HiFiMAN HE-1000s.


I heard the HiFiMAN HE-1000s and Axpona and I was ASTOUNDED*. These sounded absolutely PHENOMENAL. The word "perfect" comes to mind, as absurd as that may sound.
*I brought my own Parasound Z CD player, CDs, cords and connectors. I also had my own headphones, the Denon AHD-7000, with Lawton modifications (which I still love). I even brought my own headphone amp, which is an Audio GD Compass (I now own an Oppo HA-1, which I ordered after Axpona).
mdhoover
I am a beta tester for these. They arrived today and I have listened for a short while. Right out of the box they sounded good to great and seem to be opening up and sounding even better very quickly. I haven't been this stoked about an audio product since the Intuitive Design Summit loudspeakers.

Briefly, TO MY EARS: these are astoundingly detailed yet smooth, and they have great bass. My preliminary impression is that they must have more sonic RESOLUTION than other high end headphones (however, I haven't heard the Abyss, the Beyerdynamic T1s, or the Oppo PM-1s....). They're balanced tonally and have wonderful midrange. Vocals are stunningly lifelike, even before any significant burn in. No readily discernible weaknesses at this point--NONE.