on these, from your experience, to get that big, floating subiness to happen, where is cushions all the other frequencies or am I just dreaming when it comes to that side of the frequency spectrum?
Woo Audio Wa7 , the firefly. it helps smooth over my adi-2 and my 800s so it might help with the 1000SE
JDS Atom 2 amp into DT 880 600 ohm , spectacular under $400, done and done. Save money and help someone in need.
I found that he1000se can be driven by speaker amp to have a great sound.
more resolving than diana TC?
Correction sir , he1000se was original 3500
Any chance you will review the Immanis?
Yes definitely
Never heard HE1000se, how does it compares to X9000 on staging and resolution? Thanks!
X9000 and it's not even close. Not worth the price gap though.
Vs organic?
I use the pure OFC cooper plussound cable with this (500 dollars) and i prefer the sound like this.
Makes sense
Stock cable are made with copper and silver. There is a noticeable différence with an aftermarket cable. Run my He1000se with a chord mojo2 and I think it is very good. But I am very curious to listen a more powerfull amp, I think it could be more dynamic. I listen mostly Classical. Very good my friends. What do you think of the chord mojo 2 my friend ?
Here's an interesting question for you. How would these headphones compare to a Surround Sound System?
how can anyone compare it to ARYA v1 or v2 i own?
Airhead back again. As ethereal as the HE1000 Stealth/V3?
Yes I would say so
My two main headphone are he1000se and the new utopia, I prefer keep these two rather than sus. Because these two have more characteristic. I like more connection with producer and mixer rather than guess what is “absolute nature” sounding which does not exist on any playback equipment. And they are definitely more punchy than sus. That make he1000se better OST (eg.Hiroyuki Sawano) EDM headphone than sus. And when I listen to vocal utopia is way better than sus.
Susvara is more resolving after chain upgrades
What chain have I not tried with the Sus, lol. Do check out my Susvara review here on Audiophile Style for reference
@@amplifyaudioreviews Push pull tetrode/pentode speaker amps such as Citation V amp that can do 45 watts from 8-300 ohms then you get that Utopia punch and resolution in spades out of the Susvara
Just bought a pair for USD$1,450.
But I would still prefer a pair of Susvara.
How does it compare to ZMF Caldera
Less punchy and more resolving
They cost $3,800 AUD in Australia 🥶
Tried this headphone and i can say this headphone is simply end game material. People who say this is the brightest must have used topping amplifier or something else or they love dark sounding HP like Atrium while as asian i love some treble like my food is spicy. I think this headphone is neutral not that bright and if you pair it with warmer amp it will reduce the treble and add more body to the sound which is perfect! This headphone is 6 years old and still one of the best!
Edit: i want to know your opinion comparing he1000se with Empyrean 2.
Super bright. Easily the brightest headphone that HiFiMan makes. I personally vastly prefer the HE1000V2. HE1000SE out resolves it by a bit but the sacrifice to the timbre and sibilance on the SE is a deal breaker. Great review and glad that you’re enjoying them. I agree that they could be someone’s end game if they’re looking for a very bright experience.
Highly disagree about this comment .. I’ve owned both and he1000se is more extended in treble but by far smoother than the V2 with no hot treble spikes where the V2 can be sibilant with S and T sounds he1000se has beautiful timbre and resolution is on another level..yes it has lots of treble but it’s the smoothest I’ve heard, never sharp. V2 is warmer in the midrange but has hot treble spikes
@@theodorezurla496 We have wildly different experiences. Not sure if that’s unit variance or something totally different. The HE1000V2 Stealth can come across sibilant but the HE1000V2 is known for its superior timbre and less offensive brightness. Maybe you auditioned the HE1000V2 Stealth and not the original? On the brightness scale HiFiMan ranks like this:
HE1000SE
Arya Organic
HE1000V2 Stealth
Arya V1
Arya Stealth
HE1000V2
@@kevintj604 I have owned a V2 and SE for a very long time .. the V2 is very warm in the midrange but with that comes a hot treble spike with S or T sounds while the SE is more consistent and smooth up top.. there is different ways treble is executed and the SE has a far better way of presenting itself than the V2.. never owned the V2 stealth edition
@@theodorezurla496 I think we just simply disagree here. I’ve owned the HE1000SE, HE1000V2 Stealth and currently own the HE1000V2 and I A/B’d with multiple source pairings for a couple weeks to come to my conclusion. I stand by my statement. HE1000SE is the brightest headphone that HiFiMan makes. Not like this really matters in this context but this is also noticeable in the FR graphs as well.
@@kevintj604 there is a very big difference between more extended treble (SE) and hot treble spikes(V2) .. a headphone with less treble can have a more spikey treble with S and T sounds and this is a great example
For 2k would you recommend this one or Modhouse Tungsten DS?
Will get back on this
You’d have to address the elephant in the room that HEKse is one of the easiest to drive headphones, while tungsten is almost impossible to drive😂
Meaning that on HEKse you can get away with various amplification, while tungsten it’s gonna cost you if you don’t want cheap powerful shit from topping
Is this brighter than a HD800S?
Yes. As bright as OG 800
About the same but mid bass and especially sub bass on the HE1000SE is vastly superior. HE1000SE is also noticeably more resolving. They are honesty in a totally different league comparatively.
Different than the OG I'd say. As Sajid explained quite well, it's brighter treble but done better. The way I'd describe it - it elevates the whole treble area as opposed to just peaks, which to my ears is much less annoying and actually very pleasant in many scenarios.
I think the Aryas as far more comfortable than the HE1000SE due to the clamping force being too weak, for my head at least..
Regarding punch, my opinion is that you haven’t found the unicorn amp for this. After hearing it with the Riviera AIC-10 Bal, Susvara punches like Focal Utopia in that regard, more than HE1000SE could ever scale
Well I have tried it with the AIC and far punchier speaker amps but no the Susvara doesn’t have nearly the same level of “slam” as the Utopia. Sorry.
@@amplifyaudioreviewsfocal really is unmatched with Slam, abyss is close IMO.
Hey bro .i ordered one but I read som comments they say that this headphone good only for classical music ! What about pop hiphop rock !! I think i wasted my money
Most resolving in the world from someone hating elite but shamelessly taking the expert role to BS over pictures lol with entry under mid range toys and self titiled amplifying expert lol. You experience is only entry level and the most noisy show in the world, with no highness or honour whatsoever