By now, you should know that stunning music reproduction doesn't exactly come cheap. HiFiMAN may test your limits on quality -- and what you're willing to spend on that quality -- with its latest product, the HE1000.
The HE1000 is a new full-size planar magnetic headphone. It's a $3,000 full-size planar magnetic headphone. The flagship model uses Nanotechnology, which basically means it has a Nanometer-grade-thickness diaphragm and measures a mere .001mm thin. In fact, it's so thin, the company says you can barely see it when viewed from the side. That low driver mass makes this set very lightweight, but able to produce awesome, natural sound, with negligible distortion.
It also has an Advanced Asymmetrical Magnetic Circuit, which took the company seven years to make. This double-sided magnetic circuit promises perfect control of the driver for lifelike clarity and sonic precision.
To protect the drivers, HiFiMAN came up with the patented "Window Shade" grill, which uses premium alloys to deliver "greater openness" in the design. That boasts a wider soundstage and tighter delivery. It looks cool, too. Other features include comfortable ear cups and beveled ear pads, an oxygen-free copper (OFC) cable, and an ergonomic headband that combines a special metal alloy with calf's skin (to help disperse the heat).
"For many years now, HiFiMAN has created planar magnetic headphones that have sounded quite good and the company has developed a strong following. However all along, it has been my dream to create the world's best headphone and I decided that to do that I had to leverage my background in Nanotechnology," says Dr. Fang Bian, HiFiMAN's founder and president. "The HE1000 has taken us several years of patience and hard work and so far, the results are very exciting."
Those painstaking years seem to be paying off, indeed. CNET's Steve Guttenberg called the HE1000, "Quite possibly the best-sounding headphones in the world." That's some seriously high praise. So naturally, with that comes a seriously high price tag to match.
HiFiMAN is currently taking pre-orders for the HE1000, priced at $2,999. When the product starts shipping in June, it will come with three different types of plugs (a mini 6.35mm, a 1/4-inch 3.5mm and a 4-pin XLR connector).
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