HIFIMAN HE-R10P Review

Hifiman HE-R10P

 

Specs, Price & Accessories

The closed back Hifiman HE-R10P is a flagship headphone and it comes with a very high end, TOTL price tag. The P version will set you back $5,499USD. Yes, you read that correctly.

The Hifiman HE-R10P headphone comes in the typical beautiful leather-ish Hifiman box. The HE-R10P comes with three detachable cables with different terminations: a 3.5mm single ended one (1.5m), a 4-pin XLR balanced one (3m) and a 6.35mm single ended one (also 3m). The cable entry is one-sided and Hifiman uses a balanced 3.5mm connector for this.

Cable-wise the Hifiman HE-R10P features a newly designed single-crystal, copper, silver-plated structure. According to Hifiman, the combination of a high number of strands and ratio of the various ingredients ensure low signal loss and unshakable strength. All of these 3 cables look and feel great with their nylon sleeves.

My version actually also came with the optional Hifiman BlueMini which fits the DEVA model and the HE-R10P/D ones. BlueMini supports LDAC/aptX (HD)/AAC and SBC. It also allows you to connect your headphone directly to your computer over USB-C, functioning as a USB DAC. I have to say it sounds pretty darn good, though this article/review will focus on the HE-R10P’s cabled sound.

So you get a top level box with a nice inlay and an elaborate set of connection options, as well as the HE-R10P’s owner guide and a warranty card with the driver’s serial numbers.

Full Specs:

Frequency Response : 10Hz-60kHz
Impendence : 30Ω
Sensitivity : 100dB
Weight : 460g
Socket : 3.5mm Balanced

Sound – Intro

In the He-R10P’s manual we can find the following statement from Hifiman:

“The HE-R10P offers the best attributes of closed and open-back headphones in a single model”

I partially agree to that. As you will see in a bit, the R10P is a great headphone but if you compare it to Hifiman’s open headphone flagship, you will see the Susvara takes it even a step further.

As Hifiman also states, the last few years were all about producing top level open back headphones and not that many closed high end units saw the light. I can easily see this in the HFN headphone collection as well, where maybe only 2 out of 10 headphones are of the closed kind. With the technology we have today, I do feel we’ll be seeing more closed back headphones over the next months and years.

The HE-R10P is tuned as follows (copyright Hifiman) :

For a closed headphone, the R10P simply is very impressive. Why? Let’s dive in!

Sound – General

For all parts on sound, unless differently mentioned, we used the Violectric V850 DAC and AudioValve Solaris.

First thing you notice is how spacious, airy and wide the R10P sounds for a closed back headphone. Some open back headphones don’t even sound this good, so this is really remarkable and it’s easily the best I have heard a closed headphone sound in this regard.

At the same time, you can still easily hear this is a closed back headphone and not a fully open one, it just has that typical density, bass weight (+impact) and closed feel to it.

The R10P is musically tuned in a neutral way, but the music comes delivered in a somewhat smoother and softer way and this from top to bottom. Body-wise the HE-R10P first gives the impression of being fuller sounding because of the weight of the bass, but this actually isn’t really the case. The R10P has the amount of body you can expect from a high end headphone, which is perfectly in between “light and full”, aka the “realistic” amount. The R10P is resolving and excels in articulation and preciseness, in a realistic way.

Sound stage-wise the Hifiman HE-R10P scores very well in both width and depth, though the Susvara still outperforms it. For a closed headphone however this is really good and the layering and extension are really nicely done. What I am missing a bit in the R10P compared to the level of the Susvara is the note extension and decay, especially in the mid-section. Treble-wise the R10P is softer, very easygoing and more limited. It’s probably its least strong point, especially when compared to the Susvara.

As expected from a flagship headphone, the R10P also shines when it comes to PRaT, preciseness and detail rendering. You at all times get a very rich sound with excellent L/R balance and stereo imaging. From highs to lows, the R10P has a great dynamic feeling to it. The R10P produces a very clean sound, though the clarity could still be a bit improved (like in the Susvara)

Sound – Classics

Bass

As you can see in the FR curve, the Hifiman HE-R10P has a bit of elevated mid bass but not too much. The amount of bass and the sub-bass actually is quite different depending on the amplifier in use. Some will give a lighter amount, others will make it bigger, fuller and stronger. As expected from a closed back high end design, bass always has good presence, but never too much

Bass detail, speed and depth is good. Sub bass is there when needed, but it’s not overpowering. Bass in general is smooth and has a nice natural amount of warmth to it (tough this also does depend on the amplifier in use)

Mids

As you can see in the curve, the mid presence lies a bit under that of the bass, going back up to about 3K before dipping (at +-4K) and peaking around 8K.

The mids have great timbre and excellent detail. They are nicely spacious, have good clarity and show impressive dynamics. The R10P’s mids are musically rich, and the vocals are natural and refreshing (and maybe a bit more to the front, but not much). Like the bass, there’s this smoother and softer presentation with a realistic amount of warmth.

Treble

Treble has a good amount of detail, extends well and sounds clean. It’s very musical but it’s not the most energetic or lively treble at the same time. It is very easy to like the treble tuning as it’s soft on the ear, has great dynamics and impressive naturalness. But if you like really exciting and more energetic treble, the softer, smoother treble tuning here might be a bit simple for you.

Personally, I could live with some more energy in the upper regions but then it wouldn’t really match the mid and bass sections as well as it does now. At the same time, it’s so musical and of such good quality, that it’s easy to forgive the lighter energetics in this area.

Conclusion

You definitely get the high level of sound as expected from a flagship headphone at this price level. For a closed back headphone, the R10P sounds very open and spacious.

All-in-all, looking at the R10P’s smoother and slightly warmer delivery, I wouldn’t recommend using it with an overly warm source, as this might all become “too much”, if you know what I mean. I also suggest using a DAC with top level precision and excellent clarity.

The review continues on the next page. Click here or use one of the links below.

Page 1: Hifiman, HE-R10P, Comfort, Design & Isolation, Build Quality & Connections

Page 3: Sound Amplification, Sound Competition, Conclusion

4/5 - (83 votes)
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedin

Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

8 Comments

  • Reply May 25, 2021

    Rob

    Shame not to see these compared to other totl closed backs like stellia and verite closed. Not sure what to glean from a comparison to to 300 quid beyers and very middling performing audeze

    • Reply May 25, 2021

      Lieven

      Did you mean: “Nice read, thank you. Too bad you don’t have headphones like the Stellia and Verite closed to compare it with, but a great job none the less.”? 😉

  • Reply May 25, 2021

    Plato

    Lot of typos in this review; consider hiring an editor/proofreader?

    I also agree with the chap above: you literally only have the DT1770 Pro and Audeze in stock for comparison?

    • Reply May 25, 2021

      Lieven

      Sorry for the typing quality. I’ll reread it tonight and do a triple check but 2 spelling checkers gave no errors.
      Regarding the comparisons: First, there’s no point in comparing the HE-R10P to open back headphones as others have done. Second, we have a team of writers from all over the world and not every writer can own all headphones. Third, as said in the review, a lot of companies have not been focusing on high end closed back headphones, so there simply are less in the collection. If I had all headphones in the world, I’d compare them, but it’s not very realistic.

  • Reply May 25, 2021

    MhtLion

    Thanks for the great review! Since you enjoyed Audeze XC, hopefully you can secure the updated Audeze XC and put it through another comparixon review. Personally, I’m very inclined to order the new Audeze XC – or keep it wireless and order Apple Airpod Max, which may or may not get the high resolution update.

    • Reply May 25, 2021

      Lieven

      Let me check with Audeze if they’re interested in that. And thank you

  • Reply May 26, 2021

    xtvymrdn

    Mike reviewed the mdr r10, and he doesn’t like it

    • Reply May 26, 2021

      Lieven

      He did leave the hobby in 2014, so unfortunately ha hasn’t heard many of the great new headphones

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.