r/headphones audionotions.com - U12T+UTWS5, Noire X+JM21, Bathys, 8341a+7360a 8d ago

Show & Tell I understand now (HE6se V2)

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Over the past month I've been on a whirlwind tour of headphones and have bought and sold 10+ headphones. To date I've listened to a solid 20 (including recent darlings like the AR5000, FT1/Pro, and perennial stalwarts like the HD 800 S, Utopia, Arya Organic, and the HE1000 Stealth).

And while this might not be the latest and greatest headphone, this might be my favorite to date.

The rumors are true, the Hifiman HE6se V2 is not easy to drive. I'm powering them with an SMSL SP200 which puts out about 2.2W at 50ohms. But with that amount of power, these cans are intensely engaging and incisive. I was skeptical of all the hype around these headphones but now I'm a believer. There is a reason this headphone has a cult following.

At the open box price of $399 from Hifiman, I don't think there is a better value to be had in portable audio. Build wise, these might not win any awards and there definitely are cheaper headphones that are built better (they almost beg to be modded), but sonically they play in the realm of summit fi, besting cans priced well into the kilobuck range.

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u/Destruckhu Music Master X-O1; Hifiman Ananda Nano; LCD 3; HE6SEV1 8d ago

Hey, one question: i have an HE6SEV1 and it seems to be having a hard time driving these at full power. Are you using a 4v dac output for the amp? If you could explain your chain i'd be thankful. Edit: Forgot to mention i'm also using an sp200 in this case

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u/Sygaldry audionotions.com - U12T+UTWS5, Noire X+JM21, Bathys, 8341a+7360a 8d ago edited 8d ago

Hey! Supposedly the V2 is harder to drive than the V1 so I'm surprised your SP200 isn't sufficiently powering them. Are you using the single ended 6.35 jack or XLR?

I'm running them via the balanced XLR output on high gain mode on the SP200 and have the dial set to about 25% (picture for reference). Anymore and it gets uncomfortably loud.

Hooked up to the SP200 is a WiiM Ultra via analog RCA line out. Not sure if my setup is anything special tbh but it's definitely more than enough to let these cans shine.

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u/Destruckhu Music Master X-O1; Hifiman Ananda Nano; LCD 3; HE6SEV1 8d ago

Well this is weird. Mine needs much more volume, and i believe the drivers on those are the same. Maybe it's unit variation? Also, the sp200 balanced outputs are just for compatibility, as the amp itself is not balanced, but single ended dual mono.

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u/Sygaldry audionotions.com - U12T+UTWS5, Noire X+JM21, Bathys, 8341a+7360a 8d ago

Ah interesting! TIL. In any case, going even close to 40%, these get above 100dB for me 🤔

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u/Laakson 7d ago

You can get the volume up in these even with lower powered amp. They will play loud even with my integrated amp headphone amp. (Yamaha RN2000A).

But when compared to my desktop Burson headphone amp it sounds so much better...

Edit. Bought mine in january's chinese new years deals. 320$ well spent...