HIFIMAN He1000 Wifi Streaming Headphones Review – Style Of The New HIFIMAN Wi-Flagship
HIFIMAN HE1000 Wifi is a $2699 USD pair of over-the-ear planar magnetic headphones with the HIFIMAN HYMALAYA Mini DAC and Wifi module inside, a net weight of 452 grams, Stealth Magnets design and Enhanced Magnets and with a Nanometer Thickness Diaphragm at the core. Today we will review the HE1000 Wifi and also compare them with HIFIMAN Arya Wifi (1449 USD), HIFIMAN Isvarna (2899 USD) and T+A Solitaire P-SE (3900 USD)
Introduction
HIFIMAN has been creating over-the-ear headphones for a long time now, but they just introduced the new Wifi series with their HE1000 Wifi and Arya Wifi, and those are serious headphones that support DLNA and UPnP, being far more versatile than I previously anticipated, and after I got them to work with multiple advanced streaming protocols, Arya Wifi is now one of the easiest to recommend pair of headphones if you want a simple, effective product that simply works. You can purchase HIFIMAN Headphones from the main HIFIMAN website, but also you can find their products in multiple online stores, including dedicated AV and HIFI stores, as well as Amazon and other large electronics outlets.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3RnzqVn
Build Quality – Design
You have to think about the HE1000 Wifi like a system, this is not just a pair of headphones anymore, it is a complete listening system with a HYMALAYA Mini DAC at the core, WiFi Streaming and some of the best Stealth Magnets, Enhanced Magnets and Headband Gen.2 for the HE1000 Wifi. Dr. Fang from HIFIMAN identified that the biggest issue with music streaming is the bandwidth limitation, as theoretically Bluetooth offers up to 3Mbps of data, but in actual usage you get less than 1mbps, but the requirement for hi-res music, or even redbook flac is higher than what BT can offer, so he went on the hardest road so far, designing a high-end over-the-ear wifi wireless headphone.
Traveling together with Dr. Fang on his trip to true sonic quality wireless, he discovered that Wi-Fi Streaming is the perfect medium for lossless streaming, as it allows for High-Bitrate, High-Resolution and LossLess Audio. HE1000 Wifi uses the mini HYMALAYA DAC-AMPs built using the diagram of the Serenade Wifi Streaming DAC All-In-One. This means that inside each HE1000 Wifi you will find the WiFi Module, Power Module, LPF and Earphone Amplifier along with the Separate LEFT and RIGHT Channel DACs.
To complement the high-end Wireless modules he developed, Dr. Fang decided to refine and customize the magnets found inside of the HE1000 Wifi with a special version of the drivers found in HE1000 Unveiled, on which the Wifi is built upon. For this, HE1000 Wifi uses Enhanced Stealth magnets each at 50% with a NanoMeter Thickness Diaphragm, for a fast transient response and a new composite headband Gen.2 further reducing the weight with 20-30 grams. Naturally, since they have a DAC AMP and super strong antennas inside, HE1000 Wifi offers both wired and wireless compatibility, with the Wireless including WiFi Streaming, but also Bluetooth with LDAC, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC, while Wired turns them into a USB Type-C DAC AMP with any type-c cable connected to your laptop or computer turning he1000 wifi into a full audio setup.
There are four buttons on the HE1000 Wifi, and those include the Power, Function and volume buttons, but operation is a novel thing, and I highly recommend watching the videos posted by HIFIMAN to get them up and running. Technically, HE1000 Wifi has a THD+N of the DAC of 0.0055% at -9 dB, and a 0.009% THD for the DAC+AMP combo for an impedance of 32 OHMs. Channel separation is 105 dB, while the FR or Frequency Response is 8 Hz – 65 kHz with a deviation of 0.5 dB. He1000WiFi weights 452 grams and they have a battery inside, having a charging time of 3-4 hours and an operation time of around 6 -7 hours in Wifi mode and 23 hours in Bluetooth mode. They have a long stand-by time of over 30 days and will decode PCM formats between 44.1 kHz and 768 kHz, up to 32 Bit, and DSD native up to DSD512. The battery inside is not user replaceable, but HiFiMAN will replace it on warranty, or for a small cost, and with the company having offices in every major region of the world, this shouldn’t be an issue for long-time users.
Subjective Usage
At their heart, He1000 Wifi is very similar to Arya Wifi which we reviewed, but there are some key differences. The most visible difference is the color, which is immediately visible. The comfort is similar to Arya Wifi, which is perfect as they use a larger headband and larger earpads than the Unveiled and the overall comfort is top notch.
One little odd thing I had happened is that the He1000 Wifi in particular is not seen as a Wifi option by my phone, but it is seen as a Bluetooth option. This means that I was able to use the HIFIMAN app from the PlayStore to connect them to the wifi network, after having updated them to the latest firmware and they work just fine. This is one of the first pairs ever produced, and it took me some 2 hours of insisting to update the firmware before they actually worked, but now they work really well. It is an odd thing as Arya Wifi was working just fine, but either way, if it ever happens to you, now you know how to solve it.
The wired connection is once again perfect, with no USB DAC delay, but you just have to have a long usb cable for it to work. Overall, they are super comfortable, but there is no actual passive noise isolation as they are using pretty similar drivers and construction compared to the He1000 Unveiled. This being said, just like with Arya Unveiled, Foobar2000 from my computer that is on the same wifi network sees them well and music is playing with no dropouts, bluetooth has zero dropouts even on LDAC and if I busy up the network and they simply work.
With the current firmware, my smartphone does not see them via tidal but does so via Qobuz and Roon, Foobar2000 as well as all other UPnP software sees them from my computer, but Tidal Desktop does not see them either. I am hopeful that Tidal connectivity will be solved in the near future. This past few days made me realize that just like with most things, on Android, the best apps are not available on the google play store. I can confirm that Spotify works well too, if you have Spotify Premium, it sees the Streaming headphones and works flawlessly. Through optional elements you will get them up and running with more software as they will be seen by any UPnP and theoretically DLNA device.
Sound Quality
Pairings – I have tested He1000 Wifi with my computer sources including my custom PC, Samsung S24 Ultra smartphone as well as Khadas Mind 1 Mini PC. It does not really matter which source you use and he1000 wifi will sound the same with all sources as far as I experienced. I like that it works with digital streaming, as well as USB DACs without delay and that it sounds the same with all sources.
Overall Signature – HIFIMAN He1000 Wifi sounds open, dynamic and engaging, very similar to a HE1000 Unveiled, but with a slightly deeper bass, more punch and generally a slightly louder maximum volume. I was surprised that at most shows, the Wifi headphones seemed to be somewhat volume capped, because the home edition can reach high maximum volumes without issues. It tends to have a bigger bass, with more texture, even at times with a bit overdrive and a bit of added distortion compared to the HE1000 Unveiled, it is warmer than the 1000 stealth and has a more satisfying sound in general. Best sound can be achieved when using them via streaming, as USB can introduce some noise on big desktop systems, although there was none on the Khadas Mind 1 Mini PC.
Bass – At the bottom end, HE1000 Wifi is much fuller than most he1000 headphones, with a warm, slightly thick, textures and at times even overdriven bass. It is impressive in control with most tracks though, it just seems to emphasize the quantity more than other headphones from hifiman, except for Isvarna which is the only bassier pair of headphones made by HIFIMAN. HE1000 Wifi can reach 30 Hz really well, and it will climb lower but most energy can be found between 35 Hz and 110 Hz, with a slight deviation rather than a standard hump in this range. This means that you can expect both impact, depth and also body in music, with a full and warm vocal range, a bit of extra thickness and a bit of extra punch. Even at maximum volume, it will not distort out of nowhere, and I’m looking at a 120 dB volume achieved by them.
Midrange – Voices are somewhat forward, personal and intimate, in the Unveiled style of headphones, with a good focus on each micro detail, little inflection in the vocal range, and both male and female voices have a similar degree of presence and focus. Rock and metal sound better than simple pop, because HE1000 Wifi has a strong tendency to enhance the richness of music, so songs with a rich layering of guitars, as well as songs with a strong contrast will sound better. For pop, it may feel like a bit of overdrive, just like a sweet guitar amp, while for rock and metal, it is pure richness, and makes guitars in particular sweeter. HE1000 Wifi has a bit more focus on thinner voices, both male and female, so it will give a bit more presence to tenor and sopranos than bass and altos.
Treble – Top end has a strong extension up to 20 kHz, but most of the energy is situated between 7 kHz and 11 kHz, with less focus once you get above or below those ranges. This creates strong detail and a bit of energy for rock and metal, but a sound that is not too forced nor too relaxed, just right for most styles.
Dynamics And Textures – One of the interesting parts about having a DAC and AMP built inside the headphones is the high dynamic range they can achieve, but He1000 Wifi is extremely sensitive to the mixing and mastering quality, to the point where they will not sound right unless the mix and master were right. A good example is how they can show distortion in many pop songs like , but not in those mixed and mastered well, like Koseki Bijou – Rock On. He1000 Wifi generally emphasizes textures a lot, and will show over-texturization easily, and make most music sound richer, more similar to what a tube does to sound rather than sounding SS. In fact, this makes sense because the DAC is a special edition Himalaya R2R DAC which has its own rich texture and blend of tuning.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – Although the official version seen at events was a bit limited in maximum volume, the market version of HE1000 wifi can get really loud at max, up to 120 dB. It is not distorted by itself and the system has no audible self noise, but it will easily show overdrive and clipping in songs, especially at high volumes, so for many songs with a poor mix and master, it can sound distorted at max volumes. Some headphones and setups hide this kind of aliasing or clipping effect, but he1000 wifi makes it quite obvious.
Soundstage – Staging is wide laterally, but not very deep, as just like with the unveiled headphones, voices are brought forward, expressed heavily in your face, with a strong contrast. He1000 Wifi dissects the forward layers more heavily than most headphones and reveals far more information in the forward layers, in a unique fashion only they can render, but at the same time they tend to push the background layer to be less audible and more hidden.
Comparisons
HIFIMAN HE1000 Wifi vs HIFIMAN Isvarna (2699 USD vs 2899 USD) – Isvarna will need a DAC and Headphone Amplifier so the whole setup will cost much more than with HE1000 Wifi in the end. This being said, Isvarna has quite a bit of passive noise isolation compared to He1000 Wifi which is super open and transparent. All in all, the sound of Isvarna has more bass, more impact, body and punchy, while He1000 Wifi has a much wider soundstage, better instrument separation, and it is focused on the airiness of the sound, while Isvarna is focused on the warmth and power of the sound. You will also hear better resolution from Isvarna in the low midrange and bass, and better resolution with the he1000 wifi in the treble and the upper midrange. Each is more focused on a different part of the sound and each does something entirely different well. I prefer Isvarna for most EDM, Dubstep and bass heavy music and like He1000 Wifi more for rock, metal and atmospheric music. Both can be your endgame universal pair of headphones without an issue.
HIFIMAN HE1000 Wifi vs HIFIMAN Arya Wifi (2699 USD vs 1499 USD) – Arya Wifi has basically the same streaming abilities, but the two pairs I had required slightly different connection and approach protocols, so maybe the DAC and AMP inside are slightly different also. When I interviewed Dr. Fang, I learned that each one of the new Wifi headphones has the DAC and AMP matched perfectly with the streamer and the driver, so it is likely that there are some differences between them. I prefer He1000 Wifi in general for most music styles, it is much pricier but it is about as different from ARya Wifi as He1000 Unveiled is from ARya Unveiled. This includes He1000 Wifi having a deeper bass extension, more impact, more punch, better body and a better treble extension with a higher resolution. Arya Wifi sounds more focused, with a more personal experience, but the extra soundstage depth and width as well as extension He1000 Wifi has does justify the price difference if you want to go end-game with your Wifi headphones.
HIFIMAN HE1000 Wifi vs T+A Solitaire P-SE (2699 USD vs 3900 USD) – Another really good comparison point is Solitaire P-SE which has excellent build quality and comfort, but really both are equally comfortable in person. Solitaire P-SE needs a ton of power, so the final bill will be much higher when you count the DAC AMP needed to drive them. All of this being said, HE1000 Wifi has a similar tuning compared to P-SE, but with a higher resolution in the upper midrange, a more juicy and richer sound, while P-SE sounds a bit more serious, less impactful and less personal, wider and more atmospheric. I like both a lot, but the convenience of the he1000 wifi as well as the unveiled technology makes he1000 wifi a better choice overall.
Value – Conclusion
With the price tag of 2699 USD, HE1000 Wifi is clearly one of the most interesting headphones you can purchase right now. It is not just a new pair of headphones, it is an entire system, with a high-end DAC, battery, amplifier, and an exceptional HIFIMAN HE1000 Unveiled headphone at the core. It is the best sounding system you could grab at this point if you want the full HIFIMAN experience, and it even has LDAC, Wifi streaming, and even USB DAC. It has a higher value than most headphones in the range if you want an all-in-one solution, and with a bit of tinkering, and patience, it gets incredibly loud, sharp and crisp.
Award – Although HE1000 Wifi is not the first wifi pair of headphones that we’ve reviewed, it is the first that was actually launched, and it can exist in our Hall Of Fame, not replacing he1000 but besides it, if you want to have a final pair of headphones that requires no extra electronics, and which has the DAC, AMP, Wifi streamer and all the other components already built-in. It is pretty much the ideal he1000, driven with ideal sound, and with an ideal overall build quality and comfort, perfect if you’re looking for endless fun.
HIFIMAN created something fresh, and when baking He1000 Wifi, they put in all their best technologies, including a miniature R2R HYMALAYA DAC, high power amplifier, streamer, and with the best minds in the audio world, they got HE1000 Wifi to run UPnP so well that it works with foobar2000, as well as Spotify and Roon. It is right now the hottest pair of headphones you can buy to enjoy, I would even say that they are the most advanced headphones ever created all things considered.
PROs
- Superb DAC and Amplifier inside of a pair of headphones, with a large battery also
- Perfect physical lateral balance, no noticeable left and right tilt
- Superb clarity and transparency with high impact
- Comfortable despite so many electronic parts inside
- Top value for the high-end market
- Reliable and flawless for Quobuz and UPnP
- Wide dynamic range and a large soundstage
- Focused definition for all instruments
- Natural male and female vocals
- Sounds Rich and detailed
Cons
- Tricky to get it started, up and running for the first time
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3RnzqVn
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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