Hey fellow He6SE enthusiasts! I just have to say that if you’re still using those crappy-ass stock pads on your 6’s, you REALLY owe it to yourself to find a suitable upgrade. I just mounted a pair of Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads a few minutes ago and just cannot believe how much this improves these headphones. Well worth the money in my opinion, sonically, and it makes a huge improvement in the whole, “I spent how much on these and they still feel like cheapo Chinese-made Fisher Price toys??” dept. The harshness of the highs is definitely tempered a bit, revealing a tad more lushness in the mids (which was my previous, biggest complaint). These are still mandatory EQ as far as I’m concerned, tho. The fit is improved significantly for me as well, and the look and feel is just many times better with some luscious leather pads on them. I highly recommend the Dekonis for these headphones. Have a great weekend, all. Tchau!
Agreed. Dekoni’s are an improvement over the stock cushions.
I have been using the ZMF Eikon pads and they have been pretty great so far. They seems to increase the soundstage with very little lost elsewhere. I ripped the plastic rings out of some spare Pali pads to be able to Pad roll easily.
Did the dekoni fenestrated Sheepskin lose some of the bass? I would assume the dekoni hybrid would of been much more similar to stock sound. Dekoni measurements of the fenestrated show significant roll off in sub bass
Do you think I would be fine power wise using the headphone jack on a Naim Nait 5si?
That’s a good question. I wish I had a data-based answer for you. That graph certainly suggests it did, but I didn’t notice it myself. Also, I’m boosting with a low shelf with my Loki – probably about 6 to 8 db. I don’t think the He6se v2 are worth listening to without EQ. It’s entirely possible the bass is lighter and I’ve just compensated for that with a little twist of the knob. I will say that the new pads inspire a lot more of a feeling of “premiumness”, and improve the fit of these cans considerably. Even if the bass did roll off a touch, I still think it was a worthwhile tradeoff.
Listening to the He6se v2 off a 45 watt power amp is, hands down, the best sounding setup I’ve ever had. I put on my Arya powered off my Liquid Platinum yesterday just to see what my former gold standard sounded like, and while it sounded nice and smooth, pretty good imaging and detail, very pleasing and spacious in general, the He6 just blows it away. That crisp impact of percussion, the accurate imaging, and punchy, tight bass of the He6 is so addicting, immersive and exciting. Soundstage could be wider, but that’s not an attribute I value over some of these other things. What can I say, I’m a separation and detail kinda guy.
I’m really stoked I found these headphones for ~$700 (I know there are better deals out there, but I’m not losing sleep over it).
I kind of doubt it. Unless that amp has the option to throughput all 60w to the headphone jack. Does it? Why not run off the speaker taps? Yeah it’s kind of a pain to buy/build a cable to make that happen, but it’s SO worth it. I used the female XLR to 1/4" adapter that came with the 6se, and soldered 2 speaker cables to the XLR end, threw some banana plugs on the opposite sides, and voila! I don’t think it took more than 30 mins and was a fun little project (provided you have a soldering iron the other necessary bits handy)
Regarding pads for 6se, this post over on SBAF is a pretty exhaustive look at what’s available:
You might find it interesting!
The graphs for the 400i they publish are not applicable to the HE6SE V2. They use completely different driver and magnet arrays and they have different stock earpads as the base reference point.
I think looking at the Susvara Dekoni pads and graphs are probably more useful albeit still flawed (similar driver and magnet array, similar pad design and materials but slightly different shape).
One major reason it’s not applicable is if the pad seal is poor for the 400i, the bass disappears, which may be part of the reason the Dekoni graph shows that rolloff. The HE6/SE/V2 bass gets even louder when the seal is poor.
This is exactly why I preferred the he6se to the arya. It was just better when well powered.
I also felt the arya’s crazy soundstage hurt some of my music. Incoherent is the word I like to use. The he6se just brought more joy to music than the arya could for me.
Good headphones. I still think beginners should avoid them.
I agree that they’re not a great headphone for beginners, but I wonder why you feel that way? is it the power requirements? the need for EQ? or perhaps that it’s an acquired taste and a more “challenging” listen? Or that you can’t fully appreciate what these things can do until you’ve experienced a variety of other headphones and amp pairings?
This is a super interesting concept, the supposition that there may not be an objective way to assess these things, even when considered within the limits of our own auditory experience. That what sounds good as a “beginner” audiophile can change as we experience and develop our skills as critical listeners. Psychoacoustics is a real trip!
It’s a bit of everything. It’s not the power requirement itself. It’s being able to plug it in, and know it’s behaving as a well powered headphone at its peak. The Sundara was the first headphone I heard that really seemed to work better with more power. But even before I heard it with said power, it sounded great to me. I didn’t know it wasn’t at its best. Now, I don’t claim those changes are huge, but some of them increased enjoyment. The he6se needs the same care and feeding. And, to this day, I am not sure I heard it at its best, despite half a dozen “powerful enough” amps.
But, more than that, if I were a guy that loved the Arya (gorgeous but not my preference), or possible the lcd-x (which I actively don’t like), I would not like the he6se. It’s basically all wrong for those people. But people rave about it like it’s the best thing ever. I have found sound that, to me, trounces the he6se without any of the shenanigans required to get it. And, so, the he6se lost its luster.
To me, the he6se is worth chasing if you determine that what it provides is your primary sound preference. When I was chasing it, I had much less of an idea of what I liked than I do now. And, still, with another 8 months and many headphones later, I would be hesitant to take up the he6se again.
If you are looking for a secondary sound signature and already have the amps to power it, these are an easy recommendation. Otherwise? Ananda.
FYI: I don’t EQ, and I found the he6se to be great as someone who doesn’t EQ. It was also one of the few headphones that didn’t completely piss me off when using EQ. I still haven’t determined why.
Hmm I need the speaker inputs for my speakers! Might go with the Sundara, doesn’t seem like it will pose that problem, right?
Thank you it was quite interesting. The ones resolve posted in he6 forums was at least helpful confirming that dekoni hybrids pads don’t change the FR too much, a little dip in the upper treble. Too bad he didn’t try the fenestrated dekoni pads, but he did show the dekoni solid leather pads which don’t seem to do the FR any justice. HiFiMAN HE6 Official Thread
That’s the problem with some of these “hard to drive” planars. Something like Sus or HE6 require more power than most headphone amps can provide and also a good source. With the HE6/se in particular, it’s been documented that modding the headphone will greatly benefit the headphone so it takes some work to get it sounding “optimal”. With the Sus, you basically pay to have a good headphone without modding it.
I don’t think I disagree that Ananda is a safer choice if you decide not to invest in modding or your setup but I rarely find people who have heard the HE6 to pick Ananda over it. I think even hifiman haters will admit that it is a good headphone if done correctly.
Completely agree. But the ananda sound great off nearly anything. To get a “decent” he6se even at the $650 price point required a bare minimum of another $700+ for amping. And that wasn’t for he6se at thriving. That’s “decent”. (That was specifically the xduoo ta-30 for me. Which worked surprisingly well with the he6se, but not as well as more power. It just sounded good. The arya worked well on this amp as well). I did not try things like the jot or magnius modius which might change this equation for me.
Can you get better than the ananda out of he6se? Yes, I think so. Is it worth the hassle and money? For a beginner, my advice is no. For everyone else, buy and try for yourself.
For your preferences 
, I think the Ananada sound great with specific genres as well as better off tube or tube hybrid amps for my preferences, where as to @driftingbunnies point once you get the He6SeV2 paired with the right amp, they fit for most all genres better at least for my preferences.
What was one of those right amps for you?
I like HiFiMan’s sound and technical potential just fine. I’m a hater of their QC, materials choices, and history of limited durability. For me the negatives outweigh the positives, as there are plenty of other brands with competitive performance.