HiFiMan HE-1000 V2 Stealth Audiophile Headphones

What a sonic feast for the ears. A good bump up in Bass, from previous models of Hifiman Headphones I have tried. The Soundstage is extremely expansive. You can hear absolutely everything and pick out the placement of instruments with everything being projected with extreme clarity. The Mids are beautifully clean and comforting. The highs don't seem as bright as other models from Hifiman. I really do enjoy the overall sound and it has made me want to check out a lot more of my collection trying these Headphones instead of listening via Speakers. Highly Recommend and are probably on par with models that are a lot more expensive. A must buy at this price range.

The previous reviews here have gone into ample detail on the capabilities of these headphones. I'm early in my burn-in journey but these headphones are such a welcome upgrade from my previous classically driven headphones. The clarity is phenomenal, I've paired them with a Matrix Audio Elements x2 dac/amp/streamer and they're absolutely shining.

I'd always been warned that planars felt significantly heavier, especially with long use, but I've had these on all day while working and have noticed no difference from wearing other headphones like HD660s/HD800s, the HE-1000s are a beautifully designed piece of kit with fantastically ergonomic head fitting and exceptional soundstage and quality.

I bought these whilst they were on offer from the original £2500 price. What’s even better, on the first order from Igloo Audio, you can get 5% off when you sign up to their newsletter.

Customer support is great, fast support and always receive shipping updates from them and the courier.

So far i’m 110 hours of burn in into these headphones out of the recommended 180 - 200 hours on the hifiman site. The headphones have changed 5 times so far; It sounds like a completely different unit from the first 40 hours.

Couldn’t be happier! Highly recommend this company and this hifiman model.

I have rarely been tempted to write a review of any product I have purchased in the past, however the Hifiman He1000 has changed that. It is undoubtedly the best headphone I have ever used or owned.
They are supremely able to reveal detail in recordings that you may never have noticed before. You could argue that this could be a good or bad thing it all depends on the way the detail is presented, if it is thrown in your face so that it becomes a defining aspect of the sound then that's bad. In this case however you tend to notice it "in passing" or rather you don't notice it but simply appreciate its presence, you know it's there but instead of detracting from it adds to your enjoyment of the flow of the music. If listening to a large scale symphonic work for example, you may hear melodic lines or harmonies, things that the composer wrote adding to the overall structure and form of the piece but which have lain obscured in the general sonic texture presented by lesser phones.
Each frequency range,is presented in a balanced manner with no area showing any dominance. The bass is well controlled and extended but never seems over played, those with a more "electronic" preference in their musical taste may miss the apparent prominence given to this area by other phones but make no mistake it is definitely there. The mids and highs are equally well controlled and the overall sound is very accurate without the clinical nature you sometimes find in devices that are described as such, I suppose the best adjective I could use to describe the sound of these cans would be "natural". That is a violin sounds like a violin, a piano like a piano - what better compliment could you pay.
Whether you consider paying over £2500 for a set of headphones is a worthwhile investment is very much a personal thing. I also have a pair of HiFimans's He 560 cans which retail at about a quarter the cost of these and if truth be told would have been happy to continue with these as they possess a good proportion of the abilities of their larger brother. However I had the opportunity to go for these and must say have not been disappointed.
I pre-ordered my V2 set from igloo prior to the UK release at a time when the price was set at the level of the previous version. Not only were they delivered very soon after the release date but the original pre-release price was honoured (there was a £300 increase in retail). Full marks therefore to both service and product.

What do you need headphones to be? Comfortable? Uncoloured? Revealing? Durable? - whatever reasonable criteria you have, these headphones are designed and built meet your needs and where possible, exceed them. So far mine have not disappointed in any area. The only drawback is possibly that you can't very easily wear them while jogging up underground escalators.
Oh, and they are very open back.
But they deliver the sonic goods in every area that really matters.
Good recordings open up like cossetted chrysanthemums.
They effortlessly reveal the multi layered orchestral sound stage.
With electronica their lighter than air vibrating membrane responds to tiny timbral shifts yeilding expressive complexities where before there was banal interdental gap filling.
In brief, I cannot imagine ever needing another set of headphones.
Are they expensive?
Well, how much time, effort and hard earned have you put into your music collection? Listening to it through these is like finding out what music you really, actually, have.
In that wider sense they are great value!