Hifiman HE-R9 Review

Sound

In this part, I used the Hifiman HE-R9 with many different sources and amplifiers. I experienced both portable and desktop units and also tried to use Bluemini outside of the office. 

Let’s start by describing the sound signature fundamentals of the HE-R9. As Hifiman also states, the HE-R9 is a very musical, warm, and easy-to-listen headphone. It has a rich, smooth, and liquid sound signature. It features a lyrical delivery with a sweet tone. If you are used to neutral and highly resolving units such as HD800, Sennheiser 660S, etc, the R9 can sound “dark”, depending on the source. The R9 has a thick note weight with fuller tones and it features a great bass authority. Compared to Hifiman Planars, you get a more compact soundstage with a romantic, more intimate presentation. 

The bass is authoritative, impactful, round, and full. It feels quite powerful and thick. The midbass is rich and its texture is thick and liquid. Surprisingly, having a big, powerful bass does not hurt R9’s PRaT. It shows good speed and articulacy and does a great job of keeping up with twin pedal passages. The midbass dominancy of the earphones does hurt the instrument separation a bit, especially with mediocre sources, but as long as you pair it with a decent DAC and amplify it properly, you’ll be OK. The bass extension is very good, the bass goes deep and feels thunderous. The fadeout of big bass notes is quite impressive, especially when listening to well-mastered bass-heavy EDM tracks. 

The midrange follows the route of the bass. It has a sweet and bold texture with a natural tone. The romantic delivery of the R9 is highlighted in this region and everything feels quite musical. No matter which genre, the R9 turns everything into a fine cabernet. The relaxed midrange of the R9 features a thick note-weight without any peaks. The upper midrange has a recessive character compared to the bass and lower midrange. The weight of the midrange and bass regions mask the resolving capabilities of the headphone at times but this is a trade-off. You get a fatigue-free experience no matter what you pair the R9 with. The focus of the headphones is on the midrange and bass regions. To my ears, the upper midrange and the treble regions are a bit recessive to grant a smoother, warmer, and richer tone. To my ears, the midrange feels like they are positioned more to the front of the headroom and the R9 is constantly trying to impress you with its richness. The vocals sound smooth and musical.

The treble presentation is highly dependent on the pairing. If you pair the R9 with a highly resolving DAC & AMP such as the Loxjie D40, you get a cleaner, more resolving, and more extended treble performance. If you pair it with a more natural, slightly thicker source, such as the Xduoo’s XA-10, the R9 provides a smoother, rounder treble performance. However, do not expect a Planar type of highs from this unit, it will always sound somewhat warm and easy on the ears. It is essentially the signature after all. The treble is never brittle, bright, sharp, or strident.

Overall, the R9 features a very warm and rich sound signature with a good amount of detail. It is not a highly resolving reference headphone and it does not try to be one. I see the Hifiman HE- R9 as a romantic, it makes everything taste richer, warmer, and smoother. No matter what genre you throw at it, it will always try to impress you with its liquid, musical tonality. It is a very pleasant and easy-to-listen-to headphone and you will never find it harsh or sharp. Although it is a 599 USD headphone, it scales nicely with higher-end DACs & AMPs. The more resolving and clean they are, the better. For example, the R9 sounds quite detailed when paired with the SMSL D1SE & SP400 DAC & AMP combo. The combo boosts resolution, and clarity but does not kill the R9’s special presentation. That’s exactly what I am after.

Technical Capability

Let’s start with the soundstage. The Hifiman HE-R9 has an intimate, slightly more compact soundstage when compared to the industry leaders such as the Sennheiser’s flagship HD800. However, I found the layering very good. The headphone does a great job of presenting all of the instruments to you in a way that never feels congested. Typically, closed-back headphones do not feature an overly spacious stage with lots of air between the instruments. Let me compare the R9 with the Deva to present a better case to you. In comparison, the Deva feels like a concert hall and the R9 is a Jazz Bar. Both have a good amount of air between instruments but with the Deva, the instruments have larger space between them. Both have a good rendition of the stage, both have good layering and depth. The stereo imaging capability of the R9 gets a good boost when it is paired with a capable source. Compared to the Deva, the R9 is an engaging, romantic headphone that carries emotion more so.

Let’s take a look at the PRaT. I did not expect the PRaT to be great because you know the deal. The bigger the boom, the slower the response, usually. However, the HifimanHE-R9 surprised me here by providing a fast, quick transient response and it handled congestion very well during complex passages. The headphone was in control from the top to the bottom, providing peak, and congestion-free presentation. The pairing is golden here as well, the R9 scales very well with resolving and detailed sources with good technical capability so I would recommend going for a neutral source here, as well.

Pairings

Before I move on to the paragraph where I detail the pairings, I apologize for not having closed-back headphones with which I can compare. I’ll add comparisons to the review when I have enough closed-back headphones on hand.

Loxjie D40

I must say that I found this pairing very good. The R9’s warm presentation matched perfectly with the detailed and resolving nature of the D40. When paired with the D40, The R9 sounds more resolving, more detailed, and slightly more balanced without losing its special, rich way of tone delivery. The D40 luckily does not touch the thick and smooth timbre of the R9 but enhanced its technical abilities by a big margin. It surely is a special kind of pairing and if you own either of the units, you recommend getting the other one.

FiiO K9 Pro

The Fiio K9 Pro is one of my favorite DACs & AMPs of 2022 and it is a special unit. It has a realistic timbre and features a natural and detailed presentation. However, it has a smoother midrange compared to D40 and since R9 is adequately smooth, this pairing fares slightly worse. The most impressive side of this pairing is the improved imaging. The R9’s soundstage gets a slight boost here, both width and depth-wise. The instruments have more air between them and the stage feels larger, more spatial.

SMSL D1SE & SP400

This stack features a very detailed, transparent, and clean sound with energetic highs and an overall vivid tone. Pairing the R9 with these two is a brilliant experience. The R9’s musical approach to sound and the technical capability of the SMSL combo results in a very musical yet detailed presentation and is an absolute joy to listen to. This pairing gets a special recommendation from me as I spent 3 days listening to it. The sound is pleasantly warm while having enough detail and transparency to keep up with the micro details of the tracks. The layering and the separation are impressive as well as the stereo imaging. Everything feels in place with this pairing. The SP400 has more than enough power to keep the R9 satisfied.

Bluemini Wireless Adapter

Hifiman’s R2R DAC & AMP Adapter is a small and powerful tool to bless late Hifiman headphones with wireless connectivity. As for its sound, well, it has the characteristics of a typical R2R DAC. It is mellow, rounded, smooth, and musical. Pairing it with R9 and listening through LDAC is a very pleasant experience. It is a simple product in terms of usability. You can start listening to music by pairing it with your phone in seconds. Since the sound signature of both products is similar, you get a very soft, rich, and mellow presentation. Of course, it does not have the technical capability of a proper desktop DAC & AMP but it is not too shabby for a 150 USD device. During my time with the R9, I had time to go out with the Bluemini. It is very comfortable to travel wirelessly with headphones that feature godlike isolation. Especially on a commuter train. You lose all contact with the outside world and the romantic presentation takes you away. Try this combo outside once and you’ll need to figure out new ways to lengthen your way home.

Last Words

First of all, I would like to remind you that the HE-R9 is one of the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever used. A large part of the comfort is due to the fact that light materials are preferred in the product. The remaining part is, of course, well-made and placed memory foams with good support and an optimized clamp force. The HE-R9 offers a very musical, easy-to-listen presentation. The fact that it does not swallow the details completely and does not compromise on technical capability is one of the aspects that makes it stand out among its rivals. 

It is also a very easy-to-drive headphone with no big-amp requirements. However, as I mentioned a couple of times already, it scales very well with higher-end equipment. That is another plus if you have a good DAC & AMP combo already. 

As for the sound highlights, Hifiman designed and tuned the R9 in a special way. It offers a rich and smooth delivery. Its bass region is authoritative and the midrange is forward and engaging. It conveys emotion in the vocals very well and reflects the tunes in a more romantic way rather than neutral. The upper mids and treble on the other hand are somewhat recessed and laid-back. If you like a clean, super clear, and neutral tuning, this is not your headphone. If you are looking for a romantic, smooth, rich presentation, I think you’ll spend many long sessions with it without fatigue. In my opinion, the best course of action with the R9 is to pour yourself a 25-year-old whiskey and let R9 take you on a musical journey.

Page 1: Hifiman, HE-R9, Bluemini R2R Adapter, Packaging & Accessories, Design, Build & Comfort

Page 2: Sound Quality, Technical Capability, Pairings, Bluemini Wireless Adapter, Last Words