HIFIMAN HE-R10P Planar Magnetic Headphone Review

The HIFIMAN HE-R10P is the company’s first real closed-back planar magnetic headphone model. Ever. They also released a dynamic driver version, the HE-R10D, that my colleague Mel Martin will be covering in a separate review. According to the press materials, HIFIMAN has been working on this type of headphone for quite some time, having put the project on hold for a while to perfect their open-back designs first. Having successfully climbed that mountain, they have since returned to this little experiment and have succeeded in developing a headphone of suitable performance to place it at the top position in their line.

In my mind, HIFIMAN, more than any other mainstream headphone company in recent years has pushed the bounds of headphone technology and design. This effort has eventually trickled down through every price point of their line to provide consumers with great sound, with options from affordable to astronomical. The company always seems to be moving, experimenting with alternative ideas, and in this case, with the HE-R10P, they are bringing us their take on the closed-back planar magnetic headphone concept. Up until now, all the company’s planar headphones have been open-back designs, so it will be interesting to get a sense of what HIFIMAN thinks a proper closed-back set of cans should sound like. They also sent along an optional Bluemini amplifier, a Bluetooth module that allows the HE-R10P to be used wirelessly. An unexpected yet interesting pairing.

Back in 2015 when HIFIMAN launched the HE-1000 open-back planar headphones, they caused a real stir on a variety of fronts. They looked like nothing else, and they sounded so incredible that the (at the time) eye-watering $3000.00 asking price could be justified. I own a pair of HE-1000v2, and I use them as a reference when listening to other headphones. Fast forward to today and there are a lot more hi-end headphones, all very unique offerings, in the $3000+ space. Can HIFIMAN do the same thing that they did before with the new HE-R10P? There’s only one way to find out!

Just to get this out of the way up front, there has been much chatter on the interwebs about the HIFIMAN HE-R10P headphones being everything from an homage/tribute to a blatant copy of the very rare, circa 1989, Sony MDR-R10 headphones. I have not experienced the Sony headphones in question, but from what I can see after examining both designs is that HIFIMAN seems to have used the same design concept and size of the Sony’s wooden ear cups and adapted it for their particular use. Otherwise, the HE-R10P headphones seem completely different in every other detail.

The HE-R10P uses one of HIFIMAN’s current generation planar-magnetic drivers in each earcup. Each driver uses a nanometer thickness membrane as the diaphragm sandwiched between 2 sets of magnets.

The large cherry wood earcups have been CNC milled to a precise shape and thickness to allow for sufficient space around the planar drivers for them to perform as intended. This is presumably to improve sound staging and imaging over a more traditional closed-back design. Whether the species of wood was chosen to help imbue the sound with any additional characteristics is unclear. The grain and satin finishing on the earcups is attractive which is good because their size is attention-getting.

The generously sized earpads are a combination of leather on the outside with soft fabric on the contact surfaces. They are thicker at the back versus the front and the pads completely encircled my ears, with room to spare, when I put the headphones on. Clamping pressure was quite agreeable making the HE-R10P easy to wear for extended periods without discomfort.

The headband and arms on the HE-R10P are pretty much the identical design as what is found on HIFIMAN’s far less expensive Deva headphones, which is to say that it is comfortable and works well. It is perhaps a bit of a conservative design choice for their flagship headphones.

The Bluemini wireless module that was included with the review sample is a $150.00 optional extra. It is essentially a Bluetooth receiver, DAC, and amplifier all in one and simply plugs into the single 3.5 mm socket on the bottom of the left earcup. The Bluemini is compatible with SBC, AAC, AptX, AptX-HD, and LDAC codecs. Battery life is a claimed 7-10 hours on a full charge. And the USB-C charge cable also will double as a direct digital audio connection when plugged into your computer.

Accessories included with the HE-R10P are a 3.5 mm cable, a 1/4-inch phono cable, and a balanced 4-pin XLR cable. A small 8 x 10-inch hardbound owner’s guide is also included in the leatherette-clad presentation box we’ve seen in other high-end HIFIMAN products.

While the overall design, build quality and aesthetics are quite good with the HE-R10P, the finish and choice of materials is not as luxurious as some other competing headphones out there. The Focal Stellia that I reviewed last year are a good example of getting the aesthetic details right.

I tested the HIFIMAN HE-R10P in a variety of scenarios. For listening in my studio, the headphones were driven by my Benchmark HPA4 headphone amplifier. The source was my Surface 3 PRO tablet running ROON, which was connected to the Audio-gd AS1 DAC via USB. For tethered mobile listening, HE-R10P was connected to my Topping NX4 DSD portable headphone amp that was using the output of my Shanling M0 DAP. When using a Bluetooth connection via the Bluemini module, the source was either the Shanling M0 using the LDAC codec or my Apple iPhone using AAC.

Broadly speaking, these are a fun set of headphones to listen to. Right off the bat, my first impressions of the sound of the HIFIMAN HE-R10P were “spacious” and “warm.” By comparison, they certainly presented a bigger image than most closed-back headphones that I’ve listened to. The perception of warmth I attribute to an additional bloom in the midrange frequencies, which was particularly noticeable in vocal performances. As I spent more time with the HE-R10P, I also came to appreciate their bass performance, finding it to have a tremendous impact with the right material but not at the expense of making everything else sound bloated. The treble performance sounded quite good in general. I sometimes felt that midrange warmness kind of took away a little of that “bite” that I was looking for in violin strings or horns, but others might appreciate that character. It is just something that happens with increased midrange response, which can make the edge transients less audible. I really enjoyed the HIFIMAN HE-R10P with live jazz and blues recordings, most rock music, and vocal focused music. For classical music it was a little more of a mixed bag. It depended on the recording but, in some cases, I found the HE-R10P’s additional warmth and spaciousness to lend a slightly artificial sound to the orchestral material that I would cue up.

The HE-R10P were also a bit of an enigma, in that you could use the optional Bluemini module with them, and the pairing worked surprisingly well, but I don’t know that HIFIMAN would exactly prefer they be used that way. I admit to feeling slightly self-conscious wearing such a pricey pair of “wireless” headphones around the neighborhood while walking my dogs. Never mind the practicality of wearing them on a crowded subway or bus. The physical size of them made me feel like I should be helping taxi a 747 to its gate at the airport or getting ready to push the plunger for a building demolition. But I must give credit to the amplifier and DAC guts of the Bluemini. They kept a strong Bluetooth connection between either my iPhone or my little Shanling DAP. The iPhone had a more stable connection with the HE-R10P at farther distances. I had to keep the Shanling M0 in my left shirt pocket to keep the LDAC connection solid. Both the AAC and LDAC connections by the way sounded very good. The sound was lively and clear with plenty of headroom in the Bluemini’s built-in amplifier. Using LDAC sounded a bit more detailed than when listening to the same tracks from my iPhone but we’re talking by a matter of degrees. A case could be made for the HE-R10P being the best (non-ANC) Bluetooth headphones I’ve heard but, again, I don’t think they are really geared for that.

Some of the music that got my attention with the HIFIMAN HE-R10P was:

If your headphone preferences veer towards a more warm and spacious sound with plenty of bass, and you have the budget, the HIFIMAN HE-R10P are worth a listen.

I respect HIFIMAN as a company and the accomplishments they have made with their products over the years. I have enjoyed both their flagship, midrange, and entry-level headphones to an equal degree. The HE-R10P planar magnetic closed-back headphones are an interesting departure for the company. I found them quite fun to listen to with most kinds of music and the HE-R10P have some endearing sonic qualities to them that should find favor with many high-end headphone enthusiasts. Personally, I don’t think they are a “game-changer” headphone like the HE-1000 were back in the day and I wish the HE-R10P had a more premium and luxurious feel to them for a flagship set of cans. That being said, I know a number of people who would find the HIFIMAN HE-R10P’s warm and spacious sound character to be just their cup of tea. They certainly have a different personality, and in the high-end headphone game, that accounts for a lot. They are worth a listen if you get the chance.