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Frontpage Deal
HiFiMan HE6se V2 Over Ear Planar Magnetic Headphones EXPIRED
$399
$1,799.00
+ Free Shipping
Adorama has HiFiMan HE6se V2 Over Ear Planar Magnetic Headphones on sale for $399. Shipping is free.
Thanks to Deal Editor iconian for sharing this deal.
Thanks to Deal Editor iconian for sharing this deal.
- Note: May need to add to cart to see the sale price.
- Frequency response 8Hz - 65KHz
- Impedance 50 Ohms
- Sensitivity 83.5dB
- Weight 16.58 oz
- HE6se Headphones
- All New Hybrid Headband
- Band Style: Overhead Band
- Cup Style: Open-back
- Earpiece Style: Over-Ear
Editor's Notes & Price Research
Written by
- About this deal:
- This price is $50 Lower than our previous FP Deal.
- Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars from 34 reviews.
- About this store:
- Details of Adorama's return policy can be found here.
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Original Post
Written by
Edited December 2, 2022
at 07:26 PM
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Last Edited by hottyson
December 4, 2022
at
12:32 AM
HifiMan HE6se V2 require $400 Schiit Jotunheim 2 amp or better to sound good.
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As fantastic of a discount as this is, I would greatly recommend the vast majority of people to avoid these headphones for serveral reasons:
First, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening, here's some basic information: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear whats going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening too), and are extremely heavy and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
Next, a very powerful headphone amplifier is 100% necessary to get even semi-decent sound out of these cans. Hifiman recommends an absolute minimum of 2 watts into 50 ohms, and many people who own these headphones recommend up to 5 watts into 50 ohms, which is an absolutely ludicrous amount of power. If you don't already have a very powerful desktop dac-amp setup, don't even think about buying these.
Another issue is that Hifiman is infamous for exceptionally poor quality control and build quality. It's pretty much accepted as a fact that if you buy a Hifiman headphone you're quite likely to be looking for a replacement in a couple years unless you get rather lucky, and that's assuming you get one that's good to begin with. This also applies just as much to their high end cans such as the He6se, if you want some examples try reading the forum thread for the he6se review on audiosciencereview. A recent example there is a guy who received three bad pairs from them in a row before they just refunded him rather than send him a fourth, and he specifically asked them to test the headphones before sending them to make sure they had no issues after he had problems with the initial ones.
Yet another reason to avoid these headphones is the value proposition: while several years ago this would have been a pretty good deal even considering the above mentioned points, there are much better value headphones nowadays, even from hifiman themselves. If you're looking for super high end sound in a similar price range the hifiman edition xs are arguably just better than the he6se, require far less power to drive, and also go on sale for ~$450 or less. Build quality and quality control are crap on the edition xs as well, but that's just par for the course with hifiman. The hifiamn sundara are somewhat worse than the he6se in most respects but are far easier to drive, and go on sale for ~$250 making them far more palatable to replace when they inevitably develop issues as hifiamn cans are wont to do. I could go on recommending other headphones, but I'll only list those two hifiman models to avoid getting too far off track.
Overall, if you already have an amp capable of driving the he6se, prefer it's tuning and sound signature over other headphones in it's price range, and don't mind hifimans quality control issues, this is an excellent price for the he6se. For anyone who doesn't entirely match the conditions listed above, I recommend you look elsewhere.
Edit: Might as well add something of value here. The following will be my own experience.
The HE-6se V2 is a great sounding headphone, I do own one. The sounds this headphone produces are very natural and almost hauntingly real sounding sometimes on the right songs. Vocals are pretty damn good along with instruments, great timbre. Soundstage is not XS wide but is not Sundara intimate either. The bass can be punchy at times and very detailed but nothing that would get a connoisseur of heavy bass excited but I do have no problems with what I get. I do not EQ my headphones and enjoy them on their own merit for the most part.
I do own other Hifiman headphones which includes the X4, 400SE, 4XX, Deva Pro, Sundara and the XS. I do like the HE-6se V2 much more than the others but it is kind of a tie for me with the XS, the XS is just a very different experience where I feel that having both of them is not a waste of money. I put on the HE-6se V2 when I want to be drawn closer to my music and be absorbed in it (not critical listening but it's just so damn real sounding that certain sounds send chills down my spine and legitimately startle me) and I use the XS when I want something that is larger than life without being overly exaggerated, XS can get some super fun bass response on the right dac/amp combo.
Speaking of dacs and amps
The HE-6se is very VERY inefficient. What this means is that your entry level amps, phones, computer/laptop- and DAPs may not be enough to get these loud enough to be pleasurable. Then there is another problem, say you can get sufficient volume, the headphone is likely going to sound pretty mediocre, lack detail and dynamics. Essentially lifeless. You would be better served looking for a different headphone. So this means your Apple Dongle isn't going to be enough here, nor is your Schiit Magni line, Liquid Spark, iFi Zen DAC/Can/Airs, atoms, elements (etc) are all going to be out of the question. Yes I have all of those and most are on my desk (enthusiast and hoarder/collector of headphones dacs and amps).
What I use with my HE-6se is a Hifiman EF400, sometimes an Asgard 3, iFi iDSD Signature and a Monoprice THX 788.
Comfort: I can't really say these are the most comfortable headphones to wear, the headband sucks and unfortunately most of my Hifiman headphones use the same one. Some are less of a problem because they are much lighter. I'm not wearing my headphones for more than a few hours at a time so it's not really a big deal and there are pads/wraps you can add to make it more comfy.
Regarding Hifiman quality control, all I can say is that I have had nothing but good luck with Hifiman. The single time I had to deal with Hifiman support they were fast to respond and resolve my issue with a small turn around time and this is when the pandemic was getting started, so not too shabby I would say. My used Sundara I purchased for a good deal off ebay was teetering on the end of warranty plus had a solder issue on the left driver and pads were tattered. Hifiman replaced it with no hassle, got new pads and the replacement headphone looked brand new, could have fooled me if it wasn't. Haven't had any problems with mismatched drivers on any of my headphones.
$399 I would say is a baller deal for this headphone granted you already have the gear capable of handling it which I do agree with the Hifiman recommendation which would be an amp that can at least get close to putting 2 watts into 50 ohms.
They do sound great though.
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These are great but one of the hardest headphones to drive and require a beefy amp. Hifiman recommends 2W / channel @ 50ohms. Technically something like a Topping L30 II (~$130-150) qualifies but at minimum I would recommend something like a Schiit Magnius or Monolith THX 887 at around $170-200 on sale.
So if you don't already own a beefy amp consider these $600 minimum and potentially more if you buy a higher end amp.
Also many people aren't fan of this headband design but YMMV.
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As fantastic of a discount as this is, I would greatly recommend the vast majority of people to avoid these headphones for serveral reasons:
First, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening, here's some basic information: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear whats going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening too), and are extremely heavy and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
Next, a very powerful headphone amplifier is 100% necessary to get even semi-decent sound out of these cans. Hifiman recommends an absolute minimum of 2 watts into 50 ohms, and many people who own these headphones recommend up to 5 watts into 50 ohms, which is an absolutely ludicrous amount of power. If you don't already have a very powerful desktop dac-amp setup, don't even think about buying these.
Another issue is that Hifiman is infamous for exceptionally poor quality control and build quality. It's pretty much accepted as a fact that if you buy a Hifiman headphone you're quite likely to be looking for a replacement in a couple years unless you get rather lucky, and that's assuming you get one that's good to begin with. This also applies just as much to their high end cans such as the He6se, if you want some examples try reading the forum thread for the he6se review on audiosciencereview. A recent example there is a guy who received three bad pairs from them in a row before they just refunded him rather than send him a fourth, and he specifically asked them to test the headphones before sending them to make sure they had no issues after he had problems with the initial ones.
Yet another reason to avoid these headphones is the value proposition: while several years ago this would have been a pretty good deal even considering the above mentioned points, there are much better value headphones nowadays, even from hifiman themselves. If you're looking for super high end sound in a similar price range the hifiman edition xs are arguably just better than the he6se, require far less power to drive, and also go on sale for ~$450 or less. Build quality and quality control are crap on the edition xs as well, but that's just par for the course with hifiman. The hifiamn sundara are somewhat worse than the he6se in most respects but are far easier to drive, and go on sale for ~$250 making them far more palatable to replace when they inevitably develop issues as hifiamn cans are wont to do. I could go on recommending other headphones, but I'll only list those two hifiman models to avoid getting too far off track.
Overall, if you already have an amp capable of driving the he6se, prefer it's tuning and sound signature over other headphones in it's price range, and don't mind hifimans quality control issues, this is an excellent price for the he6se. For anyone who doesn't entirely match the conditions listed above, I recommend you look elsewhere.
$400 is probably reasonable
As fantastic of a discount as this is, I would greatly recommend the vast majority of people to avoid these headphones for serveral reasons:
First, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening, here's some basic information: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear whats going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening too), and are extremely heavy and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
Next, a very powerful headphone amplifier is 100% necessary to get even semi-decent sound out of these cans. Hifiman recommends an absolute minimum of 2 watts into 50 ohms, and many people who own these headphones recommend up to 5 watts into 50 ohms, which is an absolutely ludicrous amount of power. If you don't already have a very powerful desktop dac-amp setup, don't even think about buying these.
Another issue is that Hifiman is infamous for exceptionally poor quality control and build quality. It's pretty much accepted as a fact that if you buy a Hifiman headphone you're quite likely to be looking for a replacement in a couple years unless you get rather lucky, and that's assuming you get one that's good to begin with. This also applies just as much to their high end cans such as the He6se, if you want some examples try reading the forum thread for the he6se review on audiosciencereview. A recent example there is a guy who received three bad pairs from them in a row before they just refunded him rather than send him a fourth, and he specifically asked them to test the headphones before sending them to make sure they had no issues after he had problems with the initial ones.
Yet another reason to avoid these headphones is the value proposition: while several years ago this would have been a pretty good deal even considering the above mentioned points, there are much better value headphones nowadays, even from hifiman themselves. If you're looking for super high end sound in a similar price range the hifiman edition xs are arguably just better than the he6se, require far less power to drive, and also go on sale for ~$450 or less. Build quality and quality control are crap on the edition xs as well, but that's just par for the course with hifiman. The hifiamn sundara are somewhat worse than the he6se in most respects but are far easier to drive, and go on sale for ~$250 making them far more palatable to replace when they inevitably develop issues as hifiamn cans are wont to do. I could go on recommending other headphones, but I'll only list those two hifiman models to avoid getting too far off track.
Overall, if you already have an amp capable of driving the he6se, prefer it's tuning and sound signature over other headphones in it's price range, and don't mind hifimans quality control issues, this is an excellent price for the he6se. For anyone who doesn't entirely match the conditions listed above, I recommend you look elsewhere.
As fantastic of a discount as this is, I would greatly recommend the vast majority of people to avoid these headphones for serveral reasons:
First, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening, here's some basic information: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear whats going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening too), and are extremely heavy and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
Next, a very powerful headphone amplifier is 100% necessary to get even semi-decent sound out of these cans. Hifiman recommends an absolute minimum of 2 watts into 50 ohms, and many people who own these headphones recommend up to 5 watts into 50 ohms, which is an absolutely ludicrous amount of power. If you don't already have a very powerful desktop dac-amp setup, don't even think about buying these.
Another issue is that Hifiman is infamous for exceptionally poor quality control and build quality. It's pretty much accepted as a fact that if you buy a Hifiman headphone you're quite likely to be looking for a replacement in a couple years unless you get rather lucky, and that's assuming you get one that's good to begin with. This also applies just as much to their high end cans such as the He6se, if you want some examples try reading the forum thread for the he6se review on audiosciencereview. A recent example there is a guy who received three bad pairs from them in a row before they just refunded him rather than send him a fourth, and he specifically asked them to test the headphones before sending them to make sure they had no issues after he had problems with the initial ones.
Yet another reason to avoid these headphones is the value proposition: while several years ago this would have been a pretty good deal even considering the above mentioned points, there are much better value headphones nowadays, even from hifiman themselves. If you're looking for super high end sound in a similar price range the hifiman edition xs are arguably just better than the he6se, require far less power to drive, and also go on sale for ~$450 or less. Build quality and quality control are crap on the edition xs as well, but that's just par for the course with hifiman. The hifiamn sundara are somewhat worse than the he6se in most respects but are far easier to drive, and go on sale for ~$250 making them far more palatable to replace when they inevitably develop issues as hifiamn cans are wont to do. I could go on recommending other headphones, but I'll only list those two hifiman models to avoid getting too far off track.
Overall, if you already have an amp capable of driving the he6se, prefer it's tuning and sound signature over other headphones in it's price range, and don't mind hifimans quality control issues, this is an excellent price for the he6se. For anyone who doesn't entirely match the conditions listed above, I recommend you look elsewhere.