HE-5..initial musings - Page 34

I don't mind a slight treble emphasis as long as it is extended and smooth with no peaks. Of course I prefer a flat frequency response if possible.

Yeah, the only thing that got me about the HE5 was a slightly unclear sound with a not fluid enough midrange. I am kind of spoiled in regards to fluidity by my electrostats, though. A stock YH100 definitely has a very subdued treble and overall muddy sound... seems like it was tuned a bit too far in the opposite direction but I assume it could be tuned back somewhat.

Compilation of thoughts on the HE-5

I spent a bit of time last night with the HE-5 vs the HD800 using my Apogee mini-DAC > ZDT and NAD C555 TT/Ortofon Blue, and the ZDT can drive both phones at the same time without a change in sound quality when listening to one and plugging in the other (HD800 via 4-pin XLR, HD-5 via 1/4" jack).

The HE-5 on the ZDT amp sound a lot better than they did at CanJam@RMAF, which I suspect might be because I am using the Apogee mini-DAC instead of PS Audio Digital Link III DAC. I also wonder if the ones at RMAF may have not been the production version like these, or maybe not broken in enough, I don't know. Regardless, they are now very well driven off the ZDT and the gap between the performance of the HD800 and HE-5 is noticeably smaller than it was at RMAF.

I am quite impressed with how well the HE-5 performance holds up to the HD800, and switching between the two phones did not make me feel that one was significantly superior or inferior to the other. Switching from those two phones to my APS V3 cabled RS-1 made the RS-1 seem compressed and thin in comparison. If the RS-1 are the first phones I put on for the day, they sound fantastic, but after listening the HD800 and HE-5 first, I can't enjoy my RS-1 nearly as much (or my HF-2 which sound more congested). The HE-5 soundstage is better than that of my APS V3 cabled RS-1, and does NOT sound especially tiny compared to the HD800 as some have been lead to believe. But the HE-5 soundstage is indeed less expansive or immersive than the HD800, and the sense of the concert hall is better appreciated with the HD800.

However, the HE-5 just play the music effortlessly, without ever sounding strained or incapable, and don't leave me wishing for more or less bass, mids or treble. They are nice and punchy, but not in your face or recessed sounding. If I didn't have the HD800 then the HE-5 would be my best open dynamic headphone, and it's the best orthodynamic headphone I have heard so far (many stock and modded orthos have graced my ears at various meets and I have owned 4 pairs myself). The HE-5 and HD800 are the closest dynamic headphones to my electrostatics, with the HD800 being closer to the HE60 (with more bass) and the HE-5 being more similar to the O2 Mk1 (with better treble, but similar narrower but well defined soundstage).

When I was importing, editing and cleaning up some LP needledrop recordings via GEMsound PL-USB phono stage A/D converter (Audacity and SoundSoap) I used the HE-5 to monitor the recording process. I was cleaning up the pop/crackle/surface noise and adjusting the sound EQ, and I got some good results that still sounded right with my other headphones. The HE-5 were also decently driven by the headphone out of the GEMsound PL-USB A/D box, but they wont play off the GEMsound as loudly as the WA6, let alone the more powerful ZDT, EF5 or SAC amps. The nice thing is when the HE-5 are driven off an underpowered amp it doesn't seem to hurt the sound quality, only the volume levels. The 3MOVE and D4 in 9v mode both seem to have adequate power to drive the HE-5 to louder than normal listening levels.

My only complaint is that the velour earpads have not softened up yet to form to my head shape better yet, but they've only had about 20 hours of head time out of the 200 hours of burn-in.

Here's a question I don't think I've read any comments about yet - how forgiving are the HE-5 of less-than-ideal source material? Does poorly recorded stuff sound like crap?

Also, it would be nice to know if the production HE-5 is actually different from the one we heard at RMAF in a way that makes it easier to drive - I would be more likely to buy one if this were true.

I don't think the HE-5 makes bad recordings worse, but it doesn't sugar coat them either. Bad is bad, and I tend to stay away. However, 256K MP3 are not bad if the mastering was good, so you don't need to stick with only lossless or audiophile recordings to enjoy them. And, for example, I can listen to some of my sibilant recordings (Diana Krall, Eva Cassidy, Kathleen Edwards) with the HE-5 and it does not make them unbearable or worse.

Whereas other 'phones in your collection do?

Off the top of my head I'd say sometimes the HD800, RS-1, or UE 11Pro can exacerbate sibilance (sometimes the Nuforce UF-30). The Phonak Audeo PFE did it often but mostly with the grey filters, as did the HFI-780 with the stock cable. And the Denon C700 unless I use the Complys T400 tips.

Is there anyboby know what the connector's type or part number of HE-5 is?
And can the Melos SHA gold drive the headphone well?

thanks, Lee

Fang in including a spare set of connectors in every future order.

Thanks for the wonderful infromation and thanks Fang too.

EF-5

Is the EF-5 likely to sound as good driving the HE-5 as a decent lowish-powered speaker amp? If not, would it mate well with other dynamic headphones?

The EF-5 seems good value- but only if it ends up getting used.

Based on what I read in this thread, HE-5 can be driven off by many existing amps, just not well with the portable ones.

If you already got a decent desktop amp, I doubt u need to buy a dedicated power amp (low watt) or EF-5 for it.

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I doubt there is any kind of magic in the EF5 that makes it good for the HE5 and not good for anything else. In fact, I don't really understand all these statements about it being finicky with amplification or really hard to drive, other than the fact that it has such a low impedance for headphones.

I agree - it doesn't seem very tricky to drive to me, either. I've had good success with just about every home amp I have tried, actually.

The ones I heard at RMAF clipped pretty noticeably on my amplifier when turned up to loud listening volumes - it didn't have these issues with any other headphone I plugged into it (including the K1000).

My guess is that something has changed between that version and this one to make them less of a bear.