So, I recently went down this rabbit hole. My honest advice that you don’t want to hear? Return the he6se v2.
I went through half a dozen amps trying to power them until the right cup died. I honestly think you can do better with far less hassle elsewhere.
What did I go through? A90/d90, micro signature, two speaker amps, sp200/m200, xduoo ta-30… etc.
Now the list of headphones I like better that don’t need any of that: lcd-xc, drop ether cx, lsa hp-2, sundara (this one needs amping, but not to the same price level). I am guessing I would like the ananda more just because it has a lot of the arya without stuff I didn’t like from the arya. I did like the he6se more than the arya. I will give it that.
So, to answer the question, maybe the schiit asgard can do it. Maybe. The jot 2 reportedly can. And it is $500 with the 4490 dac right now. (I just ordered one)
There is an emotiva speaker amp that people like a lot with it. And you could pick any dac you like. Perhaps modius.
But $200? Return the headphone instead and don’t waste your time.
Thanks for the experience, I’m going to do a bit more research but may cancel the order. The feedback from reviews from most seem to really love this headphone once it has a good amount of power. Let me see what Adorama’s return policy is like. If it’s free returns, I’ll get it and see if I can make it work, if not, i’ll cancel. Appreciate the experience!
Edit: Adorama has a 30 day return policy with no restocking fee’s. I’ll give them a try and make a decision within that window.
Yea, that’s why I don’t want to buy from them. I own a 7 figure ecommerce business and deal with returns everyday. It’s no longer an industry norm to charge restocking fee’s, they are BS fee’s to disincentivize returns, especially with something like electronics that can be easily resold. We sell items that are not easily resold and do not charge restocking fees.
I own a ecommerce business and am very well versed in Ecommerce practices. Restocking fee’s are no longer a norm, they were used as a way to disincentivize returns. This idea that prices are low because they charge restocking fee’s is total BS. None of their competitors, that I’m aware of, with very similar products at very similar or lower price points (especially since they don’t offer free shipping either) charge restocking fees. This very website (headphones.com) does not either and offers free shipping.
I’m glad you believe that those business practices are fine, but I would rather give my business to a company who doesn’t.
That’s fine and fair enough - it’s up to the customer to go with their preferences, of course. My issue was that you were making it seem as though you were slapped with unexpected fees (“I only had it for about three days”); I didn’t make an argument for the legitimacy of those fees.
Headphones.com itself adjusted its payment policies to reduce rapid buy-and-return demo habits too. Schiit lives in the lower cost direct sales world and seeks to produce competitive examples in a wide range of categories. They are surely not the best versus the cost-is-no-object brands, but they don’t have “see our list of dealers” markup either.
I used to resent Schiit’s too-cute name and restocking fees too, but they are less costly for what you get, sincere about trying new stuff, and have up front policies. You can find much slimier companies in audio.
If you are vip 360 it’s 60 days and they pay return shipping. If not, it’s 30 days and you pay return shipping.
I am known as the king of returns. It took me a while to get over schiit’s return policy and order. That was also the issue for the m11 plus. I only keep the best stuff. And not a lot of things qualify for me. It’s amazing amazon hasn’t banned me yet.
Amazon is Amazing for testing stuff, I may grab the Arya from Amazon to compare as well.
So, what is the gear you ended up keeping in the end for headphones and Amps? I see you’re pretty tempted to get an HE 6SE V2 Again now that it’s $650.
In my opinion, if this is comparable with headphones in the $1600+ Range, it’s a steal. Even if I have to spend $400 on an amp, brining the total price over $1k, that amp will go a long way on other headphones in the future or my other current ones (Sundara and TYGR 300R).
I Purchased quite a few headphones and returned them when I was testing originally and ended up with those two. Both, I have been very pleased with although I do mostly use the 300R.
I think you should do this. My personal preference is the arya isn’t worth the money. This is purely subjective sound preference. Had no issues with it. It continues to be the most beautiful headphone I have ever heard. It just happens that I don’t want the most beautiful sounding headphone. Apparently.
Qudelix 5k.
LSA HP-2 Ultra
Dunu Zen
Blessing 2 Dusk
Fin. What I tried is a rather longer list. All of which is in various posts on here.
If, and only if, I have an amp that will drive it well. Not just drive it, make it shine.
Only if it fits your preferences. And, again, once you amp it, unless it is exactly the headphone sound you want, it cost more than something that could be better for you. I am all for trying it, but, a very wise person tried to advise me against it as a “first run” thing. They were 900% correct. Don’t start here. Start somewhere else. If it leads you here, go all in, you will love it. Otherwise: waste of time. (and potentially money). Man were they right.
I tried way higher than that and came away with a “meh”. I am honestly not sure the he6se could really do what people were saying it could do. I never got this marvelous bass slam or insane dynamics people talked about. Maybe I still didn’t pair it well. But honestly? my taste for headphones also isn’t inline with it. And I didn’t know that at the time.
I love the sundara. In fact, it is one of the two audiophile headphones that kept me coming back to headphones (blessing 2 dusk was the other world changer for me). IT is also the one that sent me down the wrong path initially. The sundara, or something similar to it, and I put all hifiman in that category, will return to my collection if/when I justify a desktop setup again. Whether it will be the sundara, ananda, arya or he6se (or even something else) will depend on the money available and other things I want to explore.
Why do you mostly use the TYGR 300R? What do you prefer about it?
Following a generous demo tour of the $4K Focal Utopia sponsored by this website, I decided I wouldn’t buy it or use it regularly. Despite its technical capabilities, the treble was way too intense. However, I do heavily use my now $1K original Clear.
Your hearing is unique to you. Your preferences are unique to you. You won’t know until you try, but cost is a weak predictor of satisfaction once you reach the HD-6XX price range.
I have the HE6se v1. They do need a couple of watts (2w) power to sound good. They do sing with some power, but there are lots of great options out there that are less finicky. HiFiMan stuff isn’t real durable (QC wise) either. I’d never use mine as a daily driver. Something from Dan Clark would make for a good traveler with a DAP. They need a little power, but nothing like the HE6se.
I work out of my home office so I have headphones on all day. The TYGR is extremely comfortable, light weight, has excellent imaging for its price point. And with a small amount of EQ, sounds awesome. It’s not a super detailed headphone nor does it have the technical capabilities of the Sundara, but it handles most generas of music very well and gaming on them is excellent.
I think I’m going to go ahead and cancel my order, I was curious about these but I’m not in love with the idea of having another amp just for these and with how heavy they are, I doubt they would replace my TYGR as my daily driver, so seems like a waste.
Thanks for the heads up and info. I’ll keep an eye out for something that will be a step up from the TYGR to work as a daily driver.
If IEMs work for you, that would be my recommendation based on these conversations. Easily amped, better tuned, no weight issues, huge bang for your buck and work anywhere for any purpose.
Easily get something with the tuning closer to tygr and clarity/detail of the sundara for less money than the he6se. Not super sure about gaming as I don’t do that.
For me it’s seasonal. During the winter, I seem to be able to wear IEMs indefinitely. But once allergies start kicking in, it’s erratic. And I can’t deal with “deep” ear tips (which sound best and have the best seal for me). In a best case scenario, they get itchy. But usually, they feel like fire.
So, I hear that. But that issue is the only reason I came back to over ear headphones. I also wear them 8+ hours a day sometimes. Though, weight has never been an issue for me. The heavier ones sometimes feel almost soothing.
Thanks for the feedback. I mentioned in the other thread but after all this, I ended up reordering the HE6SE V2. Sonically from the reviews I’ve watched and the frequency response graphs, It’s pretty much exactly what I’m looking for.
Going to see how the weight goes and test a few Amps to see what works best to power it.
If it was lighter and could be powered more easily, it would probably be my perfect headphone, especially at the price, but I will test and see how it goes for me. If I find myself still using the TYGR most of the time, I’ll return the headphone and amp.
My current setup is not bad at all, I’m just curious what the “next level” will be… Although this is a dangerous mentality haha.
I do think this would be end-game for me for headphones as the TYGR will probably still be my gaming set and the HE6SE for music. I will sell the Sundara if I like the 6se more, if not, they go back and i’ll stick with my current setup until a new headphone comes along that meets all the check boxes.
The Zen CAN willl be cutting it close for the HE6SE, even on balanced. It would be pushing it so I would not reccomend it, defo something more powerful is needed to get the most out of this bad boy.
Our Signature would be the next step up options wise that would be able to drive it from our lineup.
All of which is in various posts on here.