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Hifiman’s HE-1000SE is a great all-round flagship headphone and it’s probably somewhere in between the Thror and the Empyrean. It has the precision and detailed character of Thror, mixed with the musicality and smoothness of the Empyrean. The HE-1000SE isn’t as warm sounding as Empyrean is, neither does it have the mid body. The HE-1000SE’s bass is bigger compared to Thror’s but it isn’t as tight and fast. Mid body on the Hifiman is slightly bigger and the upper mids and vocals are softer, more blended than in Thror where they’re more forward and expressed. The treble section on Thror is more clear and precise and sounds less soft than on the HE-1000SE.
Upping the game even more we plug in the Hifiman Susvara. This Hifiman probably is one of the very best planar magnetic headphones on the market and even though Thror is technically strong, the Susvara is playing at an even higher level. For over double the price of Thror, it also should. So no, it’s probably not fair to compare both of these headphones. Susvara to me outperforms all the headphones in this list with it’s perfect mix of musicality, dynamics and precision. Susvara is divine.
Another reference headphone is the Audeze MX-4, compared to Thror it sounds much fuller from top to bottom and the bass body and impact is a lot bigger. Thror is more neutral, lighter, cleaner and more clear overall and the bass, mids and voices in Thror don’t have the softness of the Audeze. The fullness, musicality and softness factor of the MX-4 is much higher than with Thror, which is flatter, more clean/clear, neutral and lighter. Extremely different, great headphones.
Last but not least we’re throwing the Focal Utopia in this comparison. The Utopia is TOTL headphone I very much like on tubes or on warmer sounding solid state amps, such as the US4+. The Utopia sounds a fuller compared to Thror and the mid body is more present. The Focal also portrays the voices in a fuller way, though they’re both more on the upfront level. The Utopia does show more warmth and smoothness in bas, mids and even the treble section. Bass body and impact is bigger compared to Thror, but it isn’t as tight and fast.
After comparing it with all these top of the line, expensive headphones we can only conclude Thror deserves a place among the best. Thror’s tuning is different enough to make it a complementary headphone which shines in its own way, doing what it does best.
Conclusion
Thror is a reference headphone with a very special and unique tuning. To me Thror is the reference version of Odin with a more neutral, clear, clean, precise and lighter tuning.
What I personally love in Thror is the clean and clear sound, the fast and precise delivery, the bass precision and the energetic treble extension. Thror is a more neutrally tuned, lighter sounding flagship and isn’t the kind of headphone that will easily please fans of a warm, smooth and thicker sound. It perfectly executes how it was tuned by its designer and I am sure many people will love this typical sound signature.
I do think we will see another evolution of this flagship in the future. One which will combine the technical level and excellence of Thror with the body and impact of the Odin, and the smoothness of the RAD-O and HE-1000SE. Let’s see in January of next year if I was right.
