I have measured them several times, as finding the perfect spot on the test jig with those huge ear-pads wasn’t that easy. No side-pressure was applied on the earcups, they stood still in their natural position. With singer songwriter playing guitar, the vocal dominate as it should yet i don't struggle to follow each line of guitar playing, which are cleanly layered.

The ear cups have been expressly aimed at a lopsided shape that conforms to the human ear. The ear pads are chamfered so that they contour to the silhouette of the user’s head for fantastic comfort and lengthy listening as well as a decent auditory seal. The cross-design of the V2 Stealth now uses polyester for augmented resolution. Spatiality is notably wider and taller with HE1K but not as depth and clean as Arya, which isn't as intimate in holographic headroom. With HE1K your in middle of music scene, sometime very near instrument or vocal while for Arya you not far from stage, like in second row with clean vision. The depth and layering, especially with higher-end desktop amplifiers are a pleasure to the ear. The amount of body from bass to treble is balanced. There’s a good amount of weight in a high-end kind of way but there’s never too much or too little impact. It sits right, exactly how it should be in a headphone of this level. When it comes to sensitivity, HE1000SE will need ~9 dB less in achieving the same sound pressure level of the LCD-4, meaning that you’ll need way less power, a smaller and a more affordable amplifier to drive them fully. The difference is quite big, so again Hifiman scores a point. The ear pad material has been changed from velour to polyester with an improved headband design and slimmer ear cups. HE1000 V2 Stealth also utilizes a premium alloy ‘Window Shade’ grill for driver protection providing a unique a distinctive look in addition to the sound quality.

Sound Impressions

Applying a gentle 1/12 smoothing, not a lot of things are changing, you can better see how impressive they are in the treble region, it is very extended in there. There is just a small deviation from my 84 dB target curve and I’m quite happy how the FR looks as a whole. As a whole, when it comes to transient response, from a bigger collection of planar-magnetic headphones, only the Audeze LCD-4 can stand a chance versus them, as anything else didn’t reach the same speed and impact…not even close. However, there is one and only headphone that can surpass both units at their own game and that is the Hifiman Susvara being driven by a fully-discrete Class-A power amplifier. Inside you also get an array of cables including an unbalanced TRS cable terminated 3m cable and a balanced 4-pin XLR output terminated 3m cable Both cables now come with the new 2.5mm stereo/mono plugs for attaching to the dual entry cups of the HE1000 itself.

Someone politely inquired a year or two ago what exactly Fang is a Doctor of. Well, he is a Doctor of Nano-Technologies and it is precisely that knowledge that has driven him to design a planar headphone with what seems to be the first blended use of nanotech inside a headphone. At the heart of the HE1000, it is really all about weight distribution and comfort. The cups are huge, Jade huge but surprisingly light. They are neither rounded like the HE6 and the K812 nor are they angled or ‘D-shaped’ (as I call it) like the HD800. The build quality is quite improved compared to Arya Stealth and Arya, and also quite a bit better than Ananda. The overall build quality is the best of all the HIFIMAN Headphones to date, and the only two things that I saw happen to the HE1000 V2 over more than a year of super heavy usage is that the parts that hold the earcups gathered a few scratches, and the leather headband got a bit dirty. Other than this, HE1000 V2 looks as new, and I expect this to be the case with HE1000 Stealth too. The comfort is still sublime, there’s enough space inside the earcups for my ears, and then some. The earpads are not very soft, but the material is very friendly with my ears, and the headband has a low amount of tension, plus the clamping force is just enough to hold HE1000 V2 Stealth on my ears without putting any strain on my head, working well with glasses and sunglasses as well. DAC/AMP: Holo May KTE / TT2-Mscaler / Bifrost 2 / Hugo2+2go / Mojo 2+Poly / Mojo / RU6 / ifi Gold Bar / W2 / S2 / S1 / UA5 / BTR5 / DF Red / utws3 and 5 DAP: DX320 Max, RS8, 1ZM2, N8ii, M9, RS6, N6ii Ti (R01/A02/E02), DX312 You want light, that video pretty much captures how light the diaphragm actually is (regardless of what you think of Queen). Not only light and low in mass but apparently tight, really durable, and designed to produce a very high quality fast-sounding dynamic response compared to regular planar diaphragms. A New Magnet design

HIFIMAN HE1000 Stealth + Astell & Kern ACRO CA1000T (2400 USD + 2299 USD) – You probably expect that this has been the main pairing I’ve been using for most of my testing and you would be correct actually. There is something special about the midrange of the CA1000T, and the way it can blend a very clean and crisp solid-state sound with the warmth and musicality of the Tube Tech. It always brings a smile to my face to hear the Dynamics and the punchy deep sound that Astell&Kern can push through basically any headphone, but the way it drives HE1000 Stealth is even better than it is with most IEMs and Headphones. It is incredible to heat such resolution, detail, yet refinement and smoothness all combined in one beautiful presentation that I could enjoy for days on end.

I was not about to go all ‘Quint’ on this review either and start recanting Spanish Ladies as the HE1000 munched through my previously durable amps with rather limp results.When it comes to looks and material choices, I really don’t know anything cooler and more unique looking to the LCD-4. There is something that always drags my attention to them, maybe it’s that soft leather, maybe that carbon fiber headband, maybe those solid wooden cups, I’ve always adored their look and build quality, hence scoring a point for the LCD-4.