HiFiMan Edition X HEX v2 Measurements and Quickie Review

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Nov 9, 2016.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    First some obligatory photos:
    DSC_3203.JPG
    DSC_3204.JPG
    DSC_3205.JPG
    Quick Comments:

    1. The earpads are slightly too shallow / too small front to back. My ears don't stick out a lot, but when the headphone is worn on my head, the back of ears hit the back of the pads. This is not particularly comfortable.
    2. The photos above show the tangled cable. This is intentional. I wanted to show how difficult it was to deal with the cable. The cable has a mind of its own. It coils up like medical tubing and it looks and feels cheap. The person who decided this cable was a good idea must have been smoking opium. Dealing with this cable is extremely annoying. Life's too short. I don't have time for this shit.
    3. HEX is more sensitive than the HD650. Orthos have come a long way in terms of sensitivity.
    4. The sound seems to have changed from V1. The HEX that I measured (http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/hifiman-edition-x-hex-measurements.870/) seemed to sound softer and more boring and sleepier. These seem to be somewhere between the HEX v1 and HEK in terms of speed and resolution. Definitely more energy than the V1. Unfortunately, the HEX also gets a bit of the HEK's splashy treble timbre. Without a direct comparison of the exact units, I could be full of shit, but my memory on these things tends to be pretty good. This could easily be chalked up to revised diaphragm tuning, production variances, or pads.
    5. Overall a neutralish signature with good speed and good resolution. Some issues with treble as mentioned above. Sounds light and effortless as opposed to weightier and tactile of many other headphones (HD6X0, HE-6, HE-500, etc.).
    Measurements in a bit.
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2016
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    HiFiMan Edition X HEX v2 Frequency Response
    0db = 100dbSPL

    HEXv2FR.png
    The frequency response seems more ragged with the V2, with stronger dips and peaks. Could the new pads provide less of a seal and less damping, or is the diaphragm tension looser?

    [​IMG]

    HiFiMan Edition X (HEX) V2 Distortions in Percentage
    HEX V2 L HD.jpg
    HEX V2 R HD.jpg


    HiFiMan Edition X (HEX) V2 CSD Plots
    HEX V2 L.jpg
    HEX V2 R.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2016
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Measurements posted. In summary, I do like the sound better than V1. More technically proficient. Less soft and compressed compared to the specific V1 sample I measured. The bit of that HEK treble splashiness and timbre, and 8kHz peak can probably be reduced with a layer of TP over the driver, but I am not going to bother. The distortion and jaggy mids can be heard by those familiar with this behavior (the original HE400) The current retail price of $1400 seems rather stiff. With a better cable, better ergonomics, better materials, lower distortion, stronger magnets, and better quality, perhaps the asking price might be OK.

    Thanks to the mysterious Friend who loaned these to us for analysis. I believe this was his fourth replacement unit or something like that.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2016
  4. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    Ew at the cable, looks like someone's about to have their catheter put in. Any thoughts on the new pad facing material?
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The pads look, feel, and smell rather nice. I think they squish in more. I don't remember my ears touching the back of the the original HEX V1 pads.

    The cable was a bitch to roll up and put back into the box. Every time I touch the cable, I think someone should be shot, or at least fired from their job. The box is a bitch. The way the lid closes on the lip of the rest of the box requires some force and a snap. I ended up snapping the tips of my pinkies under the lid while trying to close it. Ouch! I should have known to be careful upon seeing the owner having difficulty closing the box. Little details like this matter for a $1500 product. HiFiMan should take a lesson from MrSpeakers or Focal headphones. Yeah, dealing with this has made me kind of cranky.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2016
  6. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Huh. the v1 measurements look cleaner.

    I had the v1 on loan when it first came out and thought they were ok but not enough of a jump from the 560 to justify the price. I was almost going to try out the v2 a month ago at a vendor event in town, but the guy before me smelled like the worst kind of otaku stereotype so for sanitary reasons I skipped over it. I tried the 1k v2 instead, which was an underwhelming plasticky clinky toy for the price.
     
  7. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    :eek: Distortion seems to almost hit the levels of my speakers with the 4" FE83En widebander. Even worse, the peaks are actually well above 1%, but the D3 is much lower.

    I wonder WTF the many weird resonances in the mid-band with the HFM planars mean and where they come from.
     
  8. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I highly suspect it's the plastic enclosure and grills. You tap those things with your fingers and they literally *ping*.
     
  9. heyitsrobert

    heyitsrobert Friend

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    I hope I'm not too mysterious, lol. I'll text you tomorrow am to pick them up again! It's definitely not my HD800, but I like it. I have the HEX v1 in house and this is a solid improvement. Sound seems a little better, with more impact and a little more energy.

    s/o to Marvey btw. Had an awesome conversation with him at the meet (among others). Great dude overall!
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2016
  10. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    I don't know, but if it's the enclosure, shouldn't those resonances be more consistently at the same frequency for left and right? The wavelengths seem way too large for driver resonances, but I think I've noticed that when the ortho wall is at a higher frequency for one driver, the weird resonances in the midrange will also be at a higher frequency. The same thing was also the case with the HEK that I measured
    (measurements here: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...area-measurements-by-serious.2518/#post-72575)
    Idk, it all seems weird. It's definitely not a good thing to see such a jagged response in an area where almost every other open phone is generally very free from resonances, especially when there are matching distortion spikes.

    Maybe it's a very weird pad/driver interaction thing, but pressing on the phones while measuring didn't seem to change these resonances.
     
  11. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I dunno... a small change in tension/residual stresses can easily shift a resonant point up or down on the enclosure/grills.

    Or it could be bad breakup nodes on the driver.

    Or maybe we shouldn't be looking at it as peaks and it's just a massive thick wall of energy.
     
  12. Clemmaster

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    Lol, that cable look like the cable that shipped with the pre-order HE-560. There is NO WAY to make it flat xD

    They changed the cable for production HE-560. Maybe they felt it wasn't ergonomic enough? 2 years later, they release it in a new condom-like sleeve...
     
  13. mrweirdude

    mrweirdude Asshole lowballer - acquaintance

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  14. TwoEars

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    Please take some more time to elaborate on how you really feel about it.
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's lack of magnet strength or single sided magnets. The spikey distortion characteristics in the mids might not be noticeable to most. I certainly didn't initially pick up on it with the HE400 (not i version) which has similar characteristics. The Ether has a similar jagged frequency response, but to a smaller extent.
     
  16. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    So, is this like the V1 where they start to sound like crap when you really turn up the volume? I assumed that was due to the distortion characteristics.
     
  17. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    You have until Jan. 20 to deport that thing
     
  18. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophileâ„¢

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    I like how you described the cable of hex v2!
    But IMO your photo did not well catch "pinky" (and rubbery) feeling of the cable. ...Of course I don't like such feeling..

    Weirdly, I liked the frequency area of hex v2 where harmonic distortions were the highest. To my ear, it was very lush and full-bodied one.
    Particularly when I compared hex v2 with he500 (cleaner in terms of distortions), mid of he500 sounded drier to me.

    Not quite sure whether my preference is strange, or whether either my ear or brain was broken. Maybe both? :eek:
     
  19. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I actually like this particular pair more than most of the HEK's I've heard. 80% of HEK technicalities with 30% of the HEK's treble weirdness.

    Sorry, the business interests already locked down an indentured servitude, I mean an H1B visa for this one. We'll be assigning it SQL monkey duties.
     
  20. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

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    I've had my pair of the Edition X V2 for about 3 weeks now, so some impressions...

    First, these sound very different from the HE-500's I'm coming from. Anyone that has HE-500's knows they have a somewhat dark sound, in your face lush mid-range that can almost sound electronic at times, and so-so bass (it's good, but sort of one-note at times too). The HE-500's do have a sense of space, but the presentation is often an in-your-head experience surrounded by a small bubble of space, mostly left and right.

    Okay so these Edition X V2's immediately impress on the comfort front. They weigh much less, and where the HE-500's felt almost like a chore to wear, these mostly disappear. On the downside though, they just don't feel or look like $1200-$1300 build quality. Understood that the argument is most of the cost is in the drivers, and that's fair enough, but yea, they feel kind of cheap. Of course the goal was to keep the weight down, so again there is a valid reason why, but when you pay this much there is something to be said for a sense of 'feels like it'.

    So when I first tried these honestly my impression was 'BORING'. It's not they there doing anything particularly wrong either, it's just that I had grown use to the impact of the HE-500's. If it matters any I am driving these off a Schitt Lyr 2 amp, Schitt BiFrost Uber DAC (and waiting for my multi-bit upgrade to arrive soon).

    It could be that the headphones needed some time to break in a bit, or that my brain needed to adjust, but now three weeks later, my impression has changed, for the better. They do have that Planar Magnetic sound, that quick attack and delicacy, but what makes these stand-out is that nothing in particular stands-out. The bass, mids, and treble (while rolled off less than the HE-500, are still rolled off), just blends together. What I really started to notice then is when I listen to music, where on the HE-500 I was listening for moments of impact (i.e. I was listening to the headphones), on these I just listen to the music, and forget about the headphones.

    I do think the sense of space (i.e., sound stage) is larger than the presentation of the HE-500, though still mostly an in-your-head experience, but here too, I find myself forgetting the headphones and just listening to the music. No it's nothing like a LIVE experience, and also these X V2's simply cannot play as loud as the HE-500s without distorting, but they play loud enough at a comfortable level.

    The ability to make me forget about the headphones, and focus on the music.... keeper for me!
     

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