HIFIMAN (Heffieldman) is a well-known high-end audio manufacturer in China, everyone should be very familiar with this brand, even if they have never owned their products, but they should have tried their products in major domestic exhibitions. HIFIMAN released the flagship headset HE-R10 last year, which caused a lot of controversy when it was released, and after a year, the performance of he-R10 made many enthusiasts who questioned it have to let go of their resistance and re-examine HIFIMAN's understanding of headphone technology.
In October this year, HIFIMAN launched a new head-mounted dynamic headphones - HE-R9 closed dynamic headphones. HIFIMAN's headphone products, most of them use flat diaphragm, HE-R10 has two versions, one using a flat diaphragm, one using a dynamic. However, the HE-R9 launched this time only has a dynamic version, and it is unclear whether the HE-R9 of the flat plate diaphragm will be launched in the future. The impedance of HE-R9 is 32Ω, the sensitivity is 100dB, and the same low-impedance and high-sensitivity design as HE-R10, so it seems that HE-R9 should follow the design of the dynamic version of HE-R10.
I can't wait to open the box after receiving the product, HIFIMAN should be to control the cost this time, he-R9 outer packaging box is not like he-R10 leather case, but a simple carton. In addition to the headset body and warranty card instructions, there is a 3.5mm plug headset cable, a 6.35mm adapter, a USB Type C cable, and a BLUEtooth module unique to HILIMMAN, Blumenini, to connect bluetooth devices.
Back to the headphone body, the appearance of HE-R9 and R10 is basically the same, but it is estimated that out of cost control, R9's ear cups are no longer wooden materials, but use a plastic texture material, and painted to burgundy, in the light of the light also faintly flashed a layer of gold powder. At the same time, the leather wrapped on the head beam was also replaced by lambskin to artificial leather, and the interior was filled with memory foam, but due to the change of material, the weight of the R9 was further reduced, only more than 300 grams.
In addition to the change in appearance, the biggest change of HE-R9 is to replace it with a bilateral 3.5mm socket connection, compared to the he-R10 unilateral 3.5mm socket, the he-R9 bilateral socket is more suitable for headphone enthusiasts to upgrade the cable. It is worth mentioning that although the HE-R9 adopts the design of the bilateral socket, its left socket retains the function of single-ended balance, and for headphone players who already have high-quality unilateral cables, there is no need to upgrade the bilateral cables. It should be noted that only the left socket retains the function of single-ended balancing, so the unilateral cable must be inserted into the left interface to achieve a balanced input.
The HE-R9 also comes with a HIFIMAN unique Bluetooth module Bluemini to connect Bluetooth devices, the appearance is the same as the Bluetooth adapter with R10, but the R9 Bluetooth adapter built-in DAC is the use of HIFIMAN's latest self-developed Himalayan R2R DAC, decoding performance is better than the R10 Bluetooth adapter. Also because only the left interface has a single-ended balancing function, Bluemini can only be plugged in on the left interface.
Bluemini in addition to the Bluetooth connection function, can also be connected to the computer with a USB TypeC cable, at this time Bluemini's built-in Himalayan R2RDAC will be used as a decoder, very friendly for non-enthusiast players, although its effect is not as good as the professional headphone decoder, but compared to the computer motherboard built-in integrated sound card, the sound quality of the professional DAC decoding chip is much better. This generation of Bluemini also comes with microphone capability and can even be used as a gaming headset (although particularly luxurious), but imagine that the HE-R9 has a frequency response range of 15hz-35khz, capable of showing very fine details. In a shootout game, your teammates are still struggling to find the footsteps of the enemy, but you can lightly tell your teammates the sense of superiority you feel when you hear their breathing, which is not something that any random headset can do.
When it comes to the frequency response range, it has to be said that the high-frequency details of HE-R9 have reached 35khz, compared to the 30khz of HE-R10, R9 can reflect more details of the high-frequency band. R9's speaker unit is also the same as the R10 topological diaphragm speaker unit, topological diaphragm as THE WATCHMAN technology, has given R9 a layer of sound quality to ensure, while R9 is also equipped with R10 the same rare earth magnet and monocrystalline voice coil in this price is only R10 less than half of the headphones. Exactly what kind of performance this HE-R9 that carries the legacy of HIFIMAN technology has made me eager to taste it.
Of course, as the saying goes, I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, and the HE-R9 in my hand is still a baby in the swaddling that has not sounded at all after leaving the factory, and at this time, it is estimated that it cannot show its strength, or honestly connect the sound source and let it boil for a few days. The advice on the instruction manual is 150 hours, but out of personal understanding of such dynamic headphones, or patient ringing for more than a week, anyway, 150 hours, not bad for a few hours. HE-R9 adopts a low-impedance and high-sensitivity design, 32Ω impedance, 100db sensitivity, from the data point of view, it does not require too much thrust, and it is also possible to directly use Blumini's own DAC direct thrust. However, in order to get better results, I still invited my CDP-9 and started to experience.
Headphones are different from audio, traditional speakers due to the space to provide its performance is huge, while there are many reflective objects in the space, the performance space of headphones is only from the sound unit to the ear between such a little distance, neither reflection, nor high frequency rapid attenuation, so the use of headphones can get more details than the audio. After in-depth experience of the performance of HE-R9 under various music systems, I admired HIFIMAN's use of materials and space design.
Traditional closed headphones due to the sound position is very close to the human ear, as well as the human ear structure and other factors, when listening to music with headphones, it will feel that the pronunciation position is above the person's head, which is different from the traditional audio pronunciation position in front of the face. However, through the design of the position of the headphone unit and the internal space of the ear cup, HIFIMAN makes the sound position felt by the HE-R9 during the listening process in front of the face, so that the user can feel a more realistic listening environment. In order to achieve this effect, HIFIMAN in addition to the unique shape of the ear cup, but also the sound unit slightly forward, which is different from the traditional closed headphones flat sound unit has a qualitative difference.
After listening to a variety of different music, I could intuitively feel that the HE-R9 was very transparent in its analysis and accurate enough in positioning. Headphone products often make audiophiles less satisfied with the point is that compared to the speaker, the headphone unit is too thin, and the headphone unit emits sound transmission to the human ear and does not produce sound reflections, resulting in headphones is actually difficult to achieve the positioning of sound. When using headphones to listen to some large symphony orchestra works, the sounds of various instruments are easily intertwined and mixed, which greatly affects the sense of hearing. In order to solve this problem, HE-R9 uses the unique design on the ear cup and the adjustment of the position of the sound unit to enhance the longitudinal sound field, although the horizontal sound field is slightly insufficient compared to the HE-R10, but it still does not feel closed when used, and the sound density is sufficient and the stereoscopic layering is strong.
The performance in the large orchestra has made me recognize the strength of the HE-R9 enough, but after appreciating the vocals, I found that HIFIMAN's tuning of the HE-R9 is actually more inclined to the vocal part. Human beings are limited by the limitations of their own organs, and the highest frequency vocals cannot reach the high frequency range of the instrument standard, and the lowest frequency vocal cannot reach the low frequency range of the instrument standard. From the standard of the instrument, the human voice, regardless of the high bass, is always in the mid-frequency sound band, but the mid-frequency is often the frequency band of various headphone sound headaches, because the intermediate frequency is not as bright and layered as the high frequency; it is not as thick and powerful as the low frequency. The mid-frequency sound band is in the most sensitive frequency band of the human ear, and the sound of a slight mistake will be infinitely amplified, but if this frequency band is too prominent, it will cause the sound to be hard, the timbre is loose, it is blurred, and it is too late; the properly handled mid-frequency can make the sound powerful and powerful, with a rich sense of layering, and the human voice will be brighter and clearer. He-R9 output vocal music can obviously feel that the mid-frequency band has been carefully processed, the vocal portrayal is very delicate, the details are plump and elastic, while further strengthening the low frequency, diving deeper, close to the mid-frequency, more suitable for the performance of the human voice's sense of atmosphere.
In addition to using the traditional bilateral 3.5mm wired connection, I also tried the HE-R9 with the Bluemini Bluetooth connection, at which point the HE-R9 will use the Blumenini's own Himalayan R2R DAC as a decoding. As mentioned earlier, the he-R9 low-resistance and high-sensitivity design makes it very easy to push, compared with the performance of professional ear amplifiers, HE-R9 does not lose too much detail, and the transition between high and low frequencies is still rounded and coherent. Bluemini as a built-in DAC Bluetooth connector, the sound processing performance has been able to catch up with or even surpass some convenient ear amplifiers, daily out shopping only with the Plug in Blumenini can be, save the trouble of carrying a bunch of devices. HiFIMAN officially gave the battery life of 8 hours, but I did not verify, from my unboxing so far has not been charged but can still be used, Bluemini's battery life should be very reliable.
HE-R9 as one of the few closed dynamic headphones on the market, providing a variety of playable ways, compared to the traditional HIFI headphones can only be used through a wired connection, HE-R9 in addition to being able to plug in the Bluetooth connector for bluetooth headset use, can also be connected to the computer through USB Type C as a game headset (with microphone function). And due to the low-resistance and high-sensitivity design, the HE-R9 is also very easy to push, and it is more compatible with the front stage or ear amplifier, which is extremely playable. Whether you're a professional headphone enthusiast or a regular digital enthusiast, the HE-R9 is a great choice for a closed headphone.
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