World-class sound in a pair of earbuds

You’d be forgiven for not having heard of Hifiman before. The headphone company has flourished almost entirely within the audiophile community, producing everything from value-oriented cans to ludicrously expensive examples of audiophile excess.

The product I’m writing about today leans towards the latter. The Hifiman RE2000 are the company’s flagship earbuds – properly known as IEMs or in-ear monitors – designed with one goal in mind: provide the best sound quality in an earbud, cost being no object.

I won’t assert Hifiman totally succeeded, because I haven’t heard all the competition; despite the death of the headphone jack, the IEM market is more saturated than ever. I will say the RE2000 provides some of the most engaging and detailed sound I’ve heard out of any audio product – full-size headphones and speakers included.

One would hope so, given the price. At launch, they came in a gold-plated brass design and retailed for $2,000. Believe it or not, there are far more expensive IEMs out there, but that’s still a huge wad of cash for any normal person to drop.

Credit: Hifiman

Thankfully, the company released a ‘Silver’ model (with aluminum instead of brass) that purportedly sounds the same but retails for $1,500. Both models can be found for cheaper nowadays, and better yet, Hifiman is currently running a holiday sale for ‘just’ $800. Among other top-of-the-line, endgame-level IEMs, that’s quite a steal.

It’s a pity they don’t quite like look their price. Don’t get me wrong, the RE2000 Silver are well-built, but their metal and plastic build doesn’t exude the premium allure of other audiophile flagships. The cubic zirconium build of RHA’s CL2 or classy metal finishes of Campfire Audio’s Atlas and Andromeda make the RE2000 look cheap in comparison.

You can get a much nicer cable for circle 30 bucks. Pictured: Kinboofi 2.5mm balanced cable.

The same goes for the detachable cable. It’s fine, but not it doesn’t give off the indestructible quality as the ones included with some other headphones. I don’t believe that cables affect sound quality significantly if at all, but you can at least get something that feels nicer, and is less tangle prone from Amazon for about 30 bucks.

The RE2000’s form factor is a mixed bag. While smaller and lighter than many competing products, the short nozzle means you might need to use larger tips than usual to get a consistent seal. Problem is, Hifiman doesn’t include the usual set of small, medium, and large tips, instead opting for a variety of tip shapes.

Unfortunately, the default tips were just a touch too small, and the RE2000 is already only average at blocking out sound, so I had to resort to the scary-looking triple flanges. These block out a fair bit more noise, but are uncomfortable for extended use. I’d recommend buying some extra tips – Spiral Dot, Spinfit, Symbio and Comply tips are some audiophile standards.

The included tips are weird. I opted for the Symbio W for isolation, sound, and comfort.

Once you do get a good fit, the RE2000 is comfortable and small enough to sleep with if you want to – which is great, because I want to listen to them all day and night. These headphones sound glorious.

Hifiman founder Dr. Fang Bian says he spent 3 years of research creating the RE2000. In fact, the unique ‘Topology’ diaphragm in the RE2000 is based on his Ph.D. thesis: it reduces distortion by applying a special nanoparticle coating in layers of geometric patterns.

This is particularly notable because very few IEMs in this price and performance bracket use a single driver per ear. More commonly, you’ll see anything from three to twelve tiny speakers stuffed into each side. The RE2000 doesn’t need that, with Hifiman suggesting the sound from its driver is more natural and engaging.

The first thing that hits you about the RE2000’s sound is its grandeur, its bigness. Despite being crammed into your ear canals, the RE2000 gives off a sense of space more akin to far larger headphones. There’s ample width to the soundstage, but there’s also a sense of depth and height that doesn’t leave me wanting for my full-sized cans. Instruments get space to breathe that’s rare for IEMs.

This is all aided by Hifiman’s highly-agreeable tuning. It’s a slight V-shape, meaning there’s a small emphasis on the bass and highs over the mids – this is my preferred tuning, and it’s one that will be friendly to anyone transitioning from more mainstream products. I’m happy to see audiophile products turning away from flat or bright as the only way to experience music properly.

The bass is a highlight, hitting like a truck when called for without the slightest hint of boominess. It’s this region that tends to give it an advantage over more common multi-driver IEMs. There’s a bit of an emphasis on the midbass, but it still reaches deep into the sub-bass. Not the deepest I’ve heard, but plenty to shake your noggin.

The midrange is surprisingly refined, given the V tuning. It’s slightly recessed behind the other frequencies, so vocalists aren’t all up in your face, but all the detail, texture, and grit is there. The RE2000 has the kind of timbre that makes strings sing, with vocals coming across as natural and realistic.

The treble, meanwhile, is masterfully tuned to provide ample detail and sparkle without ever sounding harsh or aggressive – except for in bad recordings. Still, the RE2000 are overall fairly forgiving headphones. Unlike headphones tuned more clinically, the RE2000 will politely point out the flaws in poorly mastered tracks without making you hate some of your favorite music.

To be clear, the RE2000 isn’t the most technically proficient headphone I’ve heard. RHA’s CL2 resolves more minutiae to my ears, as do some full-size headphones. No part of the frequency range is the very best. There’s only so much a single dynamic driver can do, especially when Hifiman’s tuning doesn’t artificially inflate a sense of resolution with sharp highs.

RE2000 vs the big boys (Denon D9200 and Hifiman Arya)

But it’s the overall presentation – the massive and cohesive sound – that makes the RE2000 one of most utterly enjoyable headphones I’ve heard in any form factor. It’s the kind of headphone that you can both listen to quietly, or blast loudly and do some headbanging.

Most of my experience with IEMS is below $300. The Fiio FH5 and A&K Billie Jean are a couple of great options in that price, but it is clear these are a league above. RHA’S $899 CL2 can beat the RE2000 in detail, comfort, and isolation, but I enjoy hifiman’s tuning and presentation more.

Within this price range and beyond, I have more experience with full-size headphones, and the RE2000 absolutely compete. To my ear, they’re pretty darn close to Sennheiser’s HD820 for pure sound quality and resolution but have a much more enjoyable tuning. They’re less detailed than the Focal Utopia, but it’s wild they exhibit a similar sense of space.

The one headphone I’m enjoying similarly, perhaps not surprisingly, is Hifiman’s new $1,699 Arya – which is tuned very similarly but provides more detail and the extra sense of space of full-sized cans.

$1,500 is a lot to spend on a pair of earbuds (though again, they’re on sale for $800 right now), and I wish the fit and finish were a bit more refined for the price. But sound-wise, this is endgame-level stuff. I find myself reaching for the RE2000 more than almost any other headphone I’m testing. That I can carry such world-class sound within my pocket is nothing but a small wonder.

Published November 15, 2018 — 21:21 UTC