I’ve had my Hifiman Mini Shangri-La electrostatic headphones and matching energizer for a month now, so I can say with some confidence that these are full of win and deserve their own topic here. The complete system retails for $2,300 which is a lot if you already have a conventional amplifier and are just considering a new headphone purchase. But I honestly think it compares well to headphones around $2k. And if, like me, you’re interested in exploring electrostatic headphones but don’t have an energizer then it’s a great way to get started.
Don’t let the cheap Hifiman headband fool you, comfort is still top notch. The Mini Shangri-La headphones are light enough that you shouldn’t get a “hot spot” at the top of your head. And they are Capra strap compatible anyway. Clamp is low even though I have an XL head. These are great for reclined listening since they won’t slide towards the back of your head. The earcups are huge so no part of my ear touches.
Sound is neutral, clear, and spacious. There’s a peak between 3khz-4khz. Not so much that it bothers me and it adds a sense of increased detail and snap that I enjoy. There is also the typical Hifiman scoop 1kz-2kz, but I actually prefer that and often EQ it in to headphones. Imaging is precise and instrument separation is excellent. Bass is light for my taste but surprisingly they take EQ in this region well. I added an 8(!)db bass shelf at 80hz and there’s a good amount of punch now. The following comparisons are with this bass shelf on:
Sennheiser HD800S: I prefer the soundstage and especially the bass response of the Mini Shangri-La. I can EQ some bass into the HD800S but I’ve never been able to get it to punch.
Meze Empyrean II: I prefer the warmer sound of the Empy2 and that it goes deeper into the sub bass. They are still my overall favorite headphone, but they are significantly more expensive than the Mini Shangri-La even if you include the energizer. And while the Empy2 are so very comfortable, they are also much heavier. The Mini Shangri-La stages a bit better too.
Audeze LCD-5: I sold mine a couple of months ago but the reason was that (after EQ) they had a neutral and clear sound, but it was too clinical. Some tracks could be pretty amazing but many were either boring or worse. Once I heard the Meze Empyrean II, the LCD-5 stayed on its stand. The Mini Shangri-La is neutral and clear without having this problem and they are a lot more comfortable.
I’d hesitate to say the Mini Shangri-La is the overall best headphone for around $2k. There is a lot of very good competition at that price. However I do think it deserves more attention than it’s currently getting. Heck Hifiman didn’t even bring a Mini Shangri-La to CanJam SoCal '24. I’d love to see a Headphones.com review.
Great review, thanks for sharing! Where are the pictures though?!
Wish they had it at Canjam, $2300 ain’t bad considering it comes with an “amp” and it sounds as good as you say. Wish I could try it.
Are there any difference between this and the Empyrean II in terms of driver location/angle relative to the ears?
What aspects of the sound stage didn’t you like so much on the HD800s? To me they sounded “too” wide, a bit scattered and artificial.
Did you try adding a Q1 filter of like 700hz to the Mini Sahngri-la? Wonder if that would win you over and make you feel like they’re the best in all aspects then.
Very nice. I’d like to see some comments after a couple hundred hours of burn in. My Hive’s bass improved significantly but my old STAX SR-5 never changed. I’m curious if it’s something common with eStats.
Can you comment on other electrostatic headphones you have tried? And have you had the opportunity to try them on an electrostatic headphone amp and compare to your energizer?
The Empy2 pads are not angled, are hybrid, and deeper than the MSL.
I may have to A/B again to be sure exactly, but from memory I’d say the positioning and instrument separation are better on the MSR and they’re a bit more spacious. But like Listener says, soundstage is complicated. I wouldn’t be surprised if the MSR stage better just because they are a bigger driver and feel more open. Maybe lower acoustic Z?
Not yet or I would have. The only other electrostatic headphones I own or have owned are the Koss ESP/95X. There’s really no comparison. However I’m excited to bring the MSR to an upcoming local meet where there will at least be some Stax and a speaker amp with adapter if not more.
I have heard some Stax at a meet and CanJam, but it has been some time. If I had to, I’d say the MSL sound more like conventional headphones than the Stax do. You probably know what I mean. The Stax treble is kinda sparkly.
I have to say that I don’t consider myself experienced enough with all of the various headphones out there to write a real review. I mainly just want to call some attention to this headphone in the hopes that more reviews happen. Kinda like “Hey this thing is actually better than I expected, why aren’t we talking about it?”
Update: I’ve had these for some time now and they have held up well to some stiff competition. There are 3 headphones that are in constant rotation for my focused listening: Meze Empyrean II, Hifiman Mini Shangri-La, and Warwick Acoustics Bravura. Of those 3 I’d rank the MSL last but the fact that it is even in rotation considering the other 2 is remarkable. With a Capra strap, they are the most comfortable headphones I own and have a big, spacious sound with bit of extra something in the highs I can’t quite pin down. Music just sounds light and airy - kinda magical. The problem is the bass. There just isn’t much of it and there’s no sub-bass or punch at all.
So of course I EQ. Unfortunately there aren’t measurements of the MSL from the “big 2” standard measurement rigs to start from. So I used Listener’s DF-equalized method with some added bass shelf. This worked quite well and in fact is the only headphone I’ve tried this method with that worked (sorry Listener). Except the sub-bass and punch were still lacking. At a certain point adding more bass gain just didn’t result in more bass sound.
I’ve not had any luck with pad rolling any headphone previously but at the suggestion of a Head-Fi MSL user, I recently tried swapping the stock pads with Dekoni Elite Velour pads for the Arya. Wow! Impressive amount of bass possible now with even good response below 50hz. However much of that magic in the highs was gone. And without that distinguishing characteristic I was just chasing an overall sound that I already have in the Empyrean II.
So I took another chance and got the Dekoni Elite Hybrid pads. This is the same type of pad as stock. Size and shape look identical, but the padding material is definitely softer in the Dekoni pads. Now I have it all. I can shape the sub-bass to exactly where I want it and the MSL just does it. Improved clarity over the velour pads and they preserve most, if not all, of that light, airy sound. Plus plenty of punch too.
I understand this is basically a new headphone and therefore I am still in the “honeymoon period”, but DAMN! I think the Mini Shangri-La may have just edged out the Bravura for the top spot! They are shockingly good. Still using EQ of course.
Did you try them with a different energizer? I’ve tried them at High End last year, really liked the sound and weight, hated the headband (I own modded he6sev2).
Hoping to try them out this year again. I see that the open box ones are 1630e in Europe. Still have to decide if it is smarter to buy 1000se instead.
Yes I borrowed a friend’s Mjolnir and Stax tube energizers. I also briefly used them with a Woo WA7e tube energizer. I prefer them from a solid state energizer and could not hear a difference between the Mjolnir and stock energizer. I don’t think they are particularly difficult to drive.
I’d love to see a Headphones.com review.
