HiFiMAN HE1000se

Reference planar-magnetic over-ear with smooth treble and a focused midrange

One of the best.

HiFiMAN follows a very consistent philosophy in product development: release a model that fills a gap in the lineup, then refine it relentlessly over time. That’s exactly what happened here.

When people think HiFiMAN, they often think high treble resolution, a wide stage, and that “listening into” the music feeling. You do get that with the HE1000se, too—but the obvious question is: what’s the difference versus the HE1000 V2?

The HE1000se is a touch more restrained up top, which makes it sound smoother and more midrange-focused. The stage can feel a bit less wide as a result—something that can actually benefit certain genres. It’s a great complement for listeners with a slightly different preference profile.

Soundnews.net

“Super nimble, electrostatic-like fast, hard slamming in the bass and uber-transparent… the most impressive technical headphone I’ve reviewed so far,” earning their highest Golden Award.

Audiophileon.com

A fantastic headphone with proprietary technology that delivers in sound. Build quality and materials are exactly what you’d expect at this level—looking, feeling, and sounding like true audiophile headphones.

Headphones.com

In technical capability, the HE1000se are among the most capable headphones the reviewer has ever heard—comfortable to wear, easy to use, and a pleasure to listen to.

Technical Specifications

Measurements

What does this mean?

The black line is something that could be called the “ideal” curve of what a headphone should sound like. The Harman Research Group has a range of scientific studies around audio and human perception—one of which asked: How should a headphone be tuned to be favored by a majority of people, regardless of age or other demographic variables? This result is called the Harman target.

From left to right we have sub-bass, bass, mids, and then the curve finally tilts upward where treble begins—this part of the frequency spectrum gets amplified naturally by the shape of the human ear.

Harman Research:

The Perception and Measurement of Headphone Sound Quality – What Do Listeners Prefer?