HIFIMAN announcing the Susvara Unveiled was less of a surprise than the HE1000 Unveiled, if only because I thought HIFIMAN had reached deep into its bag of tricks to get something that could improve upon the Susvara in multiple ways—albeit at the expense of some others. But then came the onslaught of discounted HIFIMAN headphones, starting from the HE400se going up to the HE1000se. A large price gap and HIFIMAN deciding to amortize the R&D costs of unveiled drivers led to the HE1000 Unveiled, and this is definitely the most refined of the HE1000 series, and thus also the entirety of all oval ear cup HIFIMAN planar magnetic sets. This is an all-rounder that is a marked improvement almost every which way over the HE1000se. Newer HE1000se batches may be less bright if multiple customers are to be believed, yet it is still a set that tips past the fine balance of resolution and fatigue. The HE1000 Unveiled has actually smooth mids and treble—most of it anyway. Add to this the vocal rendition being more lifelike and instrument timbre being noticeably more accurate, and you have most of the strengths of this lineup in a set that you don't have to put down after 15 min of listening. I also appreciate that the unveiled drivers are less nerve-wracking here to the point where HIFIMAN doesn't even limit the ear cup swivel and rotation as on the Susvara Unveiled. This is a set you don't have to worry about as much, although you should still remember to use the magnetic veils when not in use and then remove them each listening session—unless you want one of the worst sounding headphones on the planet.

Yet there remain issues, some of which seem just silly to me. Why has HIFIMAN replaced the ear pad installation mechanism to something more prone to getting users frustrated? Dealers also now have to stock new pads and find ways to mark them separate from the previous ones. The plastic clips can also break more easily now, so I foresee more issues in the future—especially as this is a silent change not marked anywhere on the product page. The driver unveiling also brings with it some quirks even beyond the handling part. You get a more open sound, albeit this seems to come at the expense of the bass being slightly less engaging. The mid-treble is remarkably smoother and more recessed than any of the other HE1000 headphones, but the side effect is the lower treble and upper treble is now being more emphasized. If you are sensitive to upper treble energy then this is not the set for you, at least without some EQ work. To me, it was more the excess 4-5 kHz energy that took away from the smoother sound elsewhere, making some vocals feel shrill to the point where I had to immediately tone this region down.

Perhaps the bigger issue is HIFIMAN having discounted several of its headphones, including the Arya Stealth and HE1000 Stealth that now offer incredible value for money. The Arya Organic is also appealing to those who want a bassier HIFIMAN, even if I maintain it's a worse tuned set than the HE1000 Stealth overall. At $2700, you have to really consider whether you get that much more for your money compared to the $1200 HE1000 Stealth, and such is my appreciation for the latter that I'd rather use my money there. There's also a new Arya Unveiled announced now, so the benefits of this new tech is going to be made available at a much lower cost too. Of course the returns get exponentially worse with increasing cost of headphones, so your mileage may vary. If you want what is subjectively the best of the HIFIMAN oval ear cups headphones—outside of the Shangri-La Sr.—then the HE1000 Unveiled is for you.