HiFiMAN RE2000$ impressions

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by pedalhead, Jun 22, 2017.

  1. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    Full disclosure: I've got the new RE2000$ and RE800 iems here for demo for a few weeks from HiFiMAN. It's part of the demo tour thing that manufacturers seem to use these days to shill get exposure for their new stuffs. The HFM UK chap knows me from Headfi meets I've organised & asked me if I wanted to take part. As far as I'm aware, I'm not being "gifted" anything in return, nor am I going to go soft on them so they might.

    With that out of the way, some brief 24-hours-in impressions of the RE$2K...

    Set up is Roon > CI Audio VDA2+VAC1 balanced > Jotunheim > single ended RE$2K with Comply tips

    First, the not-so-good:
    I think the fit is going to be an issue for some people as the enclosure is angular and pushes quite far back into the outer ear. My ears get sore pretty quickly with these.
    Mine have a few dB spike in the lower treble around 5khz that sometimes needs addressing with EQ.
    The bass is also boosted a fair amount, although not ridiculously by some IEM standards. Similar to my thoughts on the Z1R, the elevated bass can be fun (and even beneficial) at lower volumes. Crank these up though and, same as the Z1R, the bass can get boomy & nasty. I predict lots of EDM fans on HF claiming there's nothing wrong with the bass, a la Z1R. In fairness, once EQ'd it's pretty tight and agile, though not particularly detailed.

    The good bits:
    Midrange is tastefully tuned. Impact/slam is superb.

    I'm actually quite enjoying these so far. The FR issues can be EQ'd out and on many tracks aren't actually an issue at all. I also like that they're a bit more full-bodied than my modded HD800. The fit is the main issue for me at this point, and the price but that's another story. Perhaps a deeper tip might alleviate the fit issue if I can find something suitable. Wish I had the Andros here to compare, it's been quite a while since I heard them.

    =================================================================
    =================================================================

    UPDATE A FEW WEEKS LATER:

    I've spent a fair bit of time with the RE$2K now with the following rigs:
    CI Audio VDA2+VAC1 balanced > Jotunheim > single ended
    Echobox Explorer DAP
    DiDiT DAC212SE
    Samsung Galaxy S8

    The RE$2K is 60ohm / 103dB and actually quite at home in a desktop system. They played nicely with all of the above apart from the S8, which at modest volume was fine but ran out of steam at reasonably loud levels. I wasn't able to pick up any reliable differences between the sources & I feel the RE$2K is not terribly amp fussy beyond needing a bit of juice.

    Whilst some of my initial thoughts are still relevant, the Comply tips were clearly hampering things and are not a good match here, bloating the bass and upsetting the (fairly)balanced-with-a-bit-of-bass-boost sig of these iems. I rolled a few tips (tri/bi-flange, spinfits etc) and settled on Dekoni Mercury. They're foam but not as squidgy as the Comply. Sort of a middle ground between the over-bassy Comply and leaner/brighter spinfits. As a yardstick, my favourite current headphone bass flavour is from the Eikon, and actually if it weren't for the lack of staging I'd take an Eikon as my main (with a high shelf of +2dB from 5khz).

    I'll roll up my main thoughts into some bullet points (all using Dekoni tips)...

    -- Slams harder than any other iem I can recall.
    -- Deep sub-bass and stays tight. Passes the "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" test
    -- Modest mid-bass hump, followed by slight dip in lower mids. Subtle, works as intended.
    -- A little accentuation around 5-6khz. Pretty mild, turned out not to be an issue for me.
    -- Not very airy with these tips. Not dark but definitely not sparkly. Spinfits for that, but too bright for me.
    -- Cymbals in Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay" sound almost spot on, just a tad darker than realistic (again, tips).
    -- Fiona Apple sounds smooth and realistic. Perhaps a fraction recessed, but no peaks a decent trade-off.
    -- Stellar imaging, strong sense of space between instruments
    -- Stage is wide but not very deep
    -- Detail resolution is excellent. Switching between RE$2K and HD800 didn't make the former sound low-fi as often happens
    -- Fit can definitely be an issue. Sharp edges not comfortable. Depends on tip depth...for my ears it's better to have the shells protruding a bit more
    -- Stock cable looks pretty basic for a $2k iem. I'm not into cable-fu though, so YMMV

    Ok, I appreciate I'm giving these a blow job here, but I really really like the RE$2K. That's saying a lot as I usually hate iems, and I've had anti-HifiMan rage in the past. Switching out with modded HD800 really shows how wonky the Sennheiser midrange is. RE$2K are getting far more head time at the moment, and not just because I'm checking them out. I was going to compare them to my Noble Savants but it took about 2 minutes to figure out that the RE$2K does pretty much everything better than the Savant (except for the cable).


    BRIEF COMPARISON WITH RE800:

    I also have an RE800 here, which has so far received a lot less head time. There are some obvious observations though:

    -- RE800 would be pretty linear sounding if it wasn't for...
    -- RE800 is brighter, peaky in the treble (7k?) and prone to sibilance
    -- Sub-bass extension is there but in lower quantity. Also lacks the noticeable mid-bass hump of the RE$2K
    -- RE800 is weaker on detail resolution
    -- Easier fit due to different form factor
    -- Captive, flimsy cable looks like an RMA waiting to happen

    RE800 is for the treble-heads only imho. Still preferable to some crazy V-shaped iems out there, but sibilance is a big turn-off for me so it doesn't stand a chance.

    ========================================

    So, RE$2K is to my ears a winner. I've purposefully avoided commenting on the price as frankly I struggle to accept that any headphone should be priced above £1k, but clearly the market thinks otherwise so no point bleating on about it.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2017
  2. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

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    Have you tried them on anything other than the Jotenheim yet, such as a portable device? I've found I don't like my IEMs out of my Jotenheim. Also, how's the bass on them if you swap out the comply tips for silicone?
     
  3. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    Yeah HFM also sent their little portable so I'll be slapping some music on there at some point. I briefly tried my Sony Xperia Z3 but it could barely drive them. I'll also try some other tips, though Comply are generally my favourite by a long stretch. I suspect the bass is likely to be reduced with spinfits or similar.
     
  4. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

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    Is that the megamini or the supermini? Make sure your card is FAT32. They don't support exFAT file systems. I hope it isn't the meagamini, which is the one thing I've heard that sounds worse than the Audio-GD S19. Even the supermini mini has an odd sound that shouldn't be there, even though I kind of like its artificially holographic sound stage.
     
  5. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    haha it is indeed the megamini. I'm quite looking forward to hearing it now :D
     
  6. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    Listening to a few of my test tracks with the tri-flange tips. Bloody hell, that improves things, way better than with the Comply tips. Bass still extends low but is tight and just the right side of overblown. This is the problem with IEMs, they change so much with tips/insertion depth etc. Hard to get a handle on.
     
  7. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    As you go, please keep giving us an idea of how they sound non-EQ'd, but with getting the best fit and different sources.

    More on any spikes, dips, extension at both ends, and detail resolution, is much appreciated! I'm sure your take will evolve past initial impressions. Thanks!
     
  8. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    I'm interested to read what people here have to say about RE2000. This model and Susvara makes HiFiMAN related reads very entertainig lately. Oh, these prices.
     
  9. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    I've updated the first post of this thread with more detailed impressions / review-lite content from listening to the RE$2K for a few weeks.
     
  10. Mimouille

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    This is sounding exactly to my liking with some tip fiddling.
     
  11. MuppetFace

    MuppetFace Sultana of Seafoam Green - Moderator

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    Tried both the RE2000 and Susvara. Was impressed by the sound. A bit less so with the look and feel. Even less with the price. But I came away feeling like HiFiMan really upped their game big time.

    I even ended up getting a Susvara.

    Allow me an aside if you will:

    Outside of various Staxen (which I basically collect), I don't really have many fullsized headphones these days. That's because the PMx2 and ESP950 are so "down to earth" and "honest" in how they present music, I found myself becoming increasingly less WOWed by fancy new flagships. The Utopia, the HD800 S, the LCD-4, HiFiMan's own HEK... meh. Just meh.

    Last big WOW was from the Abyss, which was just ergonomically not for me as much as I wanted it to be. The Susvara has WOWed me, perhaps even beyond the Abyss in some ways.

    Now what on earth does this have to do with the RE2000? Well, I feel the same way about earphones now that I have the SE846 and W80. The RE2000 was impressive, but I feel like a bit more audition time is needed, as I was a bit.... distracted.

    It's definitely one of two flagship earphones that have WOWed me.
    The other is the Plus 5, which I feel is certainly not gonna be everyone's cup of tea.
     
  12. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    I had a feeling Susvara would be annoyingly good. Impressions when possible please!
     
  13. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    A pair just arrived. Oh, they are good indeed. Very good, that's a given. How good exactly? I don't know yet, past HE-1000 comparison I'll know more. For now I know that Susvara is surely up there with the very best cans known to me. But again, $6'000 for a pair of headphones is madness no matter how one slices it. My point is that no product of this sort should be this expensive. When I think what this money can do in regular stereo...

    In any case, once time allows, I'll drop several lines here.
     
  14. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    And as far as the RE2000 case goes, these better be good. In this multidriver loaded world RE2000 seem like a product that doesn't quite fit its price tag. Time will tell, I guess...
    |\/|
     
  15. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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    Thanks for that. The look and feel of the RE2000 worries me. I am vain in a way that I cannot enjoy ugly iems. The Plus 5 I sold, it was just too warm and thick overall despite its genius.
     
  16. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

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    I couldn't care less about how many drivers an IEM has, be it one or twenty, so long as it sounds good. Based on my impressions at the CanJam spending 30 minutes with the IEM, it's one of my favorite IEMs I've heard recently, regardless of price.

    My meet-based impressions of the RE-2000 impressions are certainly inline with @pedalhead. This thing sounded better than any other $2k range IEM I've heard, but I need more time with products in this category all around outside of a meet to form a solid opinion. My major concern with the IEM is the build quality. The cable feels cheap and I'm afraid I'm going to break something.
     
  17. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Yup, I agree. Luckily it's detachable and there's a room for improvement probably :rolleyes:
     
  18. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Not sure whether it's allowed to post links to reviews here, so I carefully won't. But the 6moons guy just finished his RE2000 review and he liked it a lot. He made some good points. I know his writings are polarizing, some people hate and some love them. But I bought one amplifier and one pair of speakers he awarded and I'm blown away ever since. I trust his judgement in general and I got a good impression on RE2000 sound signature after reading what he wrote.
     
  19. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    Looks like Srajan has joined the general consensus (so far) on these. I bet that article cost HFM a few quid, even if it is written in his usual metaphor-heavy flowery language.

    Anyway, who needs paid for reviews when we have SBAF ears on the case.
     
  20. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    I'd have a hard time laying down 2k on IEMs much less those made by Hifiman, given their (lack of) build quality reputation.

    It's too bad the re800 seems to be a dud - I'm still waiting for a neutralish DD iem that doesn't destroy the bank.
     

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