HiFiMAN HE1000 v2 + HEX v2 release soon?

It's interesting that you mention this because while the hex is designed to be very easy to drive I feel it does much better with an ample supply of current. It's good out of a phone or tube amp but I thought it sounded best out of a ss home cinema receiver actually. Which definitely isn't the case with the HD800.

 

@Maxx134 "The V2 is selling for $700 more than the V1.
Therefore might expect a $600 upgrade fee for what amounts to some pads and slimmer cups which have less wood so less material costs and design since it probably same cup dimensions as HEK and/or their top stat model Shangri"

it seems like you're of the opinion that the V2 is not a worthwhile upgrade over the HEK V1, do you really think so? Btw, i got my HEK for around $2,100 brandnew, so i'm having a hard time deciding if i should upgrade since the V2 might not be that significant of an upgrade.

 

Wow, what a nice price!


It is not a very necessary upgrade if you didn't mind lack of impact/punch, image, depth of sound stage. I won't categorize V1 and V2 in the same type of headphone.

 

I dunno... alot lol

I agree the V1 taking a dive,
But if you get a recent RMA return unit like mine,
You will already get the improved drivers that they deny has happened, but there is already pictures of.

Then you tune your V1 how you like with the front foam (driver coupling) mod, accompanied by either the rear internal material mod, or the rear external felt strips...

My policy from now on is to listen before buy on any headphones at $1k and higher. ..

I already got burned buying so many expensive headphones like Flow and such.
The issue is not that any are bad..
The issue is trying to find the one you prefer....

The reason I prefer the HEK is because I consider the soundstage more clearly laid out than the diffuse HD800.
When gaining more resolved stage on 800, you lose the size of stage.
Modding the latest RMA HEK with V2 drivers resolves it's sonic issues without the $700 price tag.

I agree the Jot really powers thru and makes these cans more alive and impactfull.

Because they are just full of continuous marketing blunders..
From pricing blunders, to lack of information, to dismall marketing.
I owned the first HEX and it felt like a plastic POS, and only sounded nice out of my portable gear, but had great potential and soundstage.
Sold it within a week.
But new HEX V2 is looking to be a worthy metal can.

The HEX V2 is a direct competition to Flow, Elear and anything in $1k range..
If you could boost the detailing with amping or Modding then it would be a better deal over more expensive HEK.

I was surprised when they ask me to do same in US to not insure for more than 50.
So I did, BUT I made sure I chose good carrier with fast shipping option and tracking.

I found for overseas Shipping the safer approach is faster Shipping.

Also, there is a bigger problem when they ship you the replacement.
Why ? Because they not ship discreetly.
They ship using the hifiman box with all pics and name of headphones plastered all over it,
So EVERYONE sees & knows what it is!!!
Although that is their own end taking chance,
I hope they would not ship that way to overseas buyers..

The V2 is worthwhile upgrade yes.
But for money, not a smart deal.
I rather do as mentioned earlier in Modding my V1 which already has V2 drivers since it was a recent RMA unit and yes the drivers have been refined or upgraded or whatever you wanna call it because they are obviously visually different and I am not understanding why would HiFiman not want anyone to know,
So its my belief another obvious marketing blunder. ..

 

So compared to Ed x v

so compared to Ed. X v1, is v2 livelier? Do you think the differences come down to just pads, or do the drivers of the edition X appear to be tweaked?

 

What exactly is changed with the older drivers vs new ones?

From your photos on page 4, it just looks like they added more putty glue on the magnets in the newer drivers compared to the older drivers. Are the bar magnets themselves thicker?

 

Matts HEX V2 for sale is tempting me but I must resist. I want to know if it has become more lively, not just in balance but also dynamics.

 

I've put most of my gear up for sale. Because this Porker who bought an expensive amp from me filed a pp claim saying there was a problem with it after having it for three weeks. I had already spent the money. So anyway, listening to the hex v2 right now, it's fantastic. I've cued up Grateful Dead: American Beauty (2003 remaster). I finally get why people praise this album as the Dead's best sounding offering. I'm hoping to keep this headphone.

 

sell your flow instead

Finally got to hear it at a meet. Not bad sounding at all IMO. There was just a problem with the sub bass. For a planar it had decent dynamics but the sub bass was really gone especially compared to the Code-X which was the overall better phone.

I wonder how the X V2 compares to the Code-X...

Still havent gotten a Jotunheim vs MJ2 comparison yet from ya either...

 

I've never heard the Code-x...one day. I did post impressions of Jot vs Mjo2, but not sure where. But here is a quick break down. Each of these amps sounds like you'd likely expect and have already heard. The Jot sounds like a very good (and more expensive than it's price) solid state amp. It's resolving and transparent. It's very good with neutral headphones and exceptional with ones that are a little dark (650, hex v1&2). There is good grunt down low and ninja like handling of the transducer. It's nice to have a neutral solid state amp that has good sub bass capability. And I like being able to leave it on 24/7 where it's always ready to roll when I need it without any warm up.

The mjo2 with a nice set of NOS is, in short, a better amp in most cases. Tonally, the Jot does not compete if you're looking for what instruments and voices sound like in real life, in a live acoustic setting. The dynamics are startling at times. Sound staging is a bit more expansive and location of instruments and singers is more easily placed. This amp needs to warm up at least 1/2 and hour to sound it's best. It runs hot and uses a good amount of electricity. It's a perfect mate for Gungnir Multibit. While I love the Jot/650 combo 650/mjo2 brings me more enjoyment. IF, I have time to warm it up and have a good set of tubes glowing back at me.

 

Thanks!!!

Now how's about that V2 vs Ether flow as to not derail the thread but add some more wonderful content

I am high maintenance I know. Forgive me in advance and I really appreciate it!

 

Here are some of my thoughts after enjoying hex v2 for a week:

• Compared with my Elears, dynamics and impact are almost at the same level to my ears (couldn't compare with v1 because I just cannot remember well). But bass slams more in Elear due to different tonal balances (emphasis on midbass in Elear).
• Bass is extremely accurate. Probably on par with hek v1 (as far as I remember). Also hex v2 could reveal sub-bass information noticeably better. This can be verified by some recordings such as Saint-Saens' symphony #3 (lots of low notes in pipe organs). I bet bass-response of hex v2 would be ruler-flat. But sadly speaking, I prefer slightly more sub-mid bass.
• High treble and top-end extension is also very good. It didn't boost top-octaves like hd 800s or flows, but more neutral than those two. I didn't AB, but I felt treble of hex v2 was quite similar with hd650 or utopia. Slightly brighter than Elear, but darker than Flow.
• I like the midrange of hex v2 very, very much. It MUST BE colored, otherwise it cannot be this magical. Very rich, lush, and juicy. Honestly, it taught me how attractive the human voice can sound (particularly so when listening to good female singers such as Melissa Menago).
• Soundstage is generally wide, but the depth is a bit limited. Open and airy feeling (due to its very open structure) helped the soundstage a lot.
• Break-in is almost not required. What I am feeling now was almost the same as what I felt in day 1.
• Matched with JDS ODAC+O2 and Emotiva XDA2. To my ear, XDA2 was more synergetic.

I like hex v2 very much. Also I found flow open is very complimentary to hex v2. Elear is needed no longer.. I start to seriously think of returning elear.

 

I just got the hek v2 about an hour ago. Here are some quick down and dirty impressions right out of the box compared to hex v2:

*these two headphones sound much more similar than the v1 versions of each other. If you considered the hek vs hex v1 significantly different (ie 650 vs 800), then the v2's are much closer. A better comparison of the difference between the new versions would be more like 600 vs 650. I would imagine that I could spend an hour or so with a good parametric EQ and get the hex v2 sounding VERY close to the hek v2. But this is just a guess and I haven't tried yet.

*build quality improvements are apparent and about on par with what I saw with hex v2. Everything seems "tighter" with fit and finish improvements evident. The cables push in with a good bit of force and seem to have more solid grip and are professional. Pads are same as hex v2 and very nice. I can see lot's of people with v1's wanting to get ahold of these pads badly.

*I have an average sized head, but had to have the v1 hek headband set to it's smallest setting. On the v2 I had to let the band out a couple of clicks which was appreciated. And made me feel much less like a kid with big brothers football helmet on. The hek v2 measures 430 grams and not 420 as stated by hifiman. Might need to calibrate my scale though to be sure that it's accurate.

*SOUND-using the Jot for an amp, I can get almost perfect volume matching between hex and hek v2 simply by switching the gain from low to hi. That should give a pretty good idea of the difference in efficiency. The hek v2 has more treble extension, resolves more and seems more coherent. Bass extension is tight and bumps very nicely with good decay. Not one note at all and represents differences in sub frequencies well. Mids are luscious and sound very natural. I'm still trying to get a handle on whether there is still just a touch of splashiness in the upper treble compared to the v1 hek. I don't have the v1 with me but will compared v1 and v2 over the weekend.

So far I'm liking what I'm hearing. More to come...

edit: I just moved the hek v2 to mjo2 with good tubes. The sound took a click or two up the ladder. That slight splash in the upper treble is gone, just smooth and extended. Dynamics are better and a little warmer tone overall. This amp works wonders with the hek v2. The hex v2 is more suited with the Jot. The difference in overall performance/enjoyment between these two headphones is now somewhat wider when each headphone is connected to an amp that has good synergy with the hp.

 

Very interesting. Now HFM v2 brothers seem to have similar direction of improvements. Good to hear upgrades to hek v2 deserved.

I thought of somethings about HFM these days:
1) They may have a good chief engineer who can design good headphones. Of course not Dr Fang Bian Dr Bian leans too much toward a marketing side IMO.
2) They have extremely bad sense of naming. Flagship is HE-1000, next is Edition X, then HE-560.. Totally lacking consistency.
3) Looking at large oval ear-cups of hek hex and shangrila, maybe HFM wanted to make their own versions of Orpheus. To some degree, I am suspecting hex(v2) might be HFM's 'baby orpheus' in terms of positions and concepts.

Whatever, I am listening to great songs of Etta James with hex v2. Just so lovely.

 

I heard the 1000v2 today; sat down for a while in the shop, powered through the Moon 430HA (yeah some of you guys hate it; I like it; moving on). Some of my thoughts:
- definitely the Hifiman house sound
- very airy, almost distractingly so at times
- great comfort, light, but it feels "big" on the head
- I still don't think it beats the HE-6, but it also doesn't need a monstrously heavy amp behind it so that's a huge plus
- price/performance-wise, I'd still lean towards the edition X if I were gonna toss money down as they're pretty close

 

I have a very similar thought when it comes to HE500 vs HEXv2. I think classic HFM and 2nd gen HFM are totally different, and very difficult to compare each other vertically. And that's why I still keep and love my HE500

However, I strongly argue that 2nd gen HFM (HEK, HEX, ...) easily best classic HFM in terms of ergonomics and long term wearing comfort!

 

Agreement there. The old headbands looked like they were born out of a high school shops project. The new ones are much more comfortable, though I wish they weren't so big with the double arches.

In terms of value for that family, I think the 500/560 are still the ones to beat.

 

Nope..
The bars are exactly the same.
The membrane looks the same as well, although it would be impossible to tell .

Anyways, about the magnet bars..
It was not "more putty glue", as the original had zero material behind the bars, just glossy black paint.
This new glob of grey material covers the whole area.
My suspicion is to strengthen the bars, because when my old unit was damaged, at first it was about 2bars smashed in..
Then when I touched them all the bars started collapsing in.
So its my belief that they did that to strengthen the magnet bars..

That happened to me long ago, so for some items, I no longer post them as "working".
I state as is.

Wow that is an incredibly comprehensive and well explained impressions!