I've had an odd history with Hifiman products. My first three digital audio players where Hifiman products. The HM 601, 801 and my still functional and in use HM 901. My first proper headphone was my HE 4 at that, it's performance is still just as exceptional relative to today's market as when it launched. Even now I still have both an HE 560 V1 and HE 4XX in my review stable, the company has some strong offerings including the Susvara and HE 1000 V2.
But there are some oddities as well, the original HE X I reviewed when it was launched was plagued by disastrous build quality, as are some of their more modern products too it seems, and their new R2R 2000 is overpriced and unimpressive. So the company is a little polarizing overall, an sadly the HE 6SE fits right into that description.
Preface
Now I've had some prominent modders online comment on the improvements the HE6 SE stock has over it's predecessor. An during my time in this hobby I've always seem a strong push and recommendation for modding the Hifiman Headphones. Even my own HE 4 was modded over time with wood cups and DT880 velour pads. An my current HE 560 V1 has both a pad swap and solid silver cable. Even the original HE 6 has an extensive thread outlining even small modifications to help make it wormhole.
That an a few close friends of mine in this hobby have also found noticeable improvements on these circular house'd Hifiman drivers when you move away from the stock pads.
So while it may be a bit unfair to write this review with 100% stock components, I was not provided with any other pad options from the Hifiman team nor am I allowed to make any modifications to this review unit. That and these days I don't really own or much review with modded headphones.
My focus for this blog is more so on readily available products, an while I feel changing pads is in many cases worthwhile the Hifiman Team doesn't really have many advantageous options, again my own HE 560 and HE 4 had pads from another manufacturer. An these days with companies like ZMF, Mr.Speakers and even Dekoni developing and selling multiple pads for their own products it's difficult to ignore the poor stock performance of the HE 6SE and Hifiman's lack of competitive options.
Build An Unboxing
The HE 6SE is packaged nicely and includes a nice faux-leather clad box with a paper sleeve.
While comfortable, the overall assembly of the headband is a bit flimsy and there's a lot of excessive movement and noise when adjusting the headband. The build as a whole doesn't inspire much confidence and feels cheap.
Thankfully the included detachable balanced cable does come with a single ended adapter and I did like how they tucked these into the center space within the box.
Compared to competing products Hifiman doesn't stand out for it's build quality and still feels a bit lacking in that department honestly.
Sound Quality
Frankly the overall tonality of the HE 6SE is to my ears uneven. There is a strong prominent bass presence and a lot of top end emphasis with an overall uneven mid range.
For some mid-range spectra, such as male vocals, guitars and piano, there's a nice rich presentation but else where in the mid-range we have a some what thin and withdrawn presentation. Worst of all this really makes listening a guessing game, some vocalists sound natural, others to thick and some just plain off.
Stringed instruments suffer as well, the double bass often has too much emphasis on the fundamentals of those lower notes making any complex fret work overshadowed by the sheer weight and punch of the bass.
An while typically a weighty taut bass are desirable with the HE 6SE there's unwanted emphasis that pushes low frequency spectra far too forward!
Still, the driver presents good resolve and clarity. Rendering micro details and transient information clearly and not suffering from congestion with busier pieces. I found it's envelope to be slightly aggressive with some emphasis on attack, but it didn't have much demphasis on decay, sustain or release. So the leading edge of sounds were a little harder than what's natural but otherwise. An while with regard to harmonic content I again found the low frequencies to be a touch dry an the midrange rather uneven.
An again, imaging and placement of sound within the perceived space was noticeably precise and quite accurate. Not too intimate nor wide again quite natural to my ears.
Though any strengths and resolve from the driver are a bit wasted and often masked behind it's uneven frequency response.
So if your able to correct that glaring fault, you'd have what is both a detailed and ultimately visceral listen. To this end, I've been told Pad Swaps can help address this as does EQ. An then there is of course the plethora of modding options and guides for getting the very best out of the Hifiman HE 6[SE].
Still, seeing as Hifiman did not provide any sort of tuning inserts or pads with their review unit I was not able to explore those options for this review.
Which is a shame, given two competing brands in this price point offer a selection of in house pads to their customer to offer minimal adjustments in frequency response. Certainly Hifiman is in a position to do the same, but has chosen not to. Leaving the new HE 6SE as a poor value in my book and not a headphone I can recommend in stock form.
Conclusion
Frankly I recommend either picking one up second hand as a good modding project or maybe hunting for a pre modded HE 6, I can't say this headphone is worth it's asking price. Not when there are other options such as HD 800S, Ether 2 and ZMF Auteur that exist without the need for any mods.
