HE1000se

To be fair, after trying Meze I can only say that they're just mid af for sound, but 10/10 for build quality and comfort. I definitely prefer my HE1000se over the Elite.

I own he1000se and susvara, and i use he1000se for gaming. You can hear players crouching in Fortnite with them.

Think you get a different experience as you start to move up the price point for headphones. Not a better experience. If you have the HD650, the next headphone that would make sense would either be a planar and if you need a closed headphone the open box DCA E3 (\~$1700 open box) would be my choice. Otherwise if you want an open planar and use EQ consider the Arya Organic, HE1000SE, or the LCD-X or 3.

Stealth V3 was better especially for gaming than all \~20 other headphones i tried for 2-4 weeks each but then organic immediately beat it by a mile, especially in imaging and soundstage (with EQ all headphones) and i think organic is where you have the last good price increase that actually yields enormous changes. Then i tried HE1000se, and it just perfected everything for me. Imaging in V3 in the front angle was bad in games, sides were fine, Organic fixed it and with HEKSE i hear things literally noone in my team hears and when they hear it later they dont know where it comes from yet. I give so many more sound comms now because it feels like i went from being deaf to having hearing Try the organic, for me it was only \~55€ difference to V3 and it is so much better. https://preview.redd.it/m5m5rne8bzvg1.jpeg?width=8160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52352ad36446a112e4ccacff4dc7829ec5e235fa

Good skip, Organic is a straight upgrade to V3 I didnt try Unveiled, but from all the reviews i found, HEKSE is simply better overall, HEKU is more detailed but to a point where its getting to be too much if you catch me. You can find a lot of opinions on it vs HEKSE and for my use case (competetive gaming and enjoying music secondary) i dont think i will find something better than HEKSE. Might try HEKU for a month at some point tho just to see

Nice! I finished my testing phase a short while back, with an even bigger selection of headphones and possibly a more scientific oriented way of testing, like blind imaging tests in games, and this reveiled something about V3 vs Organic that i never saw anyone say (because 'gaming' headphone reviews online are often kinda subpar and not very thorough) except one random comment on a yt short. And that is: the imaging on the V3 in your front field of view (estimate about mayve 60-90 degrees) is extremely bad. If you directly look in a direction lets say footsteps are coming from, it is very hard to place them exactly, height distance etc. When looking somewhere and hearing something to your left/right, this issue did not persist. I tested extensively for this and found it to be very very true. Also did blind testing in private matches im various games (especially finals because you have a lot of dimensionality and possible positions for enemies) and the Organics FULLY solved this issue. Organics are, for the money, probably the best headphone you can get, bang for buck currently for gaming. You didnt talk EQ, i think both need EQ but especially Organic, but the Soundstage is definitely wider on Organic and Imaging is noticably better, by far. I then tried HEKSE and found my personal endgame, but Organic can easily be engame. Enjoy them https://preview.redd.it/0letfl097hwg1.jpeg?width=8160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de3d02280a8719dd39012224ae5d570c48fd4a00 !

Hey! As always, i absolutely hate the mechanism to change pads on Hifimans. Its horrible lmao So for sound, it did change a little, but as i am neither done with my main EQ nor did i find the change to be significant (which lines up with the frequency changes Dekoni gives for these, they are the least impacting pads they have) i wont waste time on that part. In the end you have to Eq either way for your personal best experience! What i will comment on is quality, seal, comfort and how it changes clamp Quality seems superb, which i genuinely expect for almost 100€ pads tbh. No faults, they look good and are evenly stitched/glued. No complaints The seal got better! They are extremely soft, and thus they get pressed just that tiny bit more against my head making a seal i already found to be very good on stock pads a little bit better, nice! I liked the clamp force before and it feels slightly softer now, as they are a little bit closer together thus clamping slightly less They feel nice, the extra softness is a bonus and my hope is that they are as breathable as they look for our upcoming summer I will spend this weekend hopefully dialing in a final eq and i will certainly keep them https://preview.redd.it/mjgzhrae45xg1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41d5810407c3d4393949ac8e165b776e701d54c0

Dont underestimate HEKSE, thats where my journey ended personally. I also experienced the fatigue on Organic, though just barely noticable after EQ. On HEKSE i have zero complaints about genuinely anything

HE1000 Stealth. Last night it painted a picture that no other headphone in my collection could match. In ARC Raiders I spawned near a Raider cache, which has a subtle whirring & ticking audio cue. The sound is easy to miss, especially if it's raining in game since the white noise masks this whirring & ticking. The spawn glitched and I didn't have video, just audio for a while and I couldn't move, only turn. So I took the opportunity to A-B some of my favorite gaming headphones. Wearing the HE1000 Stealth, the direction and distance of the cache was crystal clear. As soon as I put on the HD490 Pros (which are highly regarded for wall-hacking abilities), the cache's audio cue was mostly drowned out by the white noise of the rain. I could hear its direction faintly. But it seemed very distant and veiled. The "shhhhhh" white noise of the rain dominated the sound field and sounded more like a sound effect than actual rain. I was surprised how close to my head the sound was since I had considered the HD490's to have a nice soundstage and imaging. However the rain wasn't nearly as spacious as with the HE1000. As I turned around, the HD490 did give an excellent sense of left, left-center, center, right-center, right and a good sense of behind when I had my back to the cache. But I was shocked how much clearer the sound was with the HE1000. Then I tried my old R70x. The whirring and ticking was a bit louder relative to the rain sound than on the HD490; however as I turned the sound would almost immediately go from left to right and right to left. It was almost impossible to discern when I faced the cache dead on. Again I was surprised because the R70x had long been lauded for its excellent imaging. Then for grins & chuckles, I tried my beautiful Focal Clear. Immediately improved dynamics was evident but I was dismayed by the relative lack of soundstage. I could hear the cache more clearly, but like the R70x, its sound would almost immediately go from left to right and right to left as I turned, but never clearly forward. That reminded me I used these initially with ARC Raiders due to the game's excellent sound design, but switched to the HD490 because any time I heard a Raider cache, I'd have to zig-zag like a lunatic to find it. Eagerly I put the HE1000 Stealth back on my head and WOW! Now I truly appreciated the incredible holographic deep, wide, and tall stage with spot-on timbre. Absolutely stunning immersion. I could practically hear every raindrop. The HE1000's layering is first class. Now the cache's whirring & ticking was no longer blended and smeared with the rain's white noise. I could hear it as a distinct sound source cutting through the rain drops. Simply amazing. By now the glitch resolved so I had video and was able to move. I turned and ran directly to the hidden cache. Found it immediately. With the HD490 I would have immediately turned in the right direction but question its distance and either walk slowly or potentially run past it. With either the R70x or Focal Clear, I'd have to zig-zag my way there, wasting precious time, drawing attention, and staying exposed. The HE1000 Stealth is a true game changer. Furthermore the ARC of ARC Raiders are mostly flying death machines, so verticality is huge. None of the headphones above come even close to the height or depth of stage of the HE1000. For example, when hiding in a building from a Rocketeer or damn Firefly, hoping to sneak pot shots from a window, the HE1000 BY FAR gives me the best idea of where the flying enemy actually is. Other headphones got me killed. Now I can patiently solo a Rocketeer without taking damage. The HE1000 Stealth is indeed a game changer. P.S. The HE1000se layers even better than Stealth due to its thinner diaphragm and has a bigger soundstage in large part due to its treble emphasis. But I was concerned the treble emphasis would get fatiguing during stupid long gaming sessions. Plus I didn't mind saving $700. Also too big a soundstage can exaggerate distances. This is why many elite gamers tried the HD800s and don't like it for FPS where distance cues are as critical as direction. P.P.S. The Arya uses a thicker diaphragm than the HE1000 so it will not layer quite as phenomenally. I tried them, but it had a blatant driver mismatch so I returned them. HiFiMan has spotty QC, so I would avoid their cheaper models, even if the deals are so so tempting. Plus if you're like most of us here, you'll keep chasing that endgame headphone, so why not just cut to the chase with the HE1000 ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯