Golden Ears: HIFIMAN HE-1000se Review

Welcome back to Golden Ears, our semi-regular column exploring the world of high-end audio. Apart from highlighting neat and interesting products you might not otherwise know about, our goal here is simple: to discover exactly what makes these headphones worth their high entry price. Today, we’re looking at the HIFIMAN HE-1000se, a $2,000 pair of headphones that have been out for several years and are widely regarded as some of the best money can buy. 

How can a pair of headphones be worth $2,000 and what exactly can you look forward to if you decide to jump right to the endgame? That’s what we’re out to answer.

Specifications

Current Price: $1,999 (Amazon) 

A Quick Introduction to Golden Ears… 

Welcome back to Golden Ears! This is our semi-regular column dedicated to the world of high-end audio. In this series, we look at premium audio products that all promise a next-level listening experience. But what exactly do you get when you spend a little, or sometimes a lot, more? That’s what we aim to discover, helping you to find out just what’s worth investing in to upgrade your listening experience for music and gaming alike. 

For this article in particular, we’re looking at the HIFIMAN HE-1000 SE, a flagship pair of audiophile-tier planar magnetic headphones that already have a mass amount of support within the headphone community. At this price, it exists in the upper-range of the personal audio market, beyond typical consumer pricing and well into enthusiast territory. As such, discussions of value are more subjective than ever. For many listeners, that pricing is simply out of reach, and no matter how good they are, they will seem like a terrible value. For others, passionate audiophiles with plentiful expendable income who consider audio their primary hobby, may have a different opinion.For products like this, ideas of value are very subjective; one person’s steal might be another’s exorbitance, so we’ll largely be leaving that to the side today.

On the topic of