An open-back planar with a balanced, near-neutral tuning that most sources call HIFIMAN's most even yet. Ten measurement rigs agree on the shape: flat bass with a slight sub-bass taper, a midrange without the brand's usual deep dip near 2 kHz, and treble that sits a little below the Edition XS and a little above the Edition XV. Reviewers agree most firmly on the midrange, imaging and detail. The soundstage is consistently described as more intimate than most HIFIMANs — natural and deep to some, narrow to others. Opinion splits on dynamics (lively and punchy for most, flat and restrained for a minority that wants more bass weight), and sharply on comfort: the fixed strap and narrow frame leave many heads clamped at the last notch, while smaller heads find it light and easy to wear. Build reads as a step up to some and as no better than cheaper HIFIMANs to others, with a few owners reporting static shocks from the metal mesh behind the pads. Value is contested, with the Edition XV and discounted HE6se the standing counter-arguments. Reviewers also disagree on amplification: some run it from a laptop, others insist on a desktop amp. It is open-back and isolates nothing.
About this product
The 2025 open-back planar HIFIMAN sells as a modern re-invention of the 2010 HE6: round cups, a second-generation NEO Supernano diaphragm, rare-earth-free magnets, the Gen. 2 composite headband with a fixed suspension strap, and 28 Ω with far higher sensitivity than the HE6 family. Launched at $799 alongside the Edition XV and Ananda Unveiled. Not the HE6se or HE6se V2, and not the 2026 HE6 Remastered, which is HIFIMAN's actual reissue of the original HE6 driver; several reviewers describe the HE600's driver as Sundara-class rather than HE6-class. The pads use HIFIMAN's older snap-on ring mount, so earlier round HIFIMAN pads fit.
The original HE6 is one of the headphones enthusiasts still talk about in hushed tones: a gold-traced planar so insensitive that owners drove it from speaker amplifiers. The HE600 arrived in 2025 with that name on the box and almost none of that hardware inside — a thin second-generation diaphragm, rare-earth-free magnets, round cups, a light 389 g frame and a sensitivity most desktop amps handle without effort. At $799 it sits at the top of the trio HIFIMAN launched that summer, above the Edition XV and Ananda Unveiled.
Reviewers mostly stopped asking whether it is an HE6 — nearly all agree it is not — and started describing what it is: perhaps the most even-handed tuning HIFIMAN has made, closer to an upgraded Sundara than to its namesake. The argument moved elsewhere: to a headband that some heads find perfectly comfortable and others cannot wear without bending it, to a build that reads as solid to some and as half-price to others, and to whether $799 makes sense next to the Edition XV at half the price.
