HE 1

All the S-tier mentions in the video: Audio Technica W2022: "it's a comfortable A tier for me, if not bordering on S-tier" \[Listener\] HiFiMan Arya Unveiled: "Once you fix that \[5khz with EQ\] I'd almost be tempted to put it in S-tier" \[Goldensound\] HiFiMan Susvara OG: "This is S-tier for me" \[Goldensound\] Sennheiser HE-1: "I am pretty happy putting this in S-tier" \[Goldensound\] "I think it goes without saying that if ... we had EQ available to us, like there would be a lot more like S-tier \[and\] A-tier type stuff, that we could do with a lot of these headphones." \[Resolve\]

[Sennheiser HE-1](https://headphones.com/blogs/features/sennheiser-he-1-the-headphones-that-might-make-you-cry?srsltid=AfmBOoosv21TK7_H_MjKQUTy2dv_b1SB1hid2TFaU3es3gH6vI1fFUXr) is my go to over the ear running headphones. The tubes sound great while running and I keep them in my hydration vest. Stay Hard

Neither will my HE1's unfortunatly.

Focal Utopia is the best I've heard. HE-1 is probably better.

After many years in the hobby I can say that those two cans achieve something that is just incredible for my ears - delightful natural tonality with great technicality. It is rare thing to hit this point in audio. Very often it’s one or another. Previously I owned Hifiman Arya Stealth and Hisenior Mega5est. Both had something, Arya - Great imaging and soundstage but weird midrange and too sharp highs, Mega5est - tonal perfection but nothing more for my ears. With HDB 630 I get the beautiful tonality, especially sweet sweet midrange and really solid imaging with not wide (it’s still closed back) but really deep soundstage. ANC is also solid. I had the pleasure to listen to great closed backs like Dan Clark Audio E3, Noir X and Crosszone CZ - 10. HDB 630 is the best tonality in closed back a have ever heard and the technicalities are still there. With the EQ you can play and add 2k dip for soundstage and other tricks. Hedd D1 is the holly grail of organic tonality and planar/electrostatic like transients in a dynamic driver. This makes them natural and extremely fast sounding. Incredible detail and wide soundstage without increased treble. Sennheiser HE 1 is the only one headphone that had the same feeling on my head and they cost mega dollars (don’t get me wrong HE1 are still the best thing I’ve ever heard). It’s been some time since I heard Focal Utopia but I don’t remember them being as detailed as Hedd D1, although staging was a little better in Focals, for my ears. These carbon drivers in D1 are a huge leap in our hobby. There is also another great thing about the them, they are easy to drive. No expensive dac/amp needed. Apple dongle will drive them beautifully. These two make me smile and happy about the progress in our hobby. They are still expensive but achievable. We can get peak audio in lower midrange prices. What are your opinions? Have you heard them? Have a good new year!

Well I haven’t heard electrostats from Stax, only HE 1 and the Mega5est. But I lived with a lot of Planar Hifimans, Audezes and iems. Comparing Arya stealth directly to D1 I can hear that quick nimbleness and mist like quality to the treble in both, chimes and high hats are tactile in either one. The difference is, that to my ears D1 has that nimbleness and suddenness in whole hearing spectrum - bass, mids and highs. Arya has that only in deep subbass and treble. Getting back to e-stats, don’t get me wrong HE 1 is definitely faster than D1, it just unreal with that. But let’s be honest a lot of transient details in planars and e-stats is just elevated treble. After EQing those cans the shimmer is still there but it’s not that exaggerated and extra. It’s a very subjective hobby and that’s great.

The Sennheiser HE-1 are great

That bass impact feeling isn't achieved by adding bass, though. As far as I'm aware, once you have enough bass to deliver the "umpf" underneath, the "physical" hit is actually more of a treble feature. But it's not always as simple as just boosting treble. You need the right relative balance between multiple smaller frequency ranges to get that feeling of bass impact; I'd go into more detail but I don't know the specifics, either. Psychoacoustic effects play into this, too. Axel Grell mentioned this at his talk in Munich (although he talked about it with regard to general tonality): If a headphone has thicker pads and clamps more strongly against your head, it will sound more bassy as well as more impactful in the bass compared to a looser headphone that measures the same. You can't EQ these things. It should also be noted that a lot of reviewers do mention dynamics (although some people use that term to refer to dynamic range), but if you test it with 70s rock music the kick that supposedly feels very dynamic is fairly different from the kick you'll find in modern electronic music, and thus may not translate perfectly. Personally, when I test headphones, I test a wide variety of genres from baroque and classical via jazz, rock and pop (and fusions thereof) to electro and related genres. It's not like I only care about impactful bass – but I absolutely want to test for it, just like I test for all other aspects that define how headphones sound to me. As a final note, I'd like to say that, when I first tried the HE 1, the "physical" impact of the bass was actually the most impressive thing about it to me; and this is saying a lot because the HE 1 is impressive all around. Yet, in the reviews I've seen at least, this isn't really talked about much, so maybe we really do need a reviewer who puts more weight on this.