Hifiman HE6se Review (Headphone)

[Mr Swing King]

There seems to be a rather big crowd surrounding the HE6 (in all of it’s iterations) that claim ‘moar power = better sound quality’…which is just plain nonsense.
These are the same cats that pair the Hifiman with stereo amps and either end up using maybe 3-5% of it’s juice with little to no volume control…or they simply blow out the transducers.
I think a lot of this boils down to the narrative about the HE6. ‘The hardest to drive headphone on the market’. ‘Needs an absolute powerplant to reach it’s potential’.
…which in all fairness is true if you’re coming from a K371 and an iPod.

Anyhoo the A30 should be more than enough muscle to drive this headphone to perfection, even with equalisation added.
Don’t fall victim to audio nervosa created by folks allergic to measurements.

 

[Roland68]

I have talked with a guy that says that with the a30pro I m not getting the best out of the he6se.
He uses an aune s17, that costs more the double of the a30pro, and seems to be a great amp.
Now I can get this amp second hand for about 500€, if I'll buy it what can I expect vs the a30pro?
Why some people spend so much for amp if they don't worth the extra money?

The Aune S17 is popular and you are not taking a big risk as it shouldn't be difficult to sell it again for that price.
Try it out, test it at your leisure and gather your own experience.
Because no matter who tells you what, your own experience is always more valuable and more authentic.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Are you happy with the A30? If so, all is good.

Respectfully, and while there is much wisdom in this statement, I don't think it is an (entirely) correct perspective for ASR.

Many of us are perfectly fine with "sufficiently adequate" equipment. Our hearing adjusts to what we are hearing. And unless we already have a very refined audio pallet, we would never know that we are missing out on something that would be even better and within our budget allowance. But, we do know that there is a lot of misleading snake oil and subjectivist claims in the audiophile world, so we turn to ASR for measurement-based and experience-based insights from others on this forum.

In some cases, people show up here using audio equipment that does not measure very well. And the reviews and comments on ASR help point them towards much better sounding equipment. If you asked them, they would probably say they are happy with their current equipment (since they don't know what they are missing). But just because they are "happy" with what they have doesn't mean they shouldn't step up to better sound quality. That is the point of the measurements and reviews on ASR... to help lead people to better quality equipment based on objective measured evidence combined with real-world experience.

In other cases, people show up with audio equipment that measure extremely well. But, they also want to know if there is something that measures even better based on ASR's wisdom; especially if some well-known reviewer has made comments elsewhere about other equipment that realistically could potentially be better. In this case, they are also "happy" with their current equipment; and the insight of ASR can provide evidence- and experience-based input to counter the claims from elsewhere that they should change. That is also the point of the measurements and reviews on ASR... to be able to counter those other claims and/or to simply say that the other equipment would not provide any improvement in sound quality relative to what a human is able to hear and perceive.

In my case, my entire audio system now is based entirely on ASR inputs from both sides of that equation. Both in terms of what I purchased (based on measurements and reviews), and also in terms of my being content that what I purchased a few years ago is still far more than good enough and that there is no benefit in buying something newer (despite the continued improvements in new equipment).

 

[Jimbob54]

Many of us are perfectly fine with "sufficiently adequate" equipment.

I'm not sure what your suggested alternate response would have been.

But poster has (I think) an A30pro which is a very well measuring and powerful amp. So what would be achieved in this scenario by saying anything more than "are you happy with" ?

 

[Curupira]

These are the same cats that pair the Hifiman with stereo amps and either end up using maybe 3-5% of it’s juice with little to no volume control…or they simply blow out the transducers.

More or less, yes, but the 6 family is a much bigger load to those amplifiers than speakers are. Having a 81-83mW/dB sensitivity, the Hifimans are akin to speakers, only with 60 ohm of resistance. What this means in practice is that the voltage offered by those speaker amps will be kept the same, but power will be much lower (3-6W), so unless you're talking about professional power amplifiers, the transducers won't explode just be sheer volume: what might happen is they getting damaged from circuit design "flaws" and lack of circuit protection on the outlets, which weren't designed for that high of a load or for headphones (a full blasted pop near your ear from your 50mm headphone driver is not the same as a pop on a 5" > speaker 3m away).

If we were still 10 years back in time, or even a few years behind, power amplifiers would still be a good solution to driving the HE6s if you like to listen to them at impressive levels, with only the aforementioned caveats and higher frequency quirkness due to Class D load dependency. The former is one of the reasons Hifiman sold a "protection" adapter for them back in the day. Today though, you can get a > 2W for little over 200 dollars so no need for going crazy.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

I'm not sure what your suggested alternate response would have been.

But poster has (I think) an A30pro which is a very well measuring and powerful amp. So what would be achieved in this scenario by saying anything more than "are you happy with" ?

My concern is that just offering "are you happy with it" could come across as being dismissive of the questioner, who is are asking about an option that someone elsewhere said would be even better. (And at the core, it is also subjectivist criteria )

IMHO, adding the context (e.g., that the A30Pro is a high power amp, is well measuring, is used by many people on the forum to drive their HE6SE's, etc.) answers the question and sets the context for the question of "are you happy with it?".

 

[Mimimetal]

I ve read that the a90 is colder during the functioning and has a little more power on the balanced output. I ve found one for about 200€, I m considering to return the a30 pro, bought on Amazon for 150€, and get the a90. Worth the extra?

 

[rcstevensonaz]

I ve read that the a90 is colder during the functioning and has a little more power on the balanced output. I ve found one for about 200€, I m considering to return the a30 pro, bought on Amazon for 150€, and get the a90. Worth the extra?

Do you have an A30 or A30Pro? [Edit: for some reason, missed the "pro" when reading the original comment] And is that an A90 or A90 Discreet?

I know that in other threads, Johnny Yang would recommend the A30Pro over the A90 for its better power and higher audio quality. In that thread, he suggested that the single-ended internal design on the A30Pro is overall better than than the balanced internal design on the A90; but in the end, he would also say both are fantastic for their target markets.

I'd suggest reading up in detail on the relevant A30 and A90 pages, which each having a tremendous amount of information and real-world use experiences recorded. Including sound quality, reliability, usability, etc. At those prices, you won't go wrong with either choice. (Personally, I have an A30Pro for my HE6SE v2, but it would have been a more challenging decision if the original A90 had not already been pulled from the market).

 

[Jimbob54]

My concern is that just offering "are you happy with it" could come across as being dismissive of the questioner, who is are asking about an option that someone elsewhere said would be even better. (And at the core, it is also subjectivist criteria )

IMHO, adding the context (e.g., that the A30Pro is a high power amp, is well measuring, is used by many people on the forum to drive their HE6SE's, etc.) answers the question and sets the context for the question of "are you happy with it?".

Which are responses the poster has had, many times, in this thread. Including from yourself. That a man in the pub then says "you could do better" with some blather about "technicalities" changes nothing. @minimetal has 2 choices at this point. One is learning to be happy with what they have (and, as suggested by a few) learn to eq. The other is the path I fear they willl take which is an endless cycle of purchases/upgrades somehow seeking perfect "synergy" that magically leads to audio nirvana.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Which are responses the poster has had, many times, in this thread. Including from yourself. That a man in the pub then says "you could do better" with some blather about "technicalities" changes nothing. @minimetal has 2 choices at this point. One is learning to be happy with what they have (and, as suggested by a few) learn to eq. The other is the path I fear they willl take which is an endless cycle of purchases/upgrades somehow seeking perfect "synergy" that magically leads to audio nirvana.

Can't disagree with you on that.

 

[zonk]

I ve read that the a90 is colder during the functioning and has a little more power on the balanced output. I ve found one for about 200€, I m considering to return the a30 pro, bought on Amazon for 150€, and get the a90. Worth the extra?

One thing to consider is, that the RCA/TRS output of the A30Pro is only passthrough.

A30Pro does not have an active pre-amp functionality.

A90 has preamp output.

 

[Roland68]

I ve read that the a90 is colder during the functioning and has a little more power on the balanced output. I ve found one for about 200€, I m considering to return the a30 pro, bought on Amazon for 150€, and get the a90. Worth the extra?

The A90 is one of the best-tested devices on the market. In addition, it is tried and tested and seems to be very reliable.
If the difference is only €50, I would also take the A90.
But you should think quickly, such offers go quickly.

 

[Mimimetal]

Is this cable compatible with hifiman headphones?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExY69P3

Other option is this

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHbhx4l

 

[staticV3]

Is this cable compatible with hifiman headphones?
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExY69P3

If your Hifiman headphone uses 3.5mm earcup connectors, then yes.

 

[Curupira]

Is this cable compatible with hifiman headphones?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExY69P3

Other option is this

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHbhx4l

The last one is for single sided connectors, AFAIK doesn't have any headphones like that.

 

[Mimimetal]

Yes you are right, this should be fine

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvvtLEZ

I want to replace the stock cable of the he6se, the openheart seems nicer than the fiio

 

[Jimbob54]

Yes you are right, this should be fine

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvvtLEZ

I want to replace the stock cable of the he6se, the openheart seems nicer than the fiio

Just be careful you get the right connection for your amp.

 

[solderdude]

Is this cable compatible with hifiman headphones?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExY69P3

Other option is this

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHbhx4l

The first one ... probably. It depends on how it is wired internally.
For the hifiman (3.5mm) the - must be connected to the sleeve, the + must be connected to the tip and the same on the other side.
Some headphones have the usual TRS connection (so tip = L+ and ring = R+) For these cables R and L plug are interchangeable but won't work on the hifiman.
Hifiman have marked L and R plugs and the ones in the picture are color coded so most likely suited for hifiman.

The second one is for Sennheiser HD560S/620S/559/599 are 2.5mm TRRS etc. only and can not be used for 2.5mm hifiman either.

 

[Roland68]

Yes you are right, this should be fine

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvvtLEZ

I want to replace the stock cable of the he6se, the openheart seems nicer than the fiio

The cross-section of the 8-core cable is very low, I would recommend the 16-core one with twice the cross-section.

 

[Screwdriver]

I have talked with a guy that says that with the a30pro I m not getting the best out of the he6se.
He uses an aune s17, that costs more the double of the a30pro, and seems to be a great amp.
Now I can get this amp second hand for about 500€, if I'll buy it what can I expect vs the a30pro?
Why some people spend so much for amp if they don't worth the extra money?

i have the hs6se v2 and the a30 pro does not maximize what the headphones can do. the aune s17pro is much better but it cost about $700. u can also use a smsl ao200 and have a speaker taps to xlr and that amp for $250 powers he6se veyr well .