Drats… lol.
It’s pretty (hehe I like pretty) and “only” USD 2,500…
I guess I’m going to need to look at other full-tube options - which I think means the WA33, as the WA234 is too (expensive). I’m in Singapore, so DNA stuff is difficult. I’ll go ask in the Utopia thread when I’m closer to considering this purchase.
It’s been a shade over a year since I started this thread. I never would have guessed I would only just be departing Seattle this much later. But that’s where we are.
Next week we’ll be in Florida.
A quick diversion from there to take possession of the new boat. Then back to our new home/base for a bit (at least until we see how the global situation pans out).
Lots has happened/changed in the last year … some of it entirely random/inconsequential, some of it material, and some of it even relates to my personal-audio (headphone) listening proclivities.
I am down to what I am keeping, headphone wise; at least for now. The only variables at present are whether I keep the Aeolus and Eikon and add an Atticus and Auteur (both of which are VERY wood/finish/appearance dependent) to complete my ZMF dynamic set … or whether I just sell the Aeolus and Eikon and stick with the Vérité and Vérité Closed.
Sennheiser’s recent announcements mean I decided to keep my HD800S and HD820. I may even snag a new production HD650 “just to be sure”.
The emergence of a new, SOTA, planar could see me consolidating my LCD-4, RAD-0 and HE6SEV2 into a single-can solution. It’d have to have the technical prowess of the LCD-4, the tonality and efficiency of the RAD-0, the speed and sub-bass impact of the AB-1266 Phi TC, subtlety of the Susvara and comfort of the Empyrean to sway me; I’m not holding my breath … but hope holds eternal …
I do suspect I’ll be unloading one DAP and two sets of IEMs once I’m “settled” again, but that’s too fraught with potential issues to deal with before then.
SR1a and Vérité remain my top-two-listens, though there’s been movement beyond those.
I have some unique (patent-pending) audio-centric site/app stuff coming up (which definitely does NOT include a general headphone discussion forum like THIS one) once settled in Florida. No good reason to formalize/incorporate that in WA at this point.
My Rubik’s cube solve time is down to an average of 40 seconds. Not speed-cuber territory, because that would require learning, and practicing, a whole new slew of algorithms, but reasonable given it’s just a product of pandemic-induced waiting/queues.
I got my chess rating back over 2,000. Not quite to the level it was when I played seriously, but on the right path. In-person play is more rewarding than online, even though I play daily on all the major chess sites (same name on all, but not “Torq” on any).
I learned two new languages (conversational, not written).
I learned/adopted three new programming languages (and most common, interesting, frameworks).
If you’re inclined to message me on something you find on r/Headphones* or ASR, please don’t. The time you save will be your own. I don’t visit, browse or read those sites … even if you send me links** asking for comments. If there’s something I want to listen to, I can easily get my ears on it and I care little for the opinions of other’s when it comes to spending my own money.
No, I am not a Harmon-Curve fan (any version). Not that it can’t be fun. But it doesn’t represent anything like what I hear in live performances. And while I’m not an adherent to “what the artist intended” (LOL), it’s nice when the instruments in acoustic pieces sound the way they do live.
No, I don’t do one-off, personal, gear comparisons/recommendations anymore. Haven’t for a long time. Post on an appropriate thread here instead and you’ll get far more useful/broad feedback.
Anyway, might be around a little between here and Florida, hard to say. But mostly … see you on the other side!
*Reddit likes to describe itself as the “Front Page of the Internet”; I tend to use a different adjective in place of “Front Page”. I’m sure you can guess what that is.
**I don’t care and I don’t follow them; I have AP and GRAS setups of my own if I want to indulge in measurebation. And most of the rest of the narrative is irrelevant to me; I listen to music for enjoyment, for how it makes me feel, not what it does on a scope. But make up your own mind pursuant to whatever philosophy suits you.
„ * No, I am not a Harmon-Curve fan (any version). Not that it can’t be fun. But it doesn’t represent anything like what I hear in live performances. And while I’m not an adherent to “what the artist intended” (LOL), it’s nice when the instruments in acoustic pieces sound the way they do live.“
Can you give further information on that thought? What exactly do you find differs at live performances in relation to the harman curve?
Also an explanation on another topic would be nice: I don’t know where I read that post of you, but the HE-1 follows nearly exactly the harman curve. That’s why you wouldn’t keep that headphone alone if you had it? Or is it because of the amp. I think you mentioned something in that direction. Is the amp a bottleneck of the HE-1? Anyways, looking forward to reading your thoughts …
Edit: found your post about HE1 above. So the DAC might be the biggest bottleneck, right?
In live music, especially acoustic or orchestral works, the tonal balance is the natural product of the character of the instruments and their interaction with the venue (and, of course, precisely where you sit within it). Take a proper recording of that performance and replay it on a neutral setup (e.g. my room-corrected/treated speaker rig) and it maintains the same tonal balance, and instruments/performers maintain the same tonal and presence relationship to each other.
The Harmon Curve(s) are really preference targets rather than an attempt at neutrality. When you apply ones of those to the above situation, lots of things change. For one, the tonal character of the piece shifts … with both low and higher frequency emphasis. This results in, say, a double bass not only masking the lower tones of a cello (as it might naturally do), but potentially overwhelming (or masking) notes all the way into the violin’s range. Similar things occur in the treble.
I find it quite unnatural, though granted I probably listen(ed) to a lot more live, natural acoustic, work than most audio enthusiasts - so perhaps I’m more sensitive to it.
Being a “preference” curve (or a set of curves, as there are different ones), lots of people like it. I’m just not one of them. Even though I do have a variety of EQ curves I use with some headphones and some music, some of the time (no one is getting “what the artist intended” at home, but that’s another discussion entirely).
The HE-1, for me, is really only interesting in the context of being “one headphone to beat them all”. To warrant dropping ~$60K on a single listening station, it’d have to fully replace the rest of my collection - or a very substantial portion of it.
Now, I would LOVE to have a single DAC/amp/headphone combination. And not just for logistical reasons. But so far, no one setup covers all the bases well enough to go there. The SR1a, in the right setup, and with EQ when needed, is the closest I’ve found so far.
But back to the HE-1 …
It’s one of the more listenable “Harman” curve adherents (“Harman Neutral” would be a reasonable description, even if it appears that the bass is lifted some). There are ways around that, EQ being the most obvious, that I could apply to dial that out if I wanted.
That’s not where my HE-1 issues end, however, nor is it the biggest.
Being an essentially all-genre listener, with a huge library, the HE-1 would be a fun addition to my collection. But it doesn’t exhibit the slam or impact I want with some genres, so the better dynamics and planars not to mention the ribbons beat it soundly there. It’s tonally a little wonky, so needs EQ there, and if I am EQ’ing I can do that with any headphone. I think it’s beaten in some areas (stage, ephemerality) by much less expensive systems, including the SR007MkII off a good KGSS amp. And overall I have tended to prefer the HE90/HEV90 (which I acquired relatively recently, but haven’t gotten to use much yet).
The DAC in the HE-1 isn’t up to the job for me. It feels edgy and unsettled, particularly in the mids and lower-treble. To get the best out of them, you need a high-quality external source. Which instantly breaks the “all in one solution” model.
And since, again, my interest in the HE-1 is really in the realm of getting rid of EVERYTHING else in my headphone world, it just isn’t quite there (HE-1 plus an M-Scaler/DAVE, Bartok, or three-box dCS stack is not “getting rid of everything else” …).
Well … phuuk … 4 more hours and …
Resolve dissolved …
Order placed (well, purchase request anyway) …
Now to decide what I have left that stays/goes (given the SR1a’s impact to this point).
Today’s audition was using the dCS stack as a source. So I’ll have to pull the trigger there too.
If you’re near the Seattle area, “Definitive Audio” has this in house at the moment. Give Mel a call and tell him I sent you …
bellevue or seattle location? 
Seattle.
It’s worth your time. Just let Mel know I sent you. They have a Roon w/ TIDAL and Qobuz subscriptions for source material, depending on what source you want to use to audition with. You can also use your own source via the HE-1’s USB, S/PDIF or analog inputs.
Maybe @TylersEclectic and I can meet up there one day soon for our normal back alley meetups, but this time in more style.
I’ve noticed a personal trend … which is a tendency for me to rail against something (with legitimate issues) … and then wind up buying the fucking thing anyway.
This is how I wound up with a DAVE in the first place, and why there’s been an HPA4 sitting in a box in my storage locker for several months now …
Is there direct flights open between Brisbane and Seattle?
Ha! I was just thinking WTF myself given your previous postings.
What’s the one sentence description of the HE1 sound?
Of course, though I am skeptical it will apply in this case - and not just because of the unique purchase process! You have to fill in a form to get a contact at Sennheiser to even start that process …
It’s not the first time. It usually occurs with things (not just audio) that, notionally, I really want (but certainly don’t need), and that turns out to have some issue or other that I don’t want to deal with. It happened with DAVE, the SR1a, the LCD-4 and the HE6SEV2 just to name a couple of audio-specific items.
Better than you’ll expect from reading reviews, but perhaps not as good as you’ll want when considering the sticker.
If you’re willing to keep a handful of headphones, a good source, and a nice amplifier around, then you can get better overall performance for far far less. You’ll just have to switch headphones around for different genres to do it.
My desire to get to a single headphone setup gets stronger every day. Something that has been amplified greatly by this moving process! At this point I am willing to make a few minor compromises to get rid of the 30 or so boxes of audio gear (not including cables, accessories, stands etc.) that is the current manifestation of my headphone listening setup.
Uh, hello, can I come too please? 
I still think that at that price, you should be able to order the base in polished Missouri Red Granite, or whatever nice stone you want instead of that overused Italian white marble.
Just paint it. If you can afford a HE1 you can afford some paint.
White marble is a bit porous. Probably could stain it with purple food coloring.
I’m sure Torq will find a way to get over the white marble
