HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) please post your impressions. . loan pair for UK pg. 28.

With all of my portables, I have been waiting for the release of this headphone. I anticipate that it will be a high end phone that will go well with many resolving amps both portable and home. I love the sound the orthos are able to pull from decent amps and sources. 

I hope to hear one soon, maybe in a day or two..

I am listening to them now. They are bright out of the box but are already sounding smoother but I am using the HE-6 cable, which is burnt in. The cable that comes with these is the Canare speaker cable. I like the lighter HE-6 cable as I don't even notice it. The HE-500 are being used balanced right now. 

What you get is:

A storage box that securely holds the HE-500.

Canare cable.

Extra connecters for another cable.

Extra earpad. 

Yes, listening to what makes you happy is always a good idea, why not. I am not sure I understand your statement though. 

Oh, I see. It takes some time to download anything here and listen to it. One fourth inch adapter? You mean plug. . . . I don't think the guy really know that much about audio equipment etc. Well it is free to watch. . lol

I don't think he knows what he is talking about, though he would like some to think he does. He does know what others have told him. Well you have to start somewhere. 

I see. Well the HE-500 is doing very well from high quality portables, both balanced and single ended. It is easier to drive, as they advertised. I will run them in and note changes, if any, to the sound but with orthos it seems after a few hours they have pretty much settled in. The edginess that was present when I first turned them on is gone and they have gotten a very nice high frequency range already. Also there seems to be a bit more warmth than the HE-6 but again, I want to have more hours on them to make sure where they end up. 

No, I would say the LCD-2 is still a little easier to drive. I am still getting a handle on the sound and I want them to settle in. But what I am now hearing after 8 hours, is very good. In certain ways I like them better than the HE-6 but I need a more powerful amp for the 6, which I will be getting. 

I have the HE-500 hooked up to the PB-2 with the DB-2 dac and the sound is sweet. Nicely detailed and open. It is getting more transparent than when they were right out of the box but out of the box they were also a little course sounding and the treble stank. :^) Now the treble is getting really good. 

I don't find these lacking in bass. I had read that they give up some high frequencies and bass to be more efficient but the bass comes across fine. Well controlled and deep. I need to compare head on head to the HE-6 to determine more differences but have been listening to just the 500's to get a good feeling how they sound on many different types of music. They do sound nice and open as opposed to closed in sounding. I have also noticed that they throw a wide sound stage with decent depth. 

I don't understand why the outlet for the cable that goes to the headphone is not angled forward rather than straight down. I had mentioned this in an email to Fang about the HE-6. On the 6 I cut off some heat shrink so the wire would not dig into my shoulders when I turned my head but the 500 is made the same way. If they were to come out 1 or 2 CM forward past the central point, it would be so much nicer. On the rest of the phone, it is straight forward and seems like it should last a long time. They feel solid and the headband, as with the HE-6, is comfortable and once the height of the ear pieces is adjusted, it stays put and does not move up or down.

edit: I was getting a sibilance on the 500's after 10 hours of use until around 20 hours. Now it is pretty much gone. Interesting as the HE-6 didn't seem to go through much burn in and change nor did the LCD-2. This ortho is different though and does go through changes. On some of Jackson Brown's recordings of Solo and Acoustic, there can be a pronounced ssss on some of his singing if things are tilted up at all. I was getting that and hoped it would change. For now it has and the treble has settled down again. 

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I don't find the treble lacking on the LCD-2 or the soundstage but I also think it depends upon your source and amp. I also have my LCD-2 balanced and I use Twag V2 cable. The mids of the LCD-2 are a little more fleshed out compared to the HE-500 at this time. After 24 hours of use, the midrange is developing very well. The HE-500 are sounding very promising. I checked the bass response on test tones and get rumble down to 16 hz and good treble extension.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by shinn 
I hope that the HE-500s have better soundstage and treble than the cramped LCD-2.

Look forward into your further impressions!

At least it isn't one of those mini spares like tires.