Hifiman RE-600S V2 In-ear Earphone Review

Verdict –

While the $99 RE-400 broke headlines with its value for money, the RE-600 is not to be seen as overpriced or underperforming in any way. While it doesn’t sound as engaging and dynamic as most of the earphones that we have come to consider balanced or impressive, when attuned to the RE-600’s mellow and delightfully linear tuning, all those earphones come off as unnatural and sculpted. I don’t mean to hype up the RE-600, it’s not a new earphone nor is it a flawless one, but I do think it has been severely underappreciated and misunderstood in many ways. Because at the end of the day, the RE-600 is an incredibly versatile and natural sounding earphone with ergonomics that are nothing short of outstanding. Sure, I would prefer a little more treble extension and perhaps a smidge more midrange clarity, but the RE-600 carries that neutral balanced armature sound pioneered by the original Etymotic earphones without compromising sub-bass extension and soundstage size.

DSC02442-7Please note that though the RE-600S V2 competes favourably to earphones like the Quad Driver and Pinnacle on a technical level, those earphones will likely serve many listeners much better with their more polite tuning. I’m not downplaying the RE-600 here in any way, simply stressing that impressive technical performance doesn’t always translate to an impressive listen and while I think everyone can appreciate the RE-600S V2, I’m not sure everyone can enjoy it.

Verdict – 8.5/10, If there’s one advantage the RE-600 holds over other earphones, it would be consistency; they perform so predictably with every genre, vocals, in particular, always sound exceptionally lifelike and natural. So don’t let the leaner, more laid-back tuning turn you off because extended listening reveals that the RE-600 has all the resolution and fidelity we are all looking for in this hobby. They haven’t aged since their inception, rather the RE-600 has matured with more modern earphones lacking the refinement and restraint of Hifiman’s classic offering.

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ABOUT AUTHOR

Ryan Soo

Ryan Soo

Avid writer, passionate photographer and sleep-deprived medical student, Ryan has an ongoing desire to bring quality products to the regular reader.

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5 Responses

  1. Hello, I have owned a pair of RE-600 v1, which I loved (even though cable was already degraded after 6-12 months), but I must say that when I moved to a set of Westone 3, clarity and detail where HUGELY better on the westones, i.e., I never went back to the RE-600.
    That being said, and since I broke the W3’s, I was considering these V2 (if they have improved on that), Grado’s GR10e, Fiio FH5 or Dunu 2002. Would you by any chance know if any of these has the same “character” as the W3? Or if detail has in fact improved (a lot) from V1 to V2?

  2. Are there any other earphones, which are similar in cost and with a neutral balanced sound, that is worth considering? At $99 the price point, the RE600s V2 seems to be unrivaled.

  3. I have owned these for about a month now and have to say firstly your review is pretty spot on.
    The re600v2 does indeed on first listen come across a bit lean but it’s just so acurate and when comparing you realy appreciate how accurate these truly are.
    My favourite iems at the moment.

  4. 3rd pair? What failed in ur previous pairs?

    Was there any upgrades as u kept returning them? Or they just gave u refurbished ones

  5. Hey great review Ryan! Been using the Re600s for a while and love the sound. I just got my 3rd pair which is now the V2 so hopefully no more returns. Was wondering if there’s any clear upgrades to go to?

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