Hifiman HE-6SE

I've actually spent time with the original Pro iCAN which I owned for a little while like...4 or 5 years ago? Definitely a good option for harder to drive headphones if you don't want to try out speaker amps. All the features are cool, very swiss army knife like.

In other news, the iFi Zen DAC Signature V2 (that's a mouthful) is definitely better than the D10S in combination with the AIYIMA A07 + SEv2. Though, at $300 retail takes it too far out of the affordable ballpark if you are trying to be as budget conscious as possible. Used pricing would be worth a shot for sure. I'm curious about the modi multibit also, and Schiit is supposedly coming out with a V2 soon, but I'm not sure how much it will cost ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Ok fellas just picked the V2’s up for the $399 Adorama special. I have read through a lot of threads and curious what the best mods and pads are for these?

I was able to secure a new Audeze yoke kit and have the carbon fiber headband.

I also ordered the Arctic Cable honey comb grills. What is everyone doing to protect them from dust? And are there benefits to using the honeycomb grills or do the stock work better?

 

I had the opposite impression from the short time I owned the Pro iCAN to pair with HE-6. It has some nice bells and whistles for features, but sounded boring and wasn't nearly powerful enough to drive the HE-6 to satisfying levels. I had an amp shootout with friends at the time, and the iCan was voted least favourite by everyone.

 

This headband cover works nicely for addressing headband hotspot discomfort.

 

I had the Pro iCan for a short while too. It certainly got the HE-6 loud, but I wouldn't build an HE-6 system around it either. It's fine if you're playing with a bunch of different cans. I would have been fine with it had the amp been cheaper with fewer bells/whistles.

 

I know these things love power and I am currently powering via balanced with a RME ADI 2 Pro. Thinking about picking up a Jot2 or a Lyr+ and was wondering if anyone has both and which they prefer with the HE6SE V2?

 

I personally would only consider a speaker amp for the HE-6. One of the better amps I've heard for the HE-6 was at @E_Schaaf's place. I think it was an old Adcom 555 (300 watts per channel @ 8ohms). Lots of them for sale second hand. Maybe consider one of those if you're looking to use the HE-6 a lot?

 

For me the Lyr+ does not drive the HE6SE V2 effectively. With the Lyr+, I found that I needed to sometimes almost max out the volume with the HD6SE V2 and this pushes the amp outside its comfort zone resulting in some harshness and flatness. Now someone hearing the HE6SE V2 for the first time on the Lyr+ may think it sounds good and has plenty of volume. However when you switch to playing the HE6SE V2 on the Ragnarok 1.5, it is then clear that the Lyr+ does not drive them even close to their potential. Now when driving Arya Stealth or the HE1000 V2, the performance on the Lyr+ is much closer to the Ragnarok 1.5. Both the Arya and HE1000 V2 sound great on the Lyr+. And I actually prefer the Lyr+ over the Ragnarok 1.5 with the Senn HD800S.

There is a fairly recent Youtube review of the Lyr+ which says the Lyr+ can drive the HE6SE and I just shook my head.

I would personally try the Jot2 over the Lyr+ if I wanted to drive the HE6SE V2 with a desktop amp. The balanced connection of the Jot2 may be a difference maker. If you can handle the size and cost, then the Ragnarok 2 is what I would get. The HE6SE V2 lights up like a Christmas tree on the Ragnarok 1.5 using balanced connector. Love the HE6SE V2 on the Ragnarok!

 

I would second this, the best audio experience I've had with any He-6 is out of a speaker amp.

Also, In terms of value, you will find a speaker amp that does a good job with the He-6 for much less than what it would cost to find a headphone amp that performs similarly.

 

My experience with the He6se V2 = They can be fun because you can have something to buy for a dopamine burst at 400$ and maybe fix it up a bit, not that that really alters the need for a huge specialized amp, and eventually it will stick out like a sore thumb in your collection as you are trying to find an amp that works with it while also working with your other headphones. Unless you are getting somewhere between 6-8 watts and more into 50 ohms the sound is truly lacking and you are chasing the volume and finding the bass fading. Then you may get desperate to boost some EQ to see if that compensates for the imbalance between the treble and the bass as volume increases. Now, if you happen to own a wonderful speaker amp (Rag 1 or 2, etc), then by all means. They sound pretty mediocre on many amps. That's why they cost 400$. I'm glad I sold mine for 300$ and now I don't have to be looking for ridiculously powerful amps. The only headphone that's worth that is the Susvara imo. These don’t fit into headphone collections easily and act as outliers. I can see building a setup with them, as I did (with a speaker amp) but I think the LCD-X is a lot easier to deal with. Btw - the Jot 2 and the Burson Soloist do not power the He6se fully, both suffering from the issues as previously described.

 

Thanks fellas! I guess I will start looking for a speaker amp.

 

Why didnt you get a Rag 1 or 2, etc ? Did you just not like HE6se that much?

Is Jot2 not enough if you listen at low volumes? Im talking low-gain (from balanced) at 9-12 o’clock and often further pre-amp attenuation on more dynamically compressed albums. I have an open mind to upgrades especially a beefy speaker amp because it would be fun even if the sound quality jump is small.

edit: organize posts and elaborate

 

Jot 2 always sounded out of balance and straining with the Jot 2 - high gain required but the amp couldn't keep up. Just my opinion. LCD-X is great in comparison on the Jot 2 by a landslide. Emotiva BasX A2 mini sounds better than Jot 2 on HE6se (to me, jumpers installed) for similar price but isn't ultimately a great sounding amp for headphones (aside from He6se).

 

Has anyone tried the Hifiman EF400 with the V2’s? I didn’t even know that that existed until I saw some posts on it on another forum. R2R dac and looks like 4.4 W into 50 ohms.

 

I remember this reviewer specifically praised it for the HE6.

minute 12:20 >

 

I randomly watched this video a few weeks ago, and this reviewer didn't like the EF400 FWIW. I don't really know anything about this reviewer, though.

 

From amps that I've sampled...

In the $250-ish range, any old amp from the 80's to 90's is fine as long as it has a half decent lineage. If it hurts your back lifting it, you're on the right track. I had a preference for the old tank style Yamahas (P-2###). On the compact side, I liked the NAD D3020 or the older Nuforce Icon Amp which sounded great for something that's the size of a paperback.

In the $500-ish range, I like the Bryston 2B (or the B60 integrated; I still have one of those maxed out with the dac card, remote, and upgraded outputs).

In the $2000-ish range, my favourite was the Benchmark AHB2 (enough so I had monoblocks) and it's one I still regret selling. I currently have an SPL s800 which is a fine amp. A bit more body and thump.

 

I used to use a Quad 405 to power mine. I found that its more rounded presentation was a good compliment to the incisiveness of the he6se. I remember I liked it way better than some Parasound amp I tried with it but can't for the life of me remember which one.

 

Well got the Audeze yokes and carbon fiber headband on, seems a little lighter and definitely distributes the weight better. It was a pain trying to center the screws on the yokes, I may have to figure something else out as my ocd is kicking in. Definitely a nice upgrade imho, worth the investment when the phone was 399.

The only place selling the yokes new that I could find was abroad, luckily our dollar is catching up to the pound.

I did pick up the Arctic Cable hex grills although they sent the wrong color, what is a good dust protector to place behind them?

I also picked up the Lambskin angle ether pads from DCA. Do they always send two sets of pads? Got a rectangular and round set. I have not attempted changing the pads yet, are the rings glued into the stock pads?

 

@cameng318 did you ever follow through with doing an HE6se driver transplant? Would you mind sharing more info and pics on your cup design or sharing the stl files for others to try?

And for that particular HFM driver did you try experimenting with moving the single sided magnet array from ear-side to outside? I think the OG HE-4 had the magnets ear-side but newer single-sided magnet HFM now place the magnets on the outside afaik.