Review: Hifiman HE-1000 – Save The Best For Last

Sound

From the moment I took the HE-1000 out of its box and connected it to my Violectric V850 DAC + V281 Amplifier in balanced mode, I knew Hifiman had created a very special headphone. At home, the HE-1000 (together with the Sennheiser HD800) quickly became my to-go-to headphone and the LCD-2 and LCD-XC moved to my night room stand. The HE-1000 is a really good headphone and like every headphone it has its strengths and weaknesses, but it has a lot more strengths. (Impressions below are with a Single Ended cable and the Vio setup unless mentioned otherwise)

The tonality of the HE-1000, being a reference level headphone, of course is to the neutral side.  Hifiman however has added good body to the sound and as a result the HE-1000 is extremely musical and an absolute pleasure to listen to. The HE-1000’s sound stage is quite wide and deep and great layering can be found from bass to treble. The HE-1000 also is a superb example of how good timbre can be in a headphone, making it a very realistic and emotional headphone to listen to.

Of course the HE-1000 has a lot of detail from bass to treble but this Hifiman will never sound analytic. It’s a very natural and musical sound on the other hand with great dynamics, precision and extremely good vocal presentation. Hifiman got the amount of “air” just right and the HE-1000 sounds very open and spacious. The left-right balance is also excellent and the 3-dimensionality for a planar headphone is quite good. The HE-1000 handles all genres effortlessly and I often found myself using it for very long periods without feeling the need for a break. Its sound is very engaging and its presentation is so effortless that I haven’t experienced any listening fatigue.

I’m a big fan of the HE-1000’s bass presentation as it at the same time goes deep, has good rumble down below and it has plenty of layering and detail. Before listening to the HE-1000 is was afraid bass was going to sound more on the thin side but bass actually has really good body. Bass is also one of the reasons why the HE-1000 is so musical, not that there’s any extra added bass, don’t get me wrong, bass just is just qualitative and has good presence. I wouldn’t call the bass the tightest I have ever heard but it’s a good compromise between body and tightness. I’ll go further into detail and compare it to the HD800 in the following section but to me the HD800’s bass is even better, tighter, faster, yet lighter.

Just like the bass section, the mids have great body and superb layering. Bass and mids perfectly flow in to each other and the mids have good depth. Timbre is excellent, the HE-1000 certainly is a headphone with one of the best mid sections on the market right now. Its mids are dynamic and precise and at the same time have such good timbre and so much feeling that they sound incredibly realistic with a touch of smoothness. Vocals are sublime and stand out. If you listen to Yello’s “Bostich (Reflected)” song, you will immediately hear what the HE-1000 is capable of. Binaural recordings of rain forest during storms are sublime, the sense of realism the HE-1000 portrays is excellent. Speed, detail, depth, dynamics, it’s all there in the mids section.

Treble is incredibly detailed, layered and extended. Bad recordings in combination with a silver cable sometimes result in a bit of sibilance but in general the HE-1000’s treble perfectly complements the bass and mids. Treble flows fluently from the mids with great clarity and precision. Treble is airy but precise and very dynamic. I do have to say I preferred the HE-1000’s treble with warmer sounding solid state amplifiers and on tubes.

When you switch to a balanced cable, the performance of the HE-1000 reaches its top. You get an overall more balanced sound with a very wide sound stage and a more airy presentation. Sound is even more realistic and natural because of the increased layering and depth in bass, mids and treble. Bass might have a little less body but the overall presentation from low to high becomes sublime. With PlusSound’s Echo+ cable there’s a clear elevation of the high mids and treble while the lower regions get less body. I have to say I don’t really like the effect it has on the HE-1000’s sound but it does wonders for clearing up the (overly?) warm Audioquest Nighthawk headphone.

Once I heard this sound, the HE-1000 had me hooked and like I said, it quickly became my to-go-to headphone at home. The HE-1000 in combination with the Violectric V850 DAC and V281 amplifier in fully balanced mode (stock cable), is one of the best (if not the best not taking the Orpheus into account) sounding headphones there is. The HD800 in the same setup is also sublime, it’s just different.

Sennheiser & Audeze

The HE-1000 together with the HD800 and LCD2 are my three most used headphones for testing and for personal non review listening. While the LCD-2 and LCD-XC are great headphones, the two others are still a level up in sound quality. I’m not a big fan of the LCD-3 but the LCD-X is on my shopping list for 2016.

The HD800 and HE-1000 both are TOTL headphones and sound great but they also sound very different. The HD800 to me still wins on technicalities with an even wider sound stage, a deeper sound with better layering and more detail. Bass on the HD800 is more detailed and might even reach lower than the HE-1000’s bass but it has less body. Same goes for the mids section and because of that the HE-1000 is the most musical one of both sets. The HD800 of course is known for its treble and that can either be a good or bad thing depending on your preference, your music and your source. The HE-1000’s treble might not be as clear, extended or detailed but it do is more musical and easier to listen to. The HD800 makes it easier to assess DACs and amplifiers though.

Both are great headphones and I end up using them a lot more than my Audeze’s for the moment. Once you get used to the quality of sound of the HE-1000, it isn’t easy to go back to the Audeze. Add “comfort” in to the mix and the HD800 and (even) the HE-1000 come out on top. It’s not looking good for the Audeze’s at the HFN headquarters for the moment. I don’t have any STAX setups and for me the above mentioned Violectric setup with the HE-1000 is probably the closest I’ll get to the New Orpheus. As a matter of fact the new Orpheus kind of is a combination of the HE-1000s musicality and realism with the detail and technicalities of the HD800. If you ever get a chance to listen to the new Orpheus, make sure you do.

Amplifiers, DAPs, etc.

With the Stoner Acoustics End Game DAC & End Game Amplifier the HE-1000 gets more focus on the higher mids and the treble where bass loses a bit of body and layering. While the Stoner Acoustics gear certainly has all the detail it isn’t the strongest in depth and layering, especially compared to the Violectric setup. The EGD/EGA combo works fully balanced only and I did find myself turning down the volume on several occasions as the highs were getting a bit hot for my taste.

With Chord’s Hugo I expected the HE-1000 to perform better but it sounded thinner then on the desktop setups. Layering and detail are strong points of the Hugo but with the HE-1000 the Hugo just isn’t as good as with other headphones. With the AK120II connected by optical, bass is lacking and isn’t of the tightest kind. Vocals are more forward and the mids are very smooth as well. With the Fiio X7 connected by coax results do improve but sound is still far off from the desktop setups. The coax connection does add body to the sound and makes the upper mids a lot nicer sounding but I wouldn’t recommend it if you have a better and more powerful desktop system.

The ALO Audio CDM with Mullard tubes, fed by the AK240 in balanced mode, gives the HE-1000 more body and weight down below while it at the same time keeps the treble clear and energetic. Here it’s the midrange that loses somewhat in richness but its presentation is smooth and musical while the bass and treble are really well layered and good sounding. One of my favorite (portable) amps with planar magnetic headphones is the Bakoon International HPA-01M and it once again performs exceptionally with the HE-1000 hooked up to the current output. This by far for me is the best portable setup for the HE-1000. Full bodied bass and mids, speed, clarity, timbre and excellent treble. The normal output keeps the same bass and treble but makes the mids a bit lighter and more musical with forwarded vocals. Of course the typical touch of “Bakoon aggressiveness” is noticeable and the overall sound isn’t as smooth. But a superb combination for sure.

The Chord Mojo already positively surprised me when I plugged the HD800 in to it and it surprised again with the HE-1000. You have to get the volume all the way up but the Mojo delivers good body in the mids with a full bodied bass. What a contrast with the Hugo. Detail wise the Mojo can’t compete with the CDM and the Bakoon though. Layering, precision and clarity are somewhat missing and you get a more compact and slightly darker sound. Not bad at all though.

Even more Sound + Conclusion + Pictures on the last page