I've owned HE-400, 500 and HE-6. You haven't heard HE-6 properly if you think HE-400 or 4xx is 95% of HE-6. I do agree that just like HD800, HE-6 is also amp picky and requires a bit of power to bring out the best potential. Good review. I like your style. Subscribed!
The problem with the HE-6 is not about volume, I've driven them from a portable amp. The problem is bass quantity and control. If you hook it to fx. a speaker amp, it gains much more precision and control/detail in general, as well as more bass quantity, compared to a low power amp. Couldn't say if what you used had enough or not though.
@@krypto_9872 question - my amplifier produces 5 watts in a 32 ohm load at Max in high gain.I don't know what wattage it runs continuously in high gain though. This is a 50 watt headphone. Do you think it's strong enough to power this head phone? I'm thinking of buying. But I need to know first. I'm using the IFI IDSD Diablo.
@@jeremyabramson4343 It should get it to about 100 dB? Now it won't sound it's absolute best but it will likely be loud enough make sure to check the headphone power requirement calculator www.digizoid.com/headphones-power.html For the He-6 the specs are 50 ohm and 83.5dB. I'm not sure if Hifiman is using db/V or db/mw. I checked both and they both go over 100 db in loudness.
I was pairing my He6se with THX 789 last time and I never feel it is lack of power, until one day I directly connect it to Krell Kav-250a (250W @ 8Ohms) speaker output without He-Adapter, I was totally blown away, it is day & night different comparing to THX 789. Some of the song I never get interested becomes so musical, so powerful, such as Rare by Selena Gomez. My opinion is, if you don't plan to drive it with a speaker amp, then this He6se might not worth 800, if paired it with a good speaker amp, it worth 3000. Some of the enthusiasts even drive it with Pass Labs.
look up resolve/headphone show comparison of the HE-6 vs HE-6se vs HE-6se v2... the HE-6 in this video is very very different than your headphone which while not being "bad" is essentially a cash grab by Hifiman to profit off the reputation of the original, discontinued, HE-6, which was discontinued because frankly it was flirting with getting near Susvara performance potentially rivaling or beating the HE1000 which is what like $2,400? Basically the original HE-6 would probably have eaten the Arya alive for $1400.... Shame on Hifiman for depriving us of it to boost profits.
Did you use balanced with the 789? Balanced output gives you the full 6 watts per channel whereas SE only outputs 2 or 3 (can't remember exactly, but I know it outputs much less than balanced output)
The people who talk about connecting the he-6 to speaker amps, are partly right. Its about lifting the base extension/hit under 30HZ, anyway it hits certainly harder than any lcd or HE500. Even not on a speaker amp its sound "heavyness/impact" is unsurpassed.
imo , it's like saying HD600 is 95% of HD800 lol, HE-6 DO NEED POWER , it's not about how loud your headphone amp can make it sound, it' need the alot of current & power to drive out the juice where the magic happens, speaker amp is probably the most economical way to go about it. A medium end hifi speaker amp with sufficient power will do the job
Loud does not equal powered correctly. Being a low impedance resistive load running on a weak VFA type CMOY based amp like the 1AMP, even though it has a differential current source based input stage, is not going to power this headphone even remotely close to correctly, and your perceived detail and speed are going to suffer horribly because your damping factor is not controlling the driver, it’s super non-linear now. The output impedance on this amp is a mess, and not a good pair for planars at all. Any plans to switch to a proper CFA amplifier in the future? I can see why you think it sounds like an HE-4XX with an improper amplifier like that, the HE-6 is objectively bassier.
the only review ever of someone blasting the mighty and legendary he-6. so legendary that hifiman brought them back in the form of the he-6se even though they have a boatload of newer planars.
the HE-6 in this video is very very different than that headphone which while not being "bad" is essentially a cash grab by Hifiman to profit off the reputation of the original, discontinued, HE-6, which was discontinued because frankly it was flirting with getting near Susvara performance potentially rivaling or beating the HE1000 which is what like $2,400? Basically the original HE-6 would probably have eaten the Arya alive for $1400.... Shame on Hifiman for depriving us of it to boost profits.
@@gargleit2957 i have a pair of the original he-6 from the year 2012. i bought them in montreal. i have minimal mods on them and a better cable from moon audio. in pure copper. i like thicker sound. i have hegel hd25 dac and and i drive them with a first watt f8 amp and i connect them direct without adaptor. i lost interest in headphones when i realized all these mega bucks headphones are no better than my old he-6.
But the volume is loud dont have anything about drive them properly. Power in planar magnetics make all the difference. Plug them in a stronger amplifier and this headphone will show you all he can do.
If they change depending on the amplifier, then it's equally possible they will change for the worse in some cases. Just like with 'burn in', I dislike when people refer to 'change' as unilaterally good. It makes it look like they just adapted to the sound signature (and perhaps they did).
I never found burn-in to be useful either. Example, when someone gets a 'quick listen' before a million hours of burnin on headphones, they assume the headphone will be different afterwards. Then they give it an extended listen and experience brain burn-in. Sure, mechanical burn-in sounds logical, but brains/ears have to adjust. Even just cleaning ears will do more.
@@Nick-s-f Agree, I've never noticed a difference either. It probably happens more often when you come from drastically different sound, and then the brain just compensates after the 'burn-in' time. Like it does for certain frequency hearing loss. Since it's gradual and constantly compensated, you don't notice it until it's too late.
Out of a low output amplifer, the HE-6 sounds very bright with no bass. I typically run this HE-6 out of a Schiit Vidar with banana plugs adapting to a female 4-pin XLR. I have a preamp to adjust volume, but I have enjoyed it more out of a speaker amp. Maybe some high current amplifiers like the Woo Audio WA5 or Schiit Lyr 3 would do. I enjoy them out of a Questyle CMA 600i as well, but I don't listen at loud volumes. either.
Thanks for the review. I have a question about power requirements: I have an IFI IDSD Signature (4.1 watts in a 32 ohm load on High gain), as well as the brand new IFI IDSD Diablo (5 watts in a 32 ohm load on High gain). The headphones are 50 ohms, will my equipment be strong enough? Also, can I connect the included XLR male to a 4-pin XLR female to a 4.4 balanced cable at the amplifier end?
i remember when for the first time i've heard this headphone , i wanted to have the HE-6 in my house and try it with my own stuff so i borrow from a friend and plug it to ifi ican se 4w output , i said ok its nice sounding headphone , very clean and intimate sounding with great bass but got sound got distorted in high volume , second time i plug it to woo wa22 ( +upgraded tube ) then i realize ok it's getting better and better , after that i plug to ifi pro ican and told myself now we're talking , then i tried with woo wa5-le with upgrade tube ( cost 10k+ with upgraded tube ) its was better than ifi pro ican but not huge different than pro ican but it was better , i talked with the owner and i said ok it's a nice headphone but i prefer he1000 v1 over he6 only tonal wise he said ok come to my house and listen with my setup , he had mcintosh , parasound halo monoblocks and some other luxman and also other speaker amp that i can't remember the name , experience was totally different from any HEADPHONE amp that i have ever heard , sounds was on par with he1000 v1 but that setup cost maybe 5 or 10 times as he1000 v1 price , still tonality wise i prefer HEK because i never been fan of the bright headphones , the problem that you have experienced is amplifier mis matching , HE6 always remember me of utopia sound sig which i didn't like it but very it's very capable headphone , but if i want to chose one that would be HE6 if i have an amp to drive it properly otherwise utopia would be better choice , i haven't hear any headphone amp to drive HE6 properly , i won't say it definitely worth it because basically it doesn't and it isn't rational decision to buy an headphone and then spend couple thousands of dollars on electronics to just use with it , hifiman headphone's need a powerful amp it's not about volume , even for ananda , edition x v2 , HE1000 v2 , get better amp you'll get better result. IMO for the future review's like HEK or etc borrow better amp or dac something like , hugo 2 , pro idsd , pro ican , hugo tt 2 , dave ,.. etc , because it's make huge difference for the headphones like HEK V2 compare to something like jotunheim or audio-gd. as i said before these babies need a series electronics , thank you for the review Joshua
I dug the b-roll of the headphones sitting there on a table and you picking them up. Maybe expand on that with some low key music or something. That intro was good IMO.
I'm still rocking my 400i, i'm still trying to decide which headphones will be a good upgrade without spending 1000$, i'm more or less torn between the Focal ELEX and the Sennheiser HD800, i want a big soundstage and a detailed bright sound signature.
Hey, really like your channel man, is there any way you can organize the playlists you have, would really be helpful in looking through all the videos, pls and ty !
I need suggestions for headphones at this price range that would be best for rock and metal. Looking at these or the Sennheiser 6xx. Between those two or any other suggestions, please share.
Hi there, my 5W Hifiman EF6 is powering at very high volume my Susvara. But it’s too early to say how “ amazing “ it supposed to sound. Only 1 hour and not impressed so far. I have heard a reviewer saying that after 10hrs it got better. Thx.
I don't think it's only a matter of watts, but also current supply to the headphones. Just like how abundant voltage is necessary to properly drive more traditional dynamic driver headphones.
@@gigihanmandarin Hm... I was looking for a tube amp that would pair well with my M1060 (fuzzor mod) and with my HD 58X, and at the same time a friend of mine is selling his HE-6 and I was considering it as an upgrade. Good to know that tubes don't pair well with them, nor the M1060 as it seems. But maybe I'll try it one day, who knows...
So, I own the HE-500, which was toted to be a more-easily-driven version of the HE-6, essentially. I had tried driving them with the Jotunheim for quite a while, and it works, but it was not enough - felt like something was missing from music. That's when I decided to buy an Emotiva UPA-200 and XDA-1 combo from a HiFi community site, as well as an HE-Adapter for converting the power - I was literally blown away by the difference in sound... and that's with the "low" power requirements of the HE-500. It's like I went from skim milk to heavy creamer. I would honestly recommend that you try it out if you get the chance, just so that you can actually experience the sound that these are likely capable of producing. That being said, I cannot recommend that everyone(anyone) go out and do this - it just so happens that I went down the rabbit hole, and ended up being extremely pleased after trial and error. Also, I have not compared the HE-6 to the HE-500 with my setup - Could sound totally different for all I know.
I really think you didn’t give a real chance to the he6. My first time with a stock one was with the same Audio-gd and I remember being completely unimpressed by it. It sounded very good, but maybe just as good as my old he400, a 299 usd headphone. Years lateral I had the chance to compare it with my hd800, lcd x, focal clear, lcd 3 and oh boy, they took me by surprise. It was paired with a Violectric v281 and it sounded clean, vivid and more natural than any other headphone. So yes, they’re very good at best, until you get a proper headphone amp. I really recommend you to try one stock with a violectric. You will do your 10k subs a real favor.
I agree completely. When underpowered, it does only sound like a slightly better he400i or he4xx. But give it the power it craves and you start to question why Hifiman discontinued this headphone in the first place. This is truly a headphone that rewards patient headphone enthusiasts who are willing to take their time and experiment with various speaker and headphone amp pairings. Not everyone has the patience to deal with that of course, and preference for a darker sound signature still comes first.
He's Mr midfi. His reviews up to midfi I agree with, but his reviews on high end things fall apart. It all points to he's getting nowhere near the full potential of those high end headphones
Interesting headphone. Does anyone know if these can get loud enough for you on cheaper amps like THX AAA 789 or any of the $100 amps? I feel like most of the audiophile stuff in the community can be full of memes sometimes... It seemed to drive them okay and the HD 800 probably was the easiest to drive if I saw the dial correctly at the end which was around 435 ish at loud?
If you purchase a 4 pin XLR to banana plugs cable(or any sort of speaker plug termination with positive and negative leads for left and right), you can actually hook up the he6 to a lot of cheap speaker amps around sub $100 and get some pretty good results. You can also try emotiva's offerings also.
Hate to be that guy but the nfb-1 is one of the worst measuring amps out there. You’d be better off running it through something like a Lake People RS-08 or the thx789 for a more cost effective solution.
I tested some of this on the thx. The thing with the nfb is power. And what are your sources for measurements? I’ve looked for solid measurements for the 1-amp and cannot find any.
Joshua Valour I had a review saved on a hifi forum that I can’t find but if you go to audioscience.com they have reviews of different high end audio gd amps that measure really poorly. You can take what I’m saying about the nfb-1 with a grain of salt since I can’t find the source for the measurements.
@@s7robe297 hate to be that guy but those debbie downers, circlejerking over there, care a lot more about numbers then how it actually sounds to someone. Take good ladder dacs for example, they measure bad but sound musical and more true to life...
Anyone here ever power the HE-6 using a speaker amp and was like "nah, overrated"? Yoohoo? Not only do you need a speaker amp, once you plug the HD800 into a speaker amp you will realize THE UNIVERSE IS A LIE
9 year old technology I think the money is better spent elsewhere . I own a pair and the EF6 it rode in on . It's a 50 ohm 5 watt amp . Big deal 9 years ago not so much today . Jumper cables is right
It is really a shame. The HE1000v1 was an amazing experience but wow the build quality is just...no. You really could say they are like Italian exotics
@@Dinrog When I borrowed the V1 it didn't feel like it was built very well, but neither I nor the original owner had any issues with reliability itself too fwiw
I have to respect your honesty on these. Everytime I go to HeadFi, I see these proud owners raving about how godly these sound on a speaker amp that nothing comes close. I guess they feel really good spending that much money on this pair plus the amp which doesn't even sound that interesting especially if you compare other planar like the LCD-2C's lol
Sound is completely subjective to determine whether it's good or bad. Regardless, headfi and sbaf are one of the worst sites for audio, every thread on those sites is filled with fanboys who jerk frequently to that particular headphone. Personally, I will take HE-6 over any of the audeze headphones.
Big thanks to Flux from Discord for sending this out for a review :)
clearly don't know what you talk about!! give it an amp with 5w+!! shame on you!
Before the video started I thought to myself, "HE-6, huh? You're gonna need a car battery to power that!" And lo and behold.
I've owned HE-400, 500 and HE-6. You haven't heard HE-6 properly if you think HE-400 or 4xx is 95% of HE-6. I do agree that just like HD800, HE-6 is also amp picky and requires a bit of power to bring out the best potential. Good review. I like your style. Subscribed!
The problem with the HE-6 is not about volume, I've driven them from a portable amp. The problem is bass quantity and control. If you hook it to fx. a speaker amp, it gains much more precision and control/detail in general, as well as more bass quantity, compared to a low power amp. Couldn't say if what you used had enough or not though.
I did the math and it's about 3 watts into 60 ohm.
To compare a HD6XX only needs about 20 mw into 300 ohm
@@krypto_9872 question - my amplifier produces 5 watts in a 32 ohm load at Max in high gain.I don't know what wattage it runs continuously in high gain though. This is a 50 watt headphone. Do you think it's strong enough to power this head phone? I'm thinking of buying. But I need to know first. I'm using the IFI IDSD Diablo.
@@jeremyabramson4343 It should get it to about 100 dB? Now it won't sound it's absolute best but it will likely be loud enough
make sure to check the headphone power requirement calculator
www.digizoid.com/headphones-power.html
For the He-6 the specs are 50 ohm and 83.5dB. I'm not sure if Hifiman is using db/V or db/mw. I checked both and they both go over 100 db in loudness.
I was pairing my He6se with THX 789 last time and I never feel it is lack of power, until one day I directly connect it to Krell Kav-250a (250W @ 8Ohms) speaker output without He-Adapter, I was totally blown away, it is day & night different comparing to THX 789. Some of the song I never get interested becomes so musical, so powerful, such as Rare by Selena Gomez.
My opinion is, if you don't plan to drive it with a speaker amp, then this He6se might not worth 800, if paired it with a good speaker amp, it worth 3000. Some of the enthusiasts even drive it with Pass Labs.
look up resolve/headphone show comparison of the HE-6 vs HE-6se vs HE-6se v2... the HE-6 in this video is very very different than your headphone which while not being "bad" is essentially a cash grab by Hifiman to profit off the reputation of the original, discontinued, HE-6, which was discontinued because frankly it was flirting with getting near Susvara performance potentially rivaling or beating the HE1000 which is what like $2,400? Basically the original HE-6 would probably have eaten the Arya alive for $1400.... Shame on Hifiman for depriving us of it to boost profits.
Did you use balanced with the 789? Balanced output gives you the full 6 watts per channel whereas SE only outputs 2 or 3 (can't remember exactly, but I know it outputs much less than balanced output)
Your description of the bass reminds me of how my Alpha Prime handles bass- Transparent and Euphoric.
That good planar bass.
The people who talk about connecting the he-6 to speaker amps, are partly right.
Its about lifting the base extension/hit under 30HZ, anyway it hits certainly harder than any lcd or HE500. Even not on a speaker amp its sound "heavyness/impact" is unsurpassed.
I'm not a fan of the HE6, but god damn. It's amazing that people take this seriously.
2:30 you don't think they need a speaker amp based on what? Did you actually listen to them on a speaker amp?
Drive them with a Vortec? LOL. Everyone knows the the HE-6 can only be driven by a 12 liter or larger diesel!
mInImUmDiSpLaCeMeNtReQuIrEd
imo , it's like saying HD600 is 95% of HD800 lol, HE-6 DO NEED POWER , it's not about how loud your headphone amp can make it sound, it' need the alot of current & power to drive out the juice where the magic happens, speaker amp is probably the most economical way to go about it. A medium end hifi speaker amp with sufficient power will do the job
Loud does not equal powered correctly. Being a low impedance resistive load running on a weak VFA type CMOY based amp like the 1AMP, even though it has a differential current source based input stage, is not going to power this headphone even remotely close to correctly, and your perceived detail and speed are going to suffer horribly because your damping factor is not controlling the driver, it’s super non-linear now. The output impedance on this amp is a mess, and not a good pair for planars at all. Any plans to switch to a proper CFA amplifier in the future? I can see why you think it sounds like an HE-4XX with an improper amplifier like that, the HE-6 is objectively bassier.
daddy
translation: get a Ragnarok and never worry about not powering anything improperly every again
this needs to be at the top for people who watch this and decide not to buy this headphone because of the review
If you're considering the HE6se V2, currently $449.00 (new) at Adorama ... $1,350.00 off of the full retail from not too long ago.
the only review ever of someone blasting the mighty and legendary he-6. so legendary that hifiman brought them back in the form of the he-6se even though they have a boatload of newer planars.
the HE-6 in this video is very very different than that headphone which while not being "bad" is essentially a cash grab by Hifiman to profit off the reputation of the original, discontinued, HE-6, which was discontinued because frankly it was flirting with getting near Susvara performance potentially rivaling or beating the HE1000 which is what like $2,400? Basically the original HE-6 would probably have eaten the Arya alive for $1400.... Shame on Hifiman for depriving us of it to boost profits.
@@gargleit2957 i have a pair of the original he-6 from the year 2012. i bought them in montreal. i have minimal mods on them and a better cable from moon audio. in pure copper. i like thicker sound. i have hegel hd25 dac and and i drive them with a first watt f8 amp and i connect them direct without adaptor. i lost interest in headphones when i realized all these mega bucks headphones are no better than my old he-6.
Hi Joshua - looking forward for you to test out the HE-500
While not perfect, they do deliver quite the quality for what they're worth these days.
Can you describe the mods that were done to the HE-6? This reads like a stock HE-6 review, but its clearly not stock.
11 Aug 22: HiFiMan HE6se V2 for $599.00 (new) at Adorama … great deal?
At 1/10 the price, the HE-4xx vs HE-6 is the perfect example of diminishing returns.
i own both and i can say it's day and night different , all he need to do with to hook up the HE-6 to a speaker amp.
I think you'd like the HE500s.
But the volume is loud dont have anything about drive them properly. Power in planar magnetics make all the difference. Plug them in a stronger amplifier and this headphone will show you all he can do.
I have read that HE6 treble and bass response changes depending on amp. The bass becomes more tactile as well.
If they change depending on the amplifier, then it's equally possible they will change for the worse in some cases. Just like with 'burn in', I dislike when people refer to 'change' as unilaterally good. It makes it look like they just adapted to the sound signature (and perhaps they did).
I never found burn-in to be useful either.
Example, when someone gets a 'quick listen' before a million hours of burnin on headphones, they assume the headphone will be different afterwards. Then they give it an extended listen and experience brain burn-in.
Sure, mechanical burn-in sounds logical, but brains/ears have to adjust. Even just cleaning ears will do more.
@@Nick-s-f Agree, I've never noticed a difference either. It probably happens more often when you come from drastically different sound, and then the brain just compensates after the 'burn-in' time. Like it does for certain frequency hearing loss.
Since it's gradual and constantly compensated, you don't notice it until it's too late.
Out of a low output amplifer, the HE-6 sounds very bright with no bass. I typically run this HE-6 out of a Schiit Vidar with banana plugs adapting to a female 4-pin XLR. I have a preamp to adjust volume, but I have enjoyed it more out of a speaker amp. Maybe some high current amplifiers like the Woo Audio WA5 or Schiit Lyr 3 would do. I enjoy them out of a Questyle CMA 600i as well, but I don't listen at loud volumes. either.
Thanks for the review. I have a question about power requirements: I have an IFI IDSD Signature (4.1 watts in a 32 ohm load on High gain), as well as the brand new IFI IDSD Diablo (5 watts in a 32 ohm load on High gain). The headphones are 50 ohms, will my equipment be strong enough?
Also, can I connect the included XLR male to a 4-pin XLR female to a 4.4 balanced cable at the amplifier end?
i remember when for the first time i've heard this headphone , i wanted to have the HE-6 in my house and try it with my own stuff so i borrow from a friend and plug it to ifi ican se 4w output , i said ok its nice sounding headphone , very clean and intimate sounding with great bass but got sound got distorted in high volume , second time i plug it to woo wa22 ( +upgraded tube ) then i realize ok it's getting better and better , after that i plug to ifi pro ican and told myself now we're talking , then i tried with woo wa5-le with upgrade tube ( cost 10k+ with upgraded tube ) its was better than ifi pro ican but not huge different than pro ican but it was better , i talked with the owner and i said ok it's a nice headphone but i prefer he1000 v1 over he6 only tonal wise he said ok come to my house and listen with my setup , he had mcintosh , parasound halo monoblocks and some other luxman and also other speaker amp that i can't remember the name , experience was totally different from any HEADPHONE amp that i have ever heard , sounds was on par with he1000 v1 but that setup cost maybe 5 or 10 times as he1000 v1 price , still tonality wise i prefer HEK because i never been fan of the bright headphones , the problem that you have experienced is amplifier mis matching , HE6 always remember me of utopia sound sig which i didn't like it but very it's very capable headphone , but if i want to chose one that would be HE6 if i have an amp to drive it properly otherwise utopia would be better choice , i haven't hear any headphone amp to drive HE6 properly , i won't say it definitely worth it because basically it doesn't and it isn't rational decision to buy an headphone and then spend couple thousands of dollars on electronics to just use with it , hifiman headphone's need a powerful amp it's not about volume , even for ananda , edition x v2 , HE1000 v2 , get better amp you'll get better result. IMO for the future review's like HEK or etc borrow better amp or dac something like , hugo 2 , pro idsd , pro ican , hugo tt 2 , dave ,.. etc , because it's make huge difference for the headphones like HEK V2 compare to something like jotunheim or audio-gd. as i said before these babies need a series electronics , thank you for the review Joshua
I dug the b-roll of the headphones sitting there on a table and you picking them up. Maybe expand on that with some low key music or something. That intro was good IMO.
Been killing it with the intros imo. It's nice to know I'm not the only awkward audiophile out there lol
I'm still rocking my 400i, i'm still trying to decide which headphones will be a good upgrade without spending 1000$, i'm more or less torn between the Focal ELEX and the Sennheiser HD800, i want a big soundstage and a detailed bright sound signature.
DT990....
@@dnd6379 i've had the DT990 before, i don't think they are close to the HD800 in any way besides being bright.
Hey, really like your channel man, is there any way you can organize the playlists you have, would really be helpful in looking through all the videos, pls and ty !
I need suggestions for headphones at this price range that would be best for rock and metal. Looking at these or the Sennheiser 6xx. Between those two or any other suggestions, please share.
Go for 58x or 6xx, don't need a powerful amp to power them properly. Plus, sennheiser sound is really nice.
What is the name of the testing song?
Hi there, my 5W Hifiman EF6 is powering at very high volume my Susvara. But it’s too early to say how “ amazing “ it supposed to sound. Only 1 hour and not impressed so far. I have heard a reviewer saying that after 10hrs it got better. Thx.
I don't think it's only a matter of watts, but also current supply to the headphones. Just like how abundant voltage is necessary to properly drive more traditional dynamic driver headphones.
+ViZ Flux hi, current supply? What do you mean?.?
Josh or anybody else know about a tube amp that can drive the HE-6 properly?
My experience with M1060 and HE4XX they don't pair well with tubes. Sounds sounded off, narrow and compressed with tubes.
@@gigihanmandarin Hm... I was looking for a tube amp that would pair well with my M1060 (fuzzor mod) and with my HD 58X, and at the same time a friend of mine is selling his HE-6 and I was considering it as an upgrade. Good to know that tubes don't pair well with them, nor the M1060 as it seems. But maybe I'll try it one day, who knows...
@@DanDhaniels It is a general rule (with exceptions) that planars have to be paired with solid state.
@@gigihanmandarin I see, thank you for the explanation. Just one more question: what about hybrids? Can they pair well with planars?
@@DanDhaniels They generally dont unless you personally try one-by-one and find out which will work. Solid state will be a safe bet.
Velour Pads adds a considerable amount of Bass. Brings them into a flatter balance overall.
For this headphone do you prefer the spark or the magni
Neither of those amps have enough power.
Will the iFi micro idsd signature work with this?
4w @ 16ohm, no because of the very low sencetivity... but idsd Diablo on turbo will do / much better !
if you don't own ifi, which is pretty expensive , I 'd bought a used stationary headphone amp if talking of the HE6! Some good prices on EF6 used!
Great vids man. What headphone would you recommend for gaming K7xx or something different? Thanks.
58x, the price and what it is, is probably the best. You can opt for 7xx or 6xx though if you want. Your choice in the end.
Great video, ZMF Aeolus when ? :)
Love it when you tell it like it is. Pse keep doing that. Doesn't matter what other people think.
? ...
So, I own the HE-500, which was toted to be a more-easily-driven version of the HE-6, essentially.
I had tried driving them with the Jotunheim for quite a while, and it works, but it was not enough - felt like something was missing from music. That's when I decided to buy an Emotiva UPA-200 and XDA-1 combo from a HiFi community site, as well as an HE-Adapter for converting the power - I was literally blown away by the difference in sound... and that's with the "low" power requirements of the HE-500. It's like I went from skim milk to heavy creamer.
I would honestly recommend that you try it out if you get the chance, just so that you can actually experience the sound that these are likely capable of producing.
That being said, I cannot recommend that everyone(anyone) go out and do this - it just so happens that I went down the rabbit hole, and ended up being extremely pleased after trial and error. Also, I have not compared the HE-6 to the HE-500 with my setup - Could sound totally different for all I know.
I really think you didn’t give a real chance to the he6. My first time with a stock one was with the same Audio-gd and I remember being completely unimpressed by it. It sounded very good, but maybe just as good as my old he400, a 299 usd headphone. Years lateral I had the chance to compare it with my hd800, lcd x, focal clear, lcd 3 and oh boy, they took me by surprise. It was paired with a Violectric v281 and it sounded clean, vivid and more natural than any other headphone. So yes, they’re very good at best, until you get a proper headphone amp. I really recommend you to try one stock with a violectric. You will do your 10k subs a real favor.
I agree completely. When underpowered, it does only sound like a slightly better he400i or he4xx. But give it the power it craves and you start to question why Hifiman discontinued this headphone in the first place. This is truly a headphone that rewards patient headphone enthusiasts who are willing to take their time and experiment with various speaker and headphone amp pairings. Not everyone has the patience to deal with that of course, and preference for a darker sound signature still comes first.
He's Mr midfi. His reviews up to midfi I agree with, but his reviews on high end things fall apart. It all points to he's getting nowhere near the full potential of those high end headphones
yeah this guy is a loser you guys are too kind. call a spade a spade josh is a piece of trash plain and simple
Great review.
New camera lens looks good
What’s up with the low quality?
new upload i believe, probably still processing
Yeah, new uploads are viewable initially only in low resolutions. Give it a couple more hours if you want it in 4k
Interesting headphone. Does anyone know if these can get loud enough for you on cheaper amps like THX AAA 789 or any of the $100 amps? I feel like most of the audiophile stuff in the community can be full of memes sometimes... It seemed to drive them okay and the HD 800 probably was the easiest to drive if I saw the dial correctly at the end which was around 435 ish at loud?
I think the 789 should be able to do the job. A guy on audioscience just got a pair and said he was going to test it.
@@buster7618 thanks ill look into that.
If you purchase a 4 pin XLR to banana plugs cable(or any sort of speaker plug termination with positive and negative leads for left and right), you can actually hook up the he6 to a lot of cheap speaker amps around sub $100 and get some pretty good results. You can also try emotiva's offerings also.
Please review Audio Technica MSR7B
I lol'd at the Vortec
Alot of these crazy expensive headphones don't get very good reviews.
how much was thx 789 amp?
$349
Great video as usual and would you consider doing a Foobar setup / tutorial as I like how you set it up?
Thanks, you saved me 1,799 usd
Please review the Soekrissss
Hate to be that guy but the nfb-1 is one of the worst measuring amps out there. You’d be better off running it through something like a Lake People RS-08 or the thx789 for a more cost effective solution.
I tested some of this on the thx.
The thing with the nfb is power. And what are your sources for measurements? I’ve looked for solid measurements for the 1-amp and cannot find any.
Joshua Valour I had a review saved on a hifi forum that I can’t find but if you go to audioscience.com they have reviews of different high end audio gd amps that measure really poorly. You can take what I’m saying about the nfb-1 with a grain of salt since I can’t find the source for the measurements.
@@s7robe297 hate to be that guy but those debbie downers, circlejerking over there, care a lot more about numbers then how it actually sounds to someone.
Take good ladder dacs for example, they measure bad but sound musical and more true to life...
mariodrv if I’m spending that much I want good sound and measurements. No need to get so defensive.
@@s7robe297 did you even read what i wrote? And try to comprehend what i was trying to say?
Anyone here ever power the HE-6 using a speaker amp and was like "nah, overrated"? Yoohoo?
Not only do you need a speaker amp, once you plug the HD800 into a speaker amp you will realize THE UNIVERSE IS A LIE
i would take an LCD-X over this any day. comparable SQ and you dont need to spend 49k on an amp + better build
9 year old technology I think the money is better spent elsewhere . I own a pair and the EF6 it rode in on . It's a 50 ohm 5 watt amp . Big deal 9 years ago not so much today . Jumper cables is right
Another excellent review, Joshua. Thank you, thank you.
You should do hey guys it's Josh
Still waiting for that juicy HE1000 review. I guess you liked them so you left them for the finale.
Im waiting for some thicc Dekoni leather pads for them.
@@mariodrv wait... Dekoni makes pads for HE1000 now?!
Wish I could afford a decent pair of headphones 😭
Koss KSC75, look no further
OKCSC ZX1. Exotic as hell, but soooo good with proper amp.
Creative Aurvana Live
5:02 lol😂😂😂😂😁😁😁😁
I like Z Reviews' intro.
Stock pads are disgusting. Try some Audeze vegans (Not that you can buy them anymore)
Somebody send this man the Arya!
TELL ME, ARYA IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE HE -6?
And this year's Dunning-Kruger award for illusory listening acuity would definitely go to you, if there was such an award.
Thank you for making me Google that, and yes totally.
cool vid....ty
Hifiman is like Alfa Romeo..... lots of hype, looks good, poorly built, depreciate like a bomb and only brave ones buy them new......
It is really a shame. The HE1000v1 was an amazing experience but wow the build quality is just...no. You really could say they are like Italian exotics
Just like the Italian motorcycles I love and ride. Sexy as hell, great performance, but poorly built with bad wiring 😂
Hifiman looks good?? On pictures maybe.
Alfa Romeo is made in Italy. This is made in China.
@@metal571 i must have gotten a good pair because i never had an issue with my V1 lol
@@Dinrog When I borrowed the V1 it didn't feel like it was built very well, but neither I nor the original owner had any issues with reliability itself too fwiw
I have to respect your honesty on these. Everytime I go to HeadFi, I see these proud owners raving about how godly these sound on a speaker amp that nothing comes close. I guess they feel really good spending that much money on this pair plus the amp which doesn't even sound that interesting especially if you compare other planar like the LCD-2C's lol
Sound is completely subjective to determine whether it's good or bad. Regardless, headfi and sbaf are one of the worst sites for audio, every thread on those sites is filled with fanboys who jerk frequently to that particular headphone. Personally, I will take HE-6 over any of the audeze headphones.
Wuttabout a Schiit ragnarok 😳 24 watts a channel
OMG $1800 plus tax out my league (im a supper budget ) No thanks
The he6 is not at all hard to drive I use it with my phone and sometimes with my digital audio player
Lol what bro?
What ?
95% ha
Audeze isine lx
LA LECTURA ES MUY MALA, ES MUY MINIMA