Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Highs: The treble on these is perfect in my books, with the right balance when it comes to presence, falling perfectly in line with lows and midrange. Hifiman, from my experience with their products, has always taken care to ensure that the owners of their products are made aware that they’ve just purchased a premium product and the HE-6se is of no exception. There is a bit of emphasis in the lower area, but it’s minor and doesn’t influence the overall signature too much. Of course, that was a bad comparison, to put it differently, when I was using DX220 with AMP7, which was the highest power module, together with Sundara, I would mostly crank the volume at the maximum possible, and still have a great time, so you get the point.
On the other hand, LCD-MX4 feels better built, and looks a bit better, although both are pretty minimalistic headphones. I really appreciate when a manufacturer takes the risk and asks for opinions by sending out their products for free. This all comes at the cost of the headphone sounding a tad bright and cold, but this works really well for rock and metal, and you never feel like your music lacks presence. The construction comments are accurate; built quality pales in comparison to, say, my Focal Clear MG Professional headphones. Vocals are slightly recessed on the HE6SE, even on my LCD2C I have got fuller, sweeter and slightly more lifelike vocals.
They debuted in 2010 as one of the first models in HiFiMan’s offer and one of the first headphones of the revolution. In fact, it is pretty much as good as a dedicated amplifier like Master 19, but DAC+ has a different tonality, warmer, more romantic, more mellow and the detail, while it is there, feels less like it is being pushed onto you. There were headphones, Dacs, Amps coming out of that factory faster than the reviewers could keep up with. About the HE6se v2, I drive them with the Schiit magnius and like it, though I could use a little more headroom as I am usually at 11-1ish listening volume.
Lastly, I’d rather have a subjectively ugly cable that works properly than a pretty braided or rubberized cable with horrible microphonics. Just writing this section on design and comfort, which took about half an hour, had my scalp begging me to remove the headphones. I tried the Muddy Waters song My Home Is In The Delta, and the mentioned happened, but there was an interesting thing. While it is hard to find real faults in the HE6SE’s sound, it is also difficult to highlight any strengths.Now, the sound signature I personally favor is a relaxing, warm and sensual sound that just drifts me away in the emotional experience of the music being performed. Like the Sundara, the HE6se V2 presents a very natural sound signature, but at the same time it constantly and relentlessly shows off that it is more dynamic, engaging, clear, nuanced, and resolving. The HE6SE v2 weigh in at 510 g, which is not negligible, but HiFiMAN chose a headband that is not suited for this kind of weight.
It sits in just the right place for it to be audible, yet not obtrusive; it counterbalances the bass effectively without becoming harsh or shrill. Fang Bian, the CEO and founder of HiFiMan has stated that the SE needs 2W at 50 Ohms to make it sing. The Arya Organic doesn’t need anything like the amount of power the HE6SE craves, it is happy with a fairly standard DacAmp. For all fairness, DAC+ manages to do exactly that, and although Mytek are better known for providing some of the most interesting DACs on the market, when they set out to implement a headphone output in one of their DACs, they managed to impress everyone with the large amounts of driving power, excellent control, punch and dynamics. No headphone I've ever heard really has the life-likeness of the HE1000se; the note quality is highly textured and unique, but HE6se V2 has a larger, more open stage.
The “superfluous superficial shit”, using your own words, is also what protects your headphones when they are shipped to you. The build quality is quite great on both, but Thror uses real wood, real metal, and ends up looking and feeling quite a bit more resilient, and like it could take a much harder beating than He6SE. It is slightly lighter than Audeze headphones and slightly heavier than Focal headphones or HiFiMan’s own new line like the Ananda/Arya/HEXV2/HE1000. Overall the two headphones are pretty much comparable, but they follow completely different tuning philosophies and this is what should guide the choice. The use of shiny dark blue plastic doesn’t help with the lack of that premium feeling that people (justly) look for in a product that costs almost 2 grands.
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