This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below |
 |
 |
HE-500 vs. HE-6. In my prior feature reviews on them, I'd declared the $600 cheaper 89dB/38Ω HE-500 model the more balanced and better performer. More efficient by nearly 6dB and with a 12Ω lower impedance converting more power from fixed output impedances as well, standard headfi amps had simply gotten more from 'em. Did that make HifiMan's $1.300 trophy model with its gold voice-coil traces a design and marketing mistake? Not by necessity. But who'd really know that? EF6 to the rescue to revisit that still open question.
|
While APL Hifi's NWO-M with hiFace2 transceiver (XMOS, no bus power) is even better, its €30.000 sticker defeated context. Hence my customary Eximus became best 'realistic' DAC of choice. Integer mode compatible, Damien's 1.3.9.3. version of Audirvana could be set to Direct Mode and revive integer mode for OSX Lion. (If you enlarge the screen capture, note the small green 'INT' inside Audirvana's amp display to confirm this recent achievement. Be alerted though that this mode is risky* if you simultaneously do anything other than listen to music.)
|
|
|
With an amp of EF6 caliber the HE-6 now became the clearly more resolved intense upfront performer whose greater treble light was properly counterpointed in the bass. In essence this juxtaposition revisited the same base line as the prior observations around the T5p relative then to the two core amp signatures. Here the HE-500 was the more relaxed, soft, slightly more set back and not as deeply saturated performer. I'd not call this offset very large particularly since it could be trickily equalized by giving the HE-500 just a bit more voltage. As the easier-to-drive model, most respectable amps should have plenty of reserves to allow for such an up-click cheat. Being $600 costlier and requiring a costlier amp to boot, the HE-6 simply is a distinct denizen on that far side of diminishing returns. But if you've got the coin and desire, there's no arguing that the EF6/HE-6 combo delivers at the highest level. For more normally pursed shoppers I'd stick to the HE-500 and something like Burson's HA-160DS which includes a premium USB/coaxial DAC and sells as a system for what the HE-6 gets solo.
________________________
* From the PureMusic website: "For a computer 100% dedicated to audio this shouldn't usually present a problem. However if the user is browsing the Internet or downloading email or hasn't made the suggested settings to System Preferences—like disabling 'Sleep 'and automatic 'Apple checking for updates'—there's a chance of interrupting real-time communication with the kernel/device and causing a kernel panic whilst playing audio in direct mode. This is the worst possible kind of crash. If it happens at just the wrong time it can trash the hard drive (directory corruption), requiring a reinstall of the OS and complete recovery as all data on the hard drive are lost. Or even worse, it can trash individual files which might only be discovered some time down the road with lurking problems including unpredictable computer behavior (unexplained crashes or freezes) in addition to data loss. These problems can accumulate and increase in severity."
|
|
|
HifiMan's best. Fang Bian is ambitious. He introduces new products at a clip that has certain commentators suggest he slow down to first cross off all the 't's. With the EF6 those primarily concern cosmetics and clunky controls. Whether potential buyers react to those as inspired by tractors or Harley Davidson bikes should make all the difference. When it comes to just ears, the EF6/HE-6 combo is an ultimate statement. The most relevant way to make that distinction is by invoking the difference between a small monitor rig and big speaker system. While monitors can excel at pin-point imaging and seamless integration, a superior big speaker system conveys tangible ease and grandeur small monitors can't match. It's about scale. Effortlessness. Oceanic flooding. Details are obvious, not pin pricks. They require no further acknowledgement, no conscious concern. One is free to surrender into the grand musical gestures.
|
 |
Wearing a customer's AKG K-1000—apparently he was pleased by the combination—this photo of German importer Jan Sieveking's trade show hostess Nicole demonstrates the EF6's sheer size at their HighEnd 2012 booth.
|
That's precisely the quality of Fang Bian's best combo. As close as a headfi system can come, it conveys the same unruffled ease not only on resolving power which is keen yet casual. There's also unhurried relaxation and a subtle softness or warmth which aren't functions of shadows but lack of effort. And as is true with a very fine big system, the only real danger is the capacity to play very loud without any giveaway distortion warning you in no uncertain terms. If you treasure your hearing, remember that just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Mosfets have a reputation for tube-like warmth. The EF6 conforms to such expectations. Texturally there's more emphasis on decays than blistering attacks. This makes for a fluffier overall feel. The temporal domain feels slower and less hurried than tautly sprung wiry presentations which continually lean forward rather than back. The amp casts a very wide soundstage whose side-to-side lighting is expansive and even. This relaxes the usual central skull focus. If in its headfi class the EF6 is a giant on size and power, it's clearly the gentle benign sort
|
|
|
Truly powerful dedicated headphone amplifiers aren't common. Of course if your fave fone raises roof below half a watt, you really don't need a humdinger. Then suitable 6.3mm ports are legion. As with regular speakers, it's higher smarter load sensitivity equals smaller cheaper amp. But what if your sights are set on a less reasonable Magneplanar? That's the HE-6. Now you need power. For going beyond loud enough which remains corrupted by high THD from an amp choking close to clipping. For avoiding brightness because the HE-6 controller lacks control. For the powerful bass the HE-6 always was meant to put out but couldn't. For the fleshy midrange that was hiding. Forget need then. Want!
|
 |
Now put a name to want in the HifiMan EF6. It's not exactly pretty. It's certainly not cheap. To my mind it's actually more costly drab. Yet owners meaning to hear all of their HE-6 (better than the HE-500 to justify the sticker and transform into an uncontested HD-800 and LCD-2 beater)... such folks will want this amp. Or something like it. Let me get cute to make a point. The EF6 takes the HE-6 from no-can-doo-doo (good but not as balanced and suave as the HE-500 at half its price) to a firm yes.can.do. Sorry. That was my inner marketeer gone Sony. Can obviously stood for headphones. It's an instance where power doesn't corrupt. It liberates. It's the proper and only tool for the job. If you're serious about the outcome.
|
|
| I generally don't promote hard-to-drive speakers. I consider them design flaws. They burden their owners with the need for complex powerful amplifiers (costly to be truly good). But I'd not question someone falling in love with one. Love only seldom is reasonable. So it is with the HE-6. The HE-500 and HE-4 prove that Mr. Fang knows how to make orthos that are far easier to drive. With the usual headfi amps that actually makes them superior. Yet the HE-6 is really the better headphone. But only when fronted by an EF6 type amp. It's very macho math. No pain no gain. Forget Chuang Tzu's easy is right. |
|
|
The EF6 concludes the story the HE-6 began. It delivers on a promise. The combo performs at the very top. My self-righteous doppelgänger would that makers of 2Ω speakers with brutal phase angles were legally obliged to design their own matching amps. That's exactly what Fang Bian has done. Voluntarily and very well. Who can now fault him for the HE-6? Particularly when he covers so many price points below with models that don't rely on any EF6 to sing. For HE-6 fans all is finally as it should be. Now they truly have one of the very best headphones money can buy. |
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
