The HIFIMAN General

[Montrealer]

I can't confirm that at all from my experience; often, quite the opposite.

Whether it's headphones, speakers, audio equipment, computer/IT products, or even completely different areas, I've had almost exclusively positive experiences with refurbished products over the past 26 years, at least with reasonably reputable manufacturers.

Refurbished devices are often inspected and repaired much more thoroughly than in standard production quality control. For myself and acquaintances, I've ordered over 100 refurbished audio devices in the last 10 years, and in the last 25 years, I've purchased several hundred refurbished HP notebooks, workstations, servers, and Macs for businesses. I can count the problems I've encountered on one hand, and all were resolved within 1-3 days.
Of course, you should always pay attention to warranties and return policies, but that applies equally to new devices.

Many devices are returned simply because it's become common practice to order multiple items even though it's clear from the outset that only one will be kept and the rest returned.
And that doesn't even mean the customer keeps the best device.

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. My comment concerned Hifiman products exclusively. Given the context of this thread, which exclusively addresses products from that company, I had assumed readers of my post would have implied that.

Just like you, I have purchased numerous refurbished products over the last 40 years, the vast majority of which were working as advertised by the supplier. However, my experience with Hifiman refurbs has been so-so at best. With that being said, I have a number of that manufacturer's headphones, ranging from the HE400i to the HE1000 series, which all work perfectly despite specific design flaws in some, most of which have since been corrected by Hifiman. Unfortunately, the percentage of Hifiman refurbs I have acquired from them that were in poor cosmetic condition and/or did not work correctly is far above average for the industry. That is deplorable, especially considering that I find the Hifiman house sound to my liking and getting better with each generation of their products.

 

[bequietjk]

Having not listened to any Hifiman headphones is the Hifiman "house" treble in the same pierceness/sharpness as Beyerdynamics "house" treble?

 

[Jiraya369]

Having not listened to any Hifiman headphones is the Hifiman "house" treble in the same pierceness/sharpness as Beyerdynamics "house" treble?

look at the graph and it'll answer your question, not 2 headphones are the same, since all of em have different FRs, they have different characteristics/tastes. A peak could be at 10khz or 15khz and completely change the feeling.

There's no "house treble", they just boost treble however they see fit in each different headphone and audiophiles eat it up

 

[Johnkeizer]

I have 2 Hifiman headphones and think both are excellent in their price bracket.
400se which if I was poor I could happily live with and Edition XS which Is one of 5 headphones I do live with happily.

 

[Soria Moria]

Breaking news: another wobbly Hifiman that performs almost identically to all their other ones was just announced. $1899 USD

 

[cursive]

Breaking news: another wobbly Hifiman that performs almost identically to all their other ones was just announced. $1899 USD

It's amazing how fast they release headphones. I love my hifimans, but I wish they would slow down and do more focused releases. They just released the he-600 which was I thought supposed to be new style HE-6, but this literally looks like the HE-6SE v2 with the new style headband. The graph isn't very different, other than less bass?

Either way I have and love the HE-6se V2 with the hifiman comfort strap, and it's been great. I believe it was on sale "open box" for under 300, in which the box was sealed, and everything brand new.

EDIT: Just saw your price you posted, $1899, wtf. It better be 1899msrp, but on sale for 400 or something like they always do.