Is the HiFiMAN HE 6 worth the upgrade from the Nothing CMF Headphone Pro?
Verdict
Downgrade
The HiFiMAN HE 6 actually scores 15.0 points below the Nothing CMF Headphone Pro, so on aggregate review consensus this is a step backwards. The gains are concentrated in sound (8.0 to 8.5). You do give up ground on value (9.0 to 6.0). On paper: driver size 40 mm to 60 mm. Worth checking: active noise cancelling goes Yes to No and weight goes 283 g to 502 g. One caution: this steps down a line tier (CMF Headphone Pro to HE 6), and base models usually trade away tier features - check the codec and ANC rows above before trusting the score gap alone. And it costs $1220 more for a lower score, which is hard to justify on the data alone. Only worth it if a specific feature above matters more to you than overall quality does.
What actually changes
Sub-scores both products have, on the same 0-10 scale. Bars extend right for a gain, left for a loss.
- Sound8.08.5
- Value9.06.0
Spec differences
Only where the two genuinely differ - everything they share is omitted.
| Spec | CMF Headphone Pro | HE 6 | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active noise cancelling | Yes | No | |
| Weight | 283 g | 502 g | |
| Water resistance | IPX2 | Not rated | |
| Driver size | 40 mm | 60 mm | |
| Driver | 40 mm dynamic | 60 mm planar magnetic | |
| Frequency response | 20 Hz - 20 kHz | 8 Hz - 65 kHz |
About this verdict
Direction matters here: this page answers "CMF Headphone Pro to HE 6". The other direction is a separate question with a different answer. Scores blend published review verdicts across over-ear and shift as new reviews land, so a marginal call today may not be one next quarter.

