HIFIMAN HE1000 Stealth Magnets Version Open-Back Hi-Fi Planar Headphones

Just wow! Extremely comfortable and really good sound

Living in London I am blessed to have the opportunity to book a demonstration in store (no, not at Canjam, where the noisy crowd create conditions that are too poor for critical listening). I took my trusted HD800S with me. The store had the new EF600 amplifier ready for the demo, which took me 3 hrs. I started with the most expensive unit, the Susvara. This is a highly revered model which is fairly hard to evaluate because you are always left with the doubt that the amplifier wasn't up to the task. Some owners drive these out of speakers amplifiers with a special connector and, in dact, this may also be the cheaper way to drive them as you do not need a high-end speakers amplifier for this task, while for headphone amplifiers you would. No doubt the Susvara sounded convincing but switching to the HD800S and listening acoustic Jazz I didn't think I was missing much. The Susvara is a bit more detailed but not enough to justify the price and the amplification hassle. Moving on, the HE1000SE was next. Very interesting soundstage, not as wide as the HD800S and Susvara but surprisingly more holographic and convincing. Now you are no longer sitting in 30th row in a large auditorium, but very close to the musicians and with the extra involvement that this entails. Ok, I would definitely choose these over the HD800S. I compared the 2 in many songs and in none I preferred my old trusted Sennheiser: I can tell that technology caught up and they are no longer the ultimate tool even for orchestral music. It does not hurt that the Hifiman has also a bit better bass, not evident when listening Classical but onvious when moving to Jazz, and I also did not notice the 6k Hz peak that the HD800S are known for. Fantastic headphone: at that point I saw myself leaving with them. Should I even try the cheaper HE1000 Stealth? Waste of time? Well, I had time and thankfully I did. The HE1000 Stealth can be described as the ultimate HD800S: for me it fixes all the weakness and, importantly, by doing so it is no longer the one trick pony that the HD800S is. Perhaps it is an exaggeration but I have onky recommended the HD800S to classical music lovers: it was designed for that and it does it supremely. The HE1000 Stealth is the first headphone with a wider soundstage and with added depth than the HD800 and HD800S. Yes, for me also this record no longer belongs to Sennheiser. The remarkable difference is how chamaleontic it is. Put it with more modern music and the bass suddenly comes hitting and the headphone becomes very involving, even more than the HE1000SE. I do not listen ekectronic music but fir the sake of the test I tried some Blank & Jones and these impressed: I could actually keep on listening beyond the test period. Jazz is inceedible with these, far more detailed than the Sennheiser and likely on par with the HE1000SE. And that was enough for the HD800S: surclassed by the rivals, I put it back in its case. The debate was now only between the 2 HE1000 models. This took me a whole hour. Overall the differences are 2: soundstage width and bass quantity, and in both areas the Stealth is preferable to me, while costing considerably less. The HE1000SE has more soundstage depth, resulting a bit more enveloping. It is slightly more composed in its excellence: it is more of a Rolls Royce while the Stealth is sort of an Aston Martin: still elegant but not betraying the sport car essence either. The quality of bass is on par. I tested some tracks of Nenad Vasilic and Dietr Ilg, my favourite contrabass players, and could not pick a winner. But in electronic music you can easily hear that the Stealth has a bit more impact. If you thought the LCD-X had good, unbeatable bass (I did), be ready to change your mind: they got beaten. With electronica I found it even more striking. The choice for me was the Stealth and still now, 3 months later, it never ceases to impress me. I own many other headphones and still use them but none gives me the chills like the HE1000 Stealth can. I also have bought the Arya Stealth and Organic later on. The both can't match the resolution and soundstage width of the HE1000 and in my view in particular the Organic is not worth the price because too close to the HE1000 Stealth in this aspect but not in performance. I also found bizarre the name choice: in audiophile terms "organic" is used as synonym of natural or analog sounding. Well, the Arya Organic turned out to be by far brighter than than the HE1000 and even more when compared to the Arya Stealth. I am 53 y/o by the way, if it sounds bright to me I can't imagine how it will be received by younger ears who may throw some heavy metal on them. So, yes, in my view this is the current best way to spend your headphone money if you listen acoustic music and possibly not only that because, as I said, the have highly impressive bass when called for.

These headphones are fantastic for certain types of music. The detail is sublime. The separation of each of the components of the music is second to none. Each of the layers are sent through your head which brings a smile to your face. The spacial soundstage is amazing. The bass and midrange are the best I’ve heard. My gripe with these is the higher frequencies can become overbearing. I found these very difficult to listen to for more than 20 minutes without getting fatigued. It’s such a shame, because they performed perfectly well with most types of music. However with dance tunes and cymbals etc in abundance, I found them way too bright. Also, being open backed, you can hear external sounds which can spoil the enjoyment.

Provengo da Grado, e svariate IEM anche planari, ho cominciato con le HiFiMan Sundara Close Back che sono molto buone e che utilizzo ancora, e poi sono finito con queste... stufo di cercare di migliorare la qualità di ascolto per vie intermedie. Il punto è proprio questo, prendi le HE1000 e poi ci si può mettere, quasi definitivamente, l'anima, le orecchie ed il portafogli in pace.... Le ho provate sia con Mojo2 ma l'abbinamento migliore è con il Diablo 2, dinamica, trasparenza, scenario, timbrica, tutto da brividi continui... sono analitiche senza pietà, ciò significa che una registrazione scarsa vi farà storcere le orecchie, ma con i brani prodotti ad un certo livello c'è da rimanere basiti. Per esempio ho riascoltato, che era tanto che non lo facevo, Telegraph Road dei Dire Straits ed è stata una esperienza unica, veramente da trance, chitarra cristallina che si percepisce muoversi nello spazio, batteria che a tratti esplode con una dinamica mozzafiato, insomma non riesco a spiegarlo bene, difficile da immaginare se non lo si ascolta dal vero. Sono cuffie quasi definitive, che possano accompagnare nel tempo e per tanto tempo momenti meravigliosi di ascolto, e le consiglio per questo. Suggerisco di utilizzare un cavo e ampli (o DAC) bilanciato per assaporarle al massimo, ovviamente la sorgente deve di essere di alto livello, certo non sono da collegare ad uno smartphone. Buon ascolto a tutti!

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Very good sounding and extremely well designed headphones. Best at this price range.

Son excelentes muy buena su calidad de sonido cómodos

I've had my pair of Hifiman HE1000 Stealth headphones for months now - and without hesitation these are the finest headphones I have ever owned. For comparison I currently own the Arya Organic, Audeze LCD-X, and the classic Sennheiser HD650. In the not too distant past I have owned the Arya Stealth, Fostex TH-X00 Ebony, and Beats. I listen to many genres of music, but the one's I listen to the most are retro synthwave, rap, rock, pop, and classical. These headphones sound amazing listening to any of these. I'll explain why: Retro synthwave: these headphones have the most accurate, tightest, lowest extending sub-bass I have ever heard. They don't thump the hardest, yet they DO thump, but the bass is so tight and extends so deep that many songs take on a totally different character than say with my Audeze LCD-X - which womps in the mid-bass, and has good sub-bass, but nothing like these. For reference I have a +12.5 bass shelf on these and they can easily handle 15 or more, but for overall musical balance this is the maximum where everything sounds great, and rarely do I feel lacking. Yes - I am abit of a basshead, and these satisfy me. It's the difference between two Kicker 15's ported and 3 10" JL Audio W3's in sealed. If ya know ya know. Rap: pretty much the same reasons previously listed, though most rap doesn't go as deep into the sub-bass, but these have superb vocals and you can really appreciate the texture of a rapper's specific voice. Rock: Stringed instruments sound extremely realistic on these. Vocals are sooo good. Drums - lovely. Clean bass guitar lines - check. These aren't as lively or energetic as the LCD-X, but the imaging, sound stage, detail, and clarity of these is even better, and the LCD-X are superb when EQ'd well, so that's saying something. Pop: vocals, clean presentation of multiple sounds and instruments. Sufficient liveliness and energy while retaining precision in the music. Classical: the sound stage on these and the imaging - superb. The better the music was recorded, the better the sound stage will present itself, and the more accurate the imaging will be. Stringed instruments and pianos sound wonderful. Bass is so clean - smooth, tight, and accurate, or deep and booming depending on the music and the actual instrument. Treble is slightly bright, but not fatiguing. Slight airyness to the sound - love it. These are my premiere sound stage and imaging headphones. For movies with epic and classical sound tracks, or wide open spaces - these are the bee knees - word. They accurately reproduce the volume of sound so well. If a scene depicts and person speaking in the kitchen while the camera is in the living room, you will know they are speaking from a distance. As they come closer to the camera the sound increases accurately. If someone is speaking behind a door or in another room - that's exactly what it will sound like. If you happen to enjoy ASMR - these will deliver the tingles! I really can't fault these headphones. For the price they are an incredible deal, especially considering they used to cost well over $2000. They are every bit worthy of their price tag. I have ZERO buyer's remorse. I can't have a home theatre setup that would satisfy me due to neighbors - so investing in high end audiophile headphones (with a quality Amp/Dac and free online equalizer apo) was the route I chose. I am thoroughly satisfied with this purchase and would give it my highest recommendation. They sound good out of the box, but as with many Hifiman products, a little EQ can really turn these beauties into something pretty incredible. As a minimum I'd recommend the stock sound with a +5-7 decible bass shelf at 115hz. Happy listening!