I'll be frank here, the HE-500s are just about the best deal in the headphone world. They're not perfect, they're not the best, but there's no other offering which comes close to the value that the HE-500s provide. Obviously, they're not magic headphones that provide flagship sound with no compromises and it's obvious that HiFiMan cut corners in making a headphone that optimised audio quality, was relatively easy to drive and could be available at a substantially lower price point than traditional summit-fi offerings but those compromises are more than worth it, especially considering that most of the concerns can be fixed with a little additional investment and effort.
The sound is excellent and truly balanced in every way in a way that creates not only balance but euphony. The bass really shows off the impact of the planars without being bloated or boomy and sounds wonderfully impactful and natural throughout without any boominess, bloating or roll-off. Some will prefer the LCD-2s bass but I prefer the tight and visceral impact over the spacious boom of the LCD's, which may be preferable to some but doesn't really do it for me. I probably won't be going back to dynamic cans after this because planars offer a truly different presentation of the bass that I just love.
The mids are perhaps the headphones' selling point, and are again wholly balanced without taking out any of the sense of fun. It's the mids that create the amazing transparency of these cans and they take extremely well to any instrumentation or vocals and they do well at excelling at any genre without being a jack of all trades. The clarity of the mids was a revelation coming from DT880s and K7xxs which to my ears have a more recessed mids presentation.
For me, the treble is what puts these headphones up there with summit-fi cans. The treble isn't heavy but it manages to fully be there and avoid harshness without taking the polite or veiled route that put me off the LCD-2s and killed the HD650s for me. The sparkle and brilliance that you want from the treble is all there and while the full extent of dynamics and detail isn't quite there, I still find that these are very detailed headphones that manage a very realistic presentation due to their excellent decay and transient response creating the overall organic sound and transparency that makes these headphones so great to listen to.
The soundstage is quite nice but the imaging is where it truly excels. I prefer a headphone that has a closer soundstage but excellent imaging to one that sounds wide and expansive but with lackluster imaging making the width sound artificial. Also, while power hungry they're also quite easy to amp, they'll sound fantastic with just about anything that gives them enough power even if that will limit your selection of viable amps. They need a lot of juice but they're not picky with what they get it from and these actually sound somewhat decent out of a PC headphone jack or an iPhone input even if it's far from a permanent solution.
Isolation is virtually non-existent and there's a lot of leakage, especially with the regrilling mod done, but you shouldn't really be considering flagship level open headphones if isolation and leakage are a real concern.
The HE-500s do suffer somewhat in the quality of their stock parts (by that I mean the pads and cable, the headphones themselves are actually very sturdy and durable) with the very rough and hot pleather and velour pads leaving much to be desired and the ugly, tangle-y and hugely microphonic stock silver cable needing a replacement. They're quite easy on the eye and the gunmetal grey finish and the overall sturdy and straightforward look do make these look like a premium offering rather than cheap looking but good sleepers. They're very heavy which can cause comfort issues and have some odd screw-in cable connectors that can be a bit annoying and there's an overall lack of padding on the headband which in addition to the weight, makes them somewhat uncomfortable without any aftermarket padding. Luckily, most of these issues are fixable with some replacements and the handy among us will enjoy the fact that there's several mods available that can improve the overall sound of the headphones although some others will be annoyed at the fact that they'll have to buy new pads and cables to get a better experience and may not be keen to dig into expensive electronics. Really, comfort and design issues are plentiful as corners had to be cut, but when you see that about $120 will fix these issues and that you can get a pair of these for around $600 or less depending on where you live (I got these in Australia for about $670 including shipping and paypal fees, which is about half of what I'd pay for new HD800s or even used ones), even these issues feel like total nitpicks.
Overall, these are a very organic set of cans that excel particularly in providing a balanced and transparent sound that just sounds beautiful and is rare even in top end cans. They embody the depth, palpability and enjoyment that I think defines high end sound. They're not harshly analytical but they're not overly laid back. They do just about everything just right. They're not too hot or harsh and they're not too mellow and dark. For me, these are the sweet spot of summit-fi and I don't think anything I could reasonably get would be a direct upgrade. I prefer these as daily drivers to my mate's HD800s (despite that soundstage) and LCD-2s and while I'd probably buy some HD800s to add to my collection if I had the money or some Stax if an eccentric millionaire handed me a cheque for $10,000, the HE-500s are a more than satisfactory end-game pair for me and even if the sound signature isn't your favourite, these can be part of any audiophile's end-game arsenal. If you don't mind replacing cables, pads and maybe adding some headband padding and doing the mods to get that extra oomph out of the sound, it's truly good enough to hang with the big boys and even surpass some of them for a fraction of the price. There is no better deal on the market, especially with used prices dropping more now that they're discontinued. If you're considering pulling the trigger on these, do it, you won't be disappointed.
The sound is excellent and truly balanced in every way in a way that creates not only balance but euphony. The bass really shows off the impact of the planars without being bloated or boomy and sounds wonderfully impactful and natural throughout without any boominess, bloating or roll-off. Some will prefer the LCD-2s bass but I prefer the tight and visceral impact over the spacious boom of the LCD's, which may be preferable to some but doesn't really do it for me. I probably won't be going back to dynamic cans after this because planars offer a truly different presentation of the bass that I just love.
The mids are perhaps the headphones' selling point, and are again wholly balanced without taking out any of the sense of fun. It's the mids that create the amazing transparency of these cans and they take extremely well to any instrumentation or vocals and they do well at excelling at any genre without being a jack of all trades. The clarity of the mids was a revelation coming from DT880s and K7xxs which to my ears have a more recessed mids presentation.
For me, the treble is what puts these headphones up there with summit-fi cans. The treble isn't heavy but it manages to fully be there and avoid harshness without taking the polite or veiled route that put me off the LCD-2s and killed the HD650s for me. The sparkle and brilliance that you want from the treble is all there and while the full extent of dynamics and detail isn't quite there, I still find that these are very detailed headphones that manage a very realistic presentation due to their excellent decay and transient response creating the overall organic sound and transparency that makes these headphones so great to listen to.
The soundstage is quite nice but the imaging is where it truly excels. I prefer a headphone that has a closer soundstage but excellent imaging to one that sounds wide and expansive but with lackluster imaging making the width sound artificial. Also, while power hungry they're also quite easy to amp, they'll sound fantastic with just about anything that gives them enough power even if that will limit your selection of viable amps. They need a lot of juice but they're not picky with what they get it from and these actually sound somewhat decent out of a PC headphone jack or an iPhone input even if it's far from a permanent solution.
Isolation is virtually non-existent and there's a lot of leakage, especially with the regrilling mod done, but you shouldn't really be considering flagship level open headphones if isolation and leakage are a real concern.
The HE-500s do suffer somewhat in the quality of their stock parts (by that I mean the pads and cable, the headphones themselves are actually very sturdy and durable) with the very rough and hot pleather and velour pads leaving much to be desired and the ugly, tangle-y and hugely microphonic stock silver cable needing a replacement. They're quite easy on the eye and the gunmetal grey finish and the overall sturdy and straightforward look do make these look like a premium offering rather than cheap looking but good sleepers. They're very heavy which can cause comfort issues and have some odd screw-in cable connectors that can be a bit annoying and there's an overall lack of padding on the headband which in addition to the weight, makes them somewhat uncomfortable without any aftermarket padding. Luckily, most of these issues are fixable with some replacements and the handy among us will enjoy the fact that there's several mods available that can improve the overall sound of the headphones although some others will be annoyed at the fact that they'll have to buy new pads and cables to get a better experience and may not be keen to dig into expensive electronics. Really, comfort and design issues are plentiful as corners had to be cut, but when you see that about $120 will fix these issues and that you can get a pair of these for around $600 or less depending on where you live (I got these in Australia for about $670 including shipping and paypal fees, which is about half of what I'd pay for new HD800s or even used ones), even these issues feel like total nitpicks.
Overall, these are a very organic set of cans that excel particularly in providing a balanced and transparent sound that just sounds beautiful and is rare even in top end cans. They embody the depth, palpability and enjoyment that I think defines high end sound. They're not harshly analytical but they're not overly laid back. They do just about everything just right. They're not too hot or harsh and they're not too mellow and dark. For me, these are the sweet spot of summit-fi and I don't think anything I could reasonably get would be a direct upgrade. I prefer these as daily drivers to my mate's HD800s (despite that soundstage) and LCD-2s and while I'd probably buy some HD800s to add to my collection if I had the money or some Stax if an eccentric millionaire handed me a cheque for $10,000, the HE-500s are a more than satisfactory end-game pair for me and even if the sound signature isn't your favourite, these can be part of any audiophile's end-game arsenal. If you don't mind replacing cables, pads and maybe adding some headband padding and doing the mods to get that extra oomph out of the sound, it's truly good enough to hang with the big boys and even surpass some of them for a fraction of the price. There is no better deal on the market, especially with used prices dropping more now that they're discontinued. If you're considering pulling the trigger on these, do it, you won't be disappointed.
