New Hifiman HE-5LE planar magnetic headphone - Page 91

I disagree, the HE-500 (after properly amped HE-6) are the best Hifiman I've heard to date. 

 

However, with the right amp (EF5, ZDT) I still preferred the HE-5 over my RS-1 which I sold, and I still have the HE-5 to this day.  In comparison, my HE-5 LE are smoother and more laid back than the HE-5, with better body, vocals and imaging.  I found the HE-5 LE to sound more refined and intimate, albeit a little less airy and transparent than the original.  But that was fixed by removing the screen dampening, or upgrading the cable to the HE-5 cable.  With those mods I found the HE-5 LE midrange and treble to sound just like my old K1000, but the K1000 bass couldn't match that of the HE-5 LE which was deeper and tighter.

 

Once I had the HE-5 LE with HE-5 cable I pretty much stopped using the original HE-5.  Now that I have the HE-500 with HE-6 cable I pretty much stopped using the HE-5 LE.  Out of the SR-71b balanced or ZDT amp with the HE-6 cable the HE-500 really shine.  The HE-500 bring back the transparent and airy signature of the original HE-5 but with a more refined and smooth signature; all the while retaining the better imaging of the HE-6.  The balanced drive of the ZDT or SR-71b brings about even more improvements.

Edited by HeadphoneAddict - 8/28/11 at 9:33pm

I realize I am quite late to this party but would still like to write a brief note about the HE-5LE.

 

It is my first ortho. Bought it on a whim (as am still very happy with the HD-800). Simply love it! Amp it with a Threshold 400A from the speaker taps.

 

For Jazz and Rock, I prefer it to the HD-800. Period. However—this after trying with various headphone amps—it needs to be pushed by a speaker amp. With the Treshold, the bass and mids are extraordinary with not a hint of shrillness or sibilance. If the recording is spacious, it gives it back to you in spades. While it can't rival the HD-800 in the smallest bit of sophistication for Classical music, it has satisfied me so completely in other genres that all the hoopla for other orthos has failed to arouse even my smallest curiosity. By the way, I had considered getting the HE-6 but am happy I went this direction. A number of comments on the “lively treble” of the 6 dampened my enthusiasm in that headphone.

 

For the price (hell, any price), the HE-5LE is a world-beater. Of the headphones I’ve owned and auditioned (not many by HeadFi standards but enough to understand what I like), the 5LE is my second most-favorite. First, if for price-to-sound consideration.

Great to hear you are enjoying it.

I agree with everything you said, but one thing I would add is that my vintage Sansui AU 717 and the pioneer SX1250 both drive it superbly out of the headphone out. I tried it with the speaker taps on both and there was no difference in sound quality, but less range on the volume control (1/2). 

However my favorite combo with it is the MiniWatt (v1) out of the speaker taps. The tubes add a warmth and musicality that only the Sansui approaches. My only concern is that it will eventually blow the transformer on the MiniWatt (as that seems to be the consensus on the HE-6 thread in regards to tube amps) so I only listen for short periods of time with it.

I did finally cave in and got an HE-6, which should be here this week, so we shall see how the HE5-LE stands up. 
 

 

Sluker, thanks for your comments. Could you remind me what was the trouble with using tube amps and the HE-5LE and 6? Would a tube amp with the HE adapter (or resistors) constitute safe usage of the tube amp? I happen to own a number of very good tube amps—an RM-200 (balanced), in particular, which I'd love to use with the HE headphones.

 

Still pondering the HE-6 so I'll wait patiently for your observations.

I think all the talk started with a warning from Dr. Fang, who said to be careful using tube amps through the speaker taps because the impedance miss match (8 ohm vs. 50 ohm) would result in frying the transformer.

However, I think this was not related to hybrids and SS. That said, I have not found any mention of someone actually frying their transformer.

Based on that discussion, Hifiman then released their HE adapter which you can buy for $100.

 I have not tried resistors, but actually bought some 10ohm ones today. Apparently a couple of people on the HE-6 amp thread (plenty of suggestions there that would also work with the HE5-LE's) have been winding these to their speaker taps in order to match impedance. 

I have a headphone adapter that came with the MiniWatt, but I do not use it with the HE-5LE and just go off the speaker taps as I find the adapter shrinks the soundstage and bass impact. However, the MiniWatt is only 2.5w/ch so in theory it should not be able to drive the HE5-LE's even out of the speaker taps, but it also shouldn't be able to drive my B&W CM1's, but it lights them up fairly well in my desktop set up (although now they are hooked up to the Sansui). Plus it was only $350 so I don't mind risking it.

By the way, I also love the HE5-LE's with rock music, especially well recorded albums, however when its a mediocre recording I switch to the LCD-2's which are much more forgiving.

 

Not sure if you like the Grado sound but if you do I highly recommend the Magnum mod, it brings the Grodo sound to the level of detail in the HE5-LE's and LCD-2 (actually a bit higher), improves the bass in both impact and definition and cleans up the sibilance, while retaining the midds. However, the soundstage is still Grado like (not very big). The best part is that they are easy to drive and sound really good out of most portable amps.

 

 

hey guys, can the Nuforce Icon HDP adequately drive these cans?

 

I'm looking to make a purchase, but if my equipment can't power them well, I'll have to pass.  Thanks!

I'd be surprised if the NuForce could adequately power these headphones. The 6moons review of the HE-5LE might have examined that combo. Even if not, I recall the 6moons review being pretty detailed about amp matching.

I completely forgot about 6moons.  From their Nuforce Icon HDP review:

 

"For headfi, gain and drive are more than sufficient for even the inefficient 37-ohm HifiMan HE-5LE orthodynamics. Hence AKG K-702, beyerdynamic T1, Sennheiser HD800 and other beefier loads are all—think maverick chef Gordon Ramsay of The F Word—served."

 

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/nuforce14/hdp.html

 

Sold.

Yes, it can drive them.  I still preferred sending the HDP DAC line-out into the EF5 amp for extreme volume listening with HE-5 LE, but the HDP has enough juice to even power the HE-6 to adequate levels.  The HE-5 LE are a better match for the slightly aggressive nature of the HDP amp while the HE-6 will be a little bright with it, and of all the HiFiMan phones the HE-5 LE are the best ones to get if you are using an HDP.

 

Bless you for the reassurance.  They shipped today.

 

I'll definitely consider adding a EF5 at some point.  I'm pretty excited, as my open can search comes to an end (I hope).

I'm listening to the HE-5 LE with the HDP right now as I type, and it sounds pretty darn good with my jazz, acoustic, electronic and classical.  Some rock music recordings I have are 256K downloads, and they don't sound great with anything (such as A Rocket to the Moon, All Time Low), so the HDP combo wont smooth out bad recordings and make them sound good.  It will be a very revealing combo.  For bad recordings I switch to the HD600 which gloss over the imperfections a bit better.

 

Mind you, I have the Sigma 11 PSU connected right now, which makes the HDP sound smoother and more 3D; but with the stock PSU the HE-5 LE are smooth enough to work well with the HDP's slightly aggressive sound signature.  Stock the HDP sounds just like a balanced RSA Protector which is great with the balanced HD600 and balanced HE-5 LE, but was a bit bright with HD-800 or HE-6.  But the HDP had noticeably more power in side by side comparisons.  Right now normal listening volume for me is at 12-1 o'clock.  The volumes at 3 o'clock were louder than I was comfortable listening.  

 

If your amp was a Woo WA6 or ALO Amphora which are more refined sounding amps but with less power, I might have recommended the HE-500.  But the HE-5 LE respond very nicely to changes in dampening and cables to adjust the sound.  With the original HE-5 cable and stock headphone it sounds a little brighter and more open without losing bass.  And with the thin screen dampener behind the driver removed the mids and treble sounded just like my K1000, but with stronger bass (although bass decreases from stock when the dampening is removed).

 

I had a chance to sell my HE-5 LE in October, for a very good price, and I turned it down.  Even though I use the HE-500 more these days, every time I put on the HE-5 LE I'm reminded how much I like them.  Several people who've heard my HE-5 LE and LCD-2 rev1 on my ZDT amp at RMAF 2010 though the HE-5 LE were better (including me).

Just bought (but not yet received) some HE-5LE's from another Head-Fi'er and read through all 91 pages of this thread.  Really looking forward to hearing them!  I know the HE-500 is supposed to be a better overall headphone, but I think it would have been at least another $150-200 more than what I paid for the 5LE.

 

Already have the EF5 (using with DT880/600 and HD650), so no need to get a new amp for now.  From what I hear, these should be like the 650 only "better", which is fine with me as I favor the 650's to 880's most of the time.

 

I noticed that the 5LE's now ship with two cords - one with the XLR that was the original (and only) stock cord.  But it also ships with a SE cord as well - does anyone know if this SE cord is the SPC one that they were offering for free for people that wanted a brighter presentation? That would be cool.

 

Anyway, glad to hear that HeadphoneAddict and other veterans still dig these cans.  

 

 

I'm concluding by sound that the SE cord is the silver plated copper cord and the balanced is the OFC.

The cans sound fairly bright and sibilant using the SE cord, but more controlled with regards to highs and sibilance using the balanced cord.

Anyone else notice this difference?

I have both cables but I haven't compared... I have been using the balanced cord with the single end adapter since day one...

 

I can see these described on the bright side, but I've never had sibilance issues with them.

 

Would it be silly using the E17 as the dedicated DAC? 

Setup would look like this:
Computer->E17->EF5->He-5le

Or should I buy a new DAC under 300? 

If I bought a new DAC i was thinking about going the Schiit Bitfrost/Schiit Lyr. Problem is its so much bigger and would take a lot more space on my desk and of course more money. (meaning i would have to save a lot more money)

Edited by AppleDappleman - 3/2/12 at 12:19am