Hifiman HE6se Review (Headphone)

[watchnerd]

lol.. That's the DAC that whenever I look at the back panel I think, "What, no USB!" It gets me every time.

Grrr, I'm not a fan of Micro USB.

But for excellent performance at $199, I can't really complain too much.

 

[Doodski]

Grrr, I'm not a fan of Micro USB.

But for excellent performance at $199, I can't really complain too much.

I really disliked the microUSB too and then I researched them and the insertion and removal specs are way better than USB A&B. It's the small size that still gets me.

"Standard USB has a minimum rated lifetime of 1,500 cycles of insertion and removal, the mini-USB receptacle increases this to 5,000 cycles, and the newer Micro-USB and USB-C receptacles are both designed for a minimum rated lifetime of 10,000 cycles of insertion and removal."

 

[deafenears]

I really disliked the microUSB too and then I researched them and the insertion and removal specs are way better than USB A&B. It's the small size that still gets me.

"Standard USB has a minimum rated lifetime of 1,500 cycles of insertion and removal, the mini-USB receptacle increases this to 5,000 cycles, and the newer Micro-USB and USB-C receptacles are both designed for a minimum rated lifetime of 10,000 cycles of insertion and removal."

So is that cycles for the male or female socket or both male and female connectors?

 

[Doodski]

So is that cycles for the male or female socket or both male and female connectors?

It states receptacles so I'm guessing the cable is sacrificial.

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks for the tip!

Just ordered a V1 HE6SE!

Now...what do I do for a cable?

I need a 10-15' XLR.

The standard cable is truly horrible and about 3 to 4 ft from what I recall. I already had a suitable replacement from other cans (dual 3.5mm at the cup end). Personally I'd look for a 5 ft replacement then a 4 pin xlr male to 4 pin xlr female extension to go the rest of the distance. Ebay will sort you and plenty of people making custom lengths etc. That way you are not paying a fortune for the full 15 ft should it develop a fault, the extension part shouldn't be too costly.


Hart audio is US based I think and will have plenty of options too.

 

[watchnerd]

You can apparently by replacement headbands for the HifiMan series from Ali express.

This one is for the OG HE6, and looks to have swivel:

69.35US $ 5% OFF|Diy Full Metal Headset Head Beam Metal Head Headband For Hifiman He400 He560 He6 For Th900 Dt860 D7000 Headphone Head Band - Earphone Accessories - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

This one might have swivel -- or it could just be bad tolerances:

38.19US $ 33% OFF|Headphones Headband Metal Headband Head Beam For Hifiman Headphones For 95mm -105mm Headphones Headband Replace - Earphone Accessories - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[staticV3]

You can apparently by replacement headbands for the HifiMan series from Ali express.

This one is for the OG HE6, and looks to have swivel:

69.35US $ 5% OFF|Diy Full Metal Headset Head Beam Metal Head Headband For Hifiman He400 He560 He6 For Th900 Dt860 D7000 Headphone Head Band - Earphone Accessories - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

This one might have swivel -- or it could just be bad tolerances:

38.19US $ 33% OFF|Headphones Headband Metal Headband Head Beam For Hifiman Headphones For 95mm -105mm Headphones Headband Replace - Earphone Accessories - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

I bought the second one to try and replace the stock HD600 headband with.
It definitely doesn't swivel.

There's a HE560 headband on Carousell for $75: https://www.carousell.sg/p/hifiman-hybrid-replacement-headband-248931048

 

[watchnerd]

There's a HE560 headband on Carousell for $75: https://www.carousell.sg/p/hifiman-hybrid-replacement-headband-248931048

Does that swivel?

It says it's the Hybrid band, which I thought didn't swivel.

 

[staticV3]

Does that swivel?

It says it's the Hybrid band, which I thought didn't swivel.

No it doesn't.

 

[watchnerd]

Is anyone using one of these?

I'm pretty sure you could win the SINAD war by using a speaker amp with these.

 

[Dana reed]

Is anyone using one of these?

I'm pretty sure you could win the SINAD war by using a speaker amp with these.

I have one of those, and have run the HE6SEV1 off a Vidar, with good effect. In the end my Mjolnir 1 turned out to be the favored amp for these though, and ended up using the Vidar for some bookshelf monitors in my exercise room.

 

[watchnerd]

I have one of those, and have run the HE6SEV1 off a Vidar, with good effect. In the end my Mjolnir 1 turned out to be the favored amp for these though, and ended up using the Vidar for some bookshelf monitors in my exercise room.

Interesting.

At the danger of opening up a subjective can of worms on ASR, what did you prefer about using the Mjolnir 1 over the speaker amps?

 

[Dana reed]

Interesting.

At the danger of opening up a subjective can of worms on ASR, what did you prefer about using the Mjolnir 1 over the speaker amps?

Less fiddly, with cabling it up, and I can use it with most all of my other headphones. Was a bit hesitant to run some other headphones off the Vidar. So it wasn't really a subjective sound thing (except for noise floor on some more sensitive headphones) was more a functionality and fitting on the shelf next to my desk thing.

 

[bigjacko]

What is the difference between v1 and v2? If there is no difference in sound and parts apart from headband and cup swivel, which one has better mechanisim? The v1 at $699 is very good price, does v2 go that low too?

 

[watchnerd]

The standard cable is truly horrible and about 3 to 4 ft from what I recall. I already had a suitable replacement from other cans (dual 3.5mm at the cup end). Personally I'd look for a 5 ft replacement then a 4 pin xlr male to 4 pin xlr female extension to go the rest of the distance. Ebay will sort you and plenty of people making custom lengths etc. That way you are not paying a fortune for the full 15 ft should it develop a fault, the extension part shouldn't be too costly.


Hart audio is US based I think and will have plenty of options too.

Just found out Periapt makes HE6SE cables in up to 10' length, so bought one from them, and their 10' XLR extension.

 

[watchnerd]

What is the difference between v1 and v2? If there is no difference in sound and parts apart from headband and cup swivel, which one has better mechanisim? The v1 at $699 is very good price, does v2 go that low too?

Some reviews on YouTube claim their is a subtle difference in the sound, possibly due to differences in head fitment / ear seal between the bands.

 

[frogmeat69]

What is the difference between v1 and v2? If there is no difference in sound and parts apart from headband and cup swivel, which one has better mechanisim? The v1 at $699 is very good price, does v2 go that low too?

The V2 can be had for $549 at Adorama now, HERE.

 

[Luke Lemke]

I've been driving my HE-6SE V2 with the Magni Heresy. It can drive them loud enough but with the volume knob turned almost all the way up (with EQ). I just got the Magnius and I didn't feel it was much different from the Magni in terms of power and sound quality (through the balanced output). However, I'm using the Modi as a DAC and connecting it to the Magnius through the RCA cables. I guess I'm not getting all of the power out from the Magnius with this set-up. Maybe I need to get the Modius DAC so I can have a fully balanced set-up.

I'll probably not hear any difference in sound between regular and balanced set-ups but I just can't stand looking at the balanced cables of my Focal Clear and HE-6SE and not being able to use them.... LOL

 

[watchnerd]

I've been driving my HE-6SE V2 with the Magni Heresy. It can drive them loud enough but with the volume knob turned almost all the way up (with EQ). I just got the Magnius and I didn't feel it was much different from the Magni in terms of power and sound quality (through the balanced output).

That's a little surprising.

The Magnius should be about 2x power through balanced vs the Magni.

 

[staticV3]

That's a little surprising.

The Magnius should be about 2x power through balanced vs the Magni.

Even with RCA in -> XLR out?