Hifiman HE-6SE

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

  1. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    When I did the open back grill mod on mine (I literally cut out a circle from a wire mesh waste bin from the dollar store), I spray glued black women's nylons onto the backside of the grill. It's acoustically transparent as far as I can tell and does a perfect job keeping dust out.
     
  2. Clemmaster

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    I ran my HE-6 without grills for years and never had a problem...
    And this is not snake oil, it does enhance the sound.
     
  3. elwappo99

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    I purchased a few cables from China and found the wire was fairly stiff and the outer shell was hard (like plastic soda bottle hard). Made it pretty miserable and microphonic. Your tolerance for it might be different, but this stuff looks to be made of the same stuff.



    I've never heard of an issue with the open grill mods either. Lots of driver failures from people turning on the power amp at full volume, but not any dust or debris.
     
  4. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    if you’re going to do it this is how.

    but the HE6 needs damping behind the driver not open air bass farts.

    I don’t let any ortho sit open like that unless I’m actively working on them. Otherwise they get covered with earpads that have dust covers or I tape a piece of paper towel over the driver.

    do what you want but remember you were warned when you have a 1600$ vibrator ;)
     
  5. jaker782

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    Well, to help me sleep at night I do put a vinyl record dust cover over the headphones to help protect them. And with the current Adorama pricing, my vibrator was only $699 so I was good with swapping the grills!
     
  6. Armaegis

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    Mine is the opposite. Lots of front damping, but none on the rear.
     
  7. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    HE6 or HE6se?
     
  8. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Original HE-6
     
  9. Kernel Kurtz

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    Yeah AudiophileNinja makes legit cables. Bought a cable from him recently via Etsy. Needed a 10ft balanced cable for my HE5xx and the cheap one I bought on Amazon from China was horrible, but did not want to pay hundreds. Service and shipping was fast and friendly, price was reasonable, and it is a very nice cable, well put together with quality parts. Sort of thing I would build myself if I were not all thumbs.
     
  10. cameng318

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    You can go extreme with open grill mode while still have rear damping. That is to not only remove the grill, but also the... cup;) I made a 3D printed cups for my Hifimans that have rear cup walls as thin as possible. The wall acts like a quarter wave resonator that cancels out 2 kHz on all Hifiman. Most other planar headphones like Audeze and Verum just have a sheet of felt covering the driver on the rear side, so I don't know why Hifiman insisted doing this all along.

    As a proof of concept, I did the mod to my nearly dead HE400i, and almost revived it completely. Now the magnet side is facing my ears, which actually measures a smoother high frequency on my rig. While I'm at it, I also fixed the polarity reversal on them. The only thing I'm not quite sure about is mounting the 3.5mm connectors. They are kind of sketchy with wildly soldered wires, so I'm not sure how long will they last.
    [​IMG]
    I attached the sheepskin version of the Verum One pads with double sided tape and measured the response. The 2 kHz dip is nearly completely gone! The notorious 8 kHz peak on stock HE400i is also gone, but I didn't keep the data. The poor low end extension is just the HE400i drivers being shitty... They offer no advantage over dynamics drivers in terms of bass... The dip at 5 kHz seems to be the quirk about these pads, but I think they are totally worth it. I should probably apply some rear damping felt to bring doing 6kHz+ by 2 dB, but I don't care that much about the poor HE400i that I hated all along. Essentially I would do the mod to my HE6SE when I feel comfortable about it.
    [​IMG]
     
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  11. 7seven

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    Likewise for HE-560, stock grills seem to introduce some mild reflections. Though I also agree the light damping provided by grill's is important too, pick your poison basically.
     
  12. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    We’re talking about 2 very different headphones at the same time. I’ve never played with an HE-6 but it came stock with front driver damping if I remember correctly. The driver is built bright. The HE6se is not, it is dull as hell. Damping and resonance control mean the grill will have minimal effect. You’d be surprised how well ortho sound waves move through a grid. The Yamaha YH3 has one on the ear side and it does nothing.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2021
  13. roshambo123

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    Audiophileninja makes a nice cable, you just need to be aware that he does use paracord between the Y splitter up to the headphones. This is a trade-off durability v. microphonics. Periapt does the same thing and both audiophileninja and periapt cables are microphonic. If you look at the Senn cables they're bare rubber on these sections but they're also not microphonic. Unfortunately, durability sucks and I've had to reterminate both my HD800 factory cables as the rubber gets damaged and before long you've got exposed copper. 3 years of hard use is about as long as they last. Haven't tried the twisted style like Audeze and others use, that might be the best.
     
  14. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I can confirm with certainty that the original HE6se and Adorama HE6se V2 are not the same headphones. They basically sound the same stock so it’s nothing to worry about but in modding them the differences are obvious. Just thought I’d mention it since I heard it was sort of a rumor. But it is true.
     
  15. jaker782

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    Good to know and this confirms my suspicion. While I did not own both concurrently, I feel the 6se v2 is a bit smoother in the treble than what I recall the v1 being. I wonder if differences in sensitivity could be playing a part. Do you think the Adorama v2 is easier to drive?
     
  16. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    They’re the same in that regard at least close enough. The drivers are tuned different though. Probably a material change when they started making them for Adorama or change in manufacturing. The difference is significant once they are modded so that the diaphragm is moving as it should. I’m using different earpads and a different damping scheme on each. But they have similarities of course. Similar tonality and anyways stock there’s not a substantial enough difference for it to be meaningful. Basically buy either one unless I’m going to mod them... more on that later. ;)
     
  17. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    This is what happens when you let 2 HE6se’s get too close. Jellyfish sex.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I would love some feedback from HE6se V2 Adorama version owners on whether you find the headband comfortable or if you wish it came with the suspension “hybrid” headband. I find the V2 headband hurts and I have to keep moving it to a new spot in my head. But I also like the simplicity and it actually has some swivel play in the headband unlike the suspension one which keeps it rigid with no swiveling.
     
  19. wolfskie

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    I've only had mine for a few days, but I agree on the headband - it seems well padded, but actually starts hurting fairly quickly. I'm considering some sort of headband cover for it.
    As for suspension headbands, I've had mixed experience - love the ZMF suede headband, but couldn't really adjust to the leather strap on the mrspeakers aeon, ended up sticking dekoni nuggets on it.
     
  20. cameng318

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    I like the HE6SE V2 headbands more than those on HE400i and HE560 (I snapped both of them because of my wide head). However, I do feel the headband hurts my klingon ridge. The padding doesn't have the notch in the middle like Sennheisers. HE6's heavy weight makes the matter worse. It doesn't hurt when I lay down though. Hifiman still has a long way to go to nail the ergonomics. There is at least 100 grams unnecessary weight on the cups.
     

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