Hifiman HE-6SE

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Aug 22, 2018.

  1. bilboda

    bilboda Florida boomer

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    I built my adapter with parts from markertek, about $10
     
  2. dleute

    dleute New

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    i don’t “build”. Don’t have the time or patience currently. But I am aware that I could.

    In that vein, I won’t be “modding” either. I really need “out of box” spend my money options for better or worse.

    one day, I want to do some build your own amp kits. But, right now, in that genre I would rather just buy a new lego set and build that. ;). Just where I am at in my life right now.
     
  3. Ksorota

    Ksorota Friend

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    Have you also run the Vidar+Saga Combo? I am running Freya S + Vidar and love the sound, but their is an ever present hum when nothing is playing. It is very faint on the HE6, but on HD600/650 it is very present.

    Does the Aegir have a similar issue? I have tried swapping sockets and I think some of it may be electrical noise in the house. On HE6 its almost a non-issue and I keep hearing really good tihngs about Aegir and may want to make that jump in the future.

    I have run the HE6 through Flux FA-10 and it is a legit amp, but like you suggest, I would not go the full integrated route. As a desktop amp that can drive HE6SE, its pretty hard to beat since it works very well with high sensitivity phones as well. It is an amp on my short list because it can power just about anything and has a very engaging sonic characteristic.
     
  4. dleute

    dleute New

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    if not integrated, what dac would you go for with the fa-10? (Trying to get an idea of total cost)

    most of my unknown issues is with the company and product being so new. I don’t generally like to be an early adopter for technology I am not an expert.

    could your hum be lack of balanced between dac and amp? I had all kinds of ground loop issues until I switch to balanced.
     
  5. Ksorota

    Ksorota Friend

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    I am balanced from Ares ii into Freya S. The rcas going to the vidar matter more than I thought they would, but am using wywires blue currently. The kimber pbjs i was using previously were worse (no shielding).

    The hum on he6 is very faint... maybe I shouldn’t expect to use other headphones but I want the flexibility. Rag 2 is something I would love to try, but it’s on the high end price wise. The FA10 might actually be all i need, I just haven’t committed to buying one yet since I don’t really want to sell the current setup.

    For DAC I can easily recommend the Ares ii or even modi 3 to get yourself started, I’m sure the 3+ is even better with unison.
     
  6. dleute

    dleute New

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    oooo! Ares ii is r2r? Cool. Have you used the musicians pegasus? (I think that’s another r2r that comes up?)

    still more money than I want to spend. Currently I am thinking the he6se is not worth the amping cost. I would almost rather have the arya with a cheaper lightweight amp for the time being. Or even the sundara with my dx3 and keep trying headphones. I have not tried anything high end dynamic.
     
  7. Ksorota

    Ksorota Friend

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    Yes they are both R2R...I had a Bifrost MB w/unison prior and feel that the Ares II has a better tonality and richness to it that feels more natural. I also use a Modi 3 at work and although totally different in its design and slightly different in presentation, it does a very good job paired with GLMK2 and HD600. Not sure what is providing more of the sonic flavor in that setup, but its probably the GLMK2 (cap modded with GR power supply)

    For dynamics I can honestly say that you do not have to look far beyond the HD600...they are superb headphones with the right amp (consider tubes). If SS is your wish, the Focal Elex is to my ears a better sounding headphone than the much raved about Clear. I have tried many more headphones than I should have and HD600 HE6 combo is almost perfect.

    I have not tried the Pegasus, but if I were to step up I would stick with Denafrips and probably try out the Pontus. I am impressed by what Alvin at Denafrips is doing and have had some great conversations with him about how to proceed in setting up a system.

    HE6 will certainly put you on the path of constantly wondering if your amp is enough. Just be sure to live with something a few months before you consider changing. The HE6 needs power, but many power amps on the lower price range (Adcom 545 do a great job for example) I stepped up from there, and the difference is not major, but the Vidar gives more flavor. I hear that the Aegir is even more of full bodied sound and it makes me curious...the problem with HE6, lol.

    Keith
     
  8. dleute

    dleute New

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    I had one on order from black friday but cancelled it when the date slipped past the comparing headphones return windows. At the time, I also thought the he6se was "the way". Now I wish I kept the order. Stupid impatience. (not really a fan of drop so far either)

    I am seriously worried about this. I have enough problems with "ooo! I want to try tubes" and "ooo! r2r!" .... so on. Adding "ooo! more power!" seems like a bad idea.

    I have struggled buying into the hd* line so far. I haven't heard any, but every time I read reviews, I think, um? what's the obsession? But then, I thought that about the he6se before I heard it. So who knows.

    Could you explain the topping dislike that people seem to have here? My limited experience puts the dx3 as a far better product than the other amps I have tried. Now, that's all of 5 amps I think, but it is the only one that worked right out of the box. Literally, *zero* problems outside of not enough power for some of the headphones I have. I have *not* tried any stacks that sound significantly different yet. So that may be it. The attempt to do so was xduoo ta-30, and, well, it wasn't particularly different. maybe I just like the "wire with gain" sound?
     
  9. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    Here's the EQ that I'm using with the HE-6SE and the Pali pads:

    550 Hz | -2.0 dB | Q=2.0
    1750 Hz | +6.0 dB | Q=2.0
    3700 Hz | -7.0 dB | Q=3.0
    7000 Hz | -3.0 dB | Q=2.0
    8400 Hz | +3.0 dB | Q=4.0
    Gain: -6.0 dB

    I highly recommended you to try this EQ if you don't want to modify the headphones or if you don't want to replace the pads.
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2020
  10. dleute

    dleute New

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    I haven’t picked my EQ software for mac yet. What I have is a true pain in the butt to use.

    I can flip on presets from oratory1990 (and others) easily. I wonder if those presets are in a file format that allows me to create my own?

    so far, I have not liked tge results of EQ on any headphone. However, the oratory1990 for he6se was the best. But my amp can’t drive to loud enough levels with the EQ on. So, I don’t have real results yet.

    getting several amp options next week to try.
     
  11. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    To my ears and for my tastes, the HE-6SE sound really bad 'out of the box' without EQ. Even with my Exposure 3010s2.

    After applying the EQ, I can barely hear the difference in between my integrated amp and the Liquid Platinum.
     
  12. dleute

    dleute New

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    I actually may have discovered why I haven’t liked eq. Sound source may be using 10 band versions of eq presets not parametric. :( that may have changed in the most recent release which is why I suddenly liked the EQ on he6se.

    but, thus far, I have liked every headphone better pre-EQ.
     
  13. Huhnkopf

    Huhnkopf Friend

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    HE-6SE and Pali Pads is the worst combination that came out of Hifimankara. They probably made 50 billion of them and need to offload fast. Even the 6SE v2 comes with them. They are just downright wonky sounding.

    OG velour maybe less comfortable but the sound is far better. Also the good old Velpads
    Other recommendations are ZMF Auteur Lambskin, Ether Flow Angled Pads.

    Ditch the Pali Pads.
     
  14. dleute

    dleute New

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    any availability of any of these easily on amazon or other such site?
     
  15. Huhnkopf

    Huhnkopf Friend

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  16. dleute

    dleute New

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    I haven’t started paying attention to pads yet. So the sundara and he6se have the same exact pads on them by default?

    would you recommend those focus pads for sundara as well? (That’s an easy purchase as I am keeping one of these two headphones, maybe both)
     
  17. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    The FocusPad-A are recommended for the HE-6SE.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    You are in luck. Jot 2 came out. I heard an early prototype of Jot 2 (as did @ChaChaRealSmooth and @penguins). Damn that thing rocked and slammed with authority with HE-5 / HE-6. Only problem with that proto is that Vali 2+ was sounded way more nuanced. Obviously can't have a more expensive product be worse right? I kept telling Jason to put Continuity (Aegir output stage) in there.

    The release of Jot 2 so soon with the Aegir output stage was unexpected. Jason only lets me listen to the shitty sounding early prototypes and have me tell him it's not good enough before he gets them right. The final production Jot 2 amp should fit your planar needs. "Only" 6W into 32-ohms, but it's more than this really. I have not heard it yet, but I have an idea. I'll try to get one and review, but this will take at least a week and I will be moving from CA to TX this weekend.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2020
  19. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    FWIW - Just looked at specs. 4W into 50ohm (HE6/se happens to be 50ohm).

    To answer the original question of this thread: If I didn't already have the Cavalli Liquid Crimson already, I would have bought this immediately this morning after seeing purrin's status update and the specs + schiit's "aegir stuff" in a jot format. My only concern in my own set up would be that this will probably get quite hot and dissipate a lot of heat in case that's also a concern in your own setup.

    I know some "conventional" knowledge out there recommends at least 5W into 50ohm for the HE6 family and maybe more if you have mods that really decrease sensitivity for sufficient umph (summarized as slam, heft, fullness to sound, not limp, not tinny, etc.) and better / not undershot transients. However, without knowing what I was listening to at the time - yes, this prototype delivered "enough" power. Cannot comment on how much "overhead" is available or not for said mods as I don't know what mods were done on the HE6 (2 different ones) that I heard that day or how a stock HE6 would sound on this amp, etc.

    I say "enough" even w/o knowing what the prototype was at the time as I did try HE6/se (and for that matter LCD3 and EFO1.1) with several different headphone amps after in search of a good amp for planar headphones and many did not have "enough". Not that these were bad amps - I did it knowing many only had 1-2W at 50ohm (i.e. not enough), some had ~3-4W at 50ohm (half were still slightly under powered, probably depending on amp topologies, etc), the 2 others I did listen to at 5W or more were enough.
     
  20. bilboda

    bilboda Florida boomer

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    Oh Gawd help me, ordered... "The results? Jotunheim 2 now does 7.2W RMS into 32 ohms at 1% THD, up from 5W on the Jotunheim. (We rate it a bit less at 6W RMS, because that's how we do things around here.)"
     

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