Well I was hoping to post my first impressions of my HE-6 late production 4 screw which I got yesterday. Unfortunately, it didn’t even last an hour before the right driver died… I have contacted the seller but he’s washed his hands of it, private sale, nothing I can do.
So, I’m here instead to ask for advice - what can I do to get these back up and running? New driver? Is there potential that something simpler has gone wrong that I can check? Until the right driver died, they were the best can I’d ever heard.
Confirm that it’s not the cable if you haven’t already done that. After that, you’d need to look at what else. The connector going into the driver, a cold solder something that can be fixed. From a likelihood standpoint an actual issue with the drive would be the least likely so spend some time exploring what the most likely things are. Given the fact that the grill is so open, you can even have a multimeter probe for continuity and voltage easily enough.
Thanks, guys. I swapped the connectors round on the headphone. Left and right signal coming through on the left driver, but zero on the right. Confirmed that cable/chain is fine with my HE-500.
I do have a multi meter, so I’ll go back up and check what’s coming through after dinner. So there’s a chance it’s just a loose connection? Is there anything else on the simpler end of the spectrum similar to that that it could be?
Most likely it’s a bad connection, if it’s not the cable, it will probably be at the connector inside the cup, then if it’s not that you need to trace that line to the driver.
It’s quite possible to destroy the driver, but that usually requires a significant DC offset from the amp or a very loud pop, and it’s not the likely the issue.
You can check there is some reasonable resistance from the driver once you get it open, it won’t be the stated impedance, but it should be in the same ballpark.
I’ve never disassembled an HE6, but on some planars it isn’t “trivial” because of the magnets.
If your not comfortable poking around inside the cups with a meter, find someone who is.
Thanks everyone for the help so far. So, I took the grills off, and then pads/screws out so I could get to the driver. I tested for continuity at each point. Everything looks fine until you measure across the driver itself (solder points where wire meets trace?). Not a good sign! I didn’t have the stomach to dismantle the driver on my lunch break, but I will later. Are there any more solder points past what I can see here, or is it just trace inside?
and adding to what @Polygonhell says, it’s not clear are you not getting continuity to the point on the driver where the wire solders? It’s not clear from your description. But you should be able to get from the tip of the pin on the casing to one wire and from both contacts on the casing of the driver to the point where they solder on the driver.
If you don’t then consider yourself lucky and that’s all you’re dealing with and not a driver issue.
And to add to the point, if it’s a broken wire (which can happen sometimes inside the insulator), you can sometimes actually “fix” it very temporarily by moving the parts.
And you can end up with the irritating case, of it works when disassembled, but not after you reassemble it.
If you have good resistance from the driver and the wires test for continuity, I’d run a signal into it on the bench, and verify it’s not working in that state, at which point you can start wiggling things to try and find the culprit.
Okay, got an update with some good news on the Audivana. They can be saved, you just need the right amp. Started listening to them with the Oor+Hypsos, and they were just all over the place. Female vocals didn’t have any body, low end was lacking, electric guitars were just…I don’t even know. Stage and male vocals weren’t too bad, but it was so hard to get past all of the other things that were wrong they were almost intolerable.
So, for the last several days I’ve been using them for standard media consumption. Just to have them on my head letting my brain have some adjustment before I gave them another chance. This time, I decided to turn on the EC Lunchbox and see if that made a difference. Yeah, absolutely made a difference. I’ve been sitting here for the last hour or so swapping back and forth between the Lunchbox and Oor making sure that I’m hearing what I think I’m hearing. Female vocals now sound correct, there’s some real low end, horns don’t sound like they are made of tin…I actually want to keep listening. Which I honestly didn’t think I’d ever be saying after that first session.
The Audivana still aren’t perfect. They do have some issues with sibilance that I don’t hear elsewhere. They don’t isolate well for being a closed-back. They have major wearability issues if you have a smaller head like I do, as even on the smallest adjustment they feel like they are going to fall off just sitting here. So lack of clamp is an issue. They aren’t nearly as bad as I first thought though, now that I know they just need the right amp.
Can’t really give them a rec if you need a closed back for the things that closed backs are typically gotten for, but if you have a nice, lush tube amp and want to give them a go? I can see why there are people saying good things about them now.
Well, looks like it’s goosed. Testing the impedance/continuity indicated this but I have to say, it broke my heart when I cracked it open and saw this…
I am currently a good few pennies lighter at the moment having spent all of my spare cash on this can, but if anyone comes has/knows of a spare HE-6 driver being sold, please let me know…
Doesn’t look like the hole goes through the substrate, so has to have been a thin part on the driver, acting as a fuse.
That’s usually either a DC offset from the amp, or a sudden very loud sound like a pop. What amp were you using?
It’s possible though most of the damage happened before you got them, and they were hanging on by a thread.
Your best bet is probably a wanted add on head-fi, but you’d have the very lucky given how rare they are at this point.
There was no pop. The sound just cut out. I was using a Kinki THR-1.
I’ve posted a wanted ad on Head-Fi, HFG and here. I have also contacted HifiMan inquiring about repairs. I understand how much of a longshot all of these options are. I am not hopeful but there’s nothing else I can do!
With an OG, if you’re trying to source a driver, you’ll want to know if it’s a 4 screw or 6 screw, and if it’s a 4 screw if it’s an early production or late production 4s. I think your’s is a 4 screw given the pictures, but I’m not sure if it’s an early or late prod (just saw you mentioned what it was previously in the thread lol). You’ll want to find a driver from a can from the right revision/production for it to sound similar enough vs the other working driver in your unit, so I’d suggest making sure to include that info in a wtb.
Hifiman won’t help you (I don’t think, but you might as well reach out just in case they can do something), they can’t make old drivers any more like they used to for the he6, the he6se drivers are worse and don’t really sound like the old he6 (they’re closer to the 6 screw in sound, but still not there). I’d say your best chance is to look for someone selling a he6 4s with a broken driver on one side and salvage it from that, it’s unlikely to find someone selling just a driver. Good luck on sourcing something hopefully
That’s tough, thank you for sharing. Hopefully sharing your grief with us lightens your load. Things happens and it’s one of the dangers we are always contending with when we buy used.
I guess it’s time for me to tell the tale of my (second) excellent experience with Hifiman’s customer care, and how thankful I am for it.
As some will have seen, reading my posts above, my OG HE-6 4SLP failed on me after an hour of listing, having just bought them hours before. Well, I contacted Hifiman, explained my woes and they looked after me. They were sympathetic to what had happened to me and offered me a range of solutions. One such solutions was a trade-in upgrade. I went for a HE1000se. I hadn’t intended to spend any more money on headphones after purchasing the HE-6, but I deemed this preferable to binning the HE-6/losing the money I had just spent on them.
I almost can’t believe Hifiman went this far to look after me.
