HiFiMAN HE-6 on test

[idc]

Just arrived in the post is the Hifiman HE-6 planar magnetic headphones worth a cool £760. I applied for and got onto a list of head-fiers who get a loan of these for a week to try out. Pictures and review to follow.

They are hand made in China and feature orthodynamic drivers, which is a diaphragm of conductive light membrane over magnets. That makes them the heaviest and biggest headphones I have ever tried. Early versions needed a speaker amp to drive them they are so insensitive. The version I have is not so bad and my X-CANV8P works fine driving them.

 

[idc]

 

[AL13N]

Amazing Head-Fi setup you have there.

Will be interesting to read your views on these. Especially how they compare to the K702.

Happy listening

 

[Anonymous]

Nice photos idc. I also look forward to your thoughts on these

 

[Anonymous]

I recently bought the Audeze LCD-2 another new planar magnetic headphone. It gets comparable reviews to the HE-6, and has the advantage of being easier to drive.

I love the organic sound and much prefer it to my previous setups which included Sennheiser HD650 dynamics and Stax 3030 electrostatics (and the Omega II out of the 3030 amp)

Enjoy the trial, I look forward to your comments and observations.

 

[idc]

They are getting a blast at the moment. My preferred brand is AKG for their big midrange, detail and clarity. That is how I would describe the HE6. It is an upgrade from the K702s. But and it is a big but, the K240 Electrostatic Dynamic and K280 Parabolic, two completely different approaches to headphone design, for me manage a more spine tingling sound. What I lose in detail and clarity is made up with the slight extra bass impact and togetherness of the sound. The HE6s can pick out such detail, like Martin Grech's vocals, that the rest of the music takes a step back.

Two more days of intensive listening and comparison to come.

 

[simon3102000]

Looks like you have an awsome setup there, are they all headphone amps?? I still need to het a headphone amp, i was thinking the graham slevo, wud that be a good matcj for grado headphones?

 

[idc]

Thanks Simon. The two smaller boxes are a DAC and its power supply, the Firestone Fubar and Supplier. I am sure the Novo would be a good match for any Grado as they are easy to drive and quiet sensitive. A second hand Musical Fidelity X-CANS/V2/V3 or the V8P pictured would also sound superb.

 

[simon3102000]

Thankyou, i will check out the other options i am really looking forward to see what the grado's sound like with a descent headphone amp instead of the jack on my amp

 

[idc]

There is every chance the difference will not be huge. The HE 6s are power hungry and insensitive and you want more power than many basic headphones output on an amp will manange.The Grados are the opposite. The HE 6s can be run from the speaker outputs on an amp, which would probably destroy Grados.

 

[idc]

Final review

Sound

Quite simply, superb. The detail and resolution is the best that I have heard from any headphone. It is like being moved closer to the music. Bass is there, but like AKGs in general and the K702 in specific, it is bass detail not BASS thump that comes out of these headphones. They can do the intro bass on Massive Attack's 'Angel' with only minor distortion. But they lose some of the energy and power of the track. The treble is beautifully detailed without sharpness or sibilance as tried with New Order's 'Regret'. My tester track for how well something copes with a badly recorded track is Ash's 'Oh Yeah', a flat and lifeless recording. It sounded great and produced life and vibrancy that I have not heard for a long long time. Gomez's 'Whippin Picidilly' is the soundstage and detail test. All detail was there but the soundstage is not great. But the sheer size of the headphones around your ears makes for a big sound, all be it inside your head and the headphones themselves.

They work with all the music that I listen to, including metal, though to those who prefer or are used to bass attack, thye will initially lack dynamics.

Build

They come in a lovely box and with a long cable that can be adapted to be used off a jack or phonos to be plugged into a speaker amp. They are very difficult to drive, the 1.3 W output of a Musical Fidelity X-CANV8P struggled and I found clear listening was at too high a volume for safe extended listening sessions. They leak sound like a speaker leaks sound!

I found the soft pads dug in a bit to my jaw and they clamp well onto your head. The headband is lovely and soft and support what are heavy headphones very well.

Overall

They are an upgrade from the AKG K702s and fans of that headphone will love the HE-6. But you need a powerful amp, relatively speaking for headphones to get the best out of them.

 

[jimdonnelly]

Hi Ian

Would you spend the money to buy a pair?

 

[idc]

No because I would also need to spend and get a new amp as well. But at £760 they are not charging an outrageous price compared to much of the competition. That is why they are selling well and are highly praised as they make it into the high end category of headphones using interesting technology that delivers, but at a reasonable price, relatively speaking.

I cannot think of a specific make, but think of speakers that are horns or electrostatic and are say £2000 compared to others at £10,000