HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) please post your impressions. . loan pair for UK pg. 28. - Page 11

The 6 can handle a huge power amp and sound good.  I doubt the 500 has the same effect because of its better efficiency.  Like the LCD2 doesn't improve on big amps that I've tried.

Thank you for all the impressions.  I just ordered my HE-500.  I sold my HE-6 last week.  I really liked the sound of my HE-6, but it drove me nuts having to switch all the cabling around (between stereo speaker out and beta-22) whenever I switched headphones.  A little less treble will be nice as well.  I hate losing any transparency or extended base, but life is a compromise, at least until we get the HE-600. ;-)    

That is why I bought a receiver with two speaker outs.  "A" for speakers, "B" for the HE6 and headphone jack for the LCD2.  Tone controls are also very effective when needed.

No doubt the sound stage imagery of the HE-6s is wider than the LCD-2s. My comments were limited to the "fullness of the mid range". Both cans are incredible IMO and only personal preferences can account for which is better.

The 6 is the Apogee Scintilla of headphones?

 

Sunneebear, You bring up another irritant with my setup.  When I wanted to use the speakers, I had to use an equalizer setting with reduced base and added treble.  When I wanted to use the HE-6, I had to turn off or change the equalizer settings.  The first time I hooked up the HE-6, I thought they were defective until I remembered the EQ was on. 

 

Thanks mate. Appreciate it. I'm liking the Schiit Lyr atm.
 

 

Honestly... My HE500's sound amazing on my DACmini. Id love to hear what they sound like from a Liquid Fire or the new Super 7. But right now my setup is so minimal and sounds awesome i have no real reason to upgrade to a seperate amp.

^^^

 

My feelings exactly -- as a one-time Apogee owner. I could not get on with them at all, even when driven from my speaker amp (Luxman 509u). I'd quite like to try the 500s but not if they share the (to my ears) somewhat distant and uninvolving sound sig of the 6s. They do seem to be very highly praised here. Anyone using and enjoying the 500s who did not fall for their big brothers?

 

best,

 

o

I haven't heard the HE 6s, so I couldn't have fallen for them! lol

 

 

 

Thanks -- ought to have been more clear: is the HE-500 a phone that even those unmoved by the HE-6 might love, as some of the plaudits here seem to suggest, or is it a scaled-down version of the HE-6, which (again) some here and elsewhere have observed?

 

o
 

 

I have been spending a good amount of time with the HE-500 over the last couple of weeks. I have used multiple amps and sources to validate an earlier comment I made, and yes the HE-500 does scale very well as you improve the source and amp. This to me is important because it makes it very important for the end user to hear the can for himself/herself. Reading what others think is fine for mostly an entertainment value and living vicariously through others, but until you have the opportunity to listen to a piece of gear with your music and the rest of the equipment ... well it is only somebody else opinion. Another important aspect of scaling is that we should strive to improve the individual components as we start the upwards move with any of them, it is a pity for example to use cheap tires on a Corvette since you will soon find the tires being the limiting factor and you then realized you should have bought the appropriate tires for the vehicle.

 

I am currently listening to Joe Sample - Ashes to Ashes (Apple Lossless in iTunes using an iMac 3.06). The music is being sent to a Red Wine Audio Isabella/30.2 (both LFPV Edition) and there is a sense of continuity to the music that speaks volumes of a rig that is both detailed yet very smooth and involving. A few posts above I read the mid was lean, I am not hearing this. If anything I find the mids to have a depth and width that is not normally heard with headphones (with some few exceptions like the AKG K1000). I certainly encourage those who can attend a meet and listen to this or any of the cans they may be interested so an informed decision can be made. Good luck!

Does anyone know how much lighter the HE-500 is than the HE-6, if at all?

They're both 502g according to the site. I assume that's without cable because the HE 6 and HE 500 cables are significantly different.