Pretty well mimics my conclusion. I do wonder what it would do on a phenomenal dac, but that money gets you some pretty phenomenal chains for Shang or sus that may well compete. I realy wish we could get after market energizers for He1 like we can for he90 tbh. The driver seems to be seriously holding up the setup where it is, not the electronicss
Jazz trio may work fine, but id avoid orchestral. In terms of what modern stuff works, Iâd say basicaly everything. Paramore, randy Travis, and adelle all were awesome.
It has analogue inputs (bal and se), USB, coax RCA, and optical inputs.
I feel like there could have been so much more potential in the HE1 if they didnât try to reinvent the wheel in sound AND focus vs the HE90. Really to me sounded like the HE1 is something thatâs just seriously more targeted toward a wealthy consumer rather than a true audio enthusiast. I wish they put more of the budget into the sound instead of the looks/package, wish they didnât consumer tune it (harman), and wish they made something that exceeded the performance of the HE90 instead of something that fell short. Literally could have directly re-released/recreated the HE90 (if possible) and I feel like nobody would have complained lol.
If it could have been a HE90 II or HE90s or something that just improved on what they already had, with a more no nonsense and especially not proprietary energizer setup, in my mind theyâd have a winner and actually a potentially good value too depending on what they priced it at. The original HE90 + HEV90 was what like 13k in 94? Basically 30 grand in todayâs money, and you could buy another HE90 for your V90 for 6k so 14k or so for the headphones in todayâs money, thatâs basically really similar to pricing for the shang system and shang headphone only. If they could hit that price point with a new one while even just making something as good as the HE90, it would actually be something that could have decent value in itâs space already. And if they could exceed the HE90 would be even better of course.
60 grand for the HE1 is just an extremely hard sell in my mind. You absolutely can create a balls to the wall absolutely top tier chain that can step all over the HE1 in most all aspects in my mind for the same price, although not as much consumer/layperson bragging rights as the he1, and not as compact/pretty I guess (although personally Iâm not super partial to the look of the he1 anyways). And thatâs 60 grand for the system alone, not counting the cost of an actually good digital frontend youâll really be wanting after the mediocrity of the internal dac, so add like 10-30 grand extra there, now thatâs basically letâs say 80 grand all in, really just making it an increasingly losing battle for the HE1 against what that money could buy for a different headphone setup (and honestly thatâs probably more than youâd really want to spend on a headphone setup anyways). You could look at this from a used perspective, sure some used might exist, but youâre going to have to jump through hoops to get them, and theyâre not going to be discounted much in the end, especially compared to most other gear youâll be buying for a headphone setup. Really if youâre even considering an HE1, you probably arenât considering it used, because money is no object and youâre just looking for a luxury item to impress your friends and flaunt your wealth, while still at least being better than most other headphones. Or youâre just ignorant and havenât heard something of that price level, and just want to get what most reviewers/redditors call âthe best.â At least thatâs how I see most of itâs buyers, but I donât know, havenât bought one and lived with one myself, but I can say that most people that I know whoâve heard it feel similarly about it as I do lol.
The original HE90 system was absolutely extremely expensive for itâs time, but you genuinely got what you paid for in sound (especially when there werenât as many competitors in that performance range, if any), and imo the fact that the HE90 still stands basically close to or at the top today is a testament to that like 30 years later despite having competition now in that class. Itâs just really disappointing the HE1 doesnât live up to what it was trying to replace, is 2x the cost of the original, and is kinda in my mind bordering on lifestyle/form over function considering the cost
This isnât to say there is no sonic merit to the HE1, just listening to it suggests otherwise, itâs already far ahead of most headphones out there, the problem is though itâs exorbitant cost for what youâre getting, you either really be getting an absolute steal on one price wise (extremely rare), or really valuing form over function, otherwise I just donât see how it makes sense. Or once again bragging rights, or perhaps you just want one of the closest to harman measuring headphones and youâre just insane, but who am I to judge if you know what you want and know what youâre getting
Reason Iâm ranting so much is because Iâd have really liked to own an HE90 or something on a similar level from sennheiser without having to own an HE90 (and deal with the scalping in price and SOL if it breaks/fails), but unfortunately for me after multiple demos, thatâs not how the HE1 turned out lol
And you didnt invite me? I thought we were friends!? </3
This is a very late reply but I have been thinking about this recently and want to share some insight I gained.
Iâve been playing with EQ on my 2-channel and what Iâve learned has made me rethink my encounter with the HD800s. Maybe the mismatch between BF2 and vio was not so explicit as I thought but partly due to distortion because of the bandwidth limit being exceeded with my EQ adjustment.
Roon has an option to show error when its distorting, so playing with that after I heard it on the 2-channel, I was surprised how easy it gets distorted by only adding a small bass shelf. So to compensate I had to lower the total volume by 3db to enable a 3.8db bass shelf. Iâm guessing now that I had the same when testing the HD800s and wish I could go back to try it again.
Iâm currently using a HEKv2 and its overall a better daily driver for me but the HD800S sure can do some cool tricks that I kinda miss sometimes.
Interesting. I use peace and you can adjust the overall level there and it shows if it gets close to clipping. The 4db shelf for me doesnt get close but you can take down the level either way. It also doesnt represent any distortion from the driver, that will need to be all your ears.
Also the bf2 is a bit bombastic with the bass at times.
Im not entirely sure if this is what you were saying or not, but IMO, the âproblemâ with HE1 is that it is fundamentally a consumer product and not an audiophile one. Its extremely clear that this is sennheisers 959 IMO (technically amazing, and absolute record breaker, but honestly, not what a lot of more classical audiophiles are after in terms of system layout and interaction).
Honestly, from what ive heard I could 100% see HE1 (with a much better dac) being an amazing compliment to a shang chain, but yah, even at âused pricingâ (not that there are basicaly any used sales to go off of) you are at the very tip top of conventional shang chains (say 3ES Elite/GC/Viva STX + shang + cables). Now, my honest gut feeling is that it probabaly competes at about that level, but I have no doubt in my mind that shang will keep scaling while HE1 is just locked in outside of tube roles (and no guarantee that will even work)
Pretty much exactly what I was saying lol
While I havenât had much time on it, my thing is that I really donât think itâs there. If it did compete at that level, Iâd likely cut it more slack, I just donât find it remotely where it should be given that cash. Sure you can bolster it with a nicer dac but thatâs even more added cost is the problem
Youâre saying that with the internal DAC? I donât see how it competes unless you use a high end source into the amplification//headphones
No. I am going off of dac â he1 VS dac â 3es â Shang (though Iâm making a lot of geustimates since mine is obviously not listenable right now to see how either responds to a big Boi dac)
Ok yeah that makes more sense then and goes back to my point - hard to justify the cost for just the amp and headphones considering the competition.
Iâm not sure if I am viewing the He1 way more positively than you or Shang way more negatively 
Iâm lucky to be in a place where I can kinda compare at ~30k for the system. New pricing (it just jumped to 70 btw) is batshit. Itâs only at used where it realy becomes tenable at all imo, and thatâs with a good dac. I am quite currious what tube rolling will do for it though. Tjose JJ tubes realy held the aic back a tier or two (He1 and aic botb use jj rebrand 12au7 stock for tjose reading) and tilting the entire thing more linear with soemthing like g73r would be fairly welcome. I could also see it litteraly just not working (as in channel imbalance or something wierd) though since we donât actualy know how the tubes are run
Just wanna say, this is easily tbe single coolest interaction ive ever had with someone in the industry online
Short but sweet video. He touched upon the internal DAC and using an external. Also compares it to a Susvara setup (he didnât specify, but I believe his setup consists of a Trafomatic Primavera connected to a Rockna stack (Wavedream+Streamer)).
I think the fairly poor (at least in the absalute totl space) depth seperation of the he1 should have been mentioned a bit mlre but overall i agree with his takes in general
Will be currious how @orrman thinks of his takes
I definitely would like to hear one some day. It sounds like something Iâd enjoy being full-bodied with excellent speed for transients.
In general I think his preferences/impressions align closest to mine of all the YouTubers. I always chuckle when he drops his âletâs hit some eardrumsâ line. Dude loves music and I respect that.
The biggest downside to open-backs is the way in which your environment can affect the sound response. Since sound naturally bleeds between the headphones and your surrounding space, this means the headphone sound and your room sound can interact
I mean, maybe if you stick one side of the cup right against the wall, but that statement seems like a stretch lol.
In any case, Iâm quite curious how these sound. Anyone getting them?
Edit: forgot thereâs an hd600 thread⌠Feel free to move discussion there
Are there good quality HD800 male to 3.5mm female adapters out there?
I have some dual 3.5mm cables Iâm fond of and have good utility for collection. The HD800 connector is silly too me - much too grippy. Would love one good quality adapter I wouldnât feel guilty about throwing in them and never touching that connection again. Got anything?
This guy makes nice adaptors, small and solid builds, reasonable prices compared to the big names, very easy to work w/ and if any issues he will make things right. 