HIFIMAN - HE6SE v2

Hifiman He6se v2!!!! god damn these sounds soooooo freaking good!!

My closed back Sony MDR 7520. Not the most transparent, not the best bass, pretty narrow soundstage but easy to EQ and drive with my Qudelix 5K. Decent noise isolation, too. I’ll be taking it with me on an extended tour through Asia and Europe. The Hifiman HE400i comes a close second. Pretty neutral and easy to drive. (My Hifiman HE6SE v2 sounds remarkable but it’s too hard to drive with anything portable)

350-400 you should have HE6se. Nothing touches it in that category. Need to add Tungsten to the expensive category.

This guy’s got it right. Personally I’d find a pair of used Elex if you want to try Focals; they’re basically a super 6XX with bass. Very little will sound “better” than the Arya at this price point. I prefer the Meze 109 Pro and the HE6se V2 over the Arya, but I wouldn’t say they’re objectively better.

Awesome collection! I never tried the ZMF’s yet, but my favorite right now is the HE6se with EQ in the bass. I’m also approaching 13 years in the hobby, definitely agree with you it’s about the journey not the destination. Endgame is what you are currently enjoying right now.

If mid timbre and no EDM is your thing: Senn HD-600, OTL amp, Schiit R2R DAC (all used saves money) If you want some dynamics/bass/all around: Refurbed HFM HE-6 SE, amp with at least 2 wpc@50 ohms (if lots of bass EQ make it 6 wpc), same DAC as above, really needs some PEQ to max those.

Fun can w too much bass and treble for me.  HEK Stealth and Arya U both better as is a refurbed or used HE-6 SE or SE 2.

I mean... I also like collecting headphones, but you're better off buying 1 really nice high end pair of around 1k. Ever since i got my he6v2's and modded them i've been using my others much less. And luckily it was only 400 discounted at the time when it has an msrp of 1800... Crazy shit. You do need a strong amp tho, but no need to spend close to 1k for enough power. The ef400 xlr output has more than enough. Anyways... Yeah i'd advice on getting something great over multiple good ones. Same cost, more pleasure imo

If you listen to edm or hip hop, i'd keep it, but that's just me. Not that it sucks for other genres. It's pretty amazing for everything imo, but you've got other headphones that can deliver in those roles.

You think it underperforms? Brother it originally sold for 1800 and only went down in price over the build. The he6se sounds amazing regardless of it not being the og. I got the v2, with some mods.

Have only heard it at shops, so take my memory with a grain of salt. The arya's a bit brighter. Also has much more soundstage, when comparing stock vs stock (mines's modded as i mentioned) which is the eggshape hifimans specialty. I would say it'll do very well with songs where you want to hear the openness of the room. The bass is quite nice in quality (precision and speed instead of boomy), but not as nice as the he6. Bass quantity (loudness) is about the same, as they both don't really have roll-off. Resolves similarly to the he6. The difference wouldn't be big. Haven't tested the imaging much sadly, but i hear it's good. It's also much easier to drive compared to the he6. Eq's well is what i heard. Great for any music that likes to sound airy and precise. The he6 is more in your face, lets say, like a sundara compared to an edition xs if you've heard them. It's basically a sundara but maxed out to resolve like a 1k+ headphone would. Every note has a certain weight and intensity to it. The tonality is very neutral, with nice sparkle when listening to finger style played acoustic guitar. Bass (especially when eq'd) smacks you in the face like no other open back does that i've heard yet. Soundstage stock is quite meh and less than my 300 euro r70x has, but shouldn't be very different from a hd600 i think? It needs modding to get to it's full potential oddly enough. After a grill swap to open them further, and a headband attachment it gets a lot more soundstage and comfort. Imo not worth a buy if you're not willing to mod bc of the bad comfort, but once you do they become so good. The mods are easy too, so that helps. But even in stock they will definitely give you that wow factor that you have when first listening to a mid range pair. After getting used to them i've started to notice the grain of my r70x, when those were the best things i've ever heard before, lol. Overall, the arya is a safer buy if you're not sensitive for treble. But after modding i think the he6 is more to my tastes. I listen to many genres, but also a lot of edm and hip hop, so i love this bass and intensity. It's really subjective tbh. It's air and sparkle vs punch and intensity. Hope this was informative :)

There are no perfect headphones. Honestly, there aren't really any exceptionally good headphones, either. Technical capabilities are all that matter and EQing to your personal target matters more than any amount of stock tuning. Whether or not a headphone can handle being EQ'd to your preference is pretty much the last thing in the way, for example you can't get any good bass out of a 6XX or HD800s, it's simply not possible. I could be content for life with my modded and EQ'd HE6se v2 and Shangri-La, but that's still 2 headphones, and while my modded and EQ'd Shangs might slam harder than a stock Focal Utopia, they still can't slam like the HE6(which slam hard enough to snap a Focal headband on their own lol).

Just because he daily drives an XM5 it doesn't mean it's that good or you won't notice a difference with other headphones, I daily drive a Sony MDR-1A which is basically entry level Hi-fi with the old sony house sound and they are the most comfortable headphones ever made but as soon as I switch to my AKG-K702/Hifiman Sundara/Arya V3/ HE6Se it's not even close, they in a different league altogether.

I like my LC2 Closed for metal, but less with my Arya stealth or HE6 SEv2 Electric guitar specific, some of the AKG lineup have an amazing guitar sound with proper amplification (i own the K240 MKII and K712 Pro).